US Timeline question

[neurogirl]

Hello everyone,

 

I'm pretty new to the US application process, so I was wondering if I could get some advice on when to take the MCAT.

 

From what I understand, you want to send your primary in quite early (say June), so that it has time to be checked/reviewed and then sent to schools so that they can (hopefully ) send you back materials for the secondaries during the summer.

 

However, where does the MCAT fit in all of this? I mean do you have to have taken the MCAT before June so that your scores are in for the primary, or is it alright if you take it later on while AMCAS is verifying your application?

 

I was planning on taking the MCAT in early July, so that I have more time to study, but I'm wondering whether that will be early enough. I mean do schools wait to see your MCAT scores before they send you secondaries? Or do MCAT scores only count at the time of secondary review?

 

Thanks, your advice is much appreciated

 

Neurogirl

[silvermen85]

Hello everyone,

 

I'm pretty new to the US application process, so I was wondering if I could get some advice on when to take the MCAT.

 

From what I understand, you want to send your primary in quite early (say June), so that it has time to be checked/reviewed and then sent to schools so that they can (hopefully ) send you back materials for the secondaries during the summer.

 

However, where does the MCAT fit in all of this? I mean do you have to have taken the MCAT before June so that your scores are in for the primary, or is it alright if you take it later on while AMCAS is verifying your application?

 

I was planning on taking the MCAT in early July, so that I have more time to study, but I'm wondering whether that will be early enough. I mean do schools wait to see your MCAT scores before they send you secondaries? Or do MCAT scores only count at the time of secondary review?

 

Thanks, your advice is much appreciated

 

Neurogirl

 

Your secondary application will only be reviewed when it is completed, i.e. when your MCAT score is released to the schools. All applicant who designate the schools on their AMCAS application will pretty much receive a secondary invite after AMCAS verified your grades, so they can make money. So you can in fact send in primary before you finished your MCAT. Many people do MCAT early so in case they do bad they will have more time to retake the test again. Taking MCAT in July means you won't get your score back in August, that pretty much means what ever you get on that test will likely be the score you will send.

[justletmein]

This is not true.

Many schools will wait for your MCAT scores before sending out secondaries (some because they screen, and others because they consider the file incomplete).

 

If you want to have the most competitive application you can, do the MCAT earlier.

 

 

Your secondary application will only be reviewed when it is completed, i.e. when your MCAT score is released to the schools. All applicant who designate the schools on their AMCAS application will pretty much receive a secondary invite after AMCAS verified your grades, so they can make money. So you can in fact send in primary before you finished your MCAT. Many people do MCAT early so in case they do bad they will have more time to retake the test again. Taking MCAT in July means you won't get your score back in August, that pretty much means what ever you get on that test will likely be the score you will send.

[silvermen85]

This is not true.

Many schools will wait for your MCAT scores before sending out secondaries (some because they screen, and others because they consider the file incomplete).

 

If you want to have the most competitive application you can, do the MCAT earlier.

 

The schools don't check whether your primary is complete or not, its AMCAS's job. As long as your primary is verified, that's the one the schools will be using to send out secondary. As far as probably 99% of the schools I know of secondary is automatic if you application is verified by AMCAS. In fact, many schools don't even send out secondary notification, applicants are encouraged to go to the school weblink that will link you to a secondary app page as long as you have an AMCAS id. Are there schools that screen primary? Probably, but definitely not in the majority. Now your MCAT score is needed for your submitted secondary to go forward for review by the adcom so are your reference letters etc, but it is not need for verification by AMCAS.

[premed11]

So which one is it?

 

Do the schools send out their secondaries after your AMCAS is verified? or after they receive your MCAT scores?

 

A clarification would be helpful. Thanks!

[token]

If the school doesn't screen (90%+ of non-California schools), they may send it at anytime after you submit your AMCAS.

 

If the school does screen, they will probably need your verified AMCAS and MCAT scores before they submit the secondary.

 

Really, it doesn't matter, since you won't be "complete" until everything is in. Including your verified AMCAS, MCAT scores, secondary, and LORs.

 

The secondary shouldn't be the limiting factor however because you don't have to wait until you receive it to work on it. I submitted most of my secondaries <24 hours after receing them.

 

edit: Let me give an example. The applicant studies for the MCAT then takes it at the end of June, with scores released at the end of July. After they've taken the MCAT, they start working on their AMCAS primary and submit it mid-July. While they're waiting for verification, they begin to receive and submit secondaries. Also, their MCAT scores are released. Their primary becomes verified at the end of August. Here, the primary was the delaying factor, and the schools they had already completed the secondary for automatically mark them as complete once verified.

 

On the other hand, if they had taken the MCAT at the end of July, they still would have been complete at the same time, end of August, since then the MCAT scores would have been holding them up.

[Alastriss]

Also one more thing. When you submit your amcas, the time it takes to get verified takes longer the longer you wait.

 

So if you submit in June, you will get verified in a few days. If you submit in mid july (like me) you will take 3-4 weeks.

 

Waiting 1 day in july to submit your amcas means you delayed being verified by a few days, so don't procrastinate!

 

Also submit early because you want to interview in september. You don't want to be interviewing in october with midterms. Keep it all in september/early october where

a) school isn't heavy yet

the weather makes traveling around a lot easier.

[justletmein]

sorry, i should have specified:

 

your MCAT should be done as early as possible because:

a) screenining schools wont send you a secondary

even the schools who send you secondaries wont consider your file complete until they receive the scores.

 

There are people who scramble to finish their secondaries by the end of july then wait until october to be reviewed because their MCAT scores weren't in.

 

They will NOT touch your file until they have those scores so dont think that its just a formality.

[Alastriss]

sorry, i should have specified:

 

your MCAT should be done as early as possible because:

a) screenining schools wont send you a secondary

even the schools who send you secondaries wont consider your file complete until they receive the scores.

 

There are people who scramble to finish their secondaries by the end of july then wait until october to be reviewed because their MCAT scores weren't in.

 

They will NOT touch your file until they have those scores so dont think that its just a formality.

 

Quote for truth. A chain is only as strong as the weakest link. A lot of schools will send you the secondary even after you submit the amcas and are still not verified, and most of the secondaries are on SDN so you can have everything done before you get the secondary.

[premed11]

My timeline so far will look like this:

 

1) Send in the primary in June (probably early or mid)

 

2) Take MCAT July 17th (3rd time taking it, but cuz of the york strike, i think i'll only have a month and a half to study for it)

 

3) After MCAT, start working on the secondaries, even the ones from schools that haven't sent me the secondaries yet. Like Alastriss said, i can check SDN for the secondaries)

 

4) I'll get my scores back mid August. I would probably have done most of my secondaries + have my LOR's ready by then. So I should have everything done by around mid-august.

 

Does this look like a good timeline? Also how long does it take for your file to say complete after you send in the secondaries?

 

Also, because of the strike, I may not get my final semester grades back until Late June? Can I still submit my primary and later update my grades?

 

Thanks!

[Alastriss]

My timeline so far will look like this:

 

1) Send in the primary in June (probably early or mid)

 

2) Take MCAT July 17th (3rd time taking it, but cuz of the york strike, i think i'll only have a month and a half to study for it)

 

3) After MCAT, start working on the secondaries, even the ones from schools that haven't sent me the secondaries yet. Like Alastriss said, i can check SDN for the secondaries)

 

4) I'll get my scores back mid August. I would probably have done most of my secondaries + have my LOR's ready by then. So I should have everything done by around mid-august.

 

Does this look like a good timeline? Also how long does it take for your file to say complete after you send in the secondaries?

 

Also, because of the strike, I may not get my final semester grades back until Late June? Can I still submit my primary and later update my grades?

 

Thanks!

 

You should have everything in before mid august. That way you are waiting for your mcat scores after you submitted everything.

 

Having everything in Mid august means you will be looking at being complete at most schools end of august/beginning of september. Of course, it varies from school to school.

[silvermen85]

The most difficult lesson I learned from this application cycle is apply as early as you possibly can. I would probably have gotten interviews at schools that rejected me had I finished my secondary 1-2 month earlier.

[premed11]

The most difficult lesson I learned from this application cycle is apply as early as you possibly can. I would probably have gotten interviews at schools that rejected me had I finished my secondary 1-2 month earlier.

 

when did you send them in?

[joshto]

can someone fill me in if my calculations are correct?

 

MCAT - May 28

Submit primaries - June 4

4-6 Weeks for AMCAS to process --- do I twiddle my thumbs during this time?

MCAT score verified by June 28

Receive & send back Secondaries, theoretically, June 29

 

When is my application complete?

[Rach]

can someone fill me in if my calculations are correct?

 

MCAT - May 28

Submit primaries - June 4

4-6 Weeks for AMCAS to process --- do I twiddle my thumbs during this time?

MCAT score verified by June 28

Receive & send back Secondaries, theoretically, June 29

 

When is my application complete?

 

Is this correct in stating that AMCAS takes that long to process? I have signed up for the MCAT the last week of April thinking I will have my scores back end of May and have my whole applications (secondaries, scores, letters) completed in June. If it's not possible to have your AMCAS processed and secondaries sent out until beginning/mid July, then am I screwing myself out of a month of studying and could just as well take the MCAT in late May/June since the slowest part of the equation is this 4-6 weeks AMCAS verification?

[token]

can someone fill me in if my calculations are correct?

 

MCAT - May 28

Submit primaries - June 4

4-6 Weeks for AMCAS to process --- do I twiddle my thumbs during this time?

MCAT score verified by June 28

Receive & send back Secondaries, theoretically, June 29

 

When is my application complete?

If you submit your AMCAS on June 4th, you'd probably be verified by June 5th.

 

And a lot of schools don't release their secondaries until July, so you pretty much just have to wait for them to be released. So it could be from anytime from June 28th on really which is still freakishly early.

[silvermen85]

when did you send them in?

 

End of Oct and early Nov haha

[token]

Is this correct in stating that AMCAS takes that long to process? I have signed up for the MCAT the last week of April thinking I will have my scores back end of May and have my whole applications (secondaries, scores, letters) completed in June. If it's not possible to have your AMCAS processed and secondaries sent out until beginning/mid July, then am I screwing myself out of a month of studying and could just as well take the MCAT in late May/June since the slowest part of the equation is this 4-6 weeks AMCAS verification?

Probably not. If you submit on the first day, verification may take only a few hours. As time passes it starts to take longer....IIRC at the end of June it was taking about a week. I submitted the last week of July and it took 3 weeks to process. I believe it is worst if you submit mid-August to mid-September, where it can actually take the full 6 weeks. Then as the deadline approaches in October the number of apps dwindles and the processing time falls.

 

So, if you submit your AMCAS on the first day, and your scores are in by that time, you'd be all ready to go as soon as schools release their secondaries.

[Rach]

Probably not. If you submit on the first day, verification may take only a few hours. As time passes it starts to take longer....IIRC at the end of June it was taking about a week. I submitted the last week of July and it took 3 weeks to process. I believe it is worst if you submit mid-August to mid-September, where it can actually take the full 6 weeks. Then as the deadline approaches in October the number of apps dwindles and the processing time falls.

 

So, if you submit your AMCAS on the first day, and your scores are in by that time, you'd be all ready to go as soon as schools release their secondaries.

 

Thanks for clarifying. Based on the bolded part and on what you said in your previous post, it won't really serve me to lose that month of MCAT studying if they don't release their secondaries until July.... right?

[premed11]

End of Oct and early Nov haha

 

yikes, that is pretty late lol.

 

One more question:

 

Do all your undergrad marks have to be in before you can submit the primary?

 

Thanks!

[parachutes]

^ No they do not.

[Alastriss]

Rach, if you are short on time, then taking the MCAT that early is screwing yourself over.

 

Here is what you need to know:

- Up to the end of June, verification will take a few days

- Whether you submit on the first day of june or 2 weeks later, it won't matter because school's don't start receiving any of the primary applications until late june, I think this year was june 20-something.

- ~ 25% of all applications are received in that period.

- I would write the MCAT early-mid June. That way you get your scores mid july. If you can be complete my mid july, you are early enough.

[Rach]

Rach, if you are short on time, then taking the MCAT that early is screwing yourself over.

 

Here is what you need to know:

- Up to the end of June, verification will take a few days

- Whether you submit on the first day of june or 2 weeks later, it won't matter because school's don't start receiving any of the primary applications until late june, I think this year was june 20-something.

- ~ 25% of all applications are received in that period.

- I would write the MCAT early-mid June. That way you get your scores mid july. If you can be complete my mid july, you are early enough.

 

Thanks for helping me out. Getting the timing just right is pretty stressful, I appreciate being led by the hand! Guess I have to decide what to do. I do have almost 3 months to study before the April 24th date but frankly I feel like I have so much to learn to get a really solid score and I'm nervous that 3 months isn't enough. June only has one date on the 18th so I'm thinking that's a little late. I guess the May 22nd or 28th dates would buy me an extra 4 weeks.

[Alastriss]

Thanks for helping me out. Getting the timing just right is pretty stressful, I appreciate being led by the hand! Guess I have to decide what to do. I do have almost 3 months to study before the April 24th date but frankly I feel like I have so much to learn to get a really solid score and I'm nervous that 3 months isn't enough. June only has one date on the 18th so I'm thinking that's a little late. I guess the May 22nd or 28th dates would buy me an extra 4 weeks.

 

Rach I would go or the June 18th date. If you can have everything submitted by July 18th, you will be marked complete by the end of July. That is still early. Some schools don't release their secondaries until mid-late july anyways, and the earliest schools to review are the ones that start end of july.

 

If you want to discuss this further PM me.

[joshto]

will AMCAS verify me without my MCAT score?

If I write the May 28th exam, scores wont be released until, let's say, June 28th. If I submit my application on June 4th, will I not be verified until my MCAT score is in (i.e. June 28th) or will they verify me without my MCAT score (i.e. June 4th)?