newton13 Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 I have been back and forth on applying to the US, and after receiving my MCAT marks, I think I am going to go ahead. The question is...with all this AMCAS verification stuff and waiting periods, is it too late for some schools? please help!! have no experience at US schools...so far have been pretty focuses on OMSAS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith_015 Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 It is at this point extremely late. People will start receiving acceptances before you will even begin secondaries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newton13 Posted September 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 i realize i am behind a bit, but most schools require AMCAS applications to be submitted by oct. 15. does this mean only submission, or does this mean they must be processed by AMCAS by then (that quoted 5 week processing period)? Because many US schools have secondary deadlines of Dec. and Jan. Thats "doable", is it not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith_015 Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 i realize i am behind a bit, but most schools require AMCAS applications to be submitted by oct. 15. does this mean only submission, or does this mean they must be processed by AMCAS by then (that quoted 5 week processing period)? Because many US schools have secondary deadlines of Dec. and Jan. Thats "doable", is it not? Submitted is fine from what I understand. Some schools will acknowledge your application once you hit the submit button in AMCAS so you don't have to worry about verification. Your timeline is very crunched at this point though. Consider you send your application in today: - Do they have transcripts already? If yes, maybe verified by the end of Oct, if not, you will be looking at Nov. - Once you are verified you may have to wait for secondaries which might take up to 3 weeks to be sent to you as some go out in batches. - Some secondaries (or the entire secondary) have stuff to be sent in the mail too which may hold stuff back if it is required to be complete. - Some schools take 7-10 days to get you complete after submitting a secondary. - You will then enter a queue for review of your file which may take some time. All in all, you are looking at mid-late November/December before having any sort of direction for your applications. A lot of spots will be distributed by then. Some schools say that classes are filled by Jan. At this point, you might as well focus on OMSAS or get ready for AMCAS for next year. Save the enormous effort required for the US, the stress of it and of course, a ton of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicaldna Posted September 26, 2009 Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 Submitted is fine from what I understand. Some schools will acknowledge your application once you hit the submit button in AMCAS so you don't have to worry about verification. Your timeline is very crunched at this point though. Consider you send your application in today: - Do they have transcripts already? If yes, maybe verified by the end of Oct, if not, you will be looking at Nov. - Once you are verified you may have to wait for secondaries which might take up to 3 weeks to be sent to you as some go out in batches. - Some secondaries (or the entire secondary) have stuff to be sent in the mail too which may hold stuff back if it is required to be complete. - Some schools take 7-10 days to get you complete after submitting a secondary. - You will then enter a queue for review of your file which may take some time. All in all, you are looking at mid-late November/December before having any sort of direction for your applications. A lot of spots will be distributed by then. Some schools say that classes are filled by Jan. At this point, you might as well focus on OMSAS or get ready for AMCAS for next year. Save the enormous effort required for the US, the stress of it and of course, a ton of money. +1 10 chars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newton13 Posted September 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 do schools really fill the spots as they interview? i had no idea. i thought they interviewed gradually and made decisions in waves later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicoMaki Posted September 26, 2009 Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 yea, some schools have their adcoms meet every other week to discuss and send out offers at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvermen85 Posted September 26, 2009 Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 I submitted my AMCAS app last year on Oct 6th, but had my transcripts and ref letters forwarded to AMCAS way before that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mig174 Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 some schools like Columbia are also non-rolling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typical Premed Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 I submitted my AMCAS in late September last year and wasn't complete until early November at any schools. I ended up with a couple interviews and an acceptance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magiman Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 I submitted my AMCAS in late September last year and wasn't complete until early November at any schools. I ended up with a couple interviews and an acceptance. when you say things like submitted ... does that mean the 2ndary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typical Premed Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 when you say things like submitted ... does that mean the 2ndary? I submitted my primary application on September 24 last year. I didn't submit any of the secondaries until early November. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magiman Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 I submitted my AMCAS in late September last year and wasn't complete until early November at any schools. I ended up with a couple interviews and an acceptance. what kinda stats did you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamma Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 I submitted my AMCAS app last year on Oct 6th, but had my transcripts and ref letters forwarded to AMCAS way before that. whats the diff between forwarding them directly to AMCAS or having Interfolio send them to AMCAS? I did the latter last year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicaldna Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 whats the diff between forwarding them directly to AMCAS or having Interfolio send them to AMCAS? I did the latter last year NO difference. All I know is that the latter can allow you to apply at schools that do not participate in AMCAS letter system (Albany is all I can think of). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rach Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 NO difference. All I know is that the latter can allow you to apply at schools that do not participate in AMCAS letter system (Albany is all I can think of). Also, interfolio will store your letters until you stop paying whereas AMCAS will get rid of your letters after this cycle. I know that if I end up having to reapply next year, there is no way in hell that I'm bothering profs again so I'll be glad to have them stored in interfolio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith_015 Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Also, interfolio will store your letters until you stop paying whereas AMCAS will get rid of your letters after this cycle. I know that if I end up having to reapply next year, there is no way in hell that I'm bothering profs again so I'll be glad to have them stored in interfolio. Interfolio actually stores your letters for 5 years after your subscription is up. They will still be there if you have to reactivate. One thing I've noticed with at least U Minn is that they say you can use the same references, however the letter should be adequately updated from the previous year. So it may not hold much advantage to recycle letters, especially if the writer dated them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamma Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 soo what's the general consensus on getting updated letters? I thought I HAD to get new letters from the same referees so I've asked them all again to write me on. The dilemma is this: see, last year I applied realllyy late in the cycle, so late that my secondary for one of the schools was going in at the last possible day. The school also wanted all ref. letters in by that date as well. One of my ref. letters screwed up so the school didn't even consider me. I was pissed because she gave me her word that she'd have it postmarked for that day ..and she didn't albeit I shouldn't have applied so late...BUT STILL I have a bit of beef with that prof. This year, I'm asking her for a ref letter again and she's still giving me trouble. I'm asking her because I took 2 classes with her 2 years ago and she's a good teacher so I don't think she'll write me a bad ref. letter. The problem is that she f*** hasn't uploaded it yet and I've been bugging her to do it for the last 3+ weeks!!! Should I use the letter from last year and if the school says to get another one, then just send an updated one? or are schools anal enough to reject an applicant if they send an old letter?? dilemma dilemma! i hope the answer to this isn't ''it depends on the school'' because I hate that answer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith_015 Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 I just finished having a similar problem with one of my writers. Write a nice yet pushy email insisting the urgency of the letter. One of the secondaries I submitted had the 30 day deadline and it was creeping so I gave the writer an imposed deadline. Maybe you should too. If you can't get a timely response, it would almost be worth just sending in the previous letter (just make sure the school doesn't post rules about it). It is getting later and later for you again, and the letters of course take some time for some schools to actually be validated. The best option of course is to have a freshly dated letter to show that it is an "update" and that you're not being complacent/lazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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