confused about terminology

[nkn2012]

Hi all,

 

I am a bit confused about the terminology and procedure used in states med application. I tried googling but I still cant clarify. I would apprecaite your comment,

 

I dont understand how the primary and secondry works and in particular, what do you need to have done in primary and what can you send in secondary?

 

Ps, can Mcat be done by mid July or will that be too late!??

 

sorry about the confusing post!

 

I'd truly appreciate any comment

[ottawamed.90]

Primary = AMCAS application (centralised system like OMSAS in Ontario

Secondary = applications sent out by individual schools asking for more information / essays (these are different for every school)

 

Your MCAT could be done in July, but results wouldn't be in until August. This isn't super late, but it will be on the later-side of things. Most applicants are complete by mid-late July (I'd guess), and there are many schools that are well into reviewing and interviewing applicants by August/September.

[justthewife]

 

Your MCAT could be done in July, but results wouldn't be in until August. This isn't super late, but it will be on the later-side of things. Most applicants are complete by mid-late July (I'd guess), and there are many schools that are well into reviewing and interviewing applicants by August/September.

 

Yes, and most US schools are rolling admission. The sooner you're complete, the better your chances for an interview/acceptance.

 

And, just FYI: Many US schools also allow you to send in updated information, and letters of interest after your secondary is complete. The application culture there is different. "Pestering" the admin office of your top choice schools a little bit shows them you're interested in their program. It's not just a nuisance like it would be at a Canadian program with very specific cut-offs, scoring, and ranking of applicants. American schools won't necessarily invite the most qualified applicant to an interview. They invite the best people who they think have a reasonable chance of actually choosing their school. If a very qualified person applies to a lower-tier school, they might not offer an invite. That's why it's important to let the admin office know you're truly interested.

 

My husband learned this the hard way this cycle. He was complete at decent time, but didn't realize that he hadn't applied to enough mid-high tier schools (he chose where to apply based more on personal factors than school rank). By the time we learned that it's not only NOT inappropriate to contact the admin office with letters of interest, but a common practice, some of the schools he applied to had already filled all their seats. Fortunately a few were still interviewing, and within a week after contacting them, he had interview invitations. We wasted a lot of application money due to our ignorance.

 

I would suggest you take the MCAT as soon as you think you can be prepared to do well. Obviously, taking it sooner to get your US apps done sooner won't do you much good if you needed more study time and got a poor score.