MCAT and American Schools

[uoftpremed]

Hey everyone,

 

I would appreciate if you could weigh in on my situation. I understand that American medical schools have a rolling process. I am going to be applying there b/c my cgpa is not very strong. I have a bad first year gpa and then four years more of strong upward trend hitting 4.0. cGPA sitting around 3.6. In my personal opinion I have very solid EC's and very research heavy app so I would love to go to american schools that emphasize/ foster medical student research. So here are my questions.

 

1) I am taking MCAT in august. Cannot take it earlier by any means whatsoever bc I am starting prep in late June. Will this be a problem?

 

2) What are typical medical app timelines like in the US? I keep reading "earlier is better" but what if I cant get my apps in until September when I will have finished mcat and gotten score.

 

3) What is a secondary?

 

4) Are you aware of research friendly schools?

 

 

Thanks in advance for helping me out

[KineticChaos]

Hey everyone,

 

I would appreciate if you could weigh in on my situation. I understand that American medical schools have a rolling process. I am going to be applying there b/c my cgpa is not very strong. I have a bad first year gpa and then four years more of strong upward trend hitting 4.0. cGPA sitting around 3.6. In my personal opinion I have very solid EC's and very research heavy app so I would love to go to american schools that emphasize/ foster medical student research. So here are my questions.

 

1) I am taking MCAT in august. Cannot take it earlier by any means whatsoever bc I am starting prep in late June. Will this be a problem?

 

2) What are typical medical app timelines like in the US? I keep reading "earlier is better" but what if I cant get my apps in until September when I will have finished mcat and gotten score.

 

3) What is a secondary?

 

4) Are you aware of research friendly schools?

 

 

Thanks in advance for helping me out

 

#1 & #2: Unfortunately September is very late. US med schools start interviewing in September from applications they received during the summer. If you submit in September, the med schools won't actually review your application until October or November. By this time many of the interview invitations will have already been scheduled into January/February and admissions offers will have already started rolling out (beginning in mid-October). Also, most people will have already applied and your application will be directly compared to thousands of others (upwards of 10,000 applications at some schools) whereas if you apply at the very beginning of the application cycle you'll be compared with many fewer applicants. I know it's extremely frustrating and the process is quite different from Canadian applications. Even if you have very competitive stats, if you apply that late in the cycle there's not a great chance of getting interviewed. I've been told that an applicant with 3.7 GPA and 30-32 MCAT who applies at the very beginning of the cycle has a much better chance of getting interviewed compared to someone with 3.9+ GPA and 35+ MCAT who applies much later. There are a finite number of interview spots, and the earlier you apply the more likely you'll get one.

 

#3: Secondary applications are "school specific". Once you submit the online (primary) application and the schools review it, each school will send you a secondary application that usually requires additional short-answer/essay questions like "why school x" and "describe a time when you dealt with...". Sadly, secondaries are essentially a money-grab. Each school charges an additional $75-150 for the secondary application and I was told directly from a member of the admissions committee at a US school that no one actually cares/reads the secondary (at least at this particular school!). Another setback is you have to also submit the secondary application before the schools do a full review of your application to offer you an interview. So if you submit your primary application in September, you likely won't receive/complete the secondaries until November.

 

#4: US med school rankings are based largely on research funding which correlates to them being research "friendly". So Harvard loves research but an unranked state-school that focuses on primary care won't much care if you have a lot of research experience. The downside is research friendly schools tend to be higher ranked and thus more competitive and more difficult to get interviewed/admitted.

 

I hope this isn't discouraging you from reaching your goals. But it may be worth waiting until the following US application cycle when you can submit at the very beginning of the summer. I suggest calling some of the admission offices at a few schools you're interested in and ask them about applying in September. They may be completely honest and tell you not to waste your time or they may say the exact opposite and encourage you to apply anyway.

 

I hope this helps.

[hopefulMD12]

Unfortunately for international students, applying early is a MUST. If you cannot apply in the first few weeks or so (preferably send in your primary AMCAS application on Day 1), then it is likely better to wait. That one year can be used to improve your application and to write and think about secondaries (most schools don't change secondaries from one year to the next).

[coomassie_blue]

Hey OP,

 

I was in the same situation as you last cycle- wrote the MCAT in early August but I still applied, despite it being very late in the game. My application was submitted in early September and complete in the middle of October to give you an idea of the timeline. It was November when all my secondaries were verified. I ended up with two interviews, and two acceptances.

 

There are definitely some important things brought up on the thread. It's an expensive process (primary, secondaries, traveling for interviews), time consuming, and applying late does put you at a significant disadvantage being an international applicant. I think I just got lucky. But I think it is worth a shot if you have the time/money, because you never know who will be impressed by your application. It's also a great way to see how the American process works if you apply again a second time.

 

Good luck on whatever you decide to do - Just wanted to add in that it's not impossible to get in when applying late.

[uoftpremed]

Thanks all of you - that was extremely helpful Appreciate your replies!