How long should I wait off on submitting my primary?

[BalkanRelations]

Highly considered applying to US schools this cycle, but I have barely started working on my Primary app thus far. I know everybody on here advises to submit "as soon as possible" and June 1st appears to be the first day which they open for submission. Will they actually be instantly submitted to our list of schools any time after this date? I noticed that on the aamc calendar, it lists June 29th as a date where "Completed Applications sent to Schools", so I am wondering if it will make any difference whether I submit it anytime between June 1st - June 29th (or even waiting until July). 

I ask this for two main reasons. First off, I would like as much time as possible to write out my 15 experiences + the personal essay - so an additional few weeks to work in it would be invaluable. Second, I am currently undergoing several doctor shadowing opportunities and if I hold off on completing my activities until the end of the month, this would give me an additional 10-30 hours to add to the ~30 hours I have done thus far. 

Additionally, I understand that the LORs seem to be the only component of the primary that don't officially need to be completed upon submission (and don't have to be sent to schools until after receiving the secondaries). This is a relief since there are still a few decisions I need to make on who to request an LOR from, as well as one individual who might take some time to get a hold of. Is there any general recommendation on when I should have them submitted by, because I realize that some school have very particular requests as to the number and type of LORs they need. 

Thanks a lot for the responses everyone - this forum is a big help. 

[Serendi]

Generally, faster the better. That being said, submitting with a better PS and a better application overall is always better than rushed submission. You can submit your primary by mid-June (ie. 15th) and you should still be in the early group.

When you submit your primary application, AMCAS takes time to verify it (mostly your Transcript). It takes couple days for them to complete verification; if you submit it by mid-June, your primary should be verified by the first week of July. Then schools will start receiving your verified primaries and will start sending you secondaries, which for this year starts on 6/29.

I don't recommend submitting your primary on July, as it can take AMCAS up to five weeks to verify your primary application. Let's say you submit your primary on July 1st and get it verified by, say, first week of August. Now, if you have everything ready by then - LORs, etc - and prewrite secondaries for those schools you're applying to, then you're still not late. Cutting close, but still not late. If your stats are impressive, it won't hurt. If it's mediocre, however, then it's always better to submit them early. Competition piles on as time goes. 

And get that LORs ready! Again, they should be in by the time  you submit your secondaries to schools, since without them the application won't be marked 'complete' by schools and your app won't be reviewed. 

 

For reference, my last application cycle was like this: 

6/17: Wrote MCAT

6/21: Submitted primaries

7/16: Primary verified

7/17: MCAT score received, started sending applications to schools

7/29: My US Undergrad's premed committee started releasing LORs

End of July - middle of August: Secondaries submitted to schools and Apps marked complete

August - December: IIs rolled in

 

Hope that helps! 

[BalkanRelations]

On 5/24/2018 at 12:54 AM, Serendi said:

Generally, faster the better. That being said, submitting with a better PS and a better application overall is always better than rushed submission. You can submit your primary by mid-June (ie. 15th) and you should still be in the early group.

When you submit your primary application, AMCAS takes time to verify it (mostly your Transcript). It takes couple days for them to complete verification; if you submit it by mid-June, your primary should be verified by the first week of July. Then schools will start receiving your verified primaries and will start sending you secondaries, which for this year starts on 6/29.

I don't recommend submitting your primary on July, as it can take AMCAS up to five weeks to verify your primary application. Let's say you submit your primary on July 1st and get it verified by, say, first week of August. Now, if you have everything ready by then - LORs, etc - and prewrite secondaries for those schools you're applying to, then you're still not late. Cutting close, but still not late. If your stats are impressive, it won't hurt. If it's mediocre, however, then it's always better to submit them early. Competition piles on as time goes. 

And get that LORs ready! Again, they should be in by the time  you submit your secondaries to schools, since without them the application won't be marked 'complete' by schools and your app won't be reviewed. 

 

For reference, my last application cycle was like this: 

6/17: Wrote MCAT

6/21: Submitted primaries

7/16: Primary verified

7/17: MCAT score received, started sending applications to schools

7/29: My US Undergrad's premed committee started releasing LORs

End of July - middle of August: Secondaries submitted to schools and Apps marked complete

August - December: IIs rolled in

 

Hope that helps! 

Awesome man - that was super helpful! =)