@worriedmom I’m too far removed from AMCAS to remember how it all works. If he submits before the transcript arrive does that mean the grades will never be updated? June 8th isn’t as late as I thought you were going to say so it won’t hurt to wait until then but earlier is better unless submitting earlier means his official GPA that med schools will see when his app is complete. Can he reach out to his pre-med advisor and ask whether to wait?
Not until August 1st, but the school hasn’t released percentile or required scores yet for the new MCAT. He will most likely just apply broadly to everywhere or take a gap year to try to get published. As much as I would love it if he just applied EDP he is too nervous about applying late.
Son applied to his UG for med school early assurance and didn’t get in. Does it mean he’s a reapplicant for that school? He was putting his school list in the AMCAS today. He answered YES to question ‘have you applied here before’. But it got me wondering. Early assurance is a totally different process with no MCATs on ECs involved. Should he call the med school and verify?
Absolutely call to confirm. My gut says he’s not a reapplicant and you definitely want to avoid being one but don’t want to answer falsely. You don’t even have to say it’s you. Just ask if a student who is rejected from the early assurance program is considered a reapplicant on AMCAS when applying traditionally.
Just called med school. They said he’ll be considered a reaplicant. They claim there’s no issue with that Supposedly med school will know that he was an early assurance applicant before.
Question about IIs. There’s a discussion over at SDN how much time should be spent on secondaries. Some people say turn around should be 2 to 3 days while others saying taking couple of weeks to do it right. What do you guys think?
It depends. As S didn’t apply until after graduating, one of S’s secondaries just want a bio update (eg change of address) and to know what he’d been doing (eg research) since primary was submitted. More often they required essays. For example one required applicant to tell about a moral dilemma he/she faced and how did they resolve it. Furthermore applicant couldn’t use story that they saw someone cheating or that they never faced a moral dilemma. Some had 1 or 2 essays; I think one had 6/7. Although these essas were often very short (eg 300 – 400 characters), it takes some time to chisel a responsive answer. Overall, the answer to your question is to complete secondaries ASAP because med schools do not begin reviewing application until file is complete. S found completing secondaries quite draining. Good luck to S
Definitely depends on secondary (the term II is usually reserved for interview invite btw- not secondarys). D usually set a 1 week goal for her secondaries to be finished after receiving them, but some took longer and some were quicker.
FWIW- D had option of doing “optional” secondary essay(s) at certain schools and decided not to do them. It didn’t hurt her at all- she got II and eventually accepted without doing these.
Thanks! I didn’t realize that a II and secondaries refer to different things.
BTW 2nd transcript got in on time. And son got an email yesterday that he was verified. That was really fast. He submitted on 2nd around 10 am. He ended up with a little higher GPA with AMCAS calculations. Pleasantly surprised. So now we wait.
That is great, momworried! First step in the long app process done 
Last year my S had everything in and verified by AMCAS the first few days of June. But then in July he was swamped with most of the secondary apps that came in the first couple weeks of the month. His pre-med advisor told him if he got them in to each school within a couple weeks of receiving them that he would be fine. So he tried to stick to that and it worked out fine. July was a stressful month for him with all the essays.
D was told the rule of thumb is that secondaries should be submitted by 2 weeks after receiving. One school gave its own deadline of three weeks, and they would not consider those that submitted late. Try to get as many as possible finished before school starts. D had trouble completiing those she had left in the fall, and even didn’t do a few of them.
D was told the same on Secondaries. Get the in within 2 weeks of getting them. AMCAS confirmed D’s preliminary was verified and sent to her schools of choice. Trying to identify how schools deal with secondaries. Anyone know which schools send out automatic secondaries vs which ones filter based on MCAT and GPA?
Anyone has received any secondaries?
Too soon for secondaries since AMCAS’s first digital transfer of primaries won’t go out until around July 1.
Schools that pre-screen secondaries (partial list): Vanderbilt, VCU, Mayo, Wake Forest, Iowa, Eastern VA, Loyola, all UCs.
Late to this party, but not CC (Hi class of 2011, 2013!!) My daughter pushed the button last night… sent all 20 out. I’ve been trying to stay off the web so I wouldn’t be neurotic, but- as I did with undergrad- I got on here and learned stuff myself. So, I’m gathering that secondaries may start coming in July? is that right? My 2011 is the one applying (taking a gap year to finish a research project). She’s got a large binder and a timeline, but I’ve been pretty hands off. Glad to see lots of info here : )
@moonpie my 2011 is also taking a gap year and applying this cycle. Good to see you here!
Hi @bajamm! Mine is thrilled to be taking her gap year. She started research in one of the labs at school during her junior year, then worked there full time last summer and stayed on through the school year. She got to write the paper and it was accepted at an international conference, and actually got to go and present last week!! So exciting! She was hired on as the lead research assistant for the next year (she will live at home and save money for med school… she actually asked if we minded if she came home for a year… DUH! No). My 2013 will be applying next cycle… she says she’s NOT taking a gap year. I told her not to decide now. She’s taking organic this summer in order to make more time for studying next year. I’m kind of hoping she decides to take a gap year as well. But we shall see! I’m glad to see some familiar names here : )
Also… I just decided to go back to the beginning and read through this thread. I just LOL’d when I saw that I had already posted here back in the Fall. hmmmmm… guess I really put it out of my mind!
Just found out that DS has another transcript out there from a summer program his freshman and sophomore year of high school. It was a summer program and he earned 2 credits. Now he has to wait for them to get that transcript until he can be verified. He also finds out his percentiles tomorrow so he can make the final decision about applying EDP. He seems to be leaning toward just going for it, even though it is a long and expensive process.
May MCAT preliminary percentile ranges were posted today. Actual scores will not be posted until June 30. Has anyone discovered a good strategy for beginning to develop a school list while waiting for the actual scores? The percentile range is so wide and there is a 10% chance that the score will fall outside of the range. Hmmm…
DS sent a message that he needs to rework his entire list. According to his percentiles the lowest that he could have is the equivalent of a 33. On SDN, Wedgedawg came up with a strategy based on LizzyM, research, etc. We will be looking at this over the weekend. He was considering just applying EDP but that is over now.
I am anxious to see what happens Tuesday when the actual April scores are out.