<p>Talked to my D today. Her little sister (sorority) that my D is shepherding through the process just went through one of those app reviews at one of the two schools that interviewed her. She received no acceptances.</p>
<p>She is from Texas, and applying to Texas schools but I believe this to be universal. </p>
<p>She was primed by me to ask questions about essays , rec's, interview....but before that could get started well, the admissions person just said "You applied too late." She was well within the allotted time, and certainly wasn't early, but was waiting on an ill-advised MCAT re-take which netted her a whole 1 point. Grrrrrrrr. I told her and told her. </p>
<p>The admissions rep said everything else was good. Liked her essays. Rec's were well-done and appropriate. MCAT and grades were not the problem. "We just already had a lot of slots filled by the time we got to you." </p>
<p>Folks. I cannot stress this enough. Get your stuff together and get that app filed, rec's in, and get complete. </p>
<p>Trust this. On time is late. Early is on time. </p>
<p>Late in the cycle? Unless you walk on water, forget about it. </p>
<p>Thank you so much for this tip. So it’s true that they go easier on you if you send yours in earlier? Because they’re not stressed by their limited space as much? Whereas if they have 2 spots left, they would bump up their criteria a whole lot.</p>
<p>I think in the event of helping all those souls that come here looking for help, you should tell them the actual time what is early, on time and late.</p>
<p>As in June 15th, July 15th…October 15th.</p>
<p>And give them the definition of complete.</p>
<p>And how long it can take to be verified, and WHAT is verified.</p>
<p>And make sure all transcripts have been sent.</p>
<p>And LORs sent.</p>
<p>And how long committee letters can take. And what is a committee letter. </p>
<p>And do you have to have a committee letter? (mostly a yes)…I only say this because, the boy, as in mine, did NOT have one, didn’t want one, and did not care if he had one -but I would not advise this for others…(he’s not right)</p>
<p>And should you really re-take the MCAT? See Curm’s post above^^^(again the boy did but, did he really need more than a 35?) sigh…(just not right)…</p>
<p>So get all the stuff in ASAP, as in the first week…</p>
<p>I would say getting it in early is probably worth some points on the MCAT and some decimals points on the GPA, but it is just a hunch.</p>
<p>Curm & Kat are right, there is nothing to lose in being early, everything to be gained. For AMCAS I think submitting some time in early June is smart, for TX, probably May. There is just no reason not to be prepared and submit early to give you every chance in a highly competitive group.</p>
<p>Curm- sorry to hear the lil sis had not luck, I know she got great advice, but some people just don’t quite ‘get it’ if they have not heard the horror stories.</p>
<p>She’s a good Texas candidate for some Texas med school. Great personality. Nice resume. Big volunteer background. Good school. 3.7 ish GPA and a 29 MCAT (10/10/9) . If she’d applied in the first two weeks of TMDSAS with her 28 (10/9/9) she’d be going to med school in Texas this Fall. Double-grrrrrrrr.</p>
<p>Kat, I’ll try to find bdm’s pre-med schedule and link it. Edit: But someone else could help me find it. lol</p>
<p>Early June is tough since that is right at finals time, but…I suppose D can have everything ready to go on the AMCAS and just hit send when it opens, right?</p>
<p>I think the AMCAS app opens in early May. You submit early June.</p>
<p>Son filled his out in May and then submitted 2nd day, I think. I think he didn’t first day possibly because there was some difficulty with the servers. He had ordered his transcripts early as well so they would have them when AMCAS was submitted.</p>
<p>He checked regularly to make sure the transcripts and LORs were received quickly as well.</p>
<p>And we thought undergrad stuff was nerve-wracking!!</p>
<p>This time next year, she will just be deciding what to do!! Son has 4 weeks left of MS1. He has his apps for B school to fill out by the end of summer. Has it narrowed down to just a handful so not so bad.</p>
<p>All those looking re-read Curm’s post and know that early is ON-TIME, and on-time is LATE!! And it can make all the difference!!!</p>
<p>So you are saying that with a 3.7 and 28/29, she can get into a medical school in Texas? What schools are you talking about here, A&M/Tech or did you mean UTMB/UT-Houston/UTSA? </p>
<p>I think that there are 3 tiers of texas schools. The first obv. being UTSW/Baylor, the next being UTSA/UT-Houston/UTMB. The last being A&M/Tech. If applying early means that she had a chance at UTSA/UT-Houston/UTMB, then why is there such a large gap in Texas schools between Tier1 and Tier 2. I can understand if you think she had a chance at A&M/Tech, but UTMB/UTSA/UT-Houston? I think UT-Houston/UTSA/UTMB want kids with a lizzyM score of 68+, not a 65/66, while Baylor/UTSW want kids with lizzyM of 71+. I could be wrong here. Again, as Texas resident, I am just trying to see what places I may have a chance at in Texas. I don’t want to end up at Tech, or TT-El Paso but I will be happy with UTMB/UT-Houston/UTSA. I am sending out applications on May 10th.</p>
<p>Oh, I forgot she did the October MCAT, that was horribly late!</p>
<p>It does not seem that a retake of the MCAT is generally smart; I am sure there are some people who blow it the first time due to no practice plus the flu and after a prep course, they can raise their score, but if you score within the range of the practice tests, don’t waste the time or money reapplying. The score could even go down.</p>
<p>Regarding the timing of apps, yes, it is a busy time, but you can begin working on your PS in December. You should get your LORs arranged early in the spring & can begin filling everything out for several weeks before the submission date.</p>
<p>If you do TX & AMCAS, remember to prep for different lengths of POS and some secondary questions on the TX app. In order to really apply early and do it well, it is smart to begin the time line months before, including taking the MCAT ASAP.</p>
<p>Early June is of course great but I wouldn’t throw in the towel after that just yet. At brown we were told AMCAS should be in and processing (ie not waiting on MCAT) by mid July with july 1st being what to aim for. August is the month that you think about calling it quits. By september you definitely call it quits.</p>
<p>done, I’m talking about any med school in Texas. She might have had some favorites going in, but now? On the outside looking in? That is out the window. </p>
<p>Even with her somewhat unique resume and the overall strength of her volunteer, EC, and research resume, I’d still say UT-H would be a big reach. UTHSCSA and UTMB are more reasonable reaches. Paul Foster , Tech, and A+M should be her targets. Baylor and UTSW are not gonna happen. </p>
<p>And she couldn’t give a rat’s:eek: right now about tiers. All Texas medical schools are good, well-priced schools. </p>
<p>UT-H has a rep for getting kinda squirrelly (both with rejections and admissions) and if she shows them the love…it could happen. They don’t like kids applying OOS and will grill you on it and they don’t historically make big use of pre-match. Very personal. It seems that if they like you, they like you.</p>
Oh, heck no!! I’d have shot her. It was like a late July MCAT. Texas moves fast. Faster than AMCAS. My kid was a “first couple of days” kid (maybe even first day) and she had actual interviews before she headed back to UG in August. iirc she was getting invites around the first of August, maybe even late July. July MCAT in Texas is not good and her app wasn’t reviewed until that new score came in.</p>
<p>Heck. Now that I think about it she was a first day invite to SW and Baylor, but not UT-H. lol</p>
<p>A couple more questions since I am pretty much in the same boat as her number wise. I have a 29/30, and a 3.8. I don’t have her volunteer background, all I did volunteer wise was run some marathons for charity, do some volunteer work at hospitals, etc, but I do have a publication in a high impact medical journal which I hope gives me some love from UT-H.</p>
<p>So are you saying that if she had applied in the first 2 weeks of TMDSAS that she would have had target schools as UT-H/UTMB/UTSA, but since she applied late her reach schools became UT-H/UTMB/UTSA? If this is not the case, then I am worried about myself. I will still apply on May10th. The only thing I have to get done are more revisions of my PS. </p>
<p>If she were to reapply EARLY, do you think she can get into UTMB/UTSA/UT-Houston as a reapplicant? It’s much harder the 2nd time around if you don’t improve your application. Since you say she has the numbers, maybe an early application, and more work on her ECs should get her over the hump?</p>
<p>Please tell us the advice you are giving her now for her 2nd time around, so that it can help other reapplicants, and even 1st-time applicants on how to optimize an app.</p>
<p>She has worked as a medical scribe for a year, got a new rec, and has some more minor “additions” to her app. I think she’ll be OK as a re-applicant. And yes. I think she can get into one of the three you identified mid-tier in Texas.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t go as far as saying the application timing changed reaches and targets , other than made them all reaches. I might go that far.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the earlier the better, period.</p>
<p>Does that mean there’s a specific deadline? To me, no. The earlier the better is the rule. If you have this idea that you have to apply by [June 2], and June 2 rolls around and you aren’t prepared, you’ll either be 1) extra stressed out or 2) applying with less than your best application. While applying early is key, applying intelligently and with your best application is also key. To that end, I don’t think everyone is ready to apply the first week things are available, or to complete secondaries within a week or two of receiving them. So my advice to you would be this: do what you can to minimize your stress while applying–and one way to do that is to apply as early as possible with the best application you can!</p>
<p>Ok…after a quick read above and I may have missed some important details…</p>
<p>YIKES…</p>
<p>I thought AMCAS opened in July. When does it open? </p>
<p>When do SOMs begin taking apps? </p>
<p>I’m freaking out because my son has to take a required Chemical Eng’g class this summer (ONLY offered in the summer and taken after junior year) and getting all this done will be tight. The class is M-F …and literally all day and night. The kids often sleep on the floor of the labs! ugh.)</p>
<p>He takes his MCAT this Saturday. I’d appreciate prayers from any you that are prayer people. He’s not a strong test taker, but did get an ACT 33. He’s a slowish reader (super meticulous) which is his downfall with timed tests.</p>
<p>He has just below a 4.0 (has an A- in Spanish.) Has a 4.0 BCMP.</p>
He’s not a strong test taker, but did get an ACT 33. He’s a slowish reader (super meticulous) which is his downfall with timed tests.</p>