<p>Are there a lot of benefits to applying early or just a few?</p>
<p>what do you mean applying early? Like when?</p>
<p>you mean Early Application or just applying as soon as the application is active. if it's the second then i hear there are benefits at schools conducting rolling admissions. just don't rush it and make careless errors.</p>
<p>wait can you apply for med school right after junior year of college?</p>
<p>Yes, you can apply the summer after junior year for the fall following your senior year. You need to have your MCAT score for complete application.</p>
<p>Everyone recommends applying early around June or July or so. That's only if they are happy with their April MCAT scores right? </p>
<p>What are the benefits of applying in June or July? Can you get interviews in August or September, before senior year starts?</p>
<p>Another question: Can you send in an application telling them that you will take the August MCAT and just send it in blank? or do they HAVE to have the MCAT score before considering your application?</p>
<p>If you apply in June, you can start filling out secondaries in July and August and start interviewing in Sept. and October. The earliest decisions are released in mid-October. If you apply later, for instance, in Sept, it will take a month for verification so you won't be able to fill out secondaries till October and God knows when you'll do your interviews. Since many med schools fill their classes on a rolling basis, it is to your advantage to apply early.</p>
<p>If you are not taking the MCAT till August, send in your primary (with your grades and EC's filled out) in June as normal so that you can get verified by AMCAS. This way when your August MCAT scores come out you will only need to submit your MCAT score. Keep in mind, verification can take weeks or months so that's why you don't want to wait till your score comes out to send in your primary.</p>
<p>Oh wow thanks.</p>
<p>This whole process seems very overwhelming.</p>
<p>I hope you are all aware that MCAT is offered more times now... You can take it in January, April, May, June, July, August, and September.</p>
<p>If SHS means applying early in the window -- which is what it sounds like -- the answer is that it's crucial unless you're simply an overpowering applicant.</p>
<p>First, AMCAS becomes progressively slower as the window wears on, meaning that sending in your application two weeks later might actually result in a delay of four weeks.</p>
<p>Second, schools often give away as many as a third of their spots on October 15. So your chances have just been decreased by 33% if your interview is after that. And they continue to offer acceptances progressively. Needless to say, if you actually send in AMCAS by the November 30th deadline, you'll be interviewing for a spot on the waitlist at best.</p>
<p>Third, schools will wait until your MCAT score is in before considering your application and possibly offering you an interview. This is why anything after the April MCAT was a very bad idea, back in the day.</p>
<p>If you want to enter medical school in the fall of 2009:</p>
<p>1.) You should have a quick list of your extracurricular activities put together by November 2007.
2.) You should have a first draft of your essay put together during Christmas 2007.
3.) You should have a rough list of schools by March 2008.
4.) You should ask for letters of recommendation before April 2008, and ask them to send in their letters by June 1 2008.
5.) You should be finalizing your essay.
6.) E-mail an older student to get as many secondary essay topics as possible.
7.) During May 2008, you should open up an AMCAS account. This will be quite easy if you've already taken the MCAT, which I hope you have.
8.) Ideally you'd have an MCAT score by June 2008 -- not a test, a score. July is probably okay as well, but it would make me uncomfortable.
9.) On June 8 -- NOT JUNE 1st -- you should send in your primary application. This includes a list of schools, a list of EC's, your grades, a TRANSCRIPT REQUEST, and your essay.
10.) On June 15, many schools with "Open" secondaries (non-screening) will open up their secondaries. You should look carefully through the website of every school you applied to to see if the application is open yet.
11.) You should take no more than two weeks to fill out any secondary. Otherwise they accumulate. Rumors -- which I find credible -- also say that schools use secondaries as an indication of your interest.
12.) Schools will start to send you secondaries, as well. The two-week rule stands.
13.) If there's ever a point where you find you have nothing to do, start writing secondary essays ahead of time!</p>
<p>14.) You should be completely done with all primaries and secondaries by the time school starts.</p>
<p>Interview timing is a mess and we won't deal with it here.</p>
<p>muchas gracias bluedevilmike. This is what exactly I was looking for. I am going to print this and tape it on my wall. One quick question - how much time do they give you to accept (if I am lucky enough to get accepted) or reject the offer especially for rolling admissions ? Is it similar to college apps where May 1st is the deadline (with the exception of ED) ?</p>
<p>Basically yes. The magic day is May 15.</p>
<p>Now -- this will be confusing, so please don't panic when the time rolls around! They will often tell you that you have two weeks to accept or decline their spot. While that's true, you CAN accept multiple spots, and so accepting your spot is NOT a promise to attend there. This is understood on their end, but it can be a little confusing for students.</p>
<p>By May 15 you will have to withdraw from all but one spot and pay your deposit.</p>
<p>thank you guys for all this info.</p>
<p>Thanks again. How much we have to pay as deposit on an average ? Do you get your deposit back (I doubt it - stupid ? ) if you decide not to go ?</p>
<p>Found answer to my question in aamc.org</p>
<p>Each school's acceptance deposit not exceed $100 and be refundable until May 15 (except for EDP applicants). If the applicant enrolls at the school, the school is encouraged to credit the deposit toward tuition.</p>