<p>Just for grins, here’s what I did as far as I remember:</p>
<p>Jan-April–study for MCAT (Kaplan class)
end April–request LORs
late May–MCAT
late June–scores
early July–AMCAS submitted
mid-July–AMCAS verified
end July–LORs received
August–work on secondaries
end August–committee interview (my school doesn’t do them any earlier! yikes!)
mid-September–complete at all schools except 1 (with a notoriously terrible secondary)
mid-October–most (3) interview invites
early November–last app submitted followed by last interview invite
mid-November–interview
early December–2 interviews
mid-December–acceptance (attending!)
early January–interview
early March–withdrew from 1 school, waitlisted at 2 others
early July–withdrew from schools where I was waitlisted
end July–M1 year begins</p>
<p>I was OK stats-wise (3.8/30), very strong on extracurriculars, and had a nice collection of very strong recommendation letters.</p>
<p>If I were doing it again, I’d definitely submit earlier, mostly so I could be finished writing everything by the end of the summer. Really, there’s nothing holding you back from submitting AMCAS–it’s just a matter of filling out all the very tedious forms–because the verification of AMCAS doesn’t depend on MCAT scores, and you can easily add schools to your list even after you’ve submitted and/or been verified. Adding applications to a full schedule is tough, and you definitely want to give your applications your all because they are critically important to your future. </p>
<p>I’d select the earliest possible interview dates again, even if it meant missing classes (which it did). The way I saw it, my future is more important than a few lectures. Luckily my profs were understanding and didn’t mind rescheduling tests for me, but even if they weren’t, I still would have picked the earliest possible dates. </p>
<p>Basically, applying smartly to a well-chosen list of schools will help minimize any “strikes against” your application. Getting into med school is hard work, so putting yourself at a disadvantage by applying late (which in my opinion would be any time after Aug 1) is just not in your best interest. </p>
<p>Your kiddo has undoubtedly worked very hard to get where she is now. She’s taken the classes, shadowed the doctors, spent time volunteering, dabbled in research, gotten involved on campus, and probably a boatload of other things. It would be quite unfortunate to squander all of that hard work by submitting a late application. It’s much better to do it once and do it correctly than have to try again. I know it sucks to wait, but sometimes that’s the best approach! </p>
<p>Good luck to all!</p>