<p>Hi. I just took the MCAT this April (last week) and I'm getting ready to apply in the summer. I want to know, how soon do schools send out the secondary applications (assuming I apply on the first day). July? August? September? The reason I ask is that I want to do a study abroad program. But the program is from late July to the end of August. I don't want to miss my secondaries. Also, how soon are you (ideally) supposed to complete the secondary applications? Thanks for all your help.</p>
<p>Really varies from school to school. I</p>
<p>BDM and I differ a little bit about the importance of applying early. I don't think it hurts that much.</p>
<p>General rule I've heard is that you have 30 days to complete the secondary app, but varies a lot from school to school. Some require nothing other than some extra info, letters of rec and a check, to some that require 8-10 essays. I did more of the former, BlueDevilMike did more of the latter.</p>
<p>Considering your going to be out of the country, I think you're actually probably best off waiting until you get back. Not that med schools won't be sympathetic to you being out of the country, but they might not be. </p>
<p>The biggest thing you can do speed the process up on your end, is make sure you have everyone who is going to write you a letter of rec lined up, and that they've written the letter ASAP. That way when you get a secondary app back, you sign off all the release forms about whether you want access to the letters in the future, type up addressed envelopes (with STAMPS) and give them to the appropriate profs and bosses and so on, so they just print the letter and mail it.</p>
<p>Secondaries should be completed ASAP.</p>
<p>My davice is that you not leave the country, period. I'm sorry to say this, but it's part of being premed that your summer needs to be spent in the country, with secondary essays being a high priority for you.</p>
<p>Yes, in theory you have actually quite a while to do them, but rumors - which I find credible - say that they use your turnaround time as an indicator of how interested you are. For that reason - and I did 25 apps - I took no longer than 10 days on any secondary. This timeframe should shrink if you do not apply to schools that have upwards of 8 essays (UCLA, UCD, Duke).</p>
<p>They come back throughout the summer. Some schools have them online immediately (Yale, Baylor, Hopkins, Columbia), while others will send them out quickly (July: WashU, Pritzker, among many others). A few will wait until even late August (Duke, Pitt, Harvard) or conceivably September, but these are few and far between.</p>
<p>Finally, it's important to be prompt not simply for an admissions advantage, but because the timing will then play to your advantage as well. The sooner you get one admission, the longer a timeframe you have to cancel some interviews, schedule others, space them out appropriately, etc.</p>