Session 16

Your questions, answered here on the OldPreMeds Podcast. Ryan and Rich again dive into the forums over at OldPreMeds.org where they pull a question and deliver the answers right on to you.

Today, the discussion touches on the secondaries, interviews, the timing, and the process of it all. 

OldPreMeds Question of the Week:

The poster has completed 9 secondaries and already has 2 scheduled interviews. If the school is not going to offer an interview, do they let you know or do they just leave you hanging? What kind of timeline do most schools work on? 

Here are the insights from Ryan & Rich:

The timeline of the secondary process:

• AMCAS application (not transmitted to the schools until starting July 1st)
• Many schools start sending the secondary before your primary application has been processed and transmitted to them
• AMCAS provides schools (upon request) contact information for applicants for them to be able to send unscreened secondaries to all students who select that school.
• You get many schools so when the application transmits for the secondary sent unscreened, you get other schools with very minimal screening and very low MCAT and GPA grade cutoff or formula.
• Virtually all students will be getting a secondary.
• Most schools will wait until the secondary gets in and then review it

After interview, depending on the school, the status may vary according to:

• Rejection
• Hold status
• Leave you hanging

Hence, all schools vary in terms of the secondaries so there is no general rule whatsoever. Most schools though, hold most students until later in the cycle when they decide to wait list or reject.

If you don't hear about an interview, you may just have to wait to find out. The waiting game can be painful because they won't finalize it until April 30th.

Get your applications early so things get reviewed early. However, medical schools may review applications not in a chronological fashion. 

Major takeaway from this episode:

Each school has their own culture and mission. Many schools will eye much more on the secondaries for soft answers, motivation, commitment, achievement than they do on the primary application. So a lot of schools look at the secondary more intensely than they do the primary.

The application can be painful and slow but that is the game. School take in a lot of applications so it may take a long time to get through them all. So stay encouraged and motivated  while you're waiting for the answer (hopefully an interview invite). 

Links and Other Resources:

If you have questions you want answered here on the OldPremeds Podcast, go to oldpremeds.org and register for an account. Go into the forums and ask a question.

Listen to our first episode at OPMPodcast.com/1 to find out more about who we are.

Also check out the Premed Years Podcast at www.medicalschoolhq.net.

Find us on iTunes and go to opmpodcast.com/itunes and leave us a rating and review.

Check out MedEdMedia.com for all the shows that we produce including The Premed Years and the OldPreMeds Podcast. We will soon be launching a medical school podcast as well so stay tuned!

Email Dr. Ryan Gray at [email protected] or connect with him on Twitter @medicalschoolhq.