Does it matter how early you submit your medical school (AMCAS) application? If you submit your verified application early, do your chances of earning an interview invitation increase? Is it worth all the effort to get everything done as close to June 1st as possible? Not everybody agrees, so I ran my own study and found interesting results that all current and future applicants need to see.

After 20 years tracking premeds and crunching the numbers, I’ve got enough evidence to make a big claim: With all other factors being equal:

1. The earlier you submit your verified application…

and

2. The sooner you complete the other steps of the application process…

…the higher your chances of receiving an interview invitation.

“If you submit your verified application early, your chances of receiving an interview invitation go way up”

I want to give you clear information that’s easy to act on so there is no doubt in your mind that you should complete and submit your application as close to June 1st as possible. Below is the quick rundown of a study I ran.

The Questions

1. How does the verification date of AMCAS applications affect the likelihood of receiving an interview invitation from a US allopathic medical school?”
2. What impact does sending completed secondaries have on the likelihood of receiving an interview?

The Results

After tracking hundreds of my premed clients*, I’m able to say with certainty that timing matters immensely, and submitting a late application harms your chances.

Disclaimer: I’ve come to this conclusion based on 20 years worth of anecdotal experiences. I don’t have thousands of data points and I don’t consider this a rigorous statistical analysis; I’m basing my claims on roughly 500 student applications over five application cycles. That said, the students who apply early always have much better results than those who apply late.

* All candidates had a SGPA of 3.45 or higher and an MCAT score of at least 29.

Students who complete their apps within the first four weeks of the admissions cycle have a much better chance of getting in than those who do not!

If you’re reading this early in the year (May or earlier), I hope this information encourages you to complete as much of your AMCAS application as you can. The end of the school year is a stressful time — you’re swamped with tests, research projects, and the rest of your life — but if you prioritize your application and get it submitted and verified in the first three weeks of June, you’ll come out ahead.

Reading this later than June or waiting for your MCAT scores?

If you’re reading this in July or August of your application year and you haven’t yet submitted AMCAS, don’t worry. These shortcuts will help you to get it in asap. And if you’re waiting for your MCAT score and you’re not sure whether to apply this year or next year, read this.

Avoid delays — Learn the ideal application timeline and write your essays faster

Allowing your admissions essays (both personal statement and secondaries) to delay your application is a mistake you can’t afford to make. The smartest shortcut for getting your essays done as quickly as possible is to pre-write the essays before you begin filling out your application.

Once you know the essay prompts and see a good variety of sample essays, it becomes easy to pre-write and edit your essays well in advance of application deadlines. I’ve designed two online courses specifically to help you pre-write strong essays, and I recommend that you enroll in the courses and start pre-writing your essays now.

Learn the ideal application timing sequence for medical school – Learn how to get your application submitted and verified as close to June 1st as possible.

How to Write Your Medical School Personal Statement – Pre-write and edit your essays by using my 27 sample personal statements, writing templates, and 8 how-to videos.

How  to Write Your Medical School Secondary Application – Everything you need to know about secondaries to pre-write and submit them within 48 hours of receiving the application. Sample prompts, instructional videos, and an online guide show you how to do it all.

Timing is everything, and you’re (hopefully) only going to apply once. Get it right the first time by applying as early as possible.