Hallelujah praise Him! It took exactly 2 weeks for my AMCAS application to be verified. Even though I submitted on June 3rd, the EXACT date the application opened up, my transcript was not marked as received until June 12th. So, as of June 12th I became ready for review and Glory be to God, 14 days later, I am now verified. In case you missed my earlier posts, I will say it again, get your application in EARLY. I can’t stress this enough. ESPECIALLY your transcripts, because those can take up to 10 days for AMCAS to process. The website suggests sending in your transcripts in May if possible and I definitely agree.

Now you’re probably wondering why the fuss about submitting your med school application early. Well there’s a science to it – Trust me. The earlier you turn in your application, the earlier your grades are verified, which means the earlier you receive secondaries and are marked as complete. From there you get interviews early and an acceptance. I’m sorry, scratch that, acceptanceS. Yes, we’re talking multiple in Jesus name! Now, the later you turn it in, the lower your chances of getting interviews; you’re essentially competing for leftover spots. You can see the actual graph on how long the AMCAS verification process can take here. It can take up to 6 weeks! If your application has some weak areas (whether grades, MCAT or something else), you DEFINITELY don’t want to be in this boat. Submit your application EARLY. Obviously, you want to make sure what you submit is quality work; it should be the best possible application you can produce, don’t sacrifice that. You can wait a few days to make sure you’ve proofread your application in it’s entirety and feel good about it. At the same time, you don’t want to wait all the way till August to submit. No bueno. Don’t be the person after your application cycle is over, saying, “Danggg I wish I had listened to Derin’s advice.” I’m just saying.

So now the next step. Lucky for me, I was verified the day before the applications are transmitted to medical schools. Yep, tomorrow AMCAS sends each school my verified application (I’m part of the first batch!) and from there the secondary essays, which are the school specific essays, start flooding in. That’s when the REAL fun begins.

Until then, the studying continues.

Ciao!