I broke this out as a separate thread because I did not want to, as they say in Internet parlance, ‘hijack’ the other thread.
I’ve attended a couple of seminars for pre-meds here at our University’s Health Caree Center and they’ve always said that you should apply as early as possible, and once the speaker even said ‘even if you haven’t taken the MCAT yet’. To me that sounds counter-intuitive because on this forum I’ve read that you should take the MCAT and apply when you’re ready, which makes sense.
What I’m wondering is why they would say that?
Probably they mean to have your AMCAS ready to go as soon as your scores come back. That’s so you don’t get your scores in Aug. or Sept. and just get around to starting your app then. Seems like sound advice to me.
I actually applied without knowing my MCAT scores. The biggest issue for me was that obsessing over the AMCAS took away from my MCAT study time.
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you’re like me, and an August MCAT is the best time for you (based on time to study, work schedule, whatever). Given that, you have a few options:
1 - Take the MCAT before you’re fully prepared, allowing you to know your grades before doing the “early apply” thing
2 - Submit your primary to AMCAS before learning your MCAT scores
3 - Wait for your MCAT scores to get in (around September), then submit your primary
We all know that it’s generally advisable to submit your AMCAS as early as possible. What took me some hard experience to appreciate is just how long it feels when you have to wait 2 months at every step of the process. Because of that, it really does make sense to get AMCAS in ASAP.
For me, that meant submitting it without having a full sense of how competitive I was. To be honest, I still don’t know. shrug But the way my schedule worked out, it worked. My best advice would be to make sure you’re not working on your personal statement when you’re supposed to be studying for the MCAT 
- pi1304 Said:
I actually applied without knowing my MCAT scores. The biggest issue for me was that obsessing over the AMCAS took away from my MCAT study time.
You're a lot nervier than I am, dude. I took an August MCAT also, but I applied the following year. If I hadn't done well enough on the MCAT, I wouldn't have applied at all.
Ah, I had a good approach to the whole thing: joke 'em if they can’t take a fuck 
I also applied without knowing my MCAT score. I’d been getting decent numbers on practice tests, had a good post-bacc GPA, and was only applying to local schools, so felt that it was really, really, really important to submit my application at the earliest possible moment.
Not that long ago, my children, the MCAT was only given twice a year and so LOTS of people went through this same calculus. Now with multiple dates, more people choose to wait to know their scores before applying. This probably works OK for the early group but as Adam pointed out, it’s highly risky if you’re taking your MCAT in the summer.
I wouldn’t submit my application with its $$$$ implications unless I had a sense of how I was going to do on the MCAT, but by the time you can submit AMCAS, you’ve certainly at least started your MCAT prep, right?
Mary
- Mary Renard Said:
I also applied without knowing my MCAT score. I'd been getting decent numbers on practice tests, had a good post-bacc GPA, and was only applying to local schools, so felt that it was really, really, really important to submit my application at the earliest possible moment.
Not that long ago, my children, the MCAT was only given twice a year and so LOTS of people went through this same calculus. Now with multiple dates, more people choose to wait to know their scores before applying. This probably works OK for the early group but as Adam pointed out, it's highly risky if you're taking your MCAT in the summer.
I wouldn't submit my application with its $$$$ implications unless I had a sense of how I was going to do on the MCAT, but by the time you can submit AMCAS, you've certainly at least started your MCAT prep, right?
Mary
Not that long ago, my children, the MCAT was only given twice a year and so LOTS of people went through this same calculus. Now with multiple dates, more people choose to wait to know their scores before applying. This probably works OK for the early group but as Adam pointed out, it's highly risky if you're taking your MCAT in the summer.
I wouldn't submit my application with its $$$$ implications unless I had a sense of how I was going to do on the MCAT, but by the time you can submit AMCAS, you've certainly at least started your MCAT prep, right?
Mary
Just to clarify, I also took the MCAT before the CBT days, so I didn't get my scores back until mid-October. Now with the faster turnaround time, it would be equivalent to taking a September MCAT. Either way, that would definitely be too late to first start submitting one's AMCAS, IMHO. S/he'd be one of the last applicants; the early people will be getting acceptances already while that person is still waiting for their secondaries. So I guess there are a couple of strategies that make sense for an Aug/Sept. MCAT taker, depending on one's risk aversiveness:
1) The Pi Proposition (aka the Mary R. Method): Submit your AMCAS in June/July with no MCAT score and start working on secondaries so that you are complete the second your MCAT scores are reported.
2) The Q Quarterback: Sit out a year so that you can be a June 1 applicant.