Session 101 Our poster today is looking at his med school application timeline and wondering if completing his prereqs after he applies will hurt his application. Check out all of our other podcasts on MedEd Media. We take questions directly from the OldPreMeds.org forums and answer them here on the podcast. If you haven't yet, go sign up for a free account and ask away. [01:10] OldPreMeds Question of the Week: The poster is saying he has four more labs, bio and organic labs, to complete tentatively in Summer 2018 and Fall 2018. He plans to spend Spring 2018 to prepare for the MCAT (No classes). The poster is working 60 hours a week so he's working full time and studying full time as well. He's planning to take the MCAT in 2018. He goes on saying, "I noticed from the MSAR (Medical School Admissions Requirements) website that most of the schools close their primary application by November to early December." This is a very important point. Medical schools have their deadline end of November, early December, depending on the school. "Those are deadlines which should be ignored. You need to apply as early as possible, as close to June as possible." If you're applying in November or December, you are not going to get into medical school. The majority of schools have already sent out all of their interview invites. They have already set aside a lot of acceptances for their next class. And so if you're applying that late, you're not likely going to get an interview. You're not likely going to get into medical school. Going back to the poster's question, he says his final prereqs will be completed in the Fall of 2018. So his question is whether he would be at a disadvantage for the 2019 application cycle. He has read in the forums that he could still apply by June 1st, even without all his prerequisites. [03:22] Doing Prereqs Before Application The poster wants to apply in June of 2018 to start medical school in June 2019. So he wants to know that if he finishes his prereqs in the Fall of 2018 (Sept-Dec), would this put him at a disadvantage to apply in June of 2018. The answer is no. You do not need to have your prereqs done before you apply to medical school. You only need to have your prereqs done before you matriculate into medical school. Before that, it doesn't matter. They won't see the grades. So if you're struggling with your GPA, those grades might help. They might help give you a good excuse to send an update letter later. [04:48] Taking the MCAT What might hurt you is if you're taking the MCAT without those prereqs in the sense that it might hurt not to have that foundational knowledge for the MCAT. But understand that most students will take the MCAT before all of their prereqs are done. Because that's just the normal timeline of undergrad classes, the MCAT, and applying to medical school. "This is why I see more and more students taking a purposeful gap year to study for the MCAT after all their classes are done." Students who take a gap year to study for the MCAT think they don't want to cram everything in together. So they decide on doing all their classes first and graduate. Then they're going to take the MCAT. But if you're a strong enough student and you think you can fit it all in, then go ahead and do it. Again, the answer is no, it doesn't hurt if your prereqs are not done prior to submitting your application. But remember that you need to submit as early as possible in the cycle. [05:55] Tell a Friend, Share This Podcast If you have a friend who is going through this process, grab their phone and subscribe to this podcast. Also, I'm available to help you through this process. I help students with their personal statements and interview preps. We work on a complete application prep where we work from January to December through the application cycle. I will help you write your personal statements, secondaries, update letters, and prepare for your interviews. I will help you with everything and anything you need