How does the admissions committee timeline work (infrequent meeting)?

[XyZ1000]

Hi, all. I have heard some talk about admissions committees meeting very infrequently at some schools (e.g. once a month) and am confused about how this works. Does this mean if they meet, say, when info is transmitted this year on July 10th, everyone who was verified on the day of July 11th is in the same boat as everyone verified as late as August 10th and will not even be considered for a secondary/interview for another month? So if you submit June 11th--> verified July 11th for example, you may not even be considered for a secondary until August, whereas someone who submitted and was verified a day earlier could have their entire file complete by then? Thanks for helping me understand.

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[LizzyM]

Much of the work is done outside of meetings.
Applications come in and are ready to be read. Those applications are sent electronically to reviewers who send their commentaries and recommendations back to the person who decides who gets an interview.

Applicants are interviewed and the interviewers send their comments electronically to the applicant's file.

The committee members review the interviewers' remarks, the application reviewers' commentaries and the application itself in preparation for the adcom meeting.

Now, with all that preliminary work done, the committee meets and discusses each applicant. It might take 10 seconds or it could take 10 minutes. The meeting is usually to discuss everyone interviewed since the last meeting. So meetings are as often as they need to be and as long as they need to be until a decision is reached to admit at least as many applicants as there are seats. The remainder can be waitlisted or denied admission and a member of the administration (Dean of Admissions, usually) can be given the authority by the adcom to select applicants from the waitlist as needed.

The LCME, the accrediting body for MD schools, requires that admission decisions be made by members of the faculty.

 

[Goro]

Hi, all. I have heard some talk about admissions committees meeting very infrequently at some schools (e.g. once a month) and am confused about how this works. Does this mean if they meet, say, when info is transmitted this year on July 10th, everyone who was verified on the day of July 11th is in the same boat as everyone verified as late as August 10th and will not even be considered for a secondary/interview for another month? So if you submit June 11th--> verified July 11th for example, you may not even be considered for a secondary until August, whereas someone who submitted and was verified a day earlier could have their entire file complete by then? Thanks for helping me understand.

At my school, the Adcom meetings are largely dependent, if not even hostage to, the schedules of our clinical faculty. As such, we meet every two-three weeks.

And schools stratify the apps as they come in and don't send out secondaries or IIs merely in chronological order.

Secondaries are often a tax on the hopelessly naïve, if not pathologically optimistic.

Most schools don't get serious about Adcom meetings until after Labor Day. The staff and Faculty are allowed vacations, and all that.

 

[KnightDoc]

Much of the work is done outside of meetings.
Applications come in and are ready to be read. Those applications are sent electronically to reviewers who send their commentaries and recommendations back to the person who decides who gets an interview.

Applicants are interviewed and the interviewers send their comments electronically to the applicant's file.

The committee members review the interviewers' remarks, the application reviewers' commentaries and the application itself in preparation for the adcom meeting.

Now, with all that preliminary work done, the committee meets and discusses each applicant. It might take 10 seconds or it could take 10 minutes. The meeting is usually to discuss everyone interviewed since the last meeting. So meetings are as often as they need to be and as long as they need to be until a decision is reached to admit at least as many applicants as there are seats. The remainder can be waitlisted or denied admission and a member of the administration (Dean of Admissions, usually) can be given the authority by the adcom to select applicants from the waitlist as needed.

The LCME, the accrediting body for MD schools, requires that admission decisions be made by members of the faculty.

So who are the initial reviewers and who is the person who decides who gets an interview? I'll assume the reviewers are admissions staffers. Is the final decision made by the Dean, some subcommittee of the adcom, or someone else?

 

[KnightDoc]

At my school, the Adcom meetings are largely dependent, if not even hostage to, the schedules of our clinical faculty. As such, we meet every two-three weeks.

And schools stratify the apps as they come in and don't send out secondaries or IIs merely in chronological order.

Secondaries are often a tax on the hopelessly naïve, if not pathologically optimistic.

Most schools don't get serious about Adcom meetings until after Labor Day. The staff and Faculty are allowed vacations, and all that.

Vacations????? Tell them this year, for their own safety, they have to stay home and just dig into applications starting 7/10 until we have a vaccine.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Vacations????? Tell them this year, for their own safety, they have to stay home and just dig into applications starting 7/10 until we have a vaccine.

Good idea. May be finish all the interviews and admission decisions by Thanksgiving?

 

[Goro]

Good idea. May be finish all the interviews and admission decisions by Thanksgiving?

Unlikely. There are only so many people who can do interviews, and be interviewed at a time.

 

[eigen]

Vacations????? Tell them this year, for their own safety, they have to stay home and just dig into applications starting 7/10 until we have a vaccine.

This is how you get burnt out and disgruntled faculty reviewing files. Trust me, no one wants that.

 

[XyZ1000]

Thank you all for your clarifying comments. I had assumed that all decisions about an applicant/application were made jointly and only during committee meetings, and so was confused how that would be possible with all the implications that would come with meeting infrequently during such a process. I am very glad that is not the case, as I'm sure we can all agree!

 

[LizzyM]

Who the school uses as application readers depends. It is usually faculty (both clincial and basic science) as well as some alumni who are often retired physicians intersting in continuing to contribute their services to the school. In some cases, some M3 or M4 students may be tapped as readers. There might be two layers or review or one. The reader's recommendations go to the decision maker who is generally the Dean of Admissions or Director of Admissions. You have, no doubt, seen that smiling face on the schools' admissions office websites. After applicants are selected for interivew they go in a queue and are given invitations to interview by an office staffer who manages that process. My school has found that offering invitations with dates too far in the future ends up being counter productive because people will schedule far in advance and then cancel leaving a hole. Far better to book 3 weeks in advance in November than to book 3 months in advance in September. So, you may be queued for interview but sit waiting for months because it is too soon to issue an invitation.

 

[XyZ1000]

Who the school uses as application readers depends. It is usually faculty (both clincial and basic science) as well as some alumni who are often retired physicians intersting in continuing to contribute their services to the school. In some cases, some M3 or M4 students may be tapped as readers. There might be two layers or review or one. The reader's recommendations go to the decision maker who is generally the Dean of Admissions or Director of Admissions. You have, no doubt, seen that smiling face on the schools' admissions office websites. After applicants are selected for interivew they go in a queue and are given invitations to interview by an office staffer who manages that process. My school has found that offering invitations with dates too far in the future ends up being counter productive because people will schedule far in advance and then cancel leaving a hole. Far better to book 3 weeks in advance in November than to book 3 months in advance in September. So, you may be queued for interview but sit waiting for months because it is too soon to issue an invitation.

Thank you, that information helps and will no doubt be comforting to think about as we all wait out this cycle.

 

[KnightDoc]

Who the school uses as application readers depends. It is usually faculty (both clincial and basic science) as well as some alumni who are often retired physicians intersting in continuing to contribute their services to the school. In some cases, some M3 or M4 students may be tapped as readers. There might be two layers or review or one. The reader's recommendations go to the decision maker who is generally the Dean of Admissions or Director of Admissions. You have, no doubt, seen that smiling face on the schools' admissions office websites. After applicants are selected for interivew they go in a queue and are given invitations to interview by an office staffer who manages that process. My school has found that offering invitations with dates too far in the future ends up being counter productive because people will schedule far in advance and then cancel leaving a hole. Far better to book 3 weeks in advance in November than to book 3 months in advance in September. So, you may be queued for interview but sit waiting for months because it is too soon to issue an invitation.

Interesting on the invitation detail. As a future applicant, might I suggest that it would eliminate a lot of anxiety to let candidates know that they have been queued for an II and will hear back at an approximate date in the future to schedule? Much better on our end than to hear nothing for months. From your perspective, getting us excited about a future II might be preferable to telling us nothing while we get excited about the schools that have actually contacted us first.

 

[TheDataKing]

Interesting on the invitation detail. As a future applicant, might I suggest that it would eliminate a lot of anxiety to let candidates know that they have been queued for an II and will hear back at an approximate date in the future to schedule? Much better on our end than to hear nothing for months. From your perspective, getting us excited about a future II might be preferable to telling us nothing while we get excited about the schools that have actually contacted us first.

Some schools do this with "small pools" and such but then many people don't get interviews from the pool and others get interviews without ever being put in the small pool. Honestly, going through 5-15k applications is a ton and while it's anxiety-provoking, you kinda get used to it during the cycle and it's a log of work for schools to say that, especially if that list isn't fully finalized. Many people would be more upset to hear they were getting an interview in the future and then not get one rather than just not hear back until they're rejected (no false hope)

 

[KnightDoc]

See section in red for a brief summary

********AMCAS 2021 Timeline Summary (post count #022)***********

Because of COVID-19 and the very dynamic changes this will bring throughout society for the this year (and likely for the next 2-3 years if pandemics of the 20th century would indicate), questions will come up again and again about online prereqs, P/F courses, MCAT prep and testing, volunteering, shadowing, Physician LOR, lab requirements, virtual interviews, etc. However, there is no definitive answer as no one knows which schools will act in which ways, nor how the upcoming cycle will happen. However, as medical schools are on the front lines of this both in treating patients as well as setting appropriate behavior for community public health, it would seems reasonable that most medical schools will take into consideration over the next few years at least. In this time of crisis, we all must learn to live with uncertainty and ambiguity about the future.
-Applicants should be filling out the AMCAS 2021.
-AMCAS provides dozens of “How to” tutorial and videos, most of which are linked in my signature. Applicants should download the free 2021 AMCAS Applicant Guide when available. It should be considered the study guide on how to fill out AMCAS.
-Applicants should have the MSAR, which should be considered the text book for the application process
-Applying to medical school is a full time job from May until through September and then on call for the rest of the cycle. There is no general rule across schools when they may evaluate and review your application, possibly invite you for an interview, when the interview may be, when a decision may be reached, or when you may get off a WL. For some of you, the cycle will run until August 2021.
-AMCAS May 4, 2020, Primary application opens up. Can send formal requests for transcripts from your schools and letter requests to your letter writers.
-AMCAS May 28, 2020, Completed primary applications with all ECs, PS, and course information can be submitted.
-You enter the verification queue (“time to verify”) only when both completed primary application and all transcripts have been received.
-AMCAS does not, repeat, does not verify LOR or MCAT score. Your primary application will be verified and transmitted regardless of LOR or MCAT score status
-AMCAS June 26, 2020 (delayed to due Corona/COVID-19), JULY 10 begins transmission verified applications (though some schools have secondaries sent to contact info upon submission to AMCAS)
-Verification peak is about August 1st and takes 20 days
-Most Primary Apps are transmitted early July thru early September, though this year it will likely move slower
-Secondaries timelines can vary widely as to when to they are sent out from almost immediately upon submissions to 3 months, though most are in the range 1-3 weeks after transmission.
-Letters via AMCAS are processed/transmitted separately from primary
-Letters can be added after primary has been submitted and transmitted and are mostly not needed until secondary reviews at the earliest.
-While applications are transmitted at end of June, July 10, most schools do not start any processing until at least mid-July at the earliest; even then, most dont get up to full speed until mid-August to early September.
-There are usually 3 main phases in processing application
----1) Initial Screening/Evaluation: A hybrid of automatic GPA/MCAT screen plus human for "quick review" of application. Used to for general priority and, in some cases, which team/subcommittee gets application. At some schools, preset criteria or informal policy can lead to II at this stage.
----2) Full Evaluation: This is where evaluator/reader/team/subcommittee will fully evaluate all sections of primary, secondary, and LOR and generally summarize in broad categories or point system. This essentially becomes your priority for adcom review and II. This function may be split up among several evaluators and may go to a team or subcommittee for II decision. Application are not typically evaluated until complete with Primary, Secondary, MCAT, and LOR
----3) Full adcom: this is where your fully evaluated application is reviewed and decided for interview invite After interview Adcom will vote on admission (acceptance or alternate WL)
-Application and candidate evaluations timeline varies widely by school may not done in a linear, chronological order. EDP, High achievers, URM, family of alumni, feeder schools, associated UG programs, linked postbaccs, and other factor may push an app forward in the process.
-Most adcoms dont start meeting for review of evaluated applicants until at least mid-August, more likely September, though some reviews may be done earlier for groups mentioned above. Evaluation may start almost immediately at some schools.
-Schools receive 5,000-10,000 application but can only evaluate several hundred applications a week. Therefore, it can take anywhere from 4-16 weeks (1-4 months) or more to be evaluated, reviewed and invited for interview after your application is complete.
-Schools must reduce several thousand applications to several hundred interviews.
At least 80% of applicants at any individual school must be rejected pre-interview.
-There are about 900,000 individual applications across 150+ medical schools with about 150,000 interview slots maximum. That means on average of 16 submitted applications only 3 will get an II.
-Applicants should check each applicant portal daily until application is marked complete, under review, or similar. After that, you should check applicant portal 2 to 3 times as week as schools may invite you for interview solely by portal; some schools do not send email for interview invite.

-Medical Schools are deciding on Acceptance. All applicants start as “Unaccepted” or rejected. With 60% of applicants not getting a seat, all applicants must assume that may be reapplicants and start enhancing their record from the moment they submit AMCAS.
-Medical schools have no requirement to inform you of any decision other than an interview invite, an acceptance, or alternate/WL position. Some schools will never send out any rejection or other notice on your application as all start as “rejected”.
-Timing of early, on time or late refers to any impact that “lateness” may have on your chances. Being early or on time does not improve your chances but rather it means that timing will not be a factor in lowering your chances.
-Submitting Primary Application June is Early, July Medium, August Late
-Having Primary verified and transmitted to school by middle of August is normal speed
-Having Secondary and all LORs complete to school by Labor Day Mid-to-Late September (due to Corona/COVID-19) is likely early for all applicants at all schools, even highly competitive programs.
-Late September to Early October is about on time for solid candidates at most programs
-End of October is about late for almost all programs
-After that point you will generally start getting impacted by the number of applications submitted and the finite number of essentially rolling interview slots. Seats given by rolling admissions is not a big factor in this. These aren’t absolute dates nor is it a fixed timeline. It should be used as a guideline
-Medical schools focus on evaluation and pre-II review up until approximately Thanksgiving. At that time they need to start transitioning to post-interview acceptance decision. However, with the increasing number of applications per school, some fraction of interview invites will continue into the new year.
-Timing matters to getting your application in. Once you are in and evaluated, timing has little impact on your chances. It is a myth that schools fill all the seats early and then just have alternate slots.
-When you get invited for an interview is a better indicator of your interest of the school rather than when the actual interview is. Stronger candidates typically invited earlier.
-Medical schools cannot inform regular MD candidates of admission (acceptance or alternate) prior to Oct 15th. However, medical school can inform applicants of any other decision, such as rejection or hold, at any time from initial primary submission until past end of cycle. Do note that the only formal vote an admission committee need to make is for admission (acceptance or alternate/WL) and that is the only decision they must inform you about. A large fraction of applicants will never get a formal rejection; they will simply never get II or acceptance.

Getting primary in on time does matter because of all the other items that follow it. But applicants often see the beginning and not understanding how it flows from there. Additionally, how each school then opens a file, reviews them on GPA, MCAT, and other factors, and what order they wind up in a queue has less to do with when the primary arrives then when the secondary is completed and received. Since the majority of schools, I dare say, send out pre-transmission, unscreened, or minimal cut off screened secondaries, this is probably a larger factor in where you wind up in the queue for 1) reading an application and 2) decision on interview invite. As I have said previously, and will undoubtedly say dozens of time during this 2021 application cycle (see count above) review of apps is not simply done in a linear chronological order. High achievers, URM, family of alumni, feeder schools, associated UG programs, linked postbaccs, and other factor may push an app forward in the process.

This is very helpful, as always, and apparently is very school specific, because others are saying that the full adcom does NOT meet to decide on IIs (which was really OP's original question), while your red summary says it does.