Check These Off Before Submitting an Early Medical School Application

Many prospective medical school students believe that submitting their American Medical College Application Service applications as soon as the system opens is imperative.

But rushing to submit your AMCAS application on the day the system opens is a mistake if it means there's an error in your work. To avoid this outcome, consider the questions below, which form a last-minute checklist for applicants.

[Find out how to maximize your AMCAS application.]

1. Why should you submit your AMCAS application as soon as possible? Medical school admissions is a rolling process, which means that interviews are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis to qualified applicants. AMCAS is currently open for students who wish to begin medical school in 2017, and these individuals should begin to enter their information and gather their supporting documentation now for the best chance of receiving interview requests.

On June 7 , students who have completed their applications can officially submit them to AMCAS. The service will then verify students' coursework, with the order determined by who is first in the verification queue. On June 24, AMCAS will begin to transmit verified applications to schools. Letters of recommendation and MCAT scores will be sent to schools as soon as AMCAS receives them.

Once your coursework has been entered into AMCAS, you cannot add more classes later. For some people who submit on June 7, this means that summer coursework will not be included on the application.

If these classes will help your application, be sure to individually update programs with this information, particularly if you have not heard from them about a secondary application. Getting in line early ultimately matters more than submitting your most updated transcript, thanks to the mathematics of rolling admissions -- and there are always other ways to address application weaknesses.

[Get expert advice on submitting medical school applications.]

2. What should you double-check on your AMCAS application? Before you submit your AMCAS application, ensure you have completed these sections accurately and to the best of your ability: Sections 1 and 3 contain your demographic and personal information, while section 2 lists the schools you have attended. Section 4 documents your coursework. As you review section 5, verify that you have highlighted those extracurricular and work activities that are most important to you.

In section 7, you should also be sure that you have selected all the schools to which you would like to send your AMCAS application. Finally, double-check that you have done everything you can to expedite the arrival of any items that may not be available for the first day of AMCAS transmission.

For example, for your letters of recommendation (section 6), double-check that you have created the appropriate letter requests, and follow up with your recommenders to ensure that they are aware of any deadlines. Be persistent but polite. It is your job to remind your writers of their task with reasonable frequency if they have not yet submitted your letter of recommendation. Schedule another MCAT test date if necessary.

[Avoid sloppy medical school applications with these tips.]

3. What items on the AMCAS application require an in-depth review? Some sections require a more fastidious review. With physical copies of your official transcripts in hand -- that is, transcripts identical to those sent to AMCAS -- reread every coursework entry, including course classification information. When classifying your coursework, be sure to choose the subject that best represents the class material, or AMCAS may reclassify -- or change -- it to a different designation. Issues like course reclassification are often responsible for delays in coursework verification, but they can also change your science-specific or general GPA.

Finally, this is your last chance to revise your personal statement -- section 8 on the application. Ask someone who has never read your personal statement to review it, focusing on content, readability , grammar and spelling. You can also read your personal statement paragraph by paragraph, back to front, to increase your own proofreading accuracy.

With medical school, applying early means applying on time. Following the checklists provided here can help you ensure that your application will be complete, correct and transmitted to your target schools as quickly as possible.

Vipinjeet Sandhu is a professional MCAT tutor and contributing writer with Varsity Tutors. He earned his bachelor's degree in neuroscience and behavior from Columbia College of Columbia University. He holds an M.D. from St. George's University School of Medicine.