• Jan - May: As the year begins, it is helpful to begin contacting your potential letter writers (it's okay to start this sooner, too), begin drafting you personal statement, and begin or intensify the process of researching medical schools to which you plan to apply.

• May:

  • The common application (in pre-med advising parlance “primary applications”) applications for MD schools is the AMCAS.  

  • The DO school primary application is the AACOMAS.  Typically, applicants can open AMCAS and AACOMAS accounts in early May (date varies).

  • Have official transcripts sent from every school at which any college level credit has been earned to AMCAS or AACOMAS.

• June:

  • Typically, applicants can submit their AMCAS and/or AACOMAS applications on a specified date in the first week of June (again, this can vary).

    • Early is better, as long as quality is not sacrificed due to haste.

    • Ideal: Get your primary application and MCAT score in before July 4.

• July:

  • MCATs and primary applications completed in July are still part of a viable application.

  • It is typical for applicants who completed their primary applications in early-mid June to begin receiving secondary applications from medical schools in early July.

    • Some medical schools automatically send secondaries to all applicants while others send secondaries only to those who pass a first cut based on the primary application.

    • Some schools request Letters with the secondary.

    • 5-10 business days for completing secondaries is a good target to shoot for.  If you can’t hit it, prioritize your favorite schools and then do the rest.

    • Typically, around 70 percent of those admitted to UMMS have completed their application (primary, MCAT, secondary) by July 30.

• August:

  • MCATs taken in August--intended for use in the current application cycle--may be too late for some (but not all) rolling admissions schools. Note that UMMS pursues an aggressive rolling admissions policy so August MCATs might be too late for Michigan Medicine. 

  • Some schools will begin interviewing applicants as early as late August.

• September:

  • Interviews continue.

  • Most schools begin interviews in September. 

  • DO schools can make offers of acceptance at any time.See the AACOMAS Traffic Guidelines

  • DO applicants accepted prior to Nov 14 have until Dec 14 to submit deposits

• October:

  • Interviews continue.

  • MD Schools can send the first offers of acceptance out on Oct. 15. See the MD School 2018 Traffic Rules

    • Students have a limited amount of time to respond to these offers by either paying a deposit ($100 for MD schools, up to $1000 for DO schools) or they risk losing the offer. 

  • DO applicants accepted prior to Nov 14 have until Dec 14 to submit deposits

• November:

  • Interviews and decisions continue. 

  • DO applicants: 

    • accepted prior to Nov 14 have until Dec 14 to submit deposits, 

    • accepted between Nov 15 and Jan 14 have 30 days to submit deposits

• December:

  • Interviews and decisions continue. 

  • DO applicants accepted between Nov 15 and Jan 14 have 30 days to submit deposits.

• January:

  • Interviews and decisions continue. 

  • UMMS typically aims to finish interviews by late January - early February. 

  • DO applicants:

    • accepted between Nov 15 and Jan 14 have 30 days to submit deposits.

    • accepted between Jan 15 and May 14 have 14 days to submit deposits.

• February:

  • Interviews and decisions continue for many schools.

  • MD applicants put information into "Choose Your Medical School Tool"

• March:

  • Interviews and decisions continue for many schools. 

  • Medical schools hold “second look” visit days for accepted applicants.

• April:

  • Interviews and decisions continue for many schools. 

  • Wayne State SOM occasionally runs interviews into April (but this varies). 

  • April 15: MD school applicants must narrow their options down to 3 medical schools. 

  • April 30: MD Applicants holding more than offer of acceptance have 5 days to respond to offers (retaining one, withdrawing from others, assuming all information needed to decide is available).

• May:

  • DO applicants accepted May 15 and after are expected to submit deposits immediately.

• June:

  • Some medical schools have started classes by late June. 

  • Applicants may still be admitted from waitlists.

• July:

  • Some medical schools have started classes by July.

  • Applicants may still be admitted from waitlists.

• August:

  • Most medical schools have classes by late August.

  • Applicants may still be admitted from waitlists, but this is rare.

• May

  • AADSAS opens: applicants can begin completing their data, but cannot yet submit.

  • Take the DAT if you’re ready (official scores come back in 3 weeks).

• June

  • Early June: applicants can submit their AADSAS.

  • Take the DAT if you’re ready (official scores come back in 3 weeks).

• July

  • Early submitters begin to get supplemental applications from dental schools.

  • It’s still fine to start your application in July

  • Early applicants may receive interview invitations (after submitting supplementals)

• August

  • Supplemental applications from dental schools still arriving.

  • It’s still possible to start your application in August, but you may want to call schools to see if it is too late.

  • Interview invitations (after submitting supplementals) still arriving, some interviews may take place in late August

• September

  • Still possible to submit your AADSAS, but it’s starting to get late for many schools.

  • Interview invitations (after submitting supplementals) still arriving.  

  • Most schools start holding their interviews in September.

• October

  • Interviews continue.Interview invitations (after submitting supplementals) still arriving.  

• November

  • Interviews continue.

• December

  • December 1 is the earliest date at which any school can notify non-early decision applicants that they’ve been admitted (ADEA Guidelines).

  • Applicants have at least 30 days to respond to offers made between Dec. 1 and Jan. 31. 

  • Interviews continue.

• January

  • Applicants have at least 30 days to respond to offers made between Dec. 1 and Jan. 31. 

  • Interviews continue for some schools.

• February

  • Applicants have at least 15 days to respond to offers made on or after Feb. 1, up until March 15 

  • Interviews continue for some schools.

• March

  • The minimum response period is no longer in effect for offers made on or after March 15, so students should pay careful attention to the wording of each offer.

  • Interviews continue for a few schools.Some dentals schools hold “second look” visits.

• April

  • Applicants are expected to relinquish all offers but one by April 1.  

    • Schools are allowed to rescind offers to applicants who hold multiple offers after this date.

  • Offers of admission to waitlisted students are most common in April, but may also occur in other months.  

    • An applicant who has released all but one offer and then gets a new offer from the waitlist can accept that offer, but must decide which school they will attend and relinquish one within 24-48 hrs.

• May

  • An applicant who has released all but one offer and then gets a new offer from the waitlist can accept that offer, but must decide which school they will attend and relinquish one within 24-48 hrs.

  • Offers from waitlists can occur.

• June

  • Some dental schools begin courses in late June.

  • Offers from waitlists can occur.

• July

  • Many dental schools begin courses in July.

  • Offers from waitlists can occur.

• August

  • Some dental schools begin courses in August.

  • Offers from waitlists occur, but only rarely at this point.

• January - July

  • If you haven't yet begun talking to people from whom you want letters of reference, you should start.

  • Begin (or continue) exploring the schools to which you plan to apply.Take the PCAT (if you haven't already)

  • Check PHARMCAS Important Dates for specifics for each application cycle.

• July

  • PHARMCAS opens

  • IMPORTANT: Check the institutional deadlines (they vary from school to school) and time your applications accordingly.

• September

  • The early decision deadline typically occurs in early September.

    • Note that EDP programs among Pharmacy schools nationwide are under review by AACP and may be discontinued as early as 2020, so please check.

  • Interviews continue.

• October

  • Interviews continue

• November

  • Application deadlines occur in November for some schools (check!)

  • Interviews continue.

• December

  • Application deadlines occur in December for some schools (check!)

  • Fall academic update opens mid-December.

  • Interviews continue.

• January

  • Third regular application deadline falls in early January.

  • Interviews continue.

• February

  • Application deadlines occur in November for some schools (check!)

  • The Fall academic update period ends in mid February.

  • Interviews continue.

• March

  • Cooperative Admissions Guidelines state that by March 1, applicants may hold only a single acceptance.  

  • Anyone with multiple acceptances must withdraw their applications from all but one of the schools that have offered them admissions at this time. 

  • You may hold only a single offer of admission after March 1.

  • Application deadlines occur in March for some schools (check!)

• April

  • Application deadlines occur in April for some schools (check!)

• May

  • Application deadlines occur in May for some schools (check!)

• June

  • Application deadlines occur in June for some schools (check!)

• Application opens: Mid-July

• Application received: Most applications are received on a rolling basis

• Application Verification by OTCAS: Up to 4 weeks after all materials are received

• Submission Deadline: Determined by each individual school; can happen anywhere between October and March

• Early Decision Application Deadline: Dependent on the school, usually between September and November

• Secondary Application aka “Secondaries”: Dependent on the school, generally starting in August

• Interviews: Generally October-May, depending on the school

• Offers: Generally January-April

Application closes: Mid-June

• Application opens: Mid-August

• Priority Deadline (if school participates): Determined by each individual school, generally between November and January

• Submission Deadline: Determined by each individual school, generally between October and February, but can stretch as far as April

• Offers: Dependent on school, generally February-May

Application closes: early August