In my years of advising on medical school applications, I am always amazed by how many students don't understand the application timeline. Or they know the deadlines but take too much liberty when it comes to submitting on time. My goal with this article is to provide a high-level overview of the application timeline and hopefully convince you that submitting promptly is very important.
I get it, assembling an application can be overwhelming. With three different application portals (AMCAS for MD programs, AACOMAS for DO programs, and TMDSAS for Texas schools), it’s crucial to keep track of all the dates and deadlines, especially if you plan on applying to more than one of these portals.
Here’s all the dates you need to know for AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service) , which handles applications to most U.S. MD programs (except Texas public schools). Here’s what the timeline looked like for the 2025–2026 cycle (entering class of 2026) All of these dates should be roughly similar for next year:
May 1: Application Opens. You can start filling out your AMCAS primary application on this date. (Think of this as the day the Common App equivalent for med schools becomes available to you.)
May 27: Earliest Submission. This is the first day you’re allowed to hit “submit” and send your AMCAS application in. You cannot submit before this date, even if you’ve filled everything out.
June: AMCAS Verification. After submission, AMCAS staff will verify your coursework against your transcripts. Early in the cycle, this can be quick (around one to two weeks), but during peak summer it might take up to 4–6 weeks. Submitting in late June or July could place your application in a verification backlog, meaning schools will not see it until verification is complete.
June 27: First Transmissions to Schools. This is the date AMCAS begins releasing verified applications to medical schools. If you submitted in late May and were verified by this time, you’ll be in that first wave sent out to schools.
Late July: Interviews start getting sent out in mid-late July and continue through the following spring.
October 15: The first day acceptances get sent out!
October-December: Primary Application Deadlines. These are irrelevant. Official AMCAS deadlines vary by school, but no applicant should wait until the deadlines. Rolling admissions means you should aim to submit much earlier. (Deadlines are the latest you can apply, not the ideal time.)
With that timeline in mind, these are the absolute most essential takeaways I want to give you if you want to optimize your probability of acceptance.
Submit your primary by May 27 (or whenever the application officially opens up) In the past, I advised students to submit by the first week of June. However, in the most recent cycle, verification was much slower. I don't take any chances anymore. You REALLY want to be among the first for verification and review, giving you a head start. By late June, medical schools will begin reviewing applications and sending out secondary invitations, with early interview slots starting to fill by mid or late summer. If you're able to get into that first batch of primary applications that schools are reviewing, you have a much higher probability of landing an interview invite. If you want to achieve this goal, preparing your primary application essays and materials in April is very wise.
Submit all secondary applications within 10 days. The traditional advice was to submit within two weeks, but nowadays, it's better to submit promptly within 10 days. This shows the greatest interest in the school and helps your application get reviewed sooner. Some schools may even evaluate applicants based on how quickly they submit. Similarly, I no longer leave that to chance. The most painless and efficient way to do this is to pre-write secondaries after submitting your primary, while you're waiting for verification. Check out some of our guides and other blog articles for details on how to execute this.
I know this is stressful to think about. I was in your shoes once, and you could not pay me to go back to July during application season, when I was handling 25 secondary applications. The key to getting ahead of the game and gaining an advantage by being on time at every stage is to pre-write applications and start doing your research early in the spring. If you ever feel overwhelmed, my team and I will be happy to speak with you free of charge and help you start making a plan.
