When to submit my application if i want to take summer courses

[gator11]

I want to take two summer courses to increase my sGPA a bit and was wondering if I should submit my application as soon as I can without my final grades or wait until the courses are over, in August, and submit the application then. Any help would be appreciated! 

[dndandrea]

Applying in August is considered a pretty risky move. With that being said, I applied late August and had no problem getting interviews to every school I was interested in.

 

I would apply sooner than later because of schools with rolling admissions.

[gator11]

So would you think taking these courses is kind of a waste of time? Since all my application will say is that i'm currently enrolled in them.

[cop to pa]

What's you sGPA now and what would it be if you pulled A's B's or C's in the two classes? How many prereqs are outstanding with and without these two? 

[rev ronin]

So would you think taking these courses is kind of a waste of time? Since all my application will say is that i'm currently enrolled in them.

I'm sure that's not what you meant, but this comes across as very goal-oriented and not an appropriate attitude towards learning.  You get into medicine because you like people and like lifelong learning, or your reasons are incompatible with the reality of the profession.  If you're going to take classes to increase your sGPA, they should stimulate your learning and your love for the natural world, even if they don't have a direct bearing on your medical preparation--say Geology or Astronomy.

 

Even if those courses don't help necessarily in THIS year's application, they may well help for next.  Plenty of people don't get in the first time around, and by the time all the final rejection notices are sent, it's already time for CASPA to open again for the next cycle!  So improving your application for the next cycle is something you're better off doing at the same time as applying for the current cycle.

[unculturedpearl]

I'm in the same boat as you except I'm doing summer classes to fulfill prereqs. I'll submit my app the last week of July since I'll only have 2 prereqs outstanding at that time. All of the schools I'm interested in have rolling admissions so I know that's going to be against me but I really want to learn and retain the infolong-term not just for a test.

 

I know the competition is fierce so I'm looking at this cycle as a learning experience

[rev ronin]

One other thing having a lot of in-progress classes does is that it shows you have a plan to keep learning. You can list a years' worth of future courses if you want, so that if you get an interview and get the "What are you going to do if you don't get into PA school this year?" question, you can calmly answer, "Well, my CASPA planned coursework is what I've worked out so far for how to come back here next year and be an even more competitive applicant."  As an applicant interviewer, that's the exact sort of balance between optimism (you HAVE to believe in yourself to do this job) and realism (there simply aren't spots for all the great candidates) that I'm looking for.

[gator11]

I did not mean to come off as just taking the classes for my GPA, i'm choosing the courses because i'm very interested in them. I just am really hoping on getting into a school this coming up application period so i was wondering how much of an impact these courses would have on my application.

 

Neither of the courses are pre-reqs, i have all of those done. I just wanted to continue with some classes to add to my application strength and knowledge.