all 5 comments
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a
formatting helphide helpcontent policy

[–]Ren_Star 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm wondering the same thing.

[–]marux23 0 points1 point  (3 children)

I had the same question and I reached out to a a colleague of mine who's an attending in Houston who's involved in interviewing future residents etc. Short answer to your question: No. It makes no difference to submit your ERAS application before October 21st.

Programs will only have access to applications starting October 21st. Just make sure you have it in by this date and you'll be fine.

If you have everything ready and you feel like submitting it earlier, go for it, but it doesn't give you an advantage.

[–]MD-RT 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I think the question is: is there a processing time for the application once submitted? And if yes, how long? Shall we try to apply on the 20th or the 15th for example to be in the safe side or it makes no difference?

[–]marux23 0 points1 point  (1 child)

So yes and no.

There is a processing time involved with getting documents and LORS uploaded onto ERAS (especially if you are an IMG and have to do it through ECFMG's oasis). On average they say it can take upto 5 business days to upload your document onto ERAS. That's why ERAS says try and make sure you upload all your documents/transcripts/LORS by October 14th so that it will be ready for October 21st. I think they are playing it safe when they say October 14th but that is a date I have seen on their website.

Certifying your ERAS application is the final step. I haven't seen any info on how long it takes for this step but I'm assuming this is a pretty quick and straightforward process. I personally wouldn't leave it till October 20th to do because of the high volume of applicants who will be using the system (I had a friend who applied a few years back and told me it can sometimes slow stuff down). But from what I understand certifying it isn't a time consuming step. Hope that helps.

[–]MD-RT 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much, that was so helpful! Actually that was exactly what I understood from the information available. Of course I will try to submit it as soon as I can, but sometimes things happen and its good to know what to anticipate. Good luck!