ADHD Standard track wait times in 2025

[cpleiss324]

Hello! First time posting on here for me.
I am currently in the process of waiting for my first class medical via the ADHD standard track. This is my first time applying for a medical.

I've heard horror stories of it being 8+ months up to YEARS of people just sitting in the system waiting to hear back on their decision. I've also heard people saying they've had their medical in 3 months. With all of the stuff going on in the federal government right now and with so many people getting fired, would it be at all possible to give a somewhat accurate time frame that I can be expecting to wait? Something a bit more narrow than 3-24 months, as that will drastically change my course of action moving forward. I am currently enrolled in ground school through a university and am going to be starting my private pilot training soon.

My exact situation is this:
Childhood ADHD diagnosis from 5th grade. Took meds for about 2 years and didn't notice much of a difference when on vs off them, so I stopped taking them and was off for about 6 years. Then, in August of 2024, I decided to talk to my doctor about starting meds for the new college semester as I was in engineering school at the time and was trying to see if meds would help with the stress/workload.
A month into those meds (Adderall) doing nothing for me, I just stopped taking them altogether. Fast forward a few months and I realized that engineering just isn't for me, and I started looking into aviation.
As of right now, I have everything submitted in medxpress, including the neurocog screening done (passed with no issues at all) and everything on the checklist. My deferred exam was on January 15th and the last of my records were uploaded on February 13th.

Any sort of time frame would be greatly appreciated. I'm itching to start flying but I don't want to spend a bunch of money if I won't be able to solo for a year.
Thanks in advance

 

[bbchien]

8 months right now and you would be doing VERY WELL.
All is chaos, (thanks to the new CIC. Not political- medical officers have been called back to the nonexistent office and have no means of compliance)

 

[cpleiss324]

8 months right now and you would be doing VERY WELL.
All is chaos, (thanks to the new CIC. Not political- medical officers have been called back to the nonexistent office and have no means of compliance)

Well.... that completely sucks. Is there anything I can even do then? Do I just need to give up for a year because of this BS?

 

[LifeAtAltitude]

Not that I’m at all an expert (I’m far from it). But make them sick of hearing from you. Call every other day, asking for an update. Ask the AOPA to nag them as well.

 

[sourdough44]

Two years back in the 5th grade, seems like you can overcome the issue. I can just imagine the possible chain of events between the teachers and Mom. I’ve see that before. Since I’m not in the medical field I’m not qualified to give an informed opinion about medications, some say.


Is the phrase ‘betting on the come’ still used anymore? What I mean, at what point do you need the student medical? Could you start instruction without it, don’t worry about going solo right now. If an organized flight program isn’t an option, check out nearby, smaller schools.
How about a low cost pilot ground school where available? If it’s what you want, I think you can get started while waiting.

Seems to me, some meds in 5th grade would be easier to deal with than a DUI, or 2.

 

[AvNavCom]

Two years back in the 5th grade, seems like you can overcome the issue.

It's not just two years back in the 5th grade, though. It's those two years, and then *again* within the last year. Sounds like the most recent medication use was an experiment to potentially get improved performance, but the FAA isn't on the "better living through chemistry" bandwagon. OP is going to have to just walk the steps, at the pace the FAA is able to give. A pace, as Doc C so correctly points out, that is unlikely to have been improved by recent events.

 

[sourdough44]

Sorry just skimmed, didn’t see the very recent medication trial. Maybe I need meds to focus??? Since the poster said the meds didn’t offer improvement, maybe my medical hat isn’t a bad idea after all. Going a little off what a medical friend thinks of similar prescriptions.


Kinda tough too, you watch the evening news, everyone is(or should be) on something.

 

[Anthem]

<Content deleted by User>

 

[bbchien]

Well it does testify to the applicant’s thinking, “I really do need cognitive support”, for sure…..

 

[cpleiss324]

8 months right now and you would be doing VERY WELL.
All is chaos, (thanks to the new CIC. Not political- medical officers have been called back to the nonexistent office and have no means of compliance)

Hey Dr. Chien,
I looked at medxpress today and to my absolute astonishment, it says my file is under final review. It has only been "in review" for a couple weeks at most, and I was under the impression that the "in review" part is the part that takes forever, and then "final review" basically means that they're writing up the letter to mail to me. Am I wrong in this assumption? "In Review" said it would take "up to 60 business days" in medxpress while it says final review takes up to 2 days to receive correspondence.

 

[bbchien]

In review does not mean "about to be approved" and it could be admin level review....that being said, it could be a demand letter. But, if you had a very strong neurocognitive review it could be handled by "general review" adn then 10 weeks is much more common!

 

[cpleiss324]

In review does not mean "about to be approved" and it could be admin level review....that being said, it could be a demand letter. But, if you had a very strong neurocognitive review it could be handled by "general review" adn then 10 weeks is much more common!

Everything worked out.... insanely fast as well. I called my RFS's office this morning to ask if they had any info on what final review actually meant in my case, and she told me that mine was approved and just waiting to be sent in the mail. Sure enough, I just looked at Medxpress and it shows that mine has been reviewed and my first class has been issued!
The only thing I'm questioning on here is that it says:
"Limitations: Not valid for any class after 7/31/2025"
What exactly does that mean? Does that indicate special issuance or something? I assume more details will be outlined when I receive the letter.

 

[flyingron]

"Limitations: Not valid for any class after 7/31/2025"

It means that it isn't valid after that date. I suspect your original examination was in July of last year. They give you a year at a time. Your letter should tell you what you should do to renew it with your AME. Usually, all it takes is a "he's doing OK' status report and you walk out the office with one renewed for the next year.

 

[cpleiss324]

It means that it isn't valid after that date. I suspect your original examination was in July of last year. They give you a year at a time. Your letter should tell you what you should do to renew it with your AME. Usually, all it takes is a "he's doing OK' status report and you walk out the office with one renewed for the next year.

Gotcha. My initial exam was in January of this year so July will be 6 months since then.