* * 2011-2012 Secondary Applications Thread!! * *

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st2205

st2205

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Does anybody know which schools do or do not waive the secondary fee? If anyone specifically knows if KC, UNECOM or MSU waive or do not waive.
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I was wondering the same thing
 
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st2205 said:
Thanks. Just an update for those interested: it seems that the only schools that don't accept the fee waiver are both LECOMs, Nova, WV, and PNWU will waive under certain conditions.
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I applied to quite a few schools and the only ones that took it were KCOM and KCUMB. I thought I've read on here that UNECOM takes it too but I don't actually know for sure. Maybe if you call up the schools that don't advertise waiving the fee I guess they could choose to do it anyway but I didn't check into that last year.
 
EEL08 said:
I applied to quite a few schools and the only ones that took it were KCOM and KCUMB. I thought I've read on here that UNECOM takes it too but I don't actually know for sure. Maybe if you call up the schools that don't advertise waiving the fee I guess they could choose to do it anyway but I didn't check into that last year.
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Wait, so KCOM and KCUMB were the only ones that took it and everywhere else made you pay?
 
st2205 said:
Wait, so KCOM and KCUMB were the only ones that took it and everywhere else made you pay?
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Yep but like I said I didn't call each school and find out if they would. I just went by what I could/couldn't find on their websites. The schools we submitted secondaries to were AZCOM, CCOM, DCOM, KCOM, KCUMB, LECOM-E, LECOM-B, Nova, UMDNJ, and DMU. I think that's it.
 
Did you qualify for the fee waiver? Everywhere on that page linked above says that everyone waives the fee with an AACOMAS fee waiver.
 
st2205 said:
Did you qualify for the fee waiver? Everywhere on that page linked above says that everyone waives the fee with an AACOMAS fee waiver.
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Yep I got the fee waiver. I'm not sure if you are talking about a different website than the one I'm on but here are excerpts:

"The AACOMAS application fee waiver is for
the AACOMAS fee only. If you receive an AACOMAS
fee waiver, your name is forwarded to the osteopathic
medical colleges (some may grant a waiver of their
supplemental application fee)."

"Meeting AACOMAS’ eligibility criterion for a fee waiver,
however, does not guarantee a waiver will be granted
for the supplemental fee."
 
The hot spot for anything and everything secondaries, people! New threads will be merged here, so please start here first.

You may want to check out previous years' threads too as most questions and secondaries are quite similar from year to year.
 
To Those Who Know:

Before the end of August I am sitting for the MCAT twice and sending in all of my applications to MD and DO schools. I will be away this fall, from Aug 25th-Nov23th on a NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) wilderness semester with little to no contact. I will have internet and mail excess every 1-3 weeks. How quickly do school send secondary applications? Requests for interviews?
I have a science GPA: 3.4 Overall GPA: 3.6 and predict a 25 on the MCAT, but of course I am shooting for a 30. I've done two major research projects with Physicians, one of which will likely be published by the end of the summer. Basically, I am on the bubble with grades but feel confident the research I've done will set me apart from other applicants.

Please let me know your thoughts about my fall absence with secondary applications and interviews.

Much appreciated-- Kelly
 
kellyfuchs said:
To Those Who Know:

Before the end of August I am sitting for the MCAT twice and sending in all of my applications to MD and DO schools. I will be away this fall, from Aug 25th-Nov23th on a NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) wilderness semester with little to no contact. I will have internet and mail excess every 1-3 weeks. How quickly do school send secondary applications? Requests for interviews?
I have a science GPA: 3.4 Overall GPA: 3.6 and predict a 25 on the MCAT, but of course I am shooting for a 30. I've done two major research projects with Physicians, one of which will likely be published by the end of the summer. Basically, I am on the bubble with grades but feel confident the research I've done will set me apart from other applicants.

Please let me know your thoughts about my fall absence with secondary applications and interviews.

Much appreciated-- Kelly
Click to expand...

Truthfully being away that long with little to no contact will be very hard. If you take the MCAT in August, your scores will be released in September. You will probably start receiving secondaries in early october because most schools send them pretty soon after they receive your primary, other schools may take a couple weeks. Once you receive your secondaries, you should try to get them out within two weeks of when you received them to show that you are interested in the programs.

As far as interviews and interview invites go, some schools will send them with secondaries and others it takes a couple of weeks or longer. Also some interview invites will come over the phone and if you can't give them a call back for a couple weeks they may give up your spot to interview.

You should try to think how possible it will be for you to be able to get secondaries out in a timely manner because you will be receiving them during that semester and how you will be able to check your voicemails for interview calls as well.

As far as your GPA goes, It's close to the average of most DO schools, the expected MCAT is low for your GPA though and for applying later. And although it's good to have research under your belt, have you shadowed physicians in hospitals or clinics and done volunteer work because those are very important.
 
Woohoo! Just sent all my secondaries in!


jk ;) Made you freak out a little though, right?
 
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dannydickman said:
Woohoo! Just sent all my secondaries in!


jk ;) Made you freak out a little though, right?
Click to expand...


Omg I didn't even see the second line I was just thinking "Whaaaa...how...whyy?!!"

haha good one
 
Does any one know how much time we're given to complete the secondaries? If you apply to 10+ schools, you should expect to get a bunch of secondaries around the same time, right?

Also, how much advance notice do you get for interviews?
 
Optoed said:
Does any one know how much time we're given to complete the secondaries? If you apply to 10+ schools, you should expect to get a bunch of secondaries around the same time, right?

Also, how much advance notice do you get for interviews?
Click to expand...

I think you have up until their deadline to turn them in (deadlines are listed in CIB), but obviously you want to turn them in faster. You can get bombarded with secondaries pretty quickly though. I'm sure as people get them this thread will get updated so you can always start them early and turn them in as soon as you get them. I don't know how much they change year to year but if you look up last year's secondary thread you can get an idea of what to expect for prompts.
 
DO schools use the same secondaries??

If so, where can I find the secondary for CCOM, LECOM, AZCOM, ATSU-KCOM, DMU-COM...etc??

I have been looking at each school's website and the whole process is getting chaotic and stressful since I don't know if essays are required and if they are, is there a way I can finish them during the summer??
 
I think most schools the first day they accept secondaries is July 1st... if you are sent them by that time...
 
when can we even start and how do we even start the secondary essay processes? I thought the schools needed to send you the essays.
 
PopeJoja said:
when can we even start and how do we even start the secondary essay processes? I thought the schools needed to send you the essays.
Click to expand...

You won't get secondaries until your primaries have been sent to them. Some schools will screen your primary for a minimum MCAT/GPA, but most will automatically send a secondary to you. You will be notified through your e-mail about how to access and fill out the secondary.

For schools with essays, they don't tend to change the prompts year to year. If you want you can look through secondary information from last year and start working on your essays.

Hope that helps.
 
Ahhhh the memories. This is gonna be the thread where most of you guys spend your time this application cycle. I wish you all the best of luck!

dannydickman said:
Woohoo! Just sent all my secondaries in!


jk ;) Made you freak out a little though, right?
Click to expand...

That was awesome haha, even gave me a little jolt of adrenaline and I'm done with the whole process :D

Optoed said:
Does any one know how much time we're given to complete the secondaries? If you apply to 10+ schools, you should expect to get a bunch of secondaries around the same time, right?

Also, how much advance notice do you get for interviews?
Click to expand...

You have plenty of time, although the general rule is if you don't submit them within a month it looks bad to the school. From last year I remember most of us tried to get them back within the week if not two latest.

FuturePharm21 said:
DO schools use the same secondaries??

If so, where can I find the secondary for CCOM, LECOM, AZCOM, ATSU-KCOM, DMU-COM...etc??

I have been looking at each school's website and the whole process is getting chaotic and stressful since I don't know if essays are required and if they are, is there a way I can finish them during the summer??
Click to expand...

You only need one resource: last year's secondary thread. I'm pretty sure most school's secondaries have been posted in there by the time people got them. Just go through there, tons of great info and discussion during the app cycle, as well.

PopeJoja said:
when can we even start and how do we even start the secondary essay processes? I thought the schools needed to send you the essays.
Click to expand...

You start the secondary process when the school's invite you to submit their secondary (hint: this will be almost all of them unless you have some type of red flag). You can start on essays early if you wish by looking for last years prompts. I personally didn't, I felt more focused on writing them after I was invited by the school so I just waited.
 
does anyone who applied last year have any info on this???

i'm applying to:

western
touro-ca
azcom
nova
nycom
dmu
kcumb
ccom
atsu-soma
atsu-kcom

just tryin' to figure out the totals...
 
frescoengano said:
does anyone who applied last year have any info on this???

i'm applying to:

western
touro-ca
azcom
nova
nycom
dmu
kcumb
ccom
atsu-soma
atsu-kcom

just tryin' to figure out the totals...
Click to expand...


You can plan on paying between $50-$70 for each school. Some may even be less but that's the average.
 
frescoengano said:
does anyone who applied last year have any info on this???

i'm applying to:

western
touro-ca
azcom
nova
nycom
dmu
kcumb
ccom
atsu-soma
atsu-kcom

just tryin' to figure out the totals...
Click to expand...

Of the schools on your list, I applied to Nova and NYCOM. Nova was $50 and NYCOM was $60.
 
It's in the CIB... For every school...

Also in the CIB is when the secondaries are FIRST accepted... Reference it, it is your friend
 
frescoengano said:
does anyone who applied last year have any info on this???

i'm applying to:

western-$50
touro-ca-$100
azcom-$50
nova
nycom
dmu
kcumb
ccom-$50
atsu-soma-$50
atsu-kcom-$50

just tryin' to figure out the totals...
Click to expand...

This is what I remember from last year. If you get the fee waiver there is a good chance these can be waived :)
 
Last edited:
Does anyone know which school's secondaries don't require additional essays?
I think some schools require essays and some just need some forms filled out. Is this right?
 
hchang9 said:
Does anyone know which school's secondaries don't require additional essays?
I think some schools require essays and some just need some forms filled out. Is this right?
Click to expand...

Nova just asks for your EC's again but no essays, LECOM's have no essay, and WVSOM only requires a secondary if you're invited for the interview. Not sure about the rest...
 
Mzeep said:
I think you have up until their deadline to turn them in (deadlines are listed in CIB), but obviously you want to turn them in faster. You can get bombarded with secondaries pretty quickly though. I'm sure as people get them this thread will get updated so you can always start them early and turn them in as soon as you get them. I don't know how much they change year to year but if you look up last year's secondary thread you can get an idea of what to expect for prompts.
Click to expand...


I have read around 10 pages out of the 40 pages in last year's secondary thread, and I've only been able to collect 7-ish secondary prompts. Does anyone know if there's a thread that has a list of prompts for all DO schools from last year? Thanks in advance!!! :)
 
texastaco said:
I have read around 10 pages out of the 40 pages in last year's secondary thread, and I've only been able to collect 7-ish secondary prompts. Does anyone know if there's a thread that has a list of prompts for all DO schools from last year? Thanks in advance!!! :)
Click to expand...

That's a negative, the secondary thread is your best bet. You can also check last year's school-specific threads, they might have em too.
 
Hello all!
I am away in a foreign country until June 25, and I was wondering if I should expect to receive any secondaries before then? Itd be a bummer if I had to spend my last two weeks of travel in internet cafes doing these secondaries!

Thanks for the advice!
:)
 
so if I submit my primary this week, when does it get verified like june 17th? same time as amcas?

This is all so stressful because there are so many components: mcat, letters of rec, transcripts...

Do they automatically send you a secondary like in june or july because I know some schools of minimum mcat requirements but a lot of them just give secondaries out like candy so they can make some application money:)

such a business this has become!:\
 
for future reference the following schools don't grant secondary app fee waivers even if one was given a primary waiver from aacomas.

all LECOM's
NSUCOM
WVSOM
 
FuturePharm21 said:
so if I submit my primary this week, when does it get verified like june 17th? same time as amcas?

This is all so stressful because there are so many components: mcat, letters of rec, transcripts...

Do they automatically send you a secondary like in june or july because I know some schools of minimum mcat requirements but a lot of them just give secondaries out like candy so they can make some application money:)

such a business this has become!:\
Click to expand...

I had all of my transcripts in on 5/25. Submitted my app on 6/1 and I'm still not verified. Yet other people have also submitted their apps and are already verified. It's a bit puzzling. :cool:
 
fyi..prompts from last year

kirksville

1) What particular qualities do you feel you can bring to KCOM
2) What specific exposure/ experience have you had with osteopathic medicine? How has this influenced your decision to become an osteopathic physician. (Both 500 words or less)

Chicago (CCOM)

1. Why do you believe CCOM would provide you with the type of Osteopathic Medical Education you are seeking?

2. Why should CCOM accept you into this years class?

PCOM

Please attach a brief statement indicating why you wish to attend Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and why you want to become an osteopathic physician.

What health care related experiences do you have?

LE-Bradenton
I don't think there are prompts from this school in the secondary.

LMU-Debuske

1) What personal qualities do you possess that will help you become a successful osteopathic physician?​
2) In your own life, what experiences and/or people have inspired you to become an osteopathic physician?


 
Fox800 said:
I had all of my transcripts in on 5/25. Submitted my app on 6/1 and I'm still not verified. Yet other people have also submitted their apps and are already verified. It's a bit puzzling. :cool:
Click to expand...

I had my transcripts in May 14ish and was verified pre- June 1. My guess is that they got swamped with transcripts the closer it got to June 1 resulting in a longer processing time. just my guess though
 
doingit9 said:
fyi..prompts from last year

kirksville

1) What particular qualities do you feel you can bring to KCOM
2) What specific exposure/ experience have you had with osteopathic medicine? How has this influenced your decision to become an osteopathic physician. (Both 500 words or less)

Chicago (CCOM)

1. Why do you believe CCOM would provide you with the type of Osteopathic Medical Education you are seeking?

2. Why should CCOM accept you into this years class?

PCOM

Please attach a brief statement indicating why you wish to attend Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and why you want to become an osteopathic physician.

What health care related experiences do you have?

LE-Bradenton
I don't think there are prompts from this school in the secondary.

LMU-Debuske

1) What personal qualities do you possess that will help you become a successful osteopathic physician?​
2) In your own life, what experiences and/or people have inspired you to become an osteopathic physician?
Click to expand...

thank you!! :)
 
While trying to get a preview of my secondaries, I noticed that some prompts overlap with the primary application.

For example, some schools ask for a description of a non-medicine interest or hobby. If I've already written about a couple of those in my 15 Things, would I repeat one verbatim, repeat one with new words, or try to pick an entirely new one?

Thanks-
 
So I was verified on 6/3 and they released my apps on 6/9 but I haven't gotten any secondaries yet =( I'm freaking out ... should I be this worried or is this normal?
 
MEDCandy said:
So I was verified on 6/3 and they released my apps on 6/9 but I haven't gotten any secondaries yet =( I'm freaking out ... should I be this worried or is this normal?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't expect secondaries from any school until 6/21 at the earliest. Specifically because a majority of schools will send secondaries out to any applicant who fulfills a minimum MCAT and GPA requirement. I'm assuming you meet those req's because some of them are pretty low. No need to worry yet.
 
Vishna said:
I wouldn't expect secondaries from any school until 6/21 at the earliest. Specifically because a majority of schools will send secondaries out to any applicant who fulfills a minimum MCAT and GPA requirement. I'm assuming you meet those req's because some of them are pretty low. No need to worry yet.
Click to expand...



OK Thanks a lot =)
 
Anyone see any secondaries come in? I'm in a similar boat with someone who posted earlier... Submitted June 1st, Released June 9th... So just wait til the 21st or beyond? I'm surprised these things aren't automated... dont most schools want all applicants to pay the fee?? I mean it's easy money for them.
 
cmp06003 said:
Anyone see any secondaries come in? I'm in a similar boat with someone who posted earlier... Submitted June 1st, Released June 9th... So just wait til the 21st or beyond? I'm surprised these things aren't automated... dont most schools want all applicants to pay the fee?? I mean it's easy money for them.
Click to expand...

I think this was answered somewhere else, supposedly even though the application says that it has been submitted, AACOMAS isn't actually sending the application out til the 21st.
 
I received an email saying that my AACOMAS was processed today. How long does it take until schools receive the primary and start sending secondaries?
 
Oh this is good news because I submitted 6/10 :)

And I believe they release u a few days after you are verified. To my knowledge the earliest they are realeasing anyone is 6/21 - which is the earliest you can receive DO secondaries.
 
Yay! :) Hopefully this means I'm a few days behind ya :D

It's all starting! I'm getting excited and nervous haha
 
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