How is life after secondaries?

[Lifeman]

Please tell me interview season isn't as bad as this.

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[Ismet]

it involves a lot of waiting and getting excited and then disappointed every time you get an email for the next 9 months or so.

 

[Make Or Break]

It gets worse.... Much worse..... I hear there are poop hotdogs at interviews...

 

[SN12357]

Please tell me interview season isn't as bad as this.

Honestly the month I spent writing secondaries was far worse than interview months... once I had the invites. The waiting around is pretty horrible.

 

[cookiesandmilk]

What are you guys doing to stay sane? I thought waiting a month for my MCAT scores was bad enough but looks like there's lots more waiting for us to do on our part...

 

[Amba]

it involves a lot of waiting and getting excited and then disappointed every time you get an email for the next 9 months or so.

This is about as accurate as it gets.

 

[cookiesandmilk]

This is about as accurate as it gets.

Yeah, I unsubscribed from a lot of my newsletters and emails, because I kept getting mini panic attacks every time my phone buzzed and I hoped it was an II and it turned out to be a shopping discount...

 

[LMBLBM]

Until you have your acceptance, every day will be your worst day.

 

[Amba]

Yeah, I unsubscribed from a lot of my newsletters and emails, because I kept getting mini panic attacks every time my phone buzzed and I hoped it was an II and it turned out to be a shopping discount...

Pro tip: make a new email account specifically for med school communications. Yes, I still had a heart attack every time I received a new email on my gmail account, but at least I knew it was med school related...

 

[poopsicle]

alot of self-analysis

 

[Lifeman]

Honestly the month I spent writing secondaries was far worse than interview months... once I had the invites. The waiting around is pretty horrible.

I feel like I could distract myself enough and do other things to not mind waiting. It's just when you have things to do on the back of your mind like write 20 secondaries that I can't do anything else without feeling bad lol.

 

[BuffPremed]

Yeah, I unsubscribed from a lot of my newsletters and emails, because I kept getting mini panic attacks every time my phone buzzed and I hoped it was an II and it turned out to be a shopping discount...

Waiting for 2015 cycle to start. Any suggestions? This is my gap year (getting more clinicals via scribing).

Also, fill me in what "II" means?

 

[cookiesandmilk]

II = Interview Invite. Don't worry, I just learnt that two days ago while lurking the forums haha.

 

[cookiesandmilk]

I feel like I could distract myself enough and do other things to not mind waiting. It's just when you have things to do on the back of your mind like write 20 secondaries that I can't do anything else without feeling bad lol.

Yeah I feel guilty for doing anything other than writing. I started online stress shopping for suits though, I guess that was somewhat not as guilt-inducing

 

[FindMeOnTheLinks]

Checking my emails has become my new favorite hobby. Not golf, not video games, not working out. Checking my emails.

 

[Dr Granger]

Everytime I get an email from sdn I mistake it for an ii. It's a very depressing cycle

 

[moisne]

Do you have a job? If not -- get one. If you have a job, get another job

I worked 14 hours/day 6days/week... Was hardly anxious about med school, more so about my medical bill that hung over me

 

[PreciousHamburgers]

Waiting for 2015 cycle to start. Any suggestions? This is my gap year (getting more clinicals via scribing).

Also, fill me in what "II" means?

I thought this was the 2015 cycle...

 

[g gnome]

Yeah, I unsubscribed from a lot of my newsletters and emails, because I kept getting mini panic attacks every time my phone buzzed and I hoped it was an II and it turned out to be a shopping discount...

Haha this describes my life perfectly right now

 

[LostinLift]

Yeah make sure you have a way to stay busy after secondaries (SDN doesn't count)

 

[BuffPremed]

I thought this was the 2015 cycle...

Er... 2016 cycle. Should I start prewriting secondaries before I start applying?

 

[jsquared91]

Haha this describes my life perfectly right now

I suggest filtering email to have anything with "school of medicine", etc forwarded to your phone as a text and turn off your phone email alerts. gmail+verizon makes it pretty easy. Usually just [email protected].

 

[Dr Granger]

Er... 2016 cycle. Should I start prewriting secondaries before I start applying?

Do your personal statement first and optional essays if you apply through tmdsas.

Then secondaries!

 

[sunflower18]

I pre-wrote, so I was able to write essays in the order that they interested me and at my own pace. I had time to edit without feeling pressured to submit. Then for the month of secondaries, all I had to do was reread and copy-paste the essays I had already written. I was able to submit almost every secondary the day that I got it, which made me complete earlier. I would definitely consider it low-stress. And, since I pre-wrote at a pace that I was comfortable with, I didn't get burned out even though I applied to 30 schools. For all of you who aren't applying this cycle, I would strongly recommend pre-writing!

I'm already starting to jump whenever I get an email, anxiously checking to see if it's an II.... Bad habit! But, since I've already heard good news from a few schools, I can release my anxiety about the cycle by excitedly reading school websites and planning trips. That's a plus.

For me, the worst month of the process thus far was waiting for my MCAT score. I'm guessing that the post-interview wait will be worse than that, but I haven't experienced that yet. MCAT waiting was really terrible for me because I had frequent nightmares about my score. Ugh. At least with writing secondaries, you're actively doing something other than waiting.

 

[BrCo]

Couldn't stand the waiting around so I picked up a couple new hobbies I've never had the time to do. Taking salsa classes, spearfishing, and growing hydroponic veggies is much more satisfying than stewing in neuroses day after day, compulsively checking email. Hakuna matata.

 

[cerno]

Couldn't stand the waiting around so I picked up a couple new hobbies I've never had the time to do. Taking salsa classes, spearfishing, and growing hydroponic veggies is much more satisfying than stewing in neuroses day after day, compulsively checking email. Hakuna matata.

Veggies huh?

 

[BrCo]

Hahaha. I think your interpretation of hakuna matata might be a tad different than mine

Veggies huh?

 

[BuffPremed]

I pre-wrote, so I was able to write essays in the order that they interested me and at my own pace. I had time to edit without feeling pressured to submit. Then for the month of secondaries, all I had to do was reread and copy-paste the essays I had already written. I was able to submit almost every secondary the day that I got it, which made me complete earlier. I would definitely consider it low-stress. And, since I pre-wrote at a pace that I was comfortable with, I didn't get burned out even though I applied to 30 schools. For all of you who aren't applying this cycle, I would strongly recommend pre-writing!

I'm already starting to jump whenever I get an email, anxiously checking to see if it's an II.... Bad habit! But, since I've already heard good news from a few schools, I can release my anxiety about the cycle by excitedly reading school websites and planning trips. That's a plus.

For me, the worst month of the process thus far was waiting for my MCAT score. I'm guessing that the post-interview wait will be worse than that, but I haven't experienced that yet. MCAT waiting was really terrible for me because I had frequent nightmares about my score. Ugh. At least with writing secondaries, you're actively doing something other than waiting.

What prompts did you prewrite? For example, I think almost every state school will ask "Why Medicine?" and I think Vandy loves the "Write an autobiography about yourself (1200 words min/max)". How did you find prompts to write so you could just do a small edit to fit into the school's mission statement? Would love some help!

 

[Mayday_]

Well I'm still working on secondaries too, but I'd imagine it's something like this:

 

[BrCo]

Look in last year's school specific thread. People from the previous cycle record the prompts. 90% of the time prompts are exactly the same the following year. I pre-wrote my secondaries. It helped a TON. In most cases I could recycle portions of writing, but I've always had to make some sort of modification for each school.

What prompts did you prewrite? For example, I think almost every state school will ask "Why Medicine?" and I think Vandy loves the "Write an autobiography about yourself (1200 words min/max)". How did you find prompts to write so you could just do a small edit to fit into the school's mission statement? Would love some help!

 

[sunflower18]

What prompts did you prewrite? For example, I think almost every state school will ask "Why Medicine?" and I think Vandy loves the "Write an autobiography about yourself (1200 words min/max)". How did you find prompts to write so you could just do a small edit to fit into the school's mission statement? Would love some help!

Exactly what @BrCo said. I used the previous year's school-specific threads and wrote every single essay. I think I had to write ~4 new essays during secondary time due to changed prompts, but that's it. Pre-writing also gave me a better sense of what content I put in which essays, which made it easy for me to reuse bits and pieces.