The Why ___ Essay for MD/PhD

[zqx]

I had a quick question regarding the Why ___ secondary essay at many schools. Cornell, for example, includes a 200-word statement asking why an applicant is applying there. Would it be appropriate to talk about my reasons in the context of the Tri-institutional MD/PhD program or should I focus mainly on the clinical side of things about Weill specifically? I was planning on doing more of the former but was not sure if there may be people from Cornell's MD admissions office reading it who may not understand why I am talking about the PhD offerings.

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[Neuronix]

I can't comment for Tri-I specifically but only in general.

MD adcoms know you're applying for MD/PhD. An answer tailored towards the MD/PhD program is thus acceptable. Highlight the areas of research that program is strong in and how they mesh with your interests/experience in addition to any location preference factors.

 

[musik2468]

I had a quick question regarding the Why ___ secondary essay at many schools. Cornell, for example, includes a 200-word statement asking why an applicant is applying there. Would it be appropriate to talk about my reasons in the context of the Tri-institutional MD/PhD program or should I focus mainly on the clinical side of things about Weill specifically? I was planning on doing more of the former but was not sure if there may be people from Cornell's MD admissions office reading it who may not understand why I am talking about the PhD offerings.

I had the same question about Cornell's secondary, so I called Tri-I to ask for their input. They told me that the MD-PhD committee only looks at the AMCAS primary. The secondary will only be used by the medical school in the event that you don't get an MD-PhD interview, and you indicated that you want to be considered MD-only.

 

[justgo]

Is it generally frowned upon to "name names" in these sorts of essays? i haven't been dropping names because someone told me that was true but I am wondering how else schools will know that I have literally gone through ever faculty member at ever school to which I am applying to be sure that there are folks I am ecstatic about discussing work with....

What is the consensus here?

 

[PfNO22]

Is it generally frowned upon to "name names" in these sorts of essays? i haven't been dropping names because someone told me that was true but I am wondering how else schools will know that I have literally gone through ever faculty member at ever school to which I am applying to be sure that there are folks I am ecstatic about discussing work with....

What is the consensus here?

When I spoke to Yale, an administrator mentioned explicitly to name faculty I'd be interested in working with on the secondary.

 

[Choculitis]

Highlight the areas of research that program is strong in and how they mesh with your interests/experience in addition to any location preference factors.

So is it okay to mention location preferences with adcoms? I figured that they wouldn't consider this a good or reason to choose a school, but tbh it makes a pretty big difference to me, given that this is where I'm going to spend the bulk of my 20s.

 

[delirium81]

I don't think there's anything wrong with this. Ad coms want to know that you're a good fit for the program in all respects. If you make it clear that you would be particularly happy in a certain region, they'll take that into account.