Official 2008 Secondary Questions Thread

Actually, I wrote on this just a while ago. My suggestion for this was to just pick the activities that make you correlate with their mission. It's not too hard to understand. I think they said 'and' so as to not say 'or' and make you simply pick one. I'd say go for your most correlative activities and write. Relax? [/QUOTE]

Jaded03 said:

AECOM - invitation
Baylor - online
Boston - e-mail invite
Case Western - e-mail invite
Cincinnati - e-mail invite
Columbia - email invite
Cornell - email invitation
Dartmouth - online
GW - email invitation
Eastern Virginia - e-mail invite
FSU - email invitation
Georgetown - e-mail invite
Jefferson - e-mail invite
Johns Hopkins - online
Kentucky - email invitation
MCW - e-mail invite
Meharry - online
MUSC - E-mail invite
Ohio state - email invitation
Pitt-email invite
SUNY Downstate - E-mail invite
SUNY Upstate - Email Invite
Tulane - online
UAB - email
U at Buffalo - no essays
UChicago - e-mail invite
UConn - online
UF- email
UIC - e-mail invite
U of Kentucky
UMDNJ-RWJMS - email invitation, no essays
UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School -- email invite
UMiami - e-mail invite
UMich - Email Invite
UMC - email
UT Memphis - E-mail, no secondary?
Rochester - snail mail invite
UOk - e-mail invite
UVermont - Email Invite
UWisc - E-mail Invite
WashU - email invite
Yale - online

Instructions to Edit the List

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Jaded03 said:

Actually, I wrote on this just a while ago. My suggestion for this was to just pick the activities that make you correlate with their mission. It's not too hard to understand. I think they said 'and' so as to not say 'or' and make you simply pick one. I'd say go for your most correlative activities and write. Relax?

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Jaded03 said:

AECOM - invitation
Baylor - online
Boston - e-mail invite
Case Western - e-mail invite
Cincinnati - e-mail invite
Columbia - email invite
Cornell - email invitation
Dartmouth - online
GW - email invitation
Eastern Virginia - e-mail invite
FSU - email invitation
Georgetown - e-mail invite
Jefferson - e-mail invite
Johns Hopkins - online
Kentucky - email invitation
MCW - e-mail invite
Meharry - online
MUSC - E-mail invite
Ohio state - email invitation
Pitt-email invite
SUNY Downstate - E-mail invite
SUNY Upstate - Email Invite
Tulane - online
UAB - email
U at Buffalo - no essays
UChicago - e-mail invite
UConn - online
UF- email
UIC - e-mail invite
U of Kentucky
UMDNJ-RWJMS - email invitation, no essays
UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School -- email invite
UMiami - e-mail invite
UMich - Email Invite
UMC - email
UT Memphis - E-mail, no secondary?
Rochester - snail mail invite
UOk - e-mail invite
UVermont - Email Invite
UWisc - E-mail Invite
WashU - email invite
Yale - online

Instructions to Edit the List

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didn't mean to confuse...but they said it's under review, so i think they are waiting on my mcat score, so there most likely is a secondary i'm betting

cruz21 said:

i'm also having trouble with this. in fact, i realized that there's really no way that i can't repeat certain things, so i'm just trying to reword them as to not blatantly copy/paste.

oh and also, who thinks georgetown should get over themselves? 1 single spaced page about how badly i want to go there? are you kidding? truth be told it's one of my backups, so i'm not particularly gung ho about it. this should be interesting.

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Did pritzker say that they do not want people to write about stuff that was on their personal statement?

I just got the EVMS secondary. Questions are as follows, and it's in an unsavable PDF file.

Briefly describe your exposure to medicine

What do you think you will like best about being a physician?

What do you think you will like least about being a physician?

Describe yourself and your medical career as you see it ten years from now.

Please indicate your reasons for applying to EVMS.

Originally Posted by Jaded03
AECOM - invitation
Baylor - online
Boston - e-mail invite
Case Western - e-mail invite
Cincinnati - e-mail invite
Columbia - email invite
Cornell - email invitation
Dartmouth - online
GW - email invitation
Eastern Virginia Medical School - email invitation
FSU - email invitation
Georgetown - e-mail invite
Jefferson - e-mail invite
Johns Hopkins - online
Kentucky - email invitation
MCW - e-mail invite
Meharry - online
MUSC - E-mail invite
Ohio state - email invitation
Pitt-email invite
SUNY Downstate - E-mail invite
SUNY Upstate - Email Invite
Tulane - online
UAB - email
U at Buffalo - no essays
UChicago - e-mail invite
UConn - online
UF- email
UIC - e-mail invite
U of Kentucky
UMDNJ-RWJMS - email invitation, no essays
UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School -- email invite
UMiami - e-mail invite
UMich - Email Invite
UMC - email
UT Memphis- e-mail, no secondary?
Rochester - snail mail invite
UOk - e-mail invite
UVermont - Email Invite
UWisc - E-mail Invite
WashU - email invite
Yale - online

Somehow, I can't find how much the Case secondary is - how much do they want?

Case wants $85. More expensive than JH, which I find funny.

Fiddlergirl said:

Case wants $85. More expensive than JH, which I find funny.

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Price clearly doesn't correlate with quality: GW wants $125!

whateva07 said:

for Tulane's question...

Although interests may change, at the present time, in what field of medicine are you most interested?

Is this a one phrase answer....or should I be writing a paragraph on this

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I wrote a quick blurb about my future goals in medicine and made it into a paragraph...but their application doesn't leave much room so I am sure they wouldn't mind a phrase answer...

knight3w said:

Did pritzker say that they do not want people to write about stuff that was on their personal statement?

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It's just an unsaid rule, where repeating your AMCAS is frowned upon. My approach is to not look at your AMCAS at all and just write. I'm banking on pulling a lot of different things to answer the prompt and ignoring what I wrote before. Using this method, I doubt I would be expressing anything I have said before, but I'm sure I'm using events that have been mentioned.

GoSouthernGo said:

Somehow, I can't find how much the Case secondary is - how much do they want?

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$85.00

nyct said:

Just got the University @ Buffalo secondary


lol... only non-biographical question: Please pay us

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Is there a link for the Buffalo secondary on the website, or is it via Email? Thanks

whateva07 said:

Tulane secondary:

What was the single most significant volunteer experience you have had?

I already wrote abt my single most significant volunteer experience in my amcas essay...so I am thinking it wouldnt make sense to repeat it and discuss another significant volunteer experience?????

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Try hitting it from another angle? If you fully explored it in your essay, then go for another experience. I used the same experience for my secondary, but I devoted the whole question to it, which I simply could not do in my essay. I think it compliments my essay in that sense. See if that works for you? GL!

Is there a rule for the size of secondary essays when there is no number of character specified?
For Meharry per example,"Please indicate why you wish to attend Meharry Medical College, School of Medicine? "
Is one paragraph enough?

M.Furfur said:

Is there a rule for the size of secondary essays when there is no number of character specified?
For Meharry per example,"Please indicate why you wish to attend Meharry Medical College, School of Medicine? "
Is one paragraph enough?

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Hmm. I'd say it's your final offering to get an interview. Just write until you feel you addressed the prompt completely. One way of thinking about it is, if you had an interview and they ask Why Meharry? Could you say anything else? Try reading up on their university. Did you hit all the specifics about the program you like, etc. etc. I don't know I think no word limit is nice in that sense.

On the opposite spectrum, they don't like reading a long diatribe so don't do that.

the list here about how to start/access the secondary apps is a little confusing to me. for example under AECOM, it says invitation, but apparently you can fill in the application beforehand and only submit it when they invite you to do so. so it sorta online/invitation. i was wondering if all the schools that have "email invitation" beside them mean that they send it to you thru email or if you can access it online and then submit when they send you an email invite. would someone please clear this up? thanks!!

barto123 said:

the list here about how to start/access the secondary apps is a little confusing to me. for example under AECOM, it says invitation, but apparently you can fill in the application beforehand and only submit it when they invite you to do so. so it sorta online/invitation. i was wondering if all the schools that have "email invitation" beside them mean that they send it to you thru email or if you can access it online and then submit when they send you an email invite. would someone please clear this up? thanks!!

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Well I have ADDED to the list, so I don't know how it started, but I basically wrote "e-mail invite" if an actual e-mail invite for that school has been SENT. Links are to the secondary prompts. Hope that helps. AECOM was added early on, I do not believe anyone has heard from them. I won't strike something off a list though.

Jaded03 said:

Well I have ADDED to the list, so I don't know how it started, but I basically wrote "e-mail invite" if an actual e-mail invite for that school has been SENT. Links are to the secondary prompts. Hope that helps. AECOM was added early on, I do not believe anyone has heard from them. I won't strike something off a list though.

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thanks, that cleared things up a bit. now i have a specific question about AECOM if anyone has an answer: their secondary app is found on their website, but it's a PDF file. Do I fill it out by hand, or is there some way to type in the info? thanks!

got secondaries from gwu and meharry
today

DrVanNostran said:

Is there a link for the Buffalo secondary on the website, or is it via Email? Thanks

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You get a link in the email to the website with instructions on how to access the secondary.

btw, I got an email invite to do the downstate secondary today.

Does anyone know about Mount Sinai and NYU secondaries? Email or online?

bunface said:

yesterday, someone posted that the georgetown secondary was in their gmail spam box. i have a habit of deleting all my spam before checking my email and the last place on earth i expected to find a secondary is my spam box. i emailed the admissions office but they haven't contacted me back yet. did this happen to anyone else, and did anyone not get a secondary from georgetown yet (perhaps i didnt delete mine because it didnt come yet...)
Thanks!

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thanks so much for the tip! It was sitting in my spam box in gmail.

DocFunk said:

You get a link in the email to the website with instructions on how to access the secondary.

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Thanks Doc.

DrVanNostran said:

Thanks Doc.

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i should change my sdn screen name to Mrfunk for now.

ShineForYou said:

thanks so much for the tip! It was sitting in my spam box in gmail.

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me too!

AMPed said:

Price clearly doesn't correlate with quality: GW wants $125!

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Actually in my secondaries I have found a correlation. The higher the price the lower the quality.

barto123 said:

thanks, that cleared things up a bit. now i have a specific question about AECOM if anyone has an answer: their secondary app is found on their website, but it's a PDF file. Do I fill it out by hand, or is there some way to type in the info? thanks!

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Get Foxit reader if you want to type something in. However, don't count on that actually being the AECOM secondary, since they haven't actually released it to people yet. They may change it for this year, and they may not. But they've said they aren't sending out invites until they get this year's class worked out. I assume they'll have it up online at that time. That's how Jefferson is now, anyway.

ShineForYou said:

Does anyone know about Mount Sinai and NYU secondaries? Email or online?

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I love how you titled your post 'Georgetown' and talked about Mount Sinai and NYU in your post. I haven't heard anything from them, so I dunno.

DocFunk said:

i should change my sdn screen name to Mrfunk for now.

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I say you keep it. I wouldn't want to be, MrVanNostran!

Quick question on the Columbia secondary. I'm Chinese. Am I Asian-Pacific Islander, South Asian, Southeast Asian, or other? I'm tempted to pick other, but the categories seem a little odd.

You're API.

alisa said:

Quick question on the Columbia secondary. I'm Chinese. Am I Asian-Pacific Islander, South Asian, Southeast Asian, or other? I'm tempted to pick other, but the categories seem a little odd.

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You're API. However...does anyone see the problem with that? What constitutes South or Southeast Asian apart from API?

south asian is also indian

keys said:

south asian is also indian

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I was aware of that. It's just that API was meant to be all inclusive, and it seems like they should have just said E Asian, SE Asian, S Asian, and PI. Otherwise it makes it seem more than a statistic.

Sorry, wrong thread!

Jaded03 said:

It's just an unsaid rule, where repeating your AMCAS is frowned upon. My approach is to not look at your AMCAS at all and just write. I'm banking on pulling a lot of different things to answer the prompt and ignoring what I wrote before. Using this method, I doubt I would be expressing anything I have said before, but I'm sure I'm using events that have been mentioned.

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I touched on the most life-altering experience in my primary, and there are some secondary essays that ask you to write about just that. So I tried to expand on what I wrote in my primary.

Turns out I made an essay out of a few sentences from my primary.

Hey guys! I'm new to the network, just a quick question.. has anyone tried to access Meharry's website? I can't seem to get to their webpage.. just wondering if anyone else is running into the same problem. Thanks!

I have a quick question, alot of these secondary questions ask for things that were likely answered during the work-activities section extra responses, is it suggested to make sure that your responses are not similar to those, is it ok if they overlap a ton? Is it okay to just reuse the same responses if those were really your best descriptions of those activities, etc?

do u guys know which secondaries DONT need your letters of rec before they start reviewing your app?

spencerxd said:

do u guys know which secondaries DONT need your letters of rec before they start reviewing your app?

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I'm pretty sure all of them do before they can do a final review and decide on interviews.

spencerxd said:

do u guys know which secondaries DONT need your letters of rec before they start reviewing your app?

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Pitt if you have big numbers.

i looked through some threads but couldn't find any posts on this.

has anyone received secondary/interview from vanderbilt yet? just wondering if those have already started going out.

also, has anyone heard back from georgetown about the secondary email going into the spam box? i think i may have also mistakenly deleted it, as i don't look through all my spam before deleting.

thanks.

spencerxd said:

do u guys know which secondaries DONT need your letters of rec before they start reviewing your app?

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Some only request LORs after you have been selected for an interview.

DrBowtie said:

Pitt if you have big numbers.

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UMich too. There are already people with interviews set up with UMich.

Does Mayo require LORs? I know they don't have a secondary.

So, are these questions really "optional" or is it in my best interest to answer them?

For example, SUNY Downstate says it is "optional" for me to explain why I want to attend their school specifically.

ShineForYou said:

So, are these questions really "optional" or is it in my best interest to answer them?

For example, SUNY Downstate says it is "optional" for me to explain why I want to attend their school specifically.

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Optional essays are really necessary if you can give a solid and sincere answer. I would say your example is actually one you should answer. Consider things optional if you can't find it in yourself to answer it.

So, I received that email on Monday from UIC with a password and a link to check the status of my application. And when I logged in, it told me that my application was, "Process Complete - Contact College Admissions at 312-996-5635 for Further Information." I never received a second email that someone mentioned with a link to the secondary, but I was able to use the link and see the secondary. So, I emailed UIC to ask about that "Process Complete" status, and here is the email answer I got:

"Since there is a fee associated with our supplemental application, our
policy is to only send our supplemental application to individuals we are
seriously considering for a seat in our class. We will not know this until
we receive you MCAT score. We will contact you regarding our supplemental
after we receive your MCAT scores."

That's fine by me (no MCAT score until mid-July), but it would have been far simpler and less confusing if they'd simply said that in an email rather than sending me a password and a status page that says my process is complete. Bizarre. Anyway, just thought I'd share in case anyone else was a little boggled too.