2008-2009 Mount Sinai Secondary Application Thread

UVAbme2009 said:

http://fusion.mssm.edu/admissions/submit/

The website is up, but I can't login for some reason.

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ditto. ::grumble grumble::

I really like these essays.

should we wait for an official email before submitting?

Leejwwc said:

should we wait for an official email before submitting?

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I submitted Columbia's online secondary before receiving an invite. I don't think that it hurts anything since they do not screen.

Nope, the application is actually pretty simple. Thank goodness. I also like that the word limits are "suggested"....

Sinai is one of my top choices, which is SO UNNERVING!!!

LET said:

Nope, the application is actually pretty simple. Thank goodness. I also like that the word limits are "suggested"....

Sinai is one of my top choices, which is SO UNNERVING!!!

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Just got the secondary. It's one of my top choices as well!

Sinai is my #1 realistic choice... Columbia accepts too few internationals

My significant other is in New York for the next 4 years!

Ugh I hate that they require a picture though...I'm done with pretty much the whole application, all I need is the picture!!

sinai is UP UP UP on my list, such a SICK location.....


Anybody else having trouble with the What makes you special/diverse/what do you bring to the table essay questions? These are the only ones for which I have not cranked out a decent essay, but they're EVERYWHERE....Umich, UVA, Sinai....CRAP!

can u guys see your picture on the website after you upload it?

Should the picture be something interesting or formal? Is it just so that they remember your face if you interview?

To tell you the truth, this is probably the most straight forward and least time consuming secondary I've experienced so far! Hopefully more on the horizon.

Good luck to all of you folks applying to MSSM.

It was the first school I got accepted to and I ran around the house screaming "I'm gonna be a doctor!!" I ended up turning it down, but if anyone wants to talk about the school and stuff, email me at [email protected]..

good luck to you all. it's a great place. NYC is not my style but it seemed like an exciting place.

How is anyone answering this poorly worded question?

Gaps in Academic Record
Were there any gaps in time, post-secondary school, of greater than one month's duration, except summer vacations, that are not accounted for on your AMCAS application?
Yes No

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If you answer yes you get one of their prompts asking you to explain. I am four years out of undergrad with a post-bac and some work experience in that time. All of it (work and post-bac) is on my AMCAS somewhere though, so do I have any reason to answer this question yes?

Dirt said:

How is anyone answering this poorly worded question?



If you answer yes you get one of their prompts asking you to explain. I am four years out of undergrad with a post-bac and some work experience in that time. All of it (work and post-bac) is on my AMCAS somewhere though, so do I have any reason to answer this question yes?

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"that are not accounted for on your AMCAS application"



Seems straight forward

MichiganEMTInt said:

just got mssm secondary...whew...i thought i would get pre-sec rejection for sure

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I'm pretty sure they don't screen...but congratulations anyways

Does MSSM have a application status page or do they just send us an e-mail or something when we're complete?

serikk85 said:

Does MSSM have a application status page or do they just send us an e-mail or something when we're complete?

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They didn't mention a status page, so I'm assuming they send an email?

This was in the email they sent us: "If you would like to check on the status of your application, please call our office during the hours of 2pm - 4pm (ET) on Mondays or Wednesdays. We dedicate this time to fulfilling these specific requests."

Has anyone else's picture been stretched or squished weirdly on the "Review" page? This isn't how it will be viewed, is it?

Druzie said:

Has anyone else's picture been stretched or squished weirdly on the "Review" page? This isn't how it will be viewed, is it?

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Yes and I hope not.

Scean "sinai is UP UP UP on my list, such a SICK location....."

you know sinai is right across the street from projects right?

but it would also be my dream to get into sinai

"across the street from projects" and central park

dynezxice said:

Yes and I hope not.

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Sent an email asking if it was a concern. Will post if I get a response.


As for the location...
great community for studying medicine. UES + Harlem = diversity
Plus the anatomy lab overlooks Central Park, and the Guggenheim Pavilion is filled with natural light.

Druzie said:

Sent an email asking if it was a concern. Will post if I get a response.


As for the location...
great community for studying medicine. UES + Harlem = diversity
Plus the anatomy lab overlooks Central Park, and the Guggenheim Pavilion is filled with natural light.

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i do research at sinai right now.. the atrium is so nice! and it has coffee and natural light and they have a courtyard.. it really is a wonderful place to study medicine.

Yeah, I visited last fall. It's beautiful.

FYI: no response on the squished pic issue. (got an email reply, but it didn't even address my question about the squished pic.)

Druzie said:

Yeah, I visited last fall. It's beautiful.

FYI: no response on the squished pic issue. (got an email reply, but it didn't even address my question about the squished pic.)

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LOL. What did it address?

Does anyone know what LORs are required for Sinai?

serikk85 said:

Does MSSM have a application status page or do they just send us an e-mail or something when we're complete?

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Just call them (See post above) and they will tell you. My app was completed very soon after I submitted.

is anyone else having problems with paragraphs all lumping together into one big paragraph for the essay? I have two paragraphs but it wont let me seperate them out! ugh...

happygirl said:

is anyone else having problems with paragraphs all lumping together into one big paragraph for the essay? I have two paragraphs but them to separate out! ugh...

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yea I had that problem (with other schools too). Not my fault their application refuses to let me format my essays properly, so I just submitted it as a giant wall of text.

chessknt87 said:

yea I had that problem (with other schools too). Not my fault their application refuses to let me format my essays properly, so I just submitted it as a giant wall of text.

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lol. don't be surprised if you don't hear anything from them since your secondary.

well, either way it's going to end up as a wall of text since you can't space it, unless you decide to shorten it or add lots of spaces in between each paragraph.

dynezxice said:

lol. don't be surprised if you don't hear anything from them since your secondary.

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?

dynezxice said:

lol. don't be surprised if you don't hear anything from them since your secondary.

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While the formatting isnt pretty (which is 100% their fault, I tried every spacing trick I know of including adding 10000 spaces, none of them worked), it should be the content that matters. I answered their questions adequately and I required paragraphs to do so. If they dont care about the content then I probably dont want to go to their school anyways.

I was trying to get a jump-start on filling this out, but I haven't offically received an invite to complete it. And I can't log in. Did anyone else experience this?

Cotton114 said:

I was trying to get a jump-start on filling this out, but I haven't offically received an invite to complete it. And I can't log in. Did anyone else experience this?

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It takes a grand total of 5 minutes to fill out if your essays are done. Just wait.

Does any one else here feel really pretentious boasting about why we are special on our applications? I understand their need to decipher through the multitude of candidates but I honestly don't like the idea of having to claim that I am better than everyone else.
Just seems to me that med school apps value arrogance over humility.

I began my essay with "I am not special."

Any thoughts?

*I'm not trying to offend anyone on here, most people seem really nice*

Namir said:

Does any one else here feel really pretentious boasting about why we are special on our applications? I understand their need to decipher through the multitude of candidates but I honestly don't like the idea of having to claim that I am better than everyone else.
Just seems to me that med school apps value arrogance over humility.

I began my essay with "I am not special."

Any thoughts?

*I'm not trying to offend anyone on here, most people seem really nice*

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I created a login just so I could reply to you. I really agree - and this is a big generalization, but it just seems to be such a mindset of this generation that we're all unique and blah blah blah.

Not everybody has to be special - thats a great answer.

And I bet it works!

I like their secondary better than the generic "Tell us about yourself..." questions because they're being clear about what they want to hear. They don't want us to just list off our resumes in paragraph form. They want to know why they should pick your application out of the pile of other academically capable applicants. If you don't think you're "special," why should MSSM?

Namir said:

Does any one else here feel really pretentious boasting about why we are special on our applications? I understand their need to decipher through the multitude of candidates but I honestly don't like the idea of having to claim that I am better than everyone else.
Just seems to me that med school apps value arrogance over humility.

I began my essay with "I am not special."

Any thoughts?

*I'm not trying to offend anyone on here, most people seem really nice*

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dude, I think you are missing the point, or over-analyzing. I think your humility is great, but misplaced. The question isn't asking you what makes you superior to others (your stats, recs, and so on are supposed to implicitly do that). It wants to know what you can contribute to a medical school class, so that not everybody in the class is more or less the exact same person. Maybe you are from a different country which gives you a different perspective, or you are really into a hobby (let's say, i dunno, woodworking), which you could share with your classmates. It's not saying how are you special as much as it's asking how are you different/unique, which I don't think is an immodest thing to discuss.