2008-2009 UMass Secondary Application Thread

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BassPlease

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The prompts are as follows:

1. If you are reapplying to UMMS, please describe how you have strengthened your credentials since your last application

2. Please describe your attachment to Massachusetts and what town you consider "home"

3. Have you ever worked/volunteered or otherwise participated in any UMASS Medical School or UMASS Memorial Health Care sponsored activities/programs (Example: Area Health Education Center (AHEC), Pipeline Program, Summer Enrichment Program (SEP), Research) If Yes, please describe. A letter of recommendation from your program supervisor is strongly encouraged

4. What are your future medical career plans? Please describe your hopes for your chosen medical specialty, type of practice, and size/type of practice community

5. What career would you choose if medicine were simply not an option?

6. What book did you most enjoy over the past 5 years, and why?

There do not appear to be any character limits.

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Hey everyone- I was verified 7/10 and just received the UMass secondary via email.

The prompts are as follows:

1. If you are reapplying to UMMS, please describe how you have strengthened your credentials since your last application

2. Please describe your attachment to Massachusetts and what town you consider "home"

3. Have you ever worked/volunteered or otherwise participated in any UMASS Medical School or UMASS Memorial Health Care sponsored activities/programs (Example: Area Health Education Center (AHEC), Pipeline Program, Summer Enrichment Program (SEP), Research) If Yes, please describe. A letter of recommendation from your program supervisor is strongly encouraged

4. What are your future medical career plans? Please describe your hopes for your chosen medical specialty, type of practice, and size/type of practice community

5. What career would you choose if medicine were simply not an option?

6. What book did you most enjoy over the past 5 years, and why?

There do not appear to be any character limits.

Needless to say, I'm a little intimidated. And they ask a ton of questions to prove residency. Best of luck to everyone!

-BP

uggggggggggggg.
 
uggggggggggggg.

bump.

wow, no one has commented on this secondary...are people finding it easy, or am I the only person applying to UMASS? Which is okay with me.:p
 
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bump.

wow, no one has commented on this secondary...are people finding it easy, or am I the only person applying to UMASS? Which is okay with me.:p

Nope, you're not alone, i'm applying too. And, nope, not finding it easy. The residency verification thing is a PITA (since I didn't graduate from a MA high school). I just have the question about "career in medicine not an option" left, planning to submit tomorrow.
 
I finished and "submitted" (pushed save!) today. Also sent in the fee today so hopefully I will be complete soon.

For the "medicine not an option" essay, did any of you select a "humanities" field (ie not nurse, PT, OT, etc.)?

That residency info was brutal... gahhh...

-BP
 
I finished and "submitted" (pushed save!) today. Also sent in the fee today so hopefully I will be complete soon.

For the "medicine not an option" essay, did any of you select a "humanities" field (ie not nurse, PT, OT, etc.)?

That residency info was brutal... gahhh...

-BP

Wait.... "save" means "submit" on this application?!?! I think I've been doing it wrong then.... Can someone help me out here?
 
According to the email I received,

"Clicking the SAVE button at the bottom of each page submits your data to us. There is no formal 'SUBMIT' button. You can make edits and each time you click 'Save' the most recent information is submitted to us. You can keep making/saving edits until your application is complete."

-BP
 
According to the email I received,

"Clicking the SAVE button at the bottom of each page submits your data to us. There is no formal 'SUBMIT' button. You can make edits and each time you click 'Save' the most recent information is submitted to us. You can keep making/saving edits until your application is complete."

-BP

Right, but that begs the question of how do they know which save = complete?
 
Right, but that begs the question of how do they know which save = complete?

Yeah this is quite a unique secondary. Maybe once they have all of your other things they make it so you can't edit it anymore?

Thanks for the help BassPlease!
 
Right, but that begs the question of how do they know which save = complete?

Very, very good point. Don't think this is one I would fill out in parts at a time.
 
Very, very good point. Don't think this is one I would fill out in parts at a time.

Ok, I talked to someone in the office. You can save, fill out in parts, and change things as much as you want up until they receive your payment. Sending in your payment is their version of finalizing.
 
Ok, I talked to someone in the office. You can save, fill out in parts, and change things as much as you want up until they receive your payment. Sending in your payment is their version of finalizing.

Makes sense. Thanks!
 
Ok, I talked to someone in the office. You can save, fill out in parts, and change things as much as you want up until they receive your payment. Sending in your payment is their version of finalizing.

Awesome, thanks!!
 
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I was going to send in my fee today, and then I noticed that they request you include your SSN on the check. They are not amenable to using AMCAS ID - if you don't put it on they check they'll do it for you before sending it on to the bursar's office. Anyone else have a real problem with this? In the past 5 years I've had two friends who have had their identities stolen, and it is unbelievable how hard it is to fix their credit, replace documents, and now they even have to include certified documents detailing the situation with job applications (because otherwise they would fail the CORI investigation). I'm pretty protective of my SSN at this point, and writing it on a financial document strikes me as stupidly risky. Am I alone here?
 
I was going to send in my fee today, and then I noticed that they request you include your SSN on the check. They are not amenable to using AMCAS ID - if you don't put it on they check they'll do it for you before sending it on to the bursar's office. Anyone else have a real problem with this? In the past 5 years I've had two friends who have had their identities stolen, and it is unbelievable how hard it is to fix their credit, replace documents, and now they even have to include certified documents detailing the situation with job applications (because otherwise they would fail the CORI investigation). I'm pretty protective of my SSN at this point, and writing it on a financial document strikes me as stupidly risky. Am I alone here?

Nope, you are not alone. That is exactly what I thought but when I emailed them and asked about not putting my SSN on it they said it was necessary in order for it to be received. Rather than being any later I did send the check on its way. I was really frustrated, however, because I wanted to put a tracking number on it and the post office would not let me get delivery confirmation on it because it was a letter without having them sign for it and all this ****. I may call this evening to see whether or not it was received- it should've been.

For them to ask for SSN on a CHECK of all things (complete with full name, address, and signature) truly is terrible. When we have a self-identifying AMCAS id there is no legitimate reason why we should have to supply our SSN.

Just my 2 cents. Gr.

-BP
 
Nope, you are not alone. That is exactly what I thought but when I emailed them and asked about not putting my SSN on it they said it was necessary in order for it to be received. Rather than being any later I did send the check on its way. I was really frustrated, however, because I wanted to put a tracking number on it and the post office would not let me get delivery confirmation on it because it was a letter without having them sign for it and all this ****. I may call this evening to see whether or not it was received- it should've been.

For them to ask for SSN on a CHECK of all things (complete with full name, address, and signature) truly is terrible. When we have a self-identifying AMCAS id there is no legitimate reason why we should have to supply our SSN.

Just my 2 cents. Gr.

-BP

This is just bull. I am going to send the check - what choice do we have? But I did let them know that I think it's quite a risk they are asking applicants to take. Watch that come back to bite me in the butt, but it really needed to be said.
 
hallo, i was wondering what exactly umass is looking for in their "attachment to massachusetts" question. is this more of an essay describing my love for all things ma, or should it be a straight-forward description? what are you guys doing here?
 
hallo, i was wondering what exactly umass is looking for in their "attachment to massachusetts" question. is this more of an essay describing my love for all things ma, or should it be a straight-forward description? what are you guys doing here?

my plan is to briefly describe a value I think I've developed as a result of living in MA, and then connect it to my motivation to continue living in and serving those in the state...and do all that in not too many words. Ha. Riiiight....
 
hallo, i was wondering what exactly umass is looking for in their "attachment to massachusetts" question. is this more of an essay describing my love for all things ma, or should it be a straight-forward description? what are you guys doing here?


When I applied two years ago, I just simply put down that I went to high school in MA and my parents still live in MA.
 
hallo, i was wondering what exactly umass is looking for in their "attachment to massachusetts" question. is this more of an essay describing my love for all things ma, or should it be a straight-forward description? what are you guys doing here?

I basically just said it's where I've lived for half my life and where I would like to stay.
 
Hi guys. I'm getting going on the UMASS secondary as well. Wrote my "attachment" essay last night. It was about 550 words/3,000 characters. I made it to be a bit lighter than my other essays. I have a plan for the other two, but I thought this essay might be a nice chance to describe my love for MA and add a bit of levity as well, you know...show some personality. I guess we'll see if that backfires, but it's honest and endearing (at least that's what I was going for). Hope that helps.
 
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I basically just said it's where I've lived for half my life and where I would like to stay.

Ditto, went with the "less is more" technique.

Completed all sections tonight, and sent in my check so that it'd be received by the office today, too. I guess that means I'm done...could people start posting when they are marked complete to get an idea how long of a turn-around it is? Thanks so much :)
 
I completed the online portion and mailed my check on July 23rd, last night everything was grayed out (indicating check received) so July 30th. 7 days!

Is this early for the UMass pile? I think they had trouble with getting their secondaries out but now everything is pretty much just a blur...

-BP
 
The questions aren't that bad, but the freaking LOR requirements are killer. WHo here gets LORs from prerequisite teachers? Those are first year courses (generally enormous), where you often never see the teacher from closer than 20feet. Also, I AP'd out of everything but Organic CHem I and II, so i am forced to ask those professors for recommendations on the fly...
Dammit UMass...
 
The questions aren't that bad, but the freaking LOR requirements are killer. WHo here gets LORs from prerequisite teachers? Those are first year courses (generally enormous), where you often never see the teacher from closer than 20feet. Also, I AP'd out of everything but Organic CHem I and II, so i am forced to ask those professors for recommendations on the fly...
Dammit UMass...

According to the website, you only need LORs from pre-req profs if you DON'T have a committee letter. Not sure what you're situation is. When I read that I started to panic and looked it up.

Also, I feel like there must be people who are writing pages and pages on how much they love massachusetts for the "attachment" question, everything from how much they love cape cod to their first red sox game. If by "attachment" they really just mean "affiliation" why is the word limit so high?
 
I completed the online portion and mailed my check on July 23rd, last night everything was grayed out (indicating check received) so July 30th. 7 days!

Is this early for the UMass pile? I think they had trouble with getting their secondaries out but now everything is pretty much just a blur...

-BP

I mailed my check 7.30 and everything's greyed out today. They are QUICK. I think that means we must be early, I'm sure things slow down later in the cycle.
 
Just remember: If chowder comes up, it's CREAM based, NOT tomato!!!

We'll trade Manny for admission. Straight up.
 
According to the website, you only need LORs from pre-req profs if you DON'T have a committee letter. Not sure what you're situation is. When I read that I started to panic and looked it up.

Also, I feel like there must be people who are writing pages and pages on how much they love massachusetts for the "attachment" question, everything from how much they love cape cod to their first red sox game. If by "attachment" they really just mean "affiliation" why is the word limit so high?

I figured what they were looking for was some indication of how likely you were to remain in MA to practice. I said that remaining here was my preference, and didn't think that waxing poetic about the sox or Cambridge architecture really added much. I can see the value of showing a little personality though.
 
I freely admitted that there were a lot of things about Boston that make me crazy (like getting towed for freaking STREET CLEANING!), but that overall I do love MA and have lived here my whole life. Although, I do think that if I lived someplace else for a little bit it would help me to be less hostile!
 
ignore this. i'm doing admin stuff
 
I mailed my check 7.30 and everything's greyed out today. They are QUICK. I think that means we must be early, I'm sure things slow down later in the cycle.

Strange. I emailed my check on the 28th and I can still edit my 2ndary. However, on the status check part it says that just my LORs are missing (they should be). Hopefully I'm OK. Maybe they gray it out once you are complete and not once they receive your payment?
 
Strange. I emailed my check on the 28th and I can still edit my 2ndary. However, on the status check part it says that just my LORs are missing (they should be). Hopefully I'm OK. Maybe they gray it out once you are complete and not once they receive your payment?

Yep, they gray it out when you are complete. For me the last thing I needed was my payment to be received and once it was I was good to go.

Ah! Anyone know when they will start giving out interviews?

-BP
 
Yep, they gray it out when you are complete. For me the last thing I needed was my payment to be received and once it was I was good to go.

Ah! Anyone know when they will start giving out interviews?

-BP

Last year it seemed to be 3rd week of Aug.
 
So, since I don't see any word limit on these questions, are they supposed to be essays or just short answers? How long were yours?? Other applications that I completed with these types of question said "in 250 words or less." Any ideas?
 
my residency verification and supplemental application are complete (i think), and i mailed my check on monday. however, nothing is greyed out so far under "application status". have i done something wrong or do i just need to wait until my payment clears?

edit: in response to the above post, my 4 essays were about 2 pages total (single spaced). I think my "attachment to MA" question was a little less than one page (3 paragraphs), and the other ones were about 1/3 of a page (just a paragraph each).
 
Congrats! :) Give us the deets - when did you submit/get marked complete etc. ??

Thank You!

I'm not sure when I was complete (don't know exactly when they received my check) but I assume that it was about 7/30. The interview is scheduled for 9/16 so I'm pretty sure that it will be my first.
 
Thank You!

I'm not sure when I was complete (don't know exactly when they received my check) but I assume that it was about 7/30. The interview is scheduled for 9/16 so I'm pretty sure that it will be my first.

Cool, that's an awesome first one to have. :D You were complete before I was so I won't start fretting just yet. :p
 
Thank You!

I'm not sure when I was complete (don't know exactly when they received my check) but I assume that it was about 7/30. The interview is scheduled for 9/16 so I'm pretty sure that it will be my first.

How did you receive your interview? Email? Snail mail? Status check?

Congrats!!

-BP
 
Bump.

I'm complete with letters and essays. They say they're waiting for MCAT scores, but my scores came out last week. Anyone else caught on this point? Maybe it's an admin backlog?
 
Just out of curiosity, what books are people listing??
 
The Brain That Changes Itself - Dr. N. Doidge. Neuroplasticity discussed via clinical cases. Totally awesome, slightly Oliver Sacks-ish.
 
The Brain That Changes Itself - Dr. N. Doidge. Neuroplasticity discussed via clinical cases. Totally awesome, slightly Oliver Sacks-ish.


Oohh sounds good. I like to believe that I can change my own brain.
 
Oohh sounds good. I like to believe that I can change my own brain.


But can you? Hmmm..

I just spent 4 years of my undergrad life learning how limited the human CNS actually is beyond childhood.

Just a depressing, unrelated thought. :)
 
Oohh sounds good. I like to believe that I can change my own brain.

Yeah, it's a hopeful thought. :)

But can you? Hmmm..

I just spent 4 years of my undergrad life learning how limited the human CNS actually is beyond childhood.

Just a depressing, unrelated thought. :)

I highly recommend you check out this book. I was a neuroscience major in undergrad and the old dogma is definitely that past childhood things are set. Neuroplasticity is fascinating, and it's the wave of the future. It's not that changes are completely unlimited, but the advancements ARE hugely exciting.
 
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