+

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Status
Not open for further replies.
What's the exact prompt? It sounds like it's just asking for what you will be doing during this year, regardless of if it's related to COVID19 or not.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors
 
grdsx said:
thoughts on how to answer the covid secondary about my educational/research/volunteering/employment plans?

as for how covid directly impacted my app, i had set up a shadowing opportunity with a PCP that was supposed to start in late march, but it got cancelled

However, I also work at a "hot zone" ER and have been directly exposed to covid-positive patients (had very mild symptoms and a positive swab a few months back)
I feel like this is a story worth telling, but not sure if it would be properly answering the prompt
Click to expand...

I'm going to copy paste what I said in another thread: The details of your health problem aren't interesting or important - what's important is demonstrating your own character and personality through how you dealt with the the difficulties. Merely having COVID is not very interesting to medical professionals who deal with many sick patients everyday.

From what you've posted it sounds like the prompt is perhaps giving you the opportunity to explain gaps in your application caused by COVID?
 
The covid prompt I saw from another school seemed to be geared towards giving applicants space to address deficiencies caused by covid such as canceled clinical/shadowing/employment/research activities or a decline in academic performance. Copying the exact prompt is really helpful in order to provide an answer.
 
You were, I'm guessing, out of commission for at least 14 days after testing positive so you have a gap in your resume of at least that length of time. That's not much. If you want to write about it, I'd go with that angle (I was in isolation for xx days after a positive COVID-19 test) rather than how being sick gave you a new perspective. The adcom is not looking for information on how the situation made you feel or think but what you didn't do because the pandemic has resulted in closures and cancellations.
 
grdsx said:
Thank you,

So I'd imagine the more general "Please describe how you have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic" prompt would be the one that asks for the story/what I learned?
Click to expand...

I'm not getting a "what did you learn" vibe from that question but maybe I'm misinterpreting. I'd be thinking that adcoms want to know:
that all of your spring classes were pass/fail
that you had to move home and attend classes remotely (and whether you had technical difficulties doing so)
that you or people on whom you depend for support were unemployed
that you or someone you love was ill with the virus or was unable to get care for another condition because of the shutdown
that you were unable to continue volunteer activities and/or research due to the shutdown.
that your MCAT date was pushed back.
 
grdsx said:
Notice how a ton of applicants, current med students, and even adcoms have different takes on this? I don't see a reason to be snarky considering that these prompts, unlike CARS, are pretty vague
Click to expand...
Well you left "I" in the lowercase form so while your critical analysis and reasoning skills may be up to snuff, your basic grammar knowledge is clearly lacking. Hopefully you address this issue in your application essays.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Bruh - throwing out your cars score, what did you expect?

To answer your question:the prompt is not asking for a story but rather how Covid May have negatively impacted your application cycle. It doesn’t sound like you have been significantly impacted, which is good! Do not treat each prompt as a story. Sometimes they are really just looking for information in a straight forward way.
 
GreenDuck12 said:
Bruh - throwing out your cars score, what did you expect?

To answer your question:the prompt is not asking for a story but rather how Covid May have negatively impacted your application cycle. It doesn’t sound like you have been significantly impacted, which is good! Do not treat each prompt as a story. Sometimes they are really just looking for information in a straight forward way.
Click to expand...

1) No shadowing
2) Working at a "hot-zone" ER
3) Exposure to COVID with a positive test
It's almost as if OP is identifying himself to every medical school and yelling "PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT ME"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top