*** 2008-2009 Secondary Application Thread ***

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phospho said:
yep, i just saw the email...


have you had any problems with texas tech by any chance? Their online secondary app is giving me problems. thanks! :luck:
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I applied at Tech- and the secondary was working for me (I use moxilla though)... I haven't officially submitted it yet though so if that is where you are having problems then I don't know on that!

Good luck!
 
If anybody wants me to post the texas tech prompt or link to the secondary website or LOR requirements, please post them here or PM them to me so I can update it on the 1st page.
 
Hi, I just wanted to clear something up about the LOR limits at schools. I myself have six letters of recommendation, which is more than some schools (such as Duke, etc.) accept.

However, I emailed all of the schools I am applying to and all of them, except for Emory and Vanderbilt, said that if the letters are sent in a committee packet, they would treat the packet as one letter. So, I just wanted to let you guys know that schools like Duke, who say no more than X letters, may treat letter packets containing several LORs as just one letter. I hope this clears some things up for those of you having letters sent in a committee packet.
 
knuck000 said:
Hi, I just wanted to clear something up about the LOR limits at schools. I myself have six letters of recommendation, which is more than some schools (such as Duke, etc.) accept.

However, I emailed all of the schools I am applying to and all of them, except for Emory and Vanderbilt, said that if the letters are sent in a committee packet, they would treat the packet as one letter. So, I just wanted to let you guys know that schools like Duke, who say no more than X letters, may treat letter packets containing several LORs as just one letter. I hope this clears some things up for those of you having letters sent in a committee packet.
Click to expand...

I e-mailed Duke again asking to clarify.

Is the limit...
4 unique letters?
4 unique pieces of mail?

I'll post the answer when I find out.
 
knuck000 said:
Hi, I just wanted to clear something up about the LOR limits at schools. I myself have six letters of recommendation, which is more than some schools (such as Duke, etc.) accept.

However, I emailed all of the schools I am applying to and all of them, except for Emory and Vanderbilt, said that if the letters are sent in a committee packet, they would treat the packet as one letter. So, I just wanted to let you guys know that schools like Duke, who say no more than X letters, may treat letter packets containing several LORs as just one letter. I hope this clears some things up for those of you having letters sent in a committee packet.
Click to expand...

What constitutes a committee packet? My school does virtual evals and I have five letters there. However, Duke only wants three. My school will send every letter when I ask them to sent stuff out so what should I do? I'd hate to hound my teachers again.

Also, Mayo wants you to have a "Mayo Rating Sheet" with every rec you submit in case you guys don't know yet.
 
When I emailed Duke, for example, and told them that my pre-health office would be uploading a packet of 7 letters to VirtualEvals, they replied:

"If your letters are coming through to Duke as a "committee package," the seven letters will be fine."

Almost every one of the schools that I emailed told me that committee packets would be treated as one letter, regardless of their stated maximums. Of course, the schools also implied that a larger packet should be composed of meaningful letters, and not just substituting quality for quantity.
 
knuck000 said:
When I emailed Duke, for example, and told them that my pre-health office would be uploading a packet of 7 letters to VirtualEvals, they replied:

"If your letters are coming through to Duke as a "committee package," the seven letters will be fine."
Click to expand...

Yes!!!

So it seems like they just want to limit the number of pieces of mail they receive, not the actual number of letters they read. (Of course this is under the assumption that we're not sending them meaningless letters)

The word "committee packet" was confusing because there's no "committee letter." We have no committee to write a cover-letter, only a career center which gathers up our letters and mails them out in a packet.
 
shemarty said:
Someone on the 2008-2009 AMCAS thread suggested that we start a secondary application thread. Here's my attempt to start it.

Feel free to post your questions about secondary applications, which are hopefully opening soon!

Here is the link to the 2008 secondaries prompt thread.
You can find the secondaries prompts from last year and start drafting. have fun!

~~~

Links to 2008-2009 online secondary applications

Columbia - Prompt - LOR
Duke - Prompt - LOR
Hopkins - Prompt - LOR
UT Southwestern - Prompt - LOR
Vanderbilt - Prompt - LOR
Wash U - Prompt - LOR
Yale - Prompt - LOR
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Thank you Shemarty!! I was waiting for that Southwestern secondary!
 
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You're welcome! Thank Rowerlauren on that one 🙂 I didn't apply to Southwestern!
 
I updated some info about Columbia's LOR requirements, after calling their office just now.
Updated with info from U Penn, Duke and Vandy, regarding when their secondaries will be come available.
 
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Updated with the E-MAIL ADDRESSES of the admissions offices for each school.

Now, you can all join me in the bombarding-the-admissions-offices-with-questions fun.
 
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In general for some of these schools they want us to relist our activities on their secondaries....is there an appropriate order etiquette (chronological comes to mind)? or just list in order of importance to me?
 
Hey guys, Im applying for the class of '09. Columbia, UF, UM, Duke, Vandy, MSM, Emory, UNC, and MCG. I got a 32R, 34T w/ highest scores from second to last take. I sent out my primaries the 5th, and they were finished reviewing on the 11th. When should I expect to start receiving secondaries? Is it advisable to start on the templates I see roaming the forums? I hear there is at least a 2wk wait is that true? When should I start contacting the schools directly?
 
rachettes85 said:
Hey guys, Im applying for the class of '09. Columbia, UF, UM, Duke, Vandy, MSM, Emory, UNC, and MCG. I got a 32R, 34T w/ highest scores from second to last take. I sent out my primaries the 5th, and they were finished reviewing on the 11th. When should I expect to start receiving secondaries? Is it advisable to start on the templates I see roaming the forums? I hear there is at least a 2wk wait is that true? When should I start contacting the schools directly?
Click to expand...

Seeing as the AAMC won't send out the AMCAS to medical schools until the 24th of June, you can expect to get secondaries weeks after that date. In the meantime, you can work on the Columbia secondary at least (it's up, just go to the first page of this thread) since it's the real thing you should be getting later anyway!

-R
 
I saw that after I had submitted. I saw this after I submitted and paid my applications

Status //Definition
AMCAS processing is Complete //Application has been made available to the designated schools

Doesnt the adddendum about the 24th only apply to the applications that are currently being processed? Is that message an error? Should I contact AMCAS?
 
rachettes85 said:
I saw that after I had submitted. I saw this after I submitted and paid my applications

Status //Definition
AMCAS processing is Complete //Application has been made available to the designated schools

Doesnt the adddendum about the 24th only apply to the applications that are currently being processed? Is that message an error? Should I contact AMCAS?
Click to expand...

That's just the standard info. You've been verified. You''ll be in the first batch of primaries that go out.

Yay!
 
Do you guys think immigrating to America, not knowing a word of English, at the age of 8 is significant enough of an experience to use for the optional essays that ask for "unique obstacles" that you've had to overcome? It certainly doesn't compare to anyone who grew up with a disability or was a refugee or anything like that, but it definitely played a huge role in my personal development, and it immediately comes to mind when I see those questions.

What do you guys think?
 
phospho said:
do you know if they email us when the app is verified, or do we just have to periodically log in to check our status? thanks!
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They emailed me when I was verified... and now I get weekly updates telling me my LOR aren't in yet, which is annoying since I haven't sent them yet.
 
rowerlauren said:
They emailed me when I was verified... and now I get weekly updates telling me my LOR aren't in yet, which is annoying since I haven't sent them yet.
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Yea I was wondering what that LOR e-mail was for...

My 2nd to last letter arrived at the career center today, so one more to go and I can finally send them to AMCAS and stop getting that reminder!
 
I suspect that AMCAS has transmitted some information to some schools, perhaps?

I just got this e-mail. I actually submitted the Yale secondary yesterday, so maybe this e-mail is because of that. But it doesn't sound like it.

"Thank you for applying to the Yale University School of Medicine via
AMCAS. You may now submit your online Yale Supplemental Application... If you have already submitted your Yale Supplemental Application, do not
be concerned. It has not gone astray. This e-mail is sent
automatically to all AMCAS applicants in the order in which AMCAS
transmits data to us."

What do you guys think is going on?
 
Maybe they have sent out some information... I mean I haven't submitted any of my secondaries yet, but plan to by the 24th. I think I'm early enough considering that most of the committees haven't gotten together yet to decide on interviewees, and my cover letter hasn't been written yet (thank you undergrad, grrr).
 
Hmm, yea. How weird, because the AMCAS page says that June 24th would be the first day, so I was really surprised to see this e-mail this morning.

My goal was to finish Hopkins and Columbia's secondaries before Jun 24th, but now I'm feeling even more pressure to finish them ASAP, haha.

We're totally crazy 🙂 but I think we all know that.

I'm still waiting on my laaast LOR to show up at my career center, at which point I can mail out the letter packets.
 
shemarty said:
We're totally crazy 🙂 but I think we all know that.
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Yeah I think we may take the cake for craziness factor... I mean I would rather be crazy during the summer getting everything done than in september trying to get my secondaries finally in (I know I say this before I have seen Duke's killer secondary that I am going to put off for a bit...).
 
Yea. I figure I'm ready to complete these things now, so why wait until later? 😀
 
shemarty said:
Yea. I figure I'm ready to complete these things now, so why wait until later? 😀
Click to expand...

100% - I mean, why scramble unnecessarily, right? I've heard repeatedly that the faster you can turn your secondaries around the better, and with a full-time job + volunteering, I don't want to be spending all of my summer evenings explaining why I'm a special little snowflake who is desperately in love with this or that school.

So, rock on with the craziness. 😀
 
shemarty said:
Hmm, yea. How weird, because the AMCAS page says that June 24th would be the first day, so I was really surprised to see this e-mail this morning.
Click to expand...

The schools actually know about your application before they see it, hence your notification.
 
breeak said:
I don't want to be spending all of my summer evenings explaining why I'm a special little snowflake who is desperately in love with this or that school.
Click to expand...

👍

:laugh::laugh::laugh:
 
shemarty said:
I suspect that AMCAS has transmitted some information to some schools, perhaps?

I just got this e-mail. I actually submitted the Yale secondary yesterday, so maybe this e-mail is because of that. But it doesn't sound like it.

"Thank you for applying to the Yale University School of Medicine via
AMCAS. You may now submit your online Yale Supplemental Application... If you have already submitted your Yale Supplemental Application, do not
be concerned. It has not gone astray. This e-mail is sent
automatically to all AMCAS applicants in the order in which AMCAS
transmits data to us."

What do you guys think is going on?
Click to expand...

Yea I got the email to but I think all I had filled out was the name section of the supplemental and maybe email address. I don't care if they don't screen...it was nice seeing that "Invitation to submit" part, kinda makes me feel wanted 🙂.
 
Amazing shemarty. Amazing -- thanks!
 
I notice alot of convos about secondaries. I sent out my primaries 1-2 days after the AMCAS was open for submission but haven't received any secondaries yet. I know my profile is good. Should I be worried?

I am also a 2nd time applicant so my previous application info is already loaded unto Columbia site and its impossible to change it. Is that a problem?
 
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do schools look at secondaries in the order that they come in? or do they just look at an entire batch on a certain day, then an other batch another day, etc? (i.e. does it matter if we submit secondaries now or just wiat until 2 wks after they send us an invitation?) thanks .
 
no one should have received many secondaries yet. Most schools won't send out till after the 24th. Don't send secondaries in till you are invited.
 
This might be a stupid question but I was looking at the secondary prompts from last year and for a lot of them there are character limits (1000, 750, 500, etc.), does that include spaces or without spaces? I know the PS was 4300 including spaces, but I wanted to make sure for the secondaries. Thanks.
 
simbalimba said:
This might be a stupid question but I was looking at the secondary prompts from last year and for a lot of them there are character limits (1000, 750, 500, etc.), does that include spaces or without spaces? I know the PS was 4300 including spaces, but I wanted to make sure for the secondaries. Thanks.
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My guess is with spaces, that is the case for JHU and columbia.
 
Hi!
I have a question regarding LORs:
What if my school does not have a committee hence NO committee package? I use Interfolio instead and have 6 LORs ready to go. They all are "confidential" so should I still print out the cover forms from each school and somehow contact all my 6 writers to fill them out!?!?! Ahh...so confused! PLEASE PLEASE Help! Any comment will be MUCH appreciated 🙂 Thank u Thank u Thank u
 
I updated the 1st post with the SUNY Downstate info 🙂

I hate to be nit-picky about this, 😳 but try to follow the format that I've been using when making new school-specific threads. It might be easier for people to search for them that way.

2008-2009 XXX Secondary Application Thread



Good luck w/ SUNY Downstate! (and all the other schools, too!)
 
rowerlauren said:
I get weekly updates telling me my LOR aren't in yet, which is annoying.
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Frankly, your avatar is annoying. Could you change that for those of us that are trying to follow some of these threads?

Shi shi nin. 😳
 
iduwanna said:
Frankly, your avatar is annoying. Could you change that for those of us that are trying to follow some of these threads?

Shi shi nin. 😳
Click to expand...

Okay I can change my avatar... I didn't realize anyone had that strong of a reaction to avatars. What would you suggest I change it to? A very serious angry person...🙄
 
Got the answer.
 
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Sending out good vibes to you all during secondary season!
 
will ppl please post when they start receiving secondaries and list schools?

thanks and good luck, happy writing~!
 
I have a quick question about Colombia's secondary. When it says "What sort of work did you do" is that in response to the previous question asking the hours of week you were recompensed for? I'm a little worried because I worked in a molecular therapeutics lab during the school year but didn't get paid for it as it was a part of my independent study. So should I leave both these questions blank? What if I haven't done any work that I've been paid for?
 
Med College of Wisconsin.

12PM today. Email invite included username (AAMC ID) and a pre-assigned password to log-in to the online application.

aixoise said:
will ppl please post when they start receiving secondaries and list schools?

thanks and good luck, happy writing~!
Click to expand...
 
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