2021-2022 Thomas Jefferson (Kimmel)

[wysdoc]

Thank you to @mstein for sharing this year's questions!

2021-2022 Thomas Jefferson (Kimmel) Secondary Essay Prompts:

1. Describe how the pandemic has affected your educational, work, or research plans? What has your own experience informed you about the challenges of providing equitable and inclusive care to future patients? (2500 Characters)

2. Do you have any additional information that hasn't been covered? (4000 characters)

Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview feedback:

Thomas Jefferson University Sidney Kimmel Medical College Interview Feedback

Review of Thomas Jefferson University Sidney Kimmel Medical College Interview Feedback. Get the latest information, opinions of fellow students, and LizzyM and SDN Rankings.

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[freshdoe]

I emailed admissions about the weird LOR situation Jefferson has, and they gave me the generic response on their website (prefer/require one biology, one chemistry, one physics, and one humanities letter) along with this new phrase: "note that letters can be substituted with explanation." I have 2 science faculty LOR's (neuroscience, and chemistry) as well as physician and PI letters. I'm still not sure if this would be sufficient to apply here. I thought I would get a more targeted response by emailing them.

Can any current students shed some light on how stringent the LOR guidelines are? Thanks in advance.

 

[anonstudent98]

I emailed admissions about the weird LOR situation Jefferson has, and they gave me the generic response on their website (prefer/require one biology, one chemistry, one physics, and one humanities letter) along with this new phrase: "note that letters can be substituted with explanation." I have 2 science faculty LOR's (neuroscience, and chemistry) as well as physician and PI letters. I'm still not sure if this would be sufficient to apply here. I thought I would get a more targeted response by emailing them.

Can any current students shed some light on how stringent the LOR guidelines are? Thanks in advance.

Hi! I’m an incoming M1 and definitely did not have letters that met these requirements - I had 1 science faculty letter (neuroscience) and then a letter from my PI along with other letters from non science professors and employers. I interviewed in September and my letters were never brought up as an issue. Hope that helps.

 

[freshdoe]

Hi! I’m an incoming M1 and definitely did not have letters that met these requirements - I had 1 science faculty letter (neuroscience) and then a letter from my PI along with other letters from non science professors and employers. I interviewed in September and my letters were never brought up as an issue. Hope that helps.

Thank you, that's relieving to hear!

 

[326RD]

OOS, Secondary Received!

 

[brockhamptonfanacct]

OOS, Secondary Received!

+1

 

[Billie Rubin]

+1

 

[mstein]

OOS, Secondary Received

Questions:
Describe how the pandemic has affected your educational, work, or research plans? What has your own experience informed you about the challenges of providing equitable and inclusive care to future patients? (2500 Characters)

Do you have any additional information that hasn't been covered? (4000 characters)

Edit: fixed the character count for second question

 

[seanm028]

OOS, Secondary Received

Questions:
Describe how the pandemic has affected your educational, work, or research plans? What has your own experience informed you about the challenges of providing equitable and inclusive care to future patients? (2500 Characters)

Do you have any additional information that hasn't been covered? (2500 characters)

Mine says 4,000 characters for the second question.

 

[Gwynbleidd]

OOS, Secondary Received!

+1

 

[orm]

+1

 

[mstein]

I read last year's thread and a large consensus said to write a sort of "why us?" essay in that optional essay because of the lack of other questions. So I'm thinking about doing that. I actually worked for Jefferson Health - NJ throughout college. It's in my work/activities section, but I wondered if mentioning that because I worked for Jefferson, their mission and philosophy of xyz is something I align with and a reason why I am interested in going to school there (amongst other things). Would this be weird since it's in my primary? or is it okay because I am framing it differently?

 

[premed-->md]

Does anyone know how to enter the SAT scores if I took it from the 2400 scale? Should I combine critical reading and writing?

 

[matt32red]

Does anyone know if the question: "Describe how the pandemic has affected your educational, work, or research plans? What has your own experience informed you about the challenges of providing equitable and inclusive care to future patients? (2500 Characters)" is supposed to all be one question? Like are the two questions related, or are they basically two separate essays?

Also, if we don't remember our SAT or ACT scores or haven't taken one of those, what should we put?

 

[deleted1008763]

Does anyone know if the question: "Describe how the pandemic has affected your educational, work, or research plans? What has your own experience informed you about the challenges of providing equitable and inclusive care to future patients? (2500 Characters)" is supposed to all be one question? Like are the two questions related, or are they basically two separate essays?

I have a similar question. COVID pretty much just canceled my plans for the year, so I was hoping I could exclusively talk about how COVID affected my plans. Are they also specifically asking how COVID changed my perception of how to provide proper care? Because honestly, I don't know if I'd be able to properly answer that with a reflection based on being at home with my parent's for a year not working

 

[fingerscrossed1085]

Does anyone know how to enter the SAT scores if I took it from the 2400 scale? Should I combine critical reading and writing?

I am having the same issue!

 

[matt32red]

I have a similar question. COVID pretty much just canceled my plans for the year, so I was hoping I could exclusively talk about how COVID affected my plans. Are they also specifically asking how COVID changed my perception of how to provide proper care? Because honestly, I don't know if I'd be able to properly answer that with a reflection based on being at home with my parent's for a year not working

Yeah I'm wondering this too. I feel like I'm the opposite and I'd rather just exclusive talk about the second question, but I don't know if it's supposed to be in the context of covid-19 experiences, or just our own experiences in general.

 

[whataweirdo]

Anyone else have their LOR's marked as 'not received' despite them showing up under the document status section?

 

[KnightDoc]

Anyone else have their LOR's marked as 'not received' despite them showing up under the document status section?

This is being reported in multiple threads. I think it's an AMCAS system glitch, and it's not specific to any particular school. I wouldn't worry about it as long as your docs are there.

 

[Gwynbleidd]

Question about the LOR portion of the secondary app. My committee wrote me a letter and included it, along with all my individual letters, in a big long pdf “letter packet”. In this case, would it be best to select both the committee letter and letter packet boxes?

 

[KnightDoc]

Question about the LOR portion of the secondary app. My committee wrote me a letter and included it, along with all my individual letters, in a big long pdf “letter packet”. In this case, would it be best to select both the committee letter and letter packet boxes?

No. It's either a committee letter or a packet. (I think it's a committee letter, even though it also includes your individual letters!) Selecting both will cause them to look for two submissions, and will keep you from being marked complete while they wait for something that will never be coming.

 

[winter_Ad3030]

Also, if we don't remember our SAT or ACT scores or haven't taken one of those, what should we put?

I think the SAT/ACT scores are optional

 

[mm_premedstudent]

how is everyone getting their ACT/SAT scores I cannot find them anywhere

 

[Gwynbleidd]

No. It's either a committee letter or a packet. (I think it's a committee letter, even though it also includes your individual letters!) Selecting both will cause them to look for two submissions, and will keep you from being marked complete while they wait for something that will never be coming.

Ah, gotcha, makes sense - TY!

 

[Gwynbleidd]

how is everyone getting their ACT/SAT scores I cannot find them anywhere

By a stroke of luck I still have access to the email I used for my Collegeboard account way back when…you may be able to call them up and ask, or maybe your UG institution will still have them on file?

 

[mm_premedstudent]

By a stroke of luck I still have access to the email I used for my Collegeboard account way back when…you may be able to call them up and ask, or maybe your UG institution will still have them on file?

I went all the way back to my high school for it lol

 

[deleted1106140]

Look at your old college apps on your computer, if you saved them. Your SAT score is on there.

 

[may165747]

I have a similar question. COVID pretty much just canceled my plans for the year, so I was hoping I could exclusively talk about how COVID affected my plans. Are they also specifically asking how COVID changed my perception of how to provide proper care? Because honestly, I don't know if I'd be able to properly answer that with a reflection based on being at home with my parent's for a year not working

in the same boat here where my plans were canceled so i didn't have any 'experience' in the challenges of equity and inclusiveness of patients during the pandemic, can we just say we were at home and so aren't in a position to reflect on this?

 

[INeedHelp1234]

Does anyone know if the question: "Describe how the pandemic has affected your educational, work, or research plans? What has your own experience informed you about the challenges of providing equitable and inclusive care to future patients? (2500 Characters)" is supposed to all be one question? Like are the two questions related, or are they basically two separate essays?

Also, if we don't remember our SAT or ACT scores or haven't taken one of those, what should we put?

I agree, it's kinda weird they combined the two questions, and the second question doesn't mention Covid explicitly but of course it's directly attached to the first question. If it's not very clear, I'm guessing we can have some flexibility to it? I'm just going to assume integrate the two if you can, but feel free to focus on one or the other or both independently if you want to and have space. Is there any way to get clarification from the school on this question and what they're expecting?

 

[deleted1106140]

I agree, it's kinda weird they combined the two questions, and the second question doesn't mention Covid explicitly but of course it's directly attached to the first question. If it's not very clear, I'm guessing we can have some flexibility to it? I'm just going to assume integrate the two if you can, but feel free to focus on one or the other or both independently if you want to and have space. Is there any way to get clarification from the school on this question and what they're expecting?

It is strange. I interpreted it as "Describe how the pandemic has affected your educational, work, or research plans? What has your own experience *of the pandemic* informed you about the challenges of providing equitable and inclusive care to future patients? (2500 Characters)

 

[MrPankow]

It is strange. I interpreted it as "Describe how the pandemic has affected your educational, work, or research plans? What has your own experience *of the pandemic* informed you about the challenges of providing equitable and inclusive care to future patients? (2500 Characters)

Same way I interpreted it. I would definitely tie COVID into the second question.

 

[INeedHelp1234]

It is strange. I interpreted it as "Describe how the pandemic has affected your educational, work, or research plans? What has your own experience *of the pandemic* informed you about the challenges of providing equitable and inclusive care to future patients? (2500 Characters)

Yeah that's what I think too. I feel like it's kind of a leading question though. Like yes, the pandemic made it harder for everyone to get care in ways that you might expect.

 

[MrPankow]

FYI everyone, this secondary needs to be completed in two weeks. The secondary states "To activate your application, please complete and return this form with your activation fee within two (2)weeks."

 

[orangezz98]

Does it look bad if you don't answer the do you have any additional information to cover? I feel like I have really addressed everything in my application tbh

 

[KnightDoc]

Does it look bad if you don't answer the do you have any additional information to cover? I feel like I have really addressed everything in my application tbh

I think it looks worse to fluff an application if you have nothing else to say. JMHO.

 

[matt32red]

For the "anything else" question, is it okay to use it as a why this school essay? I'm really interested in this school and the specific programs it has to offer, and I want to demonstrate that as I don't otherwise have connections to the area, and my stats aren't the median.

 

[KnightDoc]

For the "anything else" question, is it okay to use it as a why this school essay? I'm really interested in this school and the specific programs it has to offer, and I want to demonstrate that as I don't otherwise have connections to the area, and my stats aren't the median.

Anything else means just that. There are no rules. It is meant to be open ended, and it is perfectly okay to use it any way you see fit!

 

[hopefulaa]

Hi! I’m an incoming M1 and definitely did not have letters that met these requirements - I had 1 science faculty letter (neuroscience) and then a letter from my PI along with other letters from non science professors and employers. I interviewed in September and my letters were never brought up as an issue. Hope that helps.

Where in the secondary app portal is there a chance to explain this LOR situation? What do we even say if I don't have the ones that they recommended? just that I didn't have it??? I'm not sure...

 

[anonstudent98]

Where in the secondary app portal is there a chance to explain this LOR situation? What do we even say if I don't have the ones that they recommended? just that I didn't have it??? I'm not sure...

I didn’t even mention it lol. I actually didn’t even realize that they had those letter requirements until after I had submitted my secondary, but I also had a committee letter from my school’s pre health department so idk if that changed things

 

[fingerscrossed1085]

For the letters, it only says that they "prefer" certain ones. Also, it only says this if you are sending "individual" letters. So I would not worry if you do not have exactly what they are asking for.

 

[hopefulaa]

For the letters, it only says that they "prefer" certain ones. Also, it only says this if you are sending "individual" letters. So I would not worry if you do not have exactly what they are asking for.

but should we say why we dont have these preferred letters? ie not having chem or physics because simply its been so long since these courses? idk if that's a legit reason

 

[TuckGamePerfect]

but should we say why we dont have these preferred letters? ie not having chem or physics because simply its been so long since these courses? idk if that's a legit reason

Pretty anecdotal but a friend of mine goes to SKMC, didn't acknowledge that he didn't give a physics or chemistry letter, and was fine.

 

[fingerscrossed1085]

but should we say why we dont have these preferred letters? ie not having chem or physics because simply its been so long since these courses? idk if that's a legit reason

No I don't think you would need to say why you don't

 

[frosty42]

For the COVID questions, I feel like nothing from my "own experience" taught me about challenges of providing inclusive and equitable care.
I was very fortunate and I was able to stay home and study for the MCAT throughout much of the pandemic.

I know that COVID exposed health disparities in an extreme way and I can definitely speak about this, but it's not from my own experience - it's from following the course of the pandemic and seeing the way certain populations were hit hardest, etc.

Should I talk about this or is it too generic? I'm not sure how to incorporate my own pandemic experience with inequities in healthcare.

 

[ndcpjf]

Random question, but how do we refer to this school in our secondaries, or does it matter? Do we say Thomas Jefferson University, or Sidney Kimmel Medical College??

 

[seanm028]

Random question, but how do we refer to this school in our secondaries, or does it matter? Do we say Thomas Jefferson University, or Sidney Kimmel Medical College??

I said Sidney Kimmel Medical College (or SKMC) since that seems to be the most common reference in their brochure for prospective students.

 

[star-lily]

I said Sidney Kimmel Medical College (or SKMC) since that seems to be the most common reference in their brochure for prospective students.

I find it interesting because apparently students use "Jeff" all the time, but I'm thinking SKMC is the safest bet for the essays. 😅

 

[premed-->md]

I am having the same issue!

Does anyone know how to enter the SAT scores if I took it from the 2400 scale? Should I combine critical reading and writing?

I contacted the admissions office and they essentially said that they can't tell me how to input the scores They also emphasized that it doesn't matter if you don't put anything, they just use the scores for comparison. So not super helpful, but that's all I got.

 

[fingerscrossed1085]

I contacted the admissions office and they essentially said that they can't tell me how to input the scores They also emphasized that it doesn't matter if you don't put anything, they just use the scores for comparison. So not super helpful, but that's all I got.

Thanks for letting us know! Sorry they weren't super helpful! It's hard when they say "don't matter" and "used for comparison" in the same sentence! I left my SAT scores blank and just used ACT scores since they were more straightforward and I was somehow able to login to my old ACT account.

 

[winter_Ad3030]

Thanks for letting us know! Sorry they weren't super helpful! It's hard when they say "don't matter" and "used for comparison" in the same sentence! I left my SAT scores blank and just used ACT scores since they were more straightforward and I was somehow able to login to my old ACT account.

I don't think the scores are used in making II/WL/admissions decisions, pretty sure they are just for internal research on applicants and accepted students and stats and what not