2021-2022 Vermont

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Thank you to @tay1213 for sharing this year's questions!

2021-2022 Vermont Secondary Essay Prompts:

1. Please reflect on a difficult and challenging non-academic experience you have faced. Include a description of the stressful event, how you dealt with it and what you have learned about others and yourself through this process. (max 500 words)

2. The Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont recognizes that diversity extends beyond chosen and unchosen identities and encompasses the entirety of an individual’s experiences. Reflect on a time you learned something from someone or a group of people who are unlike yourself. (max 500 words)

3. Please use this box to describe how the COVID19 pandemic may have adversely impacted your application. (Optional)(Max 150 words)

4. Additional Comments (Optional)(max 300 words)


Good luck to everyone applying!

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I am looking at one of last year's prompts: "Please reflect on a difficult and challenging non-academic experience you have faced. Include a description of the stressful event, how you dealt with it and what you have learned about others and yourself through this process."

I am planning on writing about my grandmother's development of dementia during COVID-19. I briefly mention how it affected me academically, so is this ok as long as it's not entirely focused on academics?
 
I am looking at one of last year's prompts: "Please reflect on a difficult and challenging non-academic experience you have faced. Include a description of the stressful event, how you dealt with it and what you have learned about others and yourself through this process."

I am planning on writing about my grandmother's development of dementia during COVID-19. I briefly mention how it affected me academically, so is this ok as long as it's not entirely focused on academics?
Yes, okay to mention, as long as you focus on your grandmother’s situation and your response to your grandmother’s illness. They don’t want you to use “failing a course” or “having a bad academic semester” as your “stressful event”.
 
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For the secondaries, is there a character or word limit? It states that before last year it was limited to 500 words but there is no specification on last year's, I'm assuming due to the pandemic making everything more complicated.

Last year’s were all 500 words
 
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Hi everyone. I'm also struggling with the non-academic challenge. Is this more of an adversity essay or challenge essay? From my understanding, the former is something you had no control over happening (like an illness) while a challenge is something you willingly took on. I have examples for either, just not sure what works best here - I've been seeing people use both.
 
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Does Vermont typically use the same secondary prompts over the years? Hoping to start pre-writing secondaries but am unsure if they change frequently year-to-year
 
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Does Vermont typically use the same secondary prompts over the years? Hoping to start pre-writing secondaries but am unsure if they change frequently year-to-year
Yes, I don't believe they've changed them significantly in the past several years (except adding the COVID prompt this past cycle). Has been 2 required, 1 optional: one challenge, one diversity, (+ COVID prompt), and optional comments
 
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For the COVID prompt, I don't necessarily have anything about my application that was adversely affected b/c of COVID but I wanted to write about how I was personally affected (witnessing anti-Asian hate crimes and how my Korean family was affected during this time reinforced my desire to display empathy as a physician to address racism on an individual level). Would appreciate your thoughts on whether this could be a way to go or if I should just leave it blank?
 
Hi! Would someone be so kind as to post the prompts on here please?
 
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has anyone else not received a secondary yet?
 
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Just got the secondary this morning. All prompts are the same as last year. IS

Prompts:
Please reflect on a difficult and challenging non-academic experience you have faced. Include a description of the stressful event, how you dealt with it and what you have learned about others and yourself through this process.(max 500 words)

The Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont recognizes that diversity extends beyond chosen and unchosen identities and encompasses the entirety of an individual’s experiences. Reflect on a time you learned something from someone or a group of people who are unlike yourself.(max 500 words)

Please use this box to describe how the COVID19 pandemic may have adversely impacted your application. (Optional)(Max 150 words)

Additional Comments (Optional)(max 300 words)
 
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Just got the secondary this morning. All prompts are the same as last year. IS

Prompts:
Please reflect on a difficult and challenging non-academic experience you have faced. Include a description of the stressful event, how you dealt with it and what you have learned about others and yourself through this process.(max 500 words)

The Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont recognizes that diversity extends beyond chosen and unchosen identities and encompasses the entirety of an individual’s experiences. Reflect on a time you learned something from someone or a group of people who are unlike yourself.(max 500 words)

Please use this box to describe how the COVID19 pandemic may have adversely impacted your application. (Optional)(Max 150 words)

Additional Comments (Optional)(max 300 words)
Thank you so much!
 
Me. OOS high stats and 4th casper quartile so I don't think i'd be screened out but you never know. maybe they are sending in waves
Same here. OOS but have significant ties to Vermont so hoping that I get the secondary soon :)
 
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following up from previous post...Just received secondary wohoo!
 
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By residency history, how specific do you think they want it? Like every time you moved and addresses or just general areas for general amounts of time?
 
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By residency history, how specific do you think they want it? Like every time you moved and addresses or just general areas for general amounts of time?
The 500 word limit has me feeling really bad about writing just “I lived in X state my entire life” lol.
 
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The 500 word limit has me feeling really bad about writing just “I lived in X state my entire life” lol.
Just checked the FAQ and this is what it said to do:

What should I write in the Residency History section?

Please indicate the places you have lived. Include where you lived, the age(s) you were when you lived there, and the approximate population of the city or town.

Example:

0-18 Stamford, CT pop. 106,000

18-21 Evanston, IL pop. 200,000

21-29 Stamford, CT pop 106,000

29-present South Burlington, VT pop 22,000
 
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Just checked the FAQ and this is what it said to do:

What should I write in the Residency History section?

Please indicate the places you have lived. Include where you lived, the age(s) you were when you lived there, and the approximate population of the city or town.

Example:

0-18 Stamford, CT pop. 106,000

18-21 Evanston, IL pop. 200,000

21-29 Stamford, CT pop 106,000

29-present South Burlington, VT pop 22,000
Well…already submitted the secondary. Lol
 
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For the speeding ticket question, I honestly do not remember if I have gotten one in the last five years. I ordered my home state driving record which was clean. I drove across country a few years ago and remember getting pulled over, however, I do not know if I got a ticket. I do not remember the state this was in. What should I do? Is there any way to find a national driving record?
 
Does anyone know if Anatomy or Physiology will count towards the biology credit? I emailed the admissions team but have not heard back yet.
 
Does anyone know if Anatomy or Physiology will count towards the biology credit? I emailed the admissions team but have not heard back yet.
Yes it does. Prereqs are very clearly listed on their admissions website
 
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+1 OOS! Bunch of schools slid in my DMs after I got verified today lol
 
For the non-academic challenge, I know this was talked about previously, but I'm talking about a negative personality trait I developed through something that happened when I was younger. I mentioned how it affected my academics early in college and how through interactions with other students in study groups I was able to overcome it.

Would this count as "academic"?
 
What are you guys putting for the additional comments? Is it cool to make it a why us essay?
 
Update: For anyone wondering, it does not seem like UVM sends an "application complete" email after all your supplemental materials (CASPer. LORs, secondary) have been received. It simply gives you the little green check on the secondary portal.

Submitted 07/09, and application complete 07/10.
 
Update: For anyone wondering, it does not seem like UVM sends an "application complete" email after all your supplemental materials (CASPer. LORs, secondary) have been received. It simply gives you the little green check on the secondary portal.

Submitted 07/09, and application complete 07/10.
Can confirm. Same thing I saw!
 
Hi everyone. I'm also struggling with the non-academic challenge. Is this more of an adversity essay or challenge essay? From my understanding, the former is something you had no control over happening (like an illness) while a challenge is something you willingly took on. I have examples for either, just not sure what works best here - I've been seeing people use both.

I think you could use either as long as you cover your response and reflect on what you learned from it. I wrote about a professional challenge I took on and what I learned through it and was accepted last cycle. Again, sample size of 1, but I think an adversity or non-academic challenge both can work in this context.
 
Is anyone's "Letters Received" not updating? Under Document Status Mine they're marked as received 7/9 but on the Status tab it currently says "Not Received" and my application is Incomplete. Any advice on what to do?
 
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are you guys writing an optional essay? im not sure what to do
 
are you guys writing an optional essay? im not sure what to do
I just wrote a short Why Vermont essay since they didn't have one of those prompts, otherwise I would've skipped it
 
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