2021-2022 UT Houston (McGovern)

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Thank you to @medicallyblonde1010 for sharing this year's prompts

2021-2022 UT Houston (McGovern) Secondary Essay Prompts:

Question 1:
Please discuss one of the following:

**A challenging situation or obstacle you have faced in the past

**Any academic road bumps in your academic career (low academic performance, failing course, dropping/retaking of courses)
Why was it challenging? How did you handle it? Knowing what you know now, would you do anything differently? What did you learn?

Question 2:
Describe a time or situation where you have been unsuccessful or failed. What did you learn from this experience and how have you applied this learning to your work and/or life?

Question 3:
What would you like to contribute and be remembered for in medicine?


Good luck to everyone applying!

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i see the secondary prompts but not the character or word counts on the page. Am I missing something?
 
sunnyv said:
i see the secondary prompts but not the character or word counts on the page. Am I missing something?
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I don't see them either! I am sure it will be updated soon. Last year it was 2500 characters. The prompts are the same correct?
 
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Hi yes! Sorry!

Question 1:

Please discuss one of the following:

  • A challenging situation or obstacle you have faced in the past
  • Any academic road bumps in your academic career (low academic performance, failing course, dropping/retaking of courses)
Why was it challenging? How did you handle it? Knowing what you know now, would you do anything differently? What did you learn?

Question 2:

Describe a time or situation where you have been unsuccessful or failed. What did you learn from this experience and how have you applied this learning to your work and/or life?

Question 3:

What would you like to contribute and be remembered for in medicine?
 
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Any of yall studying at UH-Clear lake right now premed?
 
Yikes the prompt 1 and 2 are very similar...
 
JoonJK said:
Yikes the prompt 1 and 2 are very similar...
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They are similar, depending on which prompt you choose for #1. (if you chose the second one about academic failures)

You could distinguish them as
#1 a challenging situation (which you might have handled well or learned something from)

#2 a time you failed or were unsuccessful
 
wysdoc said:
They are similar, depending on which prompt you choose for #1. (if you chose the second one about academic failures)

You could distinguish them as
#1 a challenging situation (which you might have handled well or learned something from)

#2 a time you failed or were unsuccessful
Click to expand...
Ah I see. They want you to explain what you learned from a challenging situation and a failure. Those two are indeed different I guess.
 
amiejjj said:
McGovern is the last school I have yet to receive a secondary from. Do they read your primary app beforehand? What does the timeline look like for receiving secondary?
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It took about a week for McGovern to send me an email after my primary was transmitted. In contrast, I got emails from UTSW and Baylor about 20 hours after the primary transmitted. Dell Medical school also takes about a week or so. Hope this helps! Not sure if they actually review anything though.
 
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are we expected to fulfill the character count/do some storytelling on the last prompt? it seems pretty straightforward to me.
 
butterflybreakfast said:
are we expected to fulfill the character count/do some storytelling on the last prompt? it seems pretty straightforward to me.
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Even though the prompt is asking you what you want to be remembered for or contribute, I think it is probably safe to say they want to know a bit of the why. Like most essays during this application process, it would be best to illustrate this with an experience and show, not tell.

For example, if you say that you want to be remembered for advocating for patients, show how you have committed to advocacy already and what your past experiences have taught you that led to this long-term goal. I know some applicants that lobbied and met with senators to pass state legislature on mental health, and they explained that nicely. Or, if you want to pioneer new techniques and innovations, demonstrate this passion for creativity with an example. Definitely do not pad your response and answer the question directly, but remember that this secondary is supposed to tell AdComs a little bit more about you.
 
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rrahman1 said:
Even though the prompt is asking you what you want to be remembered for or contribute, I think it is probably safe to say they want to know a bit of the why. Like most essays during this application process, it would be best to illustrate this with an experience and show, not tell.

For example, if you say that you want to be remembered for advocating for patients, show how you have committed to advocacy already and what your past experiences have taught you that led to this long-term goal. I know some applicants that lobbied and met with senators to pass state legislature on mental health, and they explained that nicely. Or, if you want to pioneer new techniques and innovations, demonstrate this passion for creativity with an example. Definitely do not pad your response and answer the question directly, but remember that this secondary is supposed to tell AdComs a little bit more about you.
Click to expand...
this is really helpful. thank you!!
 
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For the 3rd prompt, I want to write about the inequity in resources and the financial cost of getting to medical school in hopes of improving that as a physician. Can anyone provide feedback on whether they think that would be a good topic to write about? My backup is talking about wanting to increase healthcare access to unsheltered people in my local community. Any feedback is appreciated!
 
classydolphin said:
For the 3rd prompt, I want to write about the inequity in resources and the financial cost of getting to medical school in hopes of improving that as a physician. Can anyone provide feedback on whether they think that would be a good topic to write about? My backup is talking about wanting to increase healthcare access to unsheltered people in my local community. Any feedback is appreciated!
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Hi! I am not an expert by any means so I definitely need backup here but I think that if you choose either topic you must be very specific and take care not to pass judgment on individuals or institutions (a bit of that CASPer logic; do not blame American healthcare or medical schools). Personally, I would suggest access to care if you have a real passion for it and have more experience with it. I think that whichever approach allows you to incorporate more of your personality and experiences to support your answer is the one you should choose because that is what adcoms want to see in secondary applications. It would probably be harder to do that for the first topic without sounding like you are lamenting the cost of tuition, even though most committee members would relate to you.
 
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is the mcgovern portal only allowing yall to input only 2489 characters? it is for me :(

also, should i add spaces and indentations to each paragraph?
 
Is anyone else here applying MD/PhD? I noticed in last years thread they mentioned you have to mail in your secondary, I just wanted to confirm if this was correct
 
Hello, what's the recommended turnaround time for secondaries for this school? I'm having to balance a lot of things and I go my secondary on the 6/7. Should I submit asap for this school?
 
Anthony77005 said:
Hello, what's the recommended turnaround time for secondaries for this school? I'm having to balance a lot of things and I go my secondary on the 6/7. Should I submit asap for this school?
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This is what it says in the McGovern portal:

When is the deadline for the Secondary Application?

The deadline for the Secondary application is November 15th, 2021. We encourage applicants to complete the secondary application within 1-2 weeks of receiving the secondary application invitation.
 
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Took Casper on June 17th. Altus says the results have been delivered. However, McGovern (and UTMB) says that it hasn't received the results yet. Is this expected? How long should I wait before I reach out to the school?
 
Bored_Conscious said:
Took Casper on June 17th. Altus says the results have been delivered. However, McGovern (and UTMB) says that it hasn't received the results yet. Is this expected? How long should I wait before I reach out to the school?
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UTMB and McGovern were last of mine to update just wait my utmb one updated like 3 days after at ~3-4am lol
 
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scaredpremed12345 said:
UTMB and McGovern were last of mine to update just wait my utmb one updated like 3 days after at ~3-4am lol
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I see. My Altus said delivered more than a few days ago. I guess I'll wait a little more and see if things change. Thanks!
 
Has anyone received an interview invite yet? Curious to know whether they have started sending those out
 
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baz2020 said:
Is anyone else here applying MD/PhD? I noticed in last years thread they mentioned you have to mail in your secondary, I just wanted to confirm if this was correct
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That's what it says on their website. There's an editable PDF to fill out and then I think you have to print it and mail it, along with a check for the app fee.

There's also an additional prompt:

Prompt 4: Why would our MD/PhD program be a good fit for your career goals?
 
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carsonh11 said:
That's what it says on their website. There's an editable PDF to fill out and then I think you have to print it and mail it, along with a check for the app fee.

There's also an additional prompt:

Prompt 4: Why would our MD/PhD program be a good fit for your career goals?
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So strange. It's weird they have a portal for MD but make MD/PhDs mail it in.
 
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Hi guys, for #1 is it worth mentioning my C in history during my first semester of college? how i tried to focus on anatomy and physiology and put history in the back-burner, and learned to manage my time better as a fixed my study habits and all that? that is my only C so i dont know if it is worth mentioning
 
baz2020 said:
So strange. It's weird they have a portal for MD but make MD/PhDs mail it in.
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Completely agree, it's a bit frustrating honestly. Maybe they use it as a mini-screen to see who'll go through the effort of mailing it in :confused:
 
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does anyone know what the interview format is going to be like this year? I called a while back and they told me that is was not determined yet.
 
Does McGovern screen before sending out secondary invites? I received secondaries from all schools (except Dell lol) on 7/9 but nothing from McGovern. It's been a week and it's my last set of essays to write, but I'm not sure if there's a point in writing them if I never got a secondary.
 
gooner321 said:
Does McGovern screen before sending out secondary invites? I received secondaries from all schools (except Dell lol) on 7/9 but nothing from McGovern. It's been a week and it's my last set of essays to write, but I'm not sure if there's a point in writing them if I never got a secondary.
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They don’t screen. I received secondary in 4 days of being transmitted. Maybe check spam
 
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if i were to use my health equity essay that i wrote for UTMB (with some additions) for prompt #3 for McGovern, will they realize that i used an essay from UTMB? Or will they not care?
 
psychaspiring said:
if i were to use my health equity essay that i wrote for UTMB (with some additions) for prompt #3 for McGovern, will they realize that i used an essay from UTMB? Or will they not care?
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One TMDSAS school does not have access to or get to read the secondary essays of other schools.
Feel free to "steal from yourself" and re-use your own essays.
 
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Congrats guys! Thanks for sharing data you know how all of us are on pins and needles. Now go kick some butt on the interviews!
 
Hey friends, current MS1 here at McGovern. Feel free to reach out if y'all have any questions about the school, interviews, etc. Congrats to those who recently received an II!

Also, for those who may be worried their stats are too low for McGovern, don't fret. I can assure you that the admissions take a holistic approach to your application. I was a non-trad with a lower than desired MCAT and I pre-matched in October. Best of luck everyone!
 
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