2021-2022 Vanderbilt

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Thank you to @medicallyblonde1010 for sharing this year's questions!

2021-2022 Vanderbilt Secondary Essay Prompts:

We understand the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a particularly stressful time for many applicants. To allow applicants more time for reflection when completing our secondary application, we are publishing our secondary application essay prompts in advance. Please note that the MSTP and MIDP programs may have additional essay prompts for you to respond to.

1. Please reflect on the upbringing, background, and experiences in your life that have shaped who you are as a person and will help define the person you want to be in the future. In other words, what makes you who you are? (800 words)

2. Tell us about a time when you interacted with someone who is different than you. What did you learn? What would you do differently? (600 words)

3. Everyone needs help at various times in their lives. Describe a time you asked for help and what you gained from that experience that has influenced your approach to asking for help. (600 words)

4. Optional: If you have completed your undergraduate education, please comment on what you have done or have been doing since graduation.
(200 words)

5. Optional: If applicable, please describe how the COVID-19 outbreak affected your pathway to medical school. You may discuss any academic, personal, financial, or professional alterations to your plans. NOTE: Disclosing certain hardships or obstacles that have been faced during this time will not negatively affect an application. (200 words)

Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview feedback:
www.studentdoctor.net

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Interview Feedback

Review of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Interview Feedback. Get the latest information, opinions of fellow students, and LizzyM and SDN Rankings.
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For everyone considering applying, here's last cycle's secondary questions: (Moderator's note: 2021-2022 questions are different)
  • If applicable, please describe how the COVID-19 outbreak affected your pathway to medical school. You may discuss any academic, personal, financial, or professional alterations to your plans. NOTE: Disclosing certain hardships or obstacles that have been faced during this time will not negatively affect an application. (500 words).
  • Write a brief autobiography. As completely and precisely as possible, give a picture of yourself, your family, and events you consider important to you. In doing so, identify the values that are of greatest importance to you. If you have completed your undergraduate education, please comment on what you have done or have been doing since graduation. (1200 words).
  • Please discuss a challenging situation or obstacle you have faced in the past. Why was it challenging? How did you handle it? Knowing what you know now, would you do anything differently? What did you learn? (500 words).
 
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Vanderbilt has released their prompts early for this cycle.

We understand the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a particularly stressful time for many applicants. To allow applicants more time for reflection when completing our secondary application, we are publishing our secondary application essay prompts in advance. Please note that the MSTP and MIDP programs may have additional essay prompts for you to respond to.

  • Please reflect on the upbringing, background, and experiences in your life that have shaped who you are as a person and will help define the person you want to be in the future. In other words, what makes you who you are? (800 words)
  • Tell us about a time when you interacted with someone who is different than you. What did you learn? What would you do differently? (600 words)
  • Everyone needs help at various times in their lives. Describe a time you asked for help and what you gained from that experience that has influenced your approach to asking for help. (600 words)
  • Optional: If you have completed your undergraduate education, please comment on what you have done or have been doing since graduation. (200 words)
  • Optional: If applicable, please describe how the COVID-19 outbreak affected your pathway to medical school. You may discuss any academic, personal, financial, or professional alterations to your plans. NOTE: Disclosing certain hardships or obstacles that have been faced during this time will not negatively affect an application. (200 words)
 
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medicallyblonde1010 said:
Vanderbilt has released their prompts early for this cycle.

We understand the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a particularly stressful time for many applicants. To allow applicants more time for reflection when completing our secondary application, we are publishing our secondary application essay prompts in advance. Please note that the MSTP and MIDP programs may have additional essay prompts for you to respond to.

  • Please reflect on the upbringing, background, and experiences in your life that have shaped who you are as a person and will help define the person you want to be in the future. In other words, what makes you who you are? (800 words)
  • Tell us about a time when you interacted with someone who is different than you. What did you learn? What would you do differently? (600 words)
  • Everyone needs help at various times in their lives. Describe a time you asked for help and what you gained from that experience that has influenced your approach to asking for help. (600 words)
  • Optional: If you have completed your undergraduate education, please comment on what you have done or have been doing since graduation. (200 words)
  • Optional: If applicable, please describe how the COVID-19 outbreak affected your pathway to medical school. You may discuss any academic, personal, financial, or professional alterations to your plans. NOTE: Disclosing certain hardships or obstacles that have been faced during this time will not negatively affect an application. (200 words)
Click to expand...
Wow I was really about to start the old 1200 word autobiography tomorrow... thank you so much for this lol
 
medicallyblonde1010 said:
  • Everyone needs help at various times in their lives. Describe a time you asked for help and what you gained from that experience that has influenced your approach to asking for help. (600 words)
Click to expand...
Would it be acceptable to write about something "light" for this prompt?
Asking for financial help, help during personal or family sickness, etc. would seem ideal but I personally don't have experiences of that nature.
I am quite unsure what qualities this question is looking for, in the context of medical school application.
 
Bananako said:
Would it be acceptable to write about something "light" for this prompt?
Asking for financial help, help during personal or family sickness, etc. would seem ideal but I personally don't have experiences of that nature.
I am quite unsure what qualities this question is looking for, in the context of medical school application.
Click to expand...
I was trying to start this one and was thinking the same thing. I have no stories of when I asked for help for something major but I ask for help with a lot of little things.
 
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justkeepswimming2022 said:
Does anyone know Vanderbilt's criteria for screening?
Click to expand...
From what I've heard on various forums, they use a screen that automatically selects certain people for the secondary. At one point this was a 3.8+/520+. It sounds like they changed that to 3.5+/515+ at some point. After the auto screen, they go through and select a bunch of the people below those cutoffs for secondaries based on a more holistic review.
 
Quinteresting said:
From what I've heard on various forums, they use a screen that automatically selects certain people for the secondary. At one point this was a 3.8+/520+. It sounds like they changed that to 3.5+/515+ at some point. After the auto screen, they go through and select a bunch of the people below those cutoffs for secondaries based on a more holistic review.
Click to expand...


For the record, I am getting the following directly from their website, and I'm sticking with it!:

Applications are reviewed in two stages. First, a group of specially trained screeners who represent the diversity of our community review the material provided from AMCAS. Each application receives multiple independent evaluations. This enables us to do a holistic review of the competitive strength of the applicant’s credentials. We take into consideration the following factors:
  • Academic accomplishment
  • Motivation
  • Personal qualities
  • Leadership skills
  • Educational background
After this first screening, the most competitive applicants are offered an opportunity to submit a Vanderbilt-specific secondary application and are under consideration to be invited to come to campus for a personal interview. We anticipate that secondary invitations will be sent out starting mid-July, 2021. Approximately two-thirds of the applicants will be offered the secondary application. We will interview approximately 550 applicants; approximately 250 applicants will be offered admission for 96 positions.
 
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KnightDoc said:
For the record, I am getting the following directly from their website, and I'm sticking with it!:

Applications are reviewed in two stages. First, a group of specially trained screeners who represent the diversity of our community review the material provided from AMCAS. Each application receives multiple independent evaluations. This enables us to do a holistic review of the competitive strength of the applicant’s credentials. We take into consideration the following factors:
  • Academic accomplishment
  • Motivation
  • Personal qualities
  • Leadership skills
  • Educational background
After this first screening, the most competitive applicants are offered an opportunity to submit a Vanderbilt-specific secondary application and are under consideration to be invited to come to campus for a personal interview. We anticipate that secondary invitations will be sent out starting mid-July, 2021. Approximately two-thirds of the applicants will be offered the secondary application. We will interview approximately 550 applicants; approximately 250 applicants will be offered admission for 96 positions.
Click to expand...
As I said at the beginning of my post "from what I've heard"...

I don't claim to have any special inside knowledge, was just passing on what I've read. The consensus seems to be that there is some type of auto screen but that lots of people get pushed through based on a more holistic review. Could be completely wrong, but no one is ever going to have an exact answer about this stuff unless they're on the admissions committee.

The description you linked is the same generic description used by every school that doesn't send a secondary to anyone with a pulse.
 
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Quinteresting said:
As I said at the beginning of my post "from what I've heard"...

I don't claim to have any special inside knowledge, was just passing on what I've read. The consensus seems to be that there is some type of auto screen but that lots of people get pushed through based on a more holistic review. Could be completely wrong, but no one is ever going to have an exact answer about this stuff unless they're on the admissions committee.

The description you linked is the same generic description used by every school that doesn't send a secondary to anyone with a pulse.
Click to expand...
Okay, but, TBH, they are being pretty transparent by spelling out in some detail how their process works, including what they are looking at and how many people they will interview and then later admit to fill their class, so I'm not sure why anyone would question it in favor of random things being posted on random websites. They make no mention of an auto-screen, while they describe multiple, independent holistic reviews.

This is what I've heard, and I'm just passing it on. 🙂
 
Hi All, I am pretty unfamiliar with SDN. Could someone give me a brief summary of the lingo? What do people mean by +3, +4, etc? What is LM, WARS, II, IA, etc? Probably super obvious, but I can't figure it out. Any help would be appreciated 🙂
 
kitkat08 said:
Hi All, I am pretty unfamiliar with SDN. Could someone give me a brief summary of the lingo? What do people mean by +3, +4, etc? What is LM, WARS, II, IA, etc? Probably super obvious, but I can't figure it out. Any help would be appreciated 🙂
Click to expand...
+3 and +4 are people saying they also received something. Like "I got a secondary" +1,+2,+3 would be more people also receiving this. LM = LizzyM score a number generated from your GPA + MCAT to gauge competitiveness (google to find). WARS = another metric for gauging competitiveness can also google. II = Interview Invite . IA = institutional action IS = instate OOS = out of state etc
 
kitkat08 said:
Hi All, I am pretty unfamiliar with SDN. Could someone give me a brief summary of the lingo? What do people mean by +3, +4, etc? What is LM, WARS, II, IA, etc? Probably super obvious, but I can't figure it out. Any help would be appreciated 🙂
Click to expand...
All the plusses are just people agreeing with a particular post. LM is a LizzyM score, it gives you a score based on aggregate GPA and MCAT. WARS is similar but factors in extracurriculars as well. Search these on google to figure out yours. II is an interview invite, which we are all hoping to see eventually... and IA is an institutional action, basically getting written up for cheating or some other kind of academic dishonesty.
 
baz2020 said:
+3 and +4 are people saying they also received something. Like "I got a secondary" +1,+2,+3 would be more people also receiving this. LM = LizzyM score a number generated from your GPA + MCAT to gauge competitiveness (google to find). WARS = another metric for gauging competitiveness can also google. II = Interview Invite . IA = institutional action IS = instate OOS = out of state etc
Click to expand...
I think IA refers to Interviews Accepted, especially when it is on the tagline right after II: Interview Invites.
 
Are MSTP people uploading a file for every publication and abstract or just putting the journal/conference and title
 
Have any non-MSTP (regular MD) applicants received their secondaries yet?
 
tennis87 said:
Are MSTP people uploading a file for every publication and abstract or just putting the journal/conference and title
Click to expand...
I uploaded a file of my manuscripts but not abstracts since it wouldn't take ppts and a lot of my abstracts were recent so they're not published online yet
 
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