2023-2024 Albany

[PapaGuava]

2023-2024 Albany Secondary Essay Prompts

1. Describe yourself (1000 characters)

2. Please explain any inconsistencies in your university, graduate, or professional school academic performance and/or MCAT scores. If the question does not apply to you, please put N/A in the box provided (1000 characters).

3. Has your college or university, graduate or professional school attendance been interrupted for any reason? If yes, please explain. Also, please explain any extended gaps in activity/employment in your post-graduate history. If the question does not apply to you, please put N/A in the box provided (1000 characters).

4. Describe a significant challenge that has prepared you for the MD career path (1000 characters).

5. Please describe your personal experiences with the structural and social determinants of health in your life and community, how they shaped your engagement with medicine and your future ideas for doctoring (1000 characters).

6. Tell us about a community with which you identify and how you are involved with it (1000 characters).

7. Is there anything else you would like the admissions committee to know when reviewing your application? If so, please use the space provided (1000 characters).

8. In the "Work and Activities" section on your AMCAS application, you provided the following list of experiences. Please select the experience that you feel has been the most meaningful in influencing your desire to pursue a career in medicine, explain why, and also describe what aspect of that experience best equips you to make an impact in the medical profession. (1000 characters)

9. If you have previously applied to medical school but were unsuccessful, what do you think is (are) the primary reason(s) for not being accepted? What have you done to remedy this? (no apparent limit)





Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview feedback:

Albany Medical College Interview Feedback

Review of Albany Medical College Interview Feedback. Get the latest information, opinions of fellow students, and LizzyM and SDN Rankings.

www.studentdoctor.net

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[midwesty1996]

Anyone know if the secondary prompts are 1,000 characters including or excluding spaces?

 

[Rocky1976$]

usually including

 

[hopefulfuturedoctor1997]

anyone know previous years secondary prompts ?

 

[chilly_md]

anyone know previous years secondary prompts ?

You can look at these in past year’s school-specific threads. Be aware that secondary prompts are subject to change year-to-year.

 

[doc_doc_goose]

Anyone know if the secondary prompts are 1,000 characters including or excluding spaces?

Characters include each letter, spaces and punctuation marks

 

[outcastdoodle]

oos secondary received

 

[srs.md]

+1 oos secondary received

 

[amdocahe]

+1 oos secondary received

+2

 

[demetriusclair]

OOS secondary received.

@PapaGuava

1. Describe yourself (1000 characters)

2. Please explain any inconsistencies in your university, graduate, or professional school academic performance and/or MCAT scores. If the question does not apply to you, please put N/A in the box provided (1000 characters).

3. Has your college or university, graduate or professional school attendance been interrupted for any reason? If yes, please explain. Also, please explain any extended gaps in activity/employment in your post-graduate history. If the question does not apply to you, please put N/A in the box provided (1000 characters).

4. Describe a significant challenge that has prepared you for the MD career path (1000 characters).

5. Please describe your personal experiences with the structural and social determinants of health in your life and community, how they shaped your engagement with medicine and your future ideas for doctoring (1000 characters).

6. Tell us about a community with which you identify and how you are involved with it (1000 characters).

7. Is there anything else you would like the admissions committee to know when reviewing your application? If so, please use the space provided (1000 characters).

 

[SultanateIV]

OOS secondary received.

@PapaGuava

1. Describe yourself (1000 characters)

2. Please explain any inconsistencies in your university, graduate, or professional school academic performance and/or MCAT scores. If the question does not apply to you, please put N/A in the box provided (1000 characters).

3. Has your college or university, graduate or professional school attendance been interrupted for any reason? If yes, please explain. Also, please explain any extended gaps in activity/employment in your post-graduate history. If the question does not apply to you, please put N/A in the box provided.

4. Describe a significant challenge that has prepared you for the MD career path.

5. Please describe your personal experiences with the structural and social determinants of health in your life and community, how they shaped your engagement with medicine and your future ideas for doctoring.

6. Tell us about a community with which you identify and how you are involved with it.

7. Is there anything else you would like the admissions committee to know when reviewing your application? If so, please use the space provided.

What are the character counts for the other questions? Are there any?

 

[palmtre]

IS recieved!

 

[simp4levi]

all 1000 characters

 

[simp4levi]

Does gap year essay work for this question?

7. Has your college or university, graduate or professional school attendance been interrupted for any reason? If yes, please explain. Also, please explain any extended gaps in activity/employment in your post-graduate history. If the question does not apply to you, please put N/A in the box provided.

 

[demetriusclair]

What are the character counts for the other questions? Are there any?

Sorry, its 1000 characters for all of them

 

[OkHow]

Does gap year essay work for this question?

7. Has your college or university, graduate or professional school attendance been interrupted for any reason? If yes, please explain. Also, please explain any extended gaps in activity/employment in your post-graduate history. If the question does not apply to you, please put N/A in the box provided.

Not really IMO. It's asking to explain gaps in activity/employment since graduation. IF you have a gap since graduation in which you weren't doing activities or employed, then I'd answer this. Otherwise, I wouldn't.

 

[premed_15]

Secondary received IS

 

[simp4levi]

@PapaGuava

There's an additional essay in the experiences section:

In the "Work and Activities" section on your AMCAS application, you provided the following list of experiences. Please select the experience that you feel has been the most meaningful in influencing your desire to pursue a career in medicine, explain why, and also describe what aspect of that experience best equips you to make an impact in the medical profession. Describe what aspect of that experience best equips you to make an impact in the medical profession.

 

[postmix]

OOS Secondary received today

 

[Dr_Pediatrics]

Historically when do II start being sent out?

 

[deleted1124957]

Any advice for tackling question 2? Scored a 510 with a 124 CARS, would the best piece of advice to be just own it and not do anything? Or should I try to address it and make some 'excuses' (being ESL) and what I learned? Thanks

 

[demetriusclair]

If your school has a Premedical Advisory Committee but you are not using that service, please indicate why (1,000 character limit).

For this question, is it referring to the committee letter? My school has a committee and I used their help in my application, but they just don't write committee letters.

 

[wysdoc]

For this question, is it referring to the committee letter? My school has a committee and I used their help in my application, but they just don't write committee letters.

I think that is what they are getting at and you can state: "I did meet with the pre-health advisory office at my college for help with the application process, but they do not write a committee letter for students."

 

[demetriusclair]

I think that is what they are getting at and you can state: "I did meet with the pre-health advisory office at my college for help with the application process, but they do not write a committee letter for students."

Thanks!

 

[SultanateIV]

Has your college or university, graduate or professional school attendance been interrupted for any reason? If yes, please explain. Also, please explain any extended gaps in activity/employment in your post-graduate history. If the question does not apply to you, please put N/A in the box provided (1000 characters).

Is the second part of this question asking about gap-years after graduating college?

 

[wysdoc]

Has your college or university, graduate or professional school attendance been interrupted for any reason? If yes, please explain. Also, please explain any extended gaps in activity/employment in your post-graduate history. If the question does not apply to you, please put N/A in the box provided (1000 characters).

Is the second part of this question asking about gap-years after graduating college?

yes the second part applies to gaps after graduation - if you were still studying like in a post-bac or had a full time job that would not be a "gap" in your activity history.

 

[demetriusclair]

I feel like you need a lot more than 1000 characters to answer some of these questions...

In the “Work and Activities” section on your AMCAS application, you provided the following list of experiences (lists all experiences). Please select the experience that you feel has been the most meaningful in influencing your desire to pursue a career in medicine. Explain why, and also describe what aspect of, that experience best equips you to make an impact in the medical profession (1,000 character limit).

This question is literally 400+ characters.

 

[demetriusclair]

Really struggling with the “Please describe your personal experiences with the structural and social determinants of health in your life and community, how they shaped your engagement and your future ideas of doctoring”


Is this question asking “what challenges made you pursue medicine?”

I answered it using examples of SDOH i have seen in my community through the ECs I pursued and then talked about how I plan to combat these exact disparities.

You could also talk about those SDOH impacting your own life but I didnt

 

[lumaily]

+1 OOS secondary

 

[chidorichampion]

@PapaGuava

There's an additional essay in the experiences section:

In the "Work and Activities" section on your AMCAS application, you provided the following list of experiences. Please select the experience that you feel has been the most meaningful in influencing your desire to pursue a career in medicine, explain why, and also describe what aspect of that experience best equips you to make an impact in the medical profession. Describe what aspect of that experience best equips you to make an impact in the medical profession.

just making sure -- there wasn't any button to select or click on the experience, correct? the only thing needed was entering in the text box below?

 

[deleted1124957]

just making sure -- there wasn't any button to select or click on the experience, correct? the only thing needed was entering in the text box below?

yup

 

[chidorichampion]

Awesome, thanks!

 

[CamilleM]

Anyone have advice for answering Q1 (and others like it). Are they asking for family/your background and/or interests in medicine? Is it supposed to be more autobiographical? Do you include your personality, your hobbies...? It is just such a broad question....

 

[monkeym8]

The open-endedness of these prompts is slightly irritating lol

 

[Mancheeta3434]

How did you all approach Q6?

 

[demetriusclair]

How did you all approach Q6?

I talked about being an immigrant. If you aren't a minority or immigrant, you could talk about the pride that you have in being from the city you come from and also about what you've done to serve that city.

 

[aightmanokay]

For the question "7. Is there anything else you would like the admissions committee to know when reviewing your application? If so, please use the space provided (1000 characters)." are you guys doing a "Why us?" or just leaving it blank if there's nothing relevant to add here,

 

[BagChaser85]

As a reapplicant in general, not to Albany, what should I say to the question that asks why I was not accepted? Last cycle I applied to only 2 schools and got subsequently WL at both (still on both). The only thing I can think of is having a small school list, and a lower MCAT originally, but is that appropriate to put?

 

[Rocky1976$]

For the question "7. Is there anything else you would like the admissions committee to know when reviewing your application? If so, please use the space provided (1000 characters)." are you guys doing a "Why us?" or just leaving it blank if there's nothing relevant to add here,

I spoke about my early experiences as a first-gen immigrant, witnessing racism and feeling unsupported, and then had a concluding sentence of how I am driven towards a career in medicine where I can help improve healthcare accessibility

 

[aightmanokay]

I spoke about my early experiences as a first-gen immigrant, witnessing racism and feeling unsupported, and then had a concluding sentence of how I am driven towards a career in medicine where I can help improve healthcare accessibility

That's what I wrote for the first one since it was a diversity essay haha. I'll probably do a Why Us in that case

 

[amoxicillin_resistant]

what denotes an "inconsistency" ? not sure if this question applies to me

 

[chidorichampion]

Hey everyone, do we still have to log back in like previous years to finalize our application after submitting?

 

[Rocky1976$]

I don’t think so cause the system moved to the webadmit system

 

[chidorichampion]

I don’t think so cause the system moved to the webadmit system

Great, thank you!

 

[ayoooooosauce]

How did you guys approach the describe yourself question

 

[huiyiung]

Did anyone else receive a secondary invite on the first day their application was verified and then a second one about two weeks later "personally inviting" you to complete their secondary application?

 

[reptilian]

Did anyone else receive a secondary invite on the first day their application was verified and then a second one about two weeks later "personally inviting" you to complete their secondary application?

Was just about to ask about this... Got another secondary invite this morning and was confused

 

[aightmanokay]

Was just about to ask about this... Got another secondary invite this morning and was confused

I'd assume it's just a ploy to just get as many secondaries as possible because $$

 

[someonenotme]

Did anyone else receive a secondary invite on the first day their application was verified and then a second one about two weeks later "personally inviting" you to complete their secondary application?

just received another one this morning and I was pretty confused..

 

[postmix]

i got this too... now i'm like when will the informal "two-week rule" actually apply