2023-2024 Jefferson (Kimmel)

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
wysdoc

wysdoc

Plain-spoken Texan
Administrator
Volunteer Staff
Lifetime Donor
Verified Member
Physician
7+ Year Member
Verified Expert
Gold Donor
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Messages
14,370
Reaction score
24,057
2023-2024 Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson Secondary Essay Prompts (Question 1 is new)
**Note that they are doing interviews in person this year**

1. Sidney Kimmel Medical College defines diversity as the richness in human differences. How will your own experiences allow you to contribute to the diversity of the student body and to provide equitable and inclusive care to your future patients? (2500 characters)

2. Do you have additional information that you would like to provide at this time? (4000 characters)

Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview Feedback:
Thomas Jefferson University Sidney Kimmel Medical College Interview Feedback
Members don't see this ad.
 
Last edited:
@wysdoc OOS secondary received 06/30/23. The first prompt has been slightly changed since last year:

1. Sidney Kimmel Medical College defines diversity as the richness in human differences. How will your own experiences allow you to contribute to the diversity of the student body and to provide equitable and inclusive care to your future patients? (2500 characters)

2. Do you have additional information that you would like to provide at this time? (4000 characters)
 
Members don't see this ad :)
+1 OOS, for the question:

"If invited for interview day where will you be traveling from?"

does being farther away hinder my chances? What if I am closer by (I have family nearby)
 
amoxicillin_resistant said:
+1 OOS, for the question:

"If invited for interview day where will you be traveling from?"

does being farther away hinder my chances? What if I am closer by (I have family nearby)
Click to expand...
I don't think it will affect your chance for an interview, but they say they are interviewing in person this year and if they have a cancellation, they can ask the close-by people to come at short notice.
 
Has anyone that has submitted the application already have the LORs listed as not received? Mine have been received by AMCAS and designated to schools so wanted to double check
 
CRISPRi said:
Has anyone that has submitted the application already have the LORs listed as not received? Mine have been received by AMCAS and designated to schools so wanted to double check
Click to expand...
A lot of people have this question, and the answer is usually that a clerk in the admissions office needs to look at the letter/letters you sent, check how many there are, and manually mark the letters as complete in your portal.
 
+1 OOS
What is the "additional information" question for? Is it for literally anything at all I want to add?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
MediGator56 said:
+1 OOS
What is the "additional information" question for? Is it for literally anything at all I want to add?
Click to expand...
Yes - it can be a "why this school" essay, a "why me" essay, or anything you didn't have enough space to write about in the primary that will strengthen your candidacy at this school.
 
Neur-out-of-my-mind said:
Is it worth putting my SAT score if its 80th percentile? Do I even need to put anything?
Click to expand...
Isn't that already on your AMCAS application? or does this school ask for it in a separate short-answer section?

If you are referring to the "optional" Question #2, I think it would be unwise to leave it blank as they give you quite a bit of space to say more to them.
 
wysdoc said:
Isn't that already on your AMCAS application? or does this school ask for it in a separate short-answer section?

If you are referring to the "optional" Question #2, I think it would be unwise to leave it blank as they give you quite a bit of space to say more to them.
Click to expand...
It asks in 4 fill-in-the-blank spots:

SAT Reading:

ACT English:

SAT Math:

ACT Math:

I didn't list my SAT on AMCAS, though there was an option to add standardized tests.
 
Neur-out-of-my-mind said:
It asks in 4 fill-in-the-blank spots:

SAT Reading:

ACT English:

SAT Math:

ACT Math:

I didn't list my SAT on AMCAS, though there was an option to add standardized tests.
Click to expand...
hmmm, if you had taken it you should have listed it on AMCAS. But you can't add it now that you submitted.
It's not used to get you in or keep you out of med school, but for statistical analysis later, as in "people who do well on SAT do/don't necessarily do well on MCAT" type of statistics.

Edited because I was wrong, the SAT score is not asked for on AMCAS.
I am always willing to learn something new & walk back my errors 🙂
 
Last edited:
wysdoc said:
Yes - it can be a "why this school" essay, a "why me" essay, or anything you didn't have enough space to write about in the primary that will strengthen your candidacy at this school.
Click to expand...
If we need an exemption for the recommendation letters (since they have specific preferences), do we have to write about it in this section? The only reason I don't want to is because I feel like it would ruin the flow of the essay I already have if I just randomly added something so technical in there. Is there any other way to receive an exemption, does anyone know/have recommendations?
 
CRISPRi said:
Has anyone that has submitted the application already have the LORs listed as not received? Mine have been received by AMCAS and designated to schools so wanted to double check
Click to expand...
I'm also having this issue. Under Document Status it even says my letters have been received by the admissions office.
 
confusedcurls said:
If we need an exemption for the recommendation letters (since they have specific preferences), do we have to write about it in this section? The only reason I don't want to is because I feel like it would ruin the flow of the essay I already have if I just randomly added something so technical in there. Is there any other way to receive an exemption, does anyone know/have recommendations?
Click to expand...
I don't think you will get a prompt response about acceptable letters if you post such a request in an essay.

It will be better to email admissions office with your request, keep it polite, short, and specific.
 
wysdoc said:
hmmm, if you had taken it you should have listed it on AMCAS. But you can't add it now that you submitted.
It's not used to get you in or keep you out of med school, but for statistical analysis later, as in "people who do well on SAT do/don't necessarily do well on MCAT" type of statistics.
Click to expand...
@wysdoc The SAT/ACT doesn't belong anywhere on AMCAS. No student is supposed to report their scores, nor is there even a section to even do so on AMCAS. The only reason AP courses are listed on AMCAS is because universities give college credit for them. I don't believe there is any university in the country that gives college credit for the SAT/ACT as they're standardized exams to get into college, not for credit.

As far as the secondary goes @Neur-out-of-my-mind, I'm opting not to include my score to any school that asks (unless it gives me an issue when I try to submit). Even if it's just for research purposes, humans are subject to bias. Who I was as a student when I was 16 is not and should not be indicative of my candidacy as a medical student at any school. Med schools want a standardized test, and I gave them an MCAT to go along with my 120+ college credits.
 
Neur-out-of-my-mind said:
It asks in 4 fill-in-the-blank spots:

SAT Reading:

ACT English:

SAT Math:

ACT Math:

I didn't list my SAT on AMCAS, though there was an option to add standardized tests.
Click to expand...
I think I'm leaving mine blank. Unfortunately it's been +10 years since I took the SAT and despite saving my username/password collegeboard won't let me login with it.
 
Bowel-Plumber said:
@wysdoc The SAT/ACT doesn't belong anywhere on AMCAS. No student is supposed to report their scores, nor is there even a section to even do so on AMCAS. The only reason AP courses are listed on AMCAS is because universities give college credit for them. I don't believe there is any university in the country that gives college credit for the SAT/ACT as they're standardized exams to get into college, not for credit.

As far as the secondary goes @Neur-out-of-my-mind, I'm opting not to include my score to any school that asks (unless it gives me an issue when I try to submit). Even if it's just for research purposes, humans are subject to bias. Who I was as a student when I was 16 is not and should not be indicative of my candidacy as a medical student at any school. Med schools want a standardized test, and I gave them an MCAT to go along with my 120+ college credits.
Click to expand...
Sorry, it is required on TMDSAS and I thought on AMCAS also.
I will edit my response
 
wysdoc said:
A lot of people have this question, and the answer is usually that a clerk in the admissions office needs to look at the letter/letters you sent, check how many there are, and manually mark the letters as complete in your portal.
Click to expand...

So to clarify does this mean we need to reach out to them and ask? Or they will automatically do this after submission?
 
Arbiter604 said:
So to clarify does this mean we need to reach out to them and ask? Or they will automatically do this after submission?
Click to expand...
No, it means that you should wait and allow them time to go through all the info they receive and mark it in your portal.
Calling them to ask, well , it just interrupts them from doing these things.
 
What do folks generally write in the "anything else" essay? Why Jefferson? Covid statement?
 
wysdoc said:
Yes - it can be a "why this school" essay, a "why me" essay, or anything you didn't have enough space to write about in the primary that will strengthen your candidacy at this school.
Click to expand...
Sigh I should have done this, left it blank :/. Definitely won't make the same mistake on the next ones that give a lot of room and don't ask many questions
 
Cole42 said:
On the SKMC FAQ page, specifically addressing LOR exemption requests, they write, "You may direct exemption requests to the Committee on Admissions using the optional information section on the Secondary Application." I know requesting a letter exemption in the optional essay isn't traditional, but they explicitly say on their website to follow that protocol. @wysdoc, do you still think it's better to email instead?
Click to expand...
You seem to have researched this well.
If that’s where they have asked you to address this, then try to set it apart from other things you might want to write in that space
 
Looking at their LOR requirements, they mentioned they want a letter from bio, chem, physics, and one humanities. I submitted 3 letters (biochem, physics, humanities). I was planning on submitting a fourth chem letter to use my biochem as bio. This morning, however, I got an email saying my application is complete. Should I still try to submit the additional letter? Does that mean they are okay with the letters I currently have? (Maybe they considered biochem to be both bio and chem, I’m not sure).
 
notanorthobro said:
Looking at their LOR requirements, they mentioned they want a letter from bio, chem, physics, and one humanities. I submitted 3 letters (biochem, physics, humanities). I was planning on submitting a fourth chem letter to use my biochem as bio. This morning, however, I got an email saying my application is complete. Should I still try to submit the additional letter? Does that mean they are okay with the letters I currently have? (Maybe they considered biochem to be both bio and chem, I’m not sure).
Click to expand...
It seems like they're marking the letter of recommendation section complete even when not all of the letters have been received. Source: myself, one of my letters hasn't even arrived yet, but I'm still marked as complete. So I'm not sure if they actually consider it "okay," it might be more of an automatic check. Does anyone else have similar experiences with this? Are we actually considered complete or is this a premature completion notification?
 
Is it a problem if I don’t have the recommended letters of recommendation? I submitted 1 biochemistry, 1 chemistry, 1 research, 1 humanities, 1 physician I shadowed.
 
For those of you that used the additional comments as a “why us”, around how many characters was your response?
 
for previous application year question, do we put 2021 if I applied for 2020-21 cycle?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top