Can someone please explain to me (rant)

[krasnayana]

Can any one explain to me the purpose of a secondary?

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[krasnayana]

 

[jeffsleepy]

Well, for one thing, it shows that you're truly interested in a certain school. If it weren't for secondaries, I'd probably have applied to 10 or so more schools. I have no problem throwing some money at them, but I don't really feel like writing a bajillion essays.

 

[krasnayana]

Well, for one thing, it shows that you're truly interested in a certain school. If it weren't for secondaries, I'd probably have applied to 10 or so more schools. I have no problem throwing some money at them, but I don't really feel like writing a bajillion essays.

If there weren't so many AUTOMATIC ones then I wouldn't mind doing twice as many. Wow, so many patient people here. OK, back to explaining why I am truly interested in this certain school.

 

[gujuDoc]

I think secondaries are pointless since all the relevant info is on AMCAS. But unfortunately some schools want you to fill one out even though they don't have additional essays. Additionally essay secondaries are the only one's that kinda serve some point.

But the fees that go along with it do serve a point. They pay for all the interview days and things of that nature.

 

[bigdan]

Ditto above - all those neat little catalogs and the fancy websites cost money...

dc

 

[liverotcod]

I'm of the cynical opinion that they mostly serve as a screen to reduce the number of applicants. A couple of them, though, asked questions that I felt were relevant (I thought UMinnesota-TC was a good one, for example).

 

[PrincetonRocks]

The secondary has a 5-fold purpose:

(1) AMCAS applications crash and cannot be downloaded by med school in a timely manner

(2) Allows the school to know if an applicant is still interested in the school

(3) Allow the adcoms to ask more specific questions about the applicant (the kind of questions that allow the adcoms to see if the student matches well with the mission/philosophy of the school....ie. LLU and religion; USC and student diversity)

(4) Allow the applicant to add to their application that they might have forgotten to put down in the AMCAS

(5) Collect the school's processing fee to process the application further. Remember, your initial fee goes to AMCAS, not the school.

Good luck!

 

[gujuDoc]

I'm of the cynical opinion that they mostly serve as a screen to reduce the number of applicants. A couple of them, though, asked questions that I felt were relevant (I thought UMinnesota-TC was a good one, for example).

Yah you do make some good points. You probably hit it on the nail

 

[gujuDoc]

The secondary has a 5-fold purpose:

(1) AMCAS applications crash and cannot be downloaded by med school in a timely manner

(2) Allows the school to know if an applicant is still interested in the school

(3) Allow the adcoms to ask more specific questions about the applicant (the kind of questions that allow the adcoms to see if the student matches well with the mission/philosophy of the school....ie. LLU and religion; USC and student diversity)

(4) Allow the applicant to add to their application that they might have forgotten to put down in the AMCAS

(5) Collect the school's processing fee to process the application further. Remember, your initial fee goes to AMCAS, not the school.

Good luck!

Yah but not all secondaries have essays, so it doesn't necessarily always serve purpose 3.

 

[SigPi]

Yah but not all secondaries have essays, so it doesn't necessarily always serve purpose 3.

I'll tell you what doesnt serve a purpose, AMCAS! If we have to submit nearly same info we put into amcas for almost every secondary, and pay them to review it, its pretty crappy to have to fork over the intial fee of $100+ for 1 school then $30 for each additional designation. AMCAS was pretty clever to disguise this major scam as "one single application to all schools". Honestly, why dont we just cut out the middle man (AMCAS), save $800, and apply to the schools we are interested on our own? ok, i'm done now

 

[Reimat]

Can any one explain to me the purpose of a secondary?

It's to punish us pre-meds
But seriously, every time we finish one step, there is another:
-> MCAT studying
-> Finish MCAT! start AMCAS
-> Finish AMCAS start secondaries
-> Finish secondaries start interviews
-> Get accepted start med school classes/studying

 

[Reimat]

I had a really good time using all those thumb up/down smilies in that last post. Sad what I do to distract myself at work...

 

[liverotcod]

I had a really good time using all those thumb up/down smilies in that last post. Sad what I do to distract myself at work...

 

[humuhumu]

-> Get accepted start med school classes/studying

I agree except for the last . Sure, exams are a drag, and anyone can burn out on studying, but med school classes overall are in my book.

 

[gbiz]

Many secondaries serve the purpose of better getting to know the applicant and how they fit with their school. The part I dont like is when the 2ndary is asking you to regergitate information that is on the AMCAS app, such as coursework.

AMCAS provides a usefull tool in that it sends the basic information. Honestly though, they should drop the personal statement, and charge much less. Send the MCAT scores, GPA, coursework, list of volunteering activities, etc. Make it a standardized CV. Then on 2ndaries, the school can ask you the personal information that is pertenant to that school, to expand on the things you put in your CV/AMCAS app.


But then again, everyone has their own idea on how to make this better, this is just mine.


What I HATE is when doctors tell me how lucky I have it with the AMCAS app, since they had to do applications to each individual school. Sure I only had to send my transcript to one place, but there are enough deficiencies in today's app process to make up for whatever we gained (most noteably is the increased competition).

 

[DrBowtie]

I think they should make AMCAS more inclusive, drop secondaries, pay an interview fee, and have a match. Essentially the schools would get their money, applicants would have less work to do on apps and have the advantage of a match.

 

[ksuther]

I agree except for the last . Sure, exams are a drag, and anyone can burn out on studying, but med school classes overall are in my book.

Yeah, and there's two of these guys: because you SURVIVED UNDERGRAD AND NOW ARE IN MED SCHOOL!!!!!!

 

[Shredder]

Can any one explain to me the purpose of a secondary?

just another bs hoop in the system to jump through to make things artificially harder. also money.

 

[LabMonster]

I think they should make AMCAS more inclusive, drop secondaries, pay an interview fee, and have a match. Essentially the schools would get their money, applicants would have less work to do on apps and have the advantage of a match.

Makes too much sense Brett. Waaaayyyyy too much sense to unify the system.

 

[DrBowtie]

Of course it does that is why people like myself need to be in management.

 

[Shredder]

Of course it does that is why people like myself need to be in management.

haha most likely to be...something good in med and biz, creating lots of efficiencies...brettbachelor, nope no t thats right, you will be single. +i like the modesty, very trumplike

 

[Law2Doc]

If it weren't for secondaries, I'd probably have applied to 10 or so more schools. I have no problem throwing some money at them, but I don't really feel like writing a bajillion essays.

I agree with this point. There are better ways schools could collect the money or any additional info directly through AMCAS if that was desired, so clearly the goal is to limit the # of applications somewhat, and determine the more interested candidates, by increasing the # of hoops one must jump through. I mean, if you could become complete everywhere with your AMCAS submission, with just a push of the button, you'd see tons of people applying to 50+ schools (instead of the 12-25 most people presently do. Then you'd see every school needing to weed through tons of applications of people who aren't really planning on attending there anyhow, and it would totally gum up the works.
Get used to all the arbitrary hoops and hurdles - this is what makes the game so interesting.

 

[SpiritiualDuck]

secondaries are all about collecting money for schools. Look at schools that only take your money, BU, and that's their secondary. Money = Secondary.

They use it to pay for their office staff, overhead, etc. 5,000 applicants X 50-100 bucks = tons of profit.

 

[njbmd]

Can any one explain to me the purpose of a secondary?

Hi there,
For most schools, especially those that send out automatic secondary applications, these applications with fee are a source of revenue. They really add very little to what is already on the application. Ten years ago, secondary applications only went out to students who were being considered for interview. Now, they go to most every student with fees that can be in the hundreds of dollars.

Many of these applications also ask for a photo just to make sure that the applicant is indeed the person who filled out the AMCAS application and took the MCAT exam. Believe me, there have been plenty of instances of fraud in the medical school application process from others writing Personal Statements to others taking the MCAT.

Moral of the story: If you find that you are applying to a large number of schools, be sure to budget for the secondary applications which can substantially add to your totals. Be aware that every school that sends you a secondary application is not especially interested in inviting you for interview or accepting you. You can spend hours filling out a secondary application; send in $150 fee and receive a rejection letter the following week.

Choose your schools wisely!
njbmd

 

[Gut Shot]

Honestly, why dont we just cut out the middle man (AMCAS), save $800, and apply to the schools we are interested on our own? ok, i'm done now

One of my older brothers applied pre-AMCAS and it suuuuuuuuucked! The secondaries are walks in the park compared to filling out a unique, lengthy paper application for each and every school. It wasn't exactly cheaper back then, either. I know AMCAS is irritating (I've been through it), but it has made our lives at least somewhat easier.

Look on the bright side, what you spend applying to med school is chicken feed compared to what you can lay down applying for residency!