Can somone describe what a secondary consists of?

[Chris127]

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OK, so heres the deal: You apply to med school, and then they send you something back, letting you know they are interested, and then you must do these secondaries. Could someone describe the elements or make up of a secondary? What is on it? What must you put in it?

 

[jon stewart]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ 🙄 you better have a lot of it...

and usually the same questions they ask in the primary...

 

[AxlxA]

biographical info. ethnicity. Parental education/profession. siblings.

then the hard part is ESSAYS. Some asks why medicine, why our school, what make you think u'r capable of medicine. or they ask where do u see urself in ten years. if u've taken a year off between undergrad/med, then they ask u what u'r doing.

other than that, u are asked to give them a photo and a check. not all school wants a photo but all wants money.

not all school has essays like harvard or UCSF.

 

[kirexhana]

OK, so heres the deal: You apply to med school, and then they send you something back, letting you know they are interested, and then you must do these secondaries. Could someone describe the elements or make up of a secondary? What is on it? What must you put in it?

Primary apps use AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service, or something to that effect) which sends your coursework + grades, MCAT scores, personal statement and up to 15 small blurbs on your extracurricular activites/awards/projects to schools that you choose.

All secondary apps (or supplemental apps as some are called) ask for more money, letters of rec and some form of certification saying that the information you have given them is true to the best of your knowledge. Most secondaries also ask for more essays. For example, UCLA wants 8 different paragraph length essays regarding things like "talk about one problem in your life and how you dealt with it" or "talk about a scholarly project such as research". Schools like UCSD and Vanderbilt ask for 2 page autobiographies, so the essays vary a bit depending on school. A few ask for passport sized pictures of yourself. Since your coursework and grade already go to schools through your primary application most schools don't ask for another copy of your transcript. For myself, the only one that did was Columbia.

Anyway, good luck with your apps!