How would not answering specific questions they are asking help? Wouldn't that signal the answers are something you are not eager to share, and make it at least a little less likely you'll have the opportunity to tackle those talking points in an interview?
Nobody is really going to look that closely. This isn't undergrad, the number of "research hours" you list doesn't matter--obviously the amount of time you can spend on research would vary wildly depending on what stage of school you're in. What matters is the quality of the research, your personal involvement, and if you have any deliverables (posters/presentations/pubs). So unless it is very straightforward to answer those questions, I think they are left as optional for a reason and would not exert any significant effort to coming up with an answer for them.
How about the reason for leaving question? I'm still a few years away but, based on the med school applications, I'd be afraid of being passed over for an interview if I chose to not answer specific questions asked, on the assumption that answers are expected. I am not an applicant this year, so I don't have access to the application, but no one indicated that these questions were marked as optional. Did I miss that?
Don't base your expectations on med school applications. If you're applying to a field that cares about research then your research output should speak for itself. If you're applying to a field that doesn't care, then they're really not going to care about why you stopped doing research.
To expound on the chairman's letter, it could also be written by your home PD.
Please do NOT write about your AI in the supp. Think of it this way: programs that use the supp app are likely to only read the experiences you list there, and not the rest on your application. So pick up to 5 that you think best showcase what you have to offer.
Yes you can leave the reason blank.
Exactly
Ya ortho is doing 30 signals. Everyone is assuming is pretty much an application cap. Since if you don’t signal a program you are pretty much telling them they aren’t in your top 30 choices. Will be interesting to see how it plays out
I would not list a case report as a research experience and instead would just list as a pub.
I’m listing the small stuff like posters/presentations (not routine IM presentations lol) in the pubs section and then the big stuff like long term projects that led to peer reviewed publications in both sections
Doesn't matter. Probably easier for the people reading your application if you do it in bullet form.
Seems to me that programs are either not looking at steps at all for initial review, or they are ignoring step 1 and only looking at step 2
From what I have heard from ortho PD's is that they cant filter by step 1 score anymore but will take it into consideration when available. So pretty much have no idea what that means lol
Yes to both. The supplemental guide also says it's okay to leave these 2 blank if they don't apply.
So basically a proxy for “prestige?”
Are you writing anything for why those areas? I cant decide if I should leave it blank or put in a few sentences
