Creative Secondaries?

[LJL]

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New here, and have been checking this board as much for advice as just to reassure myself. I got yelled at by about fifteen people the first time I tried to post, so feel free, but I thought it would be interesting to see,

For secondary essays, are people just writing, "A great experience in which I helped others was.... and I learned...."

or are most of us trying to get creative?
"Flash! Bang! The still evening air was broken by the sound of my grandmother's hipbone as it shattered into a million tiny pieces..." etc.?

Personally, I'm going the conservative route, and sticking pretty close to prompts because I felt I used a lot of imagery in my PS. And because I don't have a lot of time for these things, since nobody seems to screen.

 

[Its_MurDAH]

New here, and have been checking this board as much for advice as just to reassure myself. I got yelled at by about fifteen people the first time I tried to post, so feel free, but I thought it would be interesting to see,

For secondary essays, are people just writing, "A great experience in which I helped others was.... and I learned...."

or are most of us trying to get creative?
"Flash! Bang! The still evening air was broken by the sound of my grandmother's hipbone as it shattered into a million tiny pieces..." etc.?

Personally, I'm going the conservative route, and sticking pretty close to prompts because I felt I used a lot of imagery in my PS. And because I don't
have a lot of time for these things, since nobody seems to screen.

haha...those damn hipbones I tell ya.
I was pretty creative with my personal statement as well so I feel as if I am all creative-ated out for these secondaries. I have about 10 of them just straight loungin' in my mailbox and I havent even started a single one. Maybe if I get that inspiration to be creative I may...or else I will just stick to the "conservative route". It all depends.

 

[DrBowtie]

It's all about calculated risk. Your attempt at creativity might come off flatter than the conservative route.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

"Flash! Bang!"

Did a flash grenade go off too?

 

[LJL]

"Flash! Bang!"

Did a flash grenade go off too?

Yes. My grandmother is SWAT.

 

[Centinel]

Yes. My grandmother is SWAT.

 

[tennisnr]

Yes. My grandmother is SWAT.

That was hilarious! 😀

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

Yes. My grandmother is SWAT.

👍 Awesome.

 

[wetlightning]

haha...those damn hipbones I tell ya.
I was pretty creative with my personal statement as well so I feel as if I am all creative-ated out for these secondaries. I have about 10 of them just straight loungin' in my mailbox and I havent even started a single one. Maybe if I get that inspiration to be creative I may...or else I will just stick to the "conservative route". It all depends.

man, i TOTALLY agree. i feel like i really used up my inspiration on the PS and i'm screwed now.i have sooo many secondaries to do, and i haven't done any! wow....i've got to get moving very soon or i'm screwed. ugh 😡

 

[Reimat]

It's all about calculated risk. Your attempt at creativity might come off flatter than the conservative route.

Yea, creativity in the sense it's being used here is much more subjective than a more conservative essay. The same creativity that seems good to one person may be too flashy for another. However, the example you gave about a family injury is missing exactly the kind of creativity that gets essays noticed- a unique topic. The hardest thing about writing these damn essays is finding a unique topic to write on, so using an uncommon writing style to make a more common topic stand out is the next best thing.

 

[LJL]

Yea, creativity in the sense it's being used here is much more subjective than a more conservative essay. The same creativity that seems good to one person may be too flashy for another. However, the example you gave about a family injury is missing exactly the kind of creativity that gets essays noticed- a unique topic. The hardest thing about writing these damn essays is finding a unique topic to write on, so using an uncommon writing style to make a more common topic stand out is the next best thing.

This is another good question.

I feel like it has actually been easier to think of topics that don't necessarily have to do with medicine or clinical skills, but I have been trying to stick close to why I want to go to medical school, specifically, instead of just Why I Am a Nice Guy or Why I Love My Dog.

 

[thegenius]

I think I'm going to add some creativity to a few secondaries to schools that I think I don't have a good shot at getting into. I don't have much to lose, so why not try it out?

When I write these secondaries, I'm always think to myself what a difficult job it must be to evaluate 100's of secondaries. I would get bored stiff reading an answer to the question "Why do you want to attend school XXX?" I've been working in technology for some time now, and I've interviewed dozens and dozens of candidates for software engineering positions. I can't tell you how bored I get reading cover letters that all essentially say the same thing. I find myself instead looking for key words in the cover letter and resume, and if I don't find them then I discount the applicant.

Now I'm not suggesting essays for medical school will be read in the same fashion as resumes for a technology position, but it's people afterall who are reading these things and they can get tired and bored of reading the same old thing over and over.

Like someone else said here, it's a calculated risk. You might turn off some conservative admissions committee members. But at the same time you might impress others. So it all depends on what level of risk you are willing to undertake.

For me, I've got too much to write about considering I'm applying 8 years after I graduated from college. But for Case Western's Application, I do plan on writing about some of my funny experiences I had while as a software engineer. I have two pages to fill up, so I plan on making it humorous and informative.

 

[AxlxA]

I wrote all my essays with this as my starting sentence:

"Flash, bang, crimson blood splattered everywhere...."


JK... but I avoid conservative route at all costs. Like what theGenius said, adcom has THOUSANDS of essays to read, especially those essays where we stretched the limit to exactly 1800 characters. I want them to be engaged in my essay, i want them to take role. So i wrote mine in story formats with some imagery.

 

[Thundrstorm]

I was somewhat creative in my writing for most of my essays (AMCAS, secondaries), but not overly so. I used anecdotes and mild jokes. Nothing crazy, but I don't want to write boring essays, so...

 

[FenderB2004]

Hmm interesting.

My personal take on this is that compelling, thoughtful, persuasive writing>>>>creative>traditional, conservative writing...

Whenever I read someone's essay, the ones that really stood out were the ones that didn't try to be super creative, but used compelling and persuasive language. It's the type of writing that sounds mature, thoughtful, and intelligent, and you just want to admit them! Also, I think the problem with trying to be creative is that so many people try that route, so whatever you come with, chances are it's been done (either this year or previous years)...and as you guys say, these adcoms read so many, they've probably read something just like yours anyway! there's just so many permutations on how you can creatively talk about volunteering and research!

just my two cents...