Disclosing schools I applied to in previous years.

[ferfire]

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I am currently re-applying for admission in 2013. I unsuccessfully applied to 14 schools last year. In a secondary application I am filling, they ask me if I have applied to other schools in previous years, to which I replied YES. They also ask me which schools did I apply to and to state how my credentials have improved or changed since. There is a 50 word limit Due to my long list of schools last year, I will probably reach the word limit with the list alone.

Will the school know which schools I applied to in previous year? I am planning on cutting down that list to have enough space to explain how my credentials have changed, but I would not like to risk grave consequences if I do get accepted to that school and I have "lied" about the schools I applied to last year and they find that out. Or if that will result in my automatic rejection.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Use acronyms and abbreviations. Problem solved.

 

[pineapplepancakes]

If I were you, I'd try to write the explanation about your improvements first (as brief as possible, of course), and then see how much space you have for schools. Then, like AiyaTuc said, write acronyms/abbreviations for as many schools as you can fit. If you use an acronym, like HMS for Harvard Medical School (as long as there's only one HMS), then that will be only 1 word as opposed to 3. Good luck in this cycle!

 

[ShenanigansMD]

If I were you, I'd try to write the explanation about your improvements first (as brief as possible, of course), and then see how much space you have for schools. Then, like AiyaTuc said, write acronyms/abbreviations for as many schools as you can fit. If you use an acronym, like HMS for Harvard Medical School (as long as there's only one HMS), then that will be only 1 word as opposed to 3. Good luck in this cycle!

Isn't there a Howard Medical School in DC?

 

[pineapplepancakes]

Sorry, I'm still new to all of this. It was just an example. 😳

 

[ferfire]

Thank you all! Now, just to know, does AMCAS actually disclose that information (schools applied to in previous years) to the schools I am currently applying to? My mistake last cycle was applying pretty much at the deadlines, so a lot of schools I was more than qualified for rejected me. I doubt the school asking me for the info will know WHEN I applied last year to those schools and thus the main reason for my rejection. Yet, it would know what schools (several less competitive than this one) rejected me, and thus it might have a negative impact on my application. Besides the 50 word limit (problem solved), is there any way for them to find out which schools I applied to in previous years?

I do understand AMCAS discloses which schools I have been accepted to, but I don't know what happens with the schools I was rejected from in previous years.

 

[ferfire]

Thank you all! Now, just to know, does AMCAS actually disclose that information (schools applied to in previous years) to the schools I am currently applying to? My mistake last cycle was applying pretty much at the deadlines, so a lot of schools I was more than qualified for rejected me. I doubt the school asking me for the info will know WHEN I applied last year to those schools and thus the main reason for my rejection. Yet, it would know what schools (several less competitive than this one) rejected me, and thus it might have a negative impact on my application. Besides the 50 word limit (problem solved), is there any way for them to find out which schools I applied to in previous years?

I do understand AMCAS discloses which schools I have been accepted to, but I don't know what happens with the schools I was rejected from in previous years.

 

[music2doc]

Thank you all! Now, just to know, does AMCAS actually disclose that information (schools applied to in previous years) to the schools I am currently applying to? My mistake last cycle was applying pretty much at the deadlines, so a lot of schools I was more than qualified for rejected me. I doubt the school asking me for the info will know WHEN I applied last year to those schools and thus the main reason for my rejection. Yet, it would know what schools (several less competitive than this one) rejected me, and thus it might have a negative impact on my application. Besides the 50 word limit (problem solved), is there any way for them to find out which schools I applied to in previous years?

I do understand AMCAS discloses which schools I have been accepted to, but I don't know what happens with the schools I was rejected from in previous years.

I would avoid "blaming" your lack of success on timing. It won't look favorable (even though it is understandable as a contributing factor). You need to show how you have improved. If you have not made changes to your application since applying last year, you are not ready to reapply.

 

[Praefectus]

Isn't there a Howard Medical School in DC?

Yeah, but it probably isn't referred to as HMS in Ivy League circles.

 

[ferfire]

I would avoid "blaming" your lack of success on timing. It won't look favorable (even though it is understandable as a contributing factor). You need to show how you have improved. If you have not made changes to your application since applying last year, you are not ready to reapply.

I have done improvement, that is not the problem. The problem is disclosing names of schools less competitive than this one that rejected me last year, without this school knowing one of the main reasons why I was rejected last year, which of course would affect my application negatively. All I want to know is if the school will find out from anyone else but me to which schools I applied last year. Just so you know, I sent the AMCAS on late-October last year and waited to send the secondaries pretty much until the day before or the actual deadline days of the different schools.

Again, what I DO know is that AMCAS does disclose where I have been accepted to the other schools I applied to in the same cycle.