do i include excuses in secondaries? or is it best to leave it alone?

[havil]

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for one school it has a secondary question about how covid impacted your app. i started collage during the last year of lockdowns, 2021-2022.

during that time (at least in Canada) lockdowns were particularly egregious and there is no way you could have volunteered anywhere for clinical activities. also other volunteer activities were hard to come by

but do i even bother bringing this up? didn't we all suffer from this? like this isn't unique to me. IMO it would sound bad if i talked about it because it would sound like i am making excuses (espically since as i said earlier, everyone suffered from that...)

 

[Mr.Smile12]

for one school it has a secondary question about how covid impacted your app. i started collage during the last year of lockdowns, 2021-2022.

during that time (at least in Canada) lockdowns were particularly egregious and there is no way you could have volunteered anywhere for clinical activities. also other volunteer activities were hard to come by

but do i even bother bringing this up? didn't we all suffer from this? like this isn't unique to me. IMO it would sound bad if i talked about it because it would sound like i am making excuses (espically since as i said earlier, everyone suffered from that...)

For any essays asking about how COVID-19 affected you, just tell your story.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Yes bring it up.
I was in a place in the US where everyone thought the Covid vaccine was snake oil and lockdowns lasted like 2 weeks. Your application would have been viewed through a different lens then mine

 

[havil]

For any essays asking about how COVID-19 affected you, just tell your story.

btw its an optional prompt

 

[havil]

Your application would have been viewed through a different lens then mine

would it really tho? they said that the prompt is optional, meaning that if u dont answer it then it wont negatively effect your application so that's why I'm not sure to what extent this is true.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

would it really tho? they said that the prompt is optional, meaning that if u dont answer it then it wont negatively effect your application so that's why I'm not sure to what extent this is true.

If you are cynical, and everyone writes something into the "optional essay" it becomes another data point for us to weed out applicants. If you are idealistic, the optional essays provided opportunities to add value to your application.

Is it better to not say anything than to say something showing your incompetence? Well, that's if you are incompetent.

Your call. Don't worry about what adcoms think.

 

[gyngyn]

Most optional essays add little to an application. This is a place where people tend to put an essay they are particularly fond of and have used at other schools. It usually shows.
Many have a negative effect. They are helpful to the reviewer in that way, though!
A few have a positive effect.

 

[havil]

Is it better to not say anything than to say something showing your incompetence? Well, that's if you are incompetent.

what i plan on oding is talk about how during lock down i wasn't able to secure a shadowing or clinical activities but what i did instead is that it forced me to really search up a lot of opportunities (that i dont think i would have been able to find if it wasn't for this covid stressor). i also signed up for those activities at certain dates such that when lockdowns were over, i immediately began volunteering and had a schedule that i organized from during the lockdowns,


so in conclusion, although the lockdown prevented me from actively volunteering in clinical activities for almost a year, it allowed me to set myself up properly

 

[havil]

Many have a negative effect.

can u pls elaborate? are u saying that for most optional esssays, ppl give bad answers so they tend to have a negative effect? also lets take the covid optional essay example, what exactly would constitute as a negative/bad answer?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

what i plan on oding is talk about how during lock down i wasn't able to secure a shadowing or clinical activities but what i did instead is that it forced me to really search up a lot of opportunities (that i dont think i would have been able to find if it wasn't for this covid stressor). i also signed up for those activities at certain dates such that when lockdowns were over, i immediately began volunteering and had a schedule that i organized from during the lockdowns,

so in conclusion, although the lockdown prevented me from actively volunteering in clinical activities for almost a year, it allowed me to set myself up properly

I go back to my first piece of advice. Just tell your story. It seems fine with me.

Example of a bad answer... maybe ending the essay with "And then the dog died."

Process it:

And Then the Dog Died - Pulse

Muscle memory. It’s an amazing thing. It’s what keeps my fingers playing Für Elise on the piano long after I’ve stopped taking lessons. It’s the pressure I sense in the crook of my elbow from linking arms with my late husband. It’s why every time I go for a walk I feel the pull of the leash from...

pulsevoices.org

Things I Wish I Had Known When My Dog Died (Published 2017)

The author lost her pet, which she described as the “metronome” to her life, in January. She has learned a lot about the grieving process.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Goro]

For any essays asking about how COVID-19 affected you, just tell your story.

This. The prompt asked you a simple question, which you already have in your OP.

 

[Hollow Knight]

would it really tho? they said that the prompt is optional, meaning that if u dont answer it then it wont negatively effect your application so that's why I'm not sure to what extent this is true.

I had a mentor (adcom member) who believed med students should go to work while suffering from bacterial or viral illnesses, fever and all. And he was spouting that nonsense to me when COVID was super big.

You can’t make decisions based off the crazies. But yeah, if I was reviewing your app and you told me what you told me in this post, I’d take it into consideration. Ideally everyone would do that, but admissions committees are made of people, and sometimes people can suck. Hopefully the majority are good and conscientious. I’d like to think my school is

 

[Med Ed]

can u pls elaborate? are u saying that for most optional esssays, ppl give bad answers so they tend to have a negative effect?

thts a rsnbl intrprttn

 

[havil]

thts a rsnbl intrprttn

1. are you making fun of my spelling? lmao
2.i asked that question because i wanted to ask a follow up question; what makes a bad answer to these optional promps? smiley12 said something about ending it with "then my dog died" so i am assuming he means ending it on a bad note is an L. I'm just wondering else (also ikik i will just tell my story)

 

[Med Ed]

1. are you making fun of my spelling? lmao
2.i asked that question because i wanted to ask a follow up question; what makes a bad answer to these optional promps? smiley12 said something about ending it with "then my dog died" so i am assuming he means ending it on a bad note is an L. I'm just wondering else (also ikik i will just tell my story)

1. prhps
2. You should have just asked the follow-up question.

There are many ways an answer to a prompt, optional or not, can go sideways. I don't think anyone is going to take the time to catalog them or formulate some type of overarching organization scheme for them. So we are left doing this on a case-by-case basis.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

OP: you are wasting valuable time paralyzing yourself about this question. Just write about it, and move on. Get it done.

 

[pablo213]

for one school it has a secondary question about how covid impacted your app. i started collage during the last year of lockdowns, 2021-2022.

during that time (at least in Canada) lockdowns were particularly egregious and there is no way you could have volunteered anywhere for clinical activities. also other volunteer activities were hard to come by

but do i even bother bringing this up? didn't we all suffer from this? like this isn't unique to me. IMO it would sound bad if i talked about it because it would sound like i am making excuses (espically since as i said earlier, everyone suffered from that...)

You're unironically funny af bro lmfao. I also struggled with this question last year. I decided to include this essay when optional and think it probably did more harm than good. I also wrote about losing shadowing, volunteering, clinical opportunities and how the switch to online affected me. I think this should only be written by people that were majorly affected economically or personally such as with a death in the family. Like you mentioned, most other people will have struggled with the loss of opportunities if they write about it. And now that it's 2024, it really shouldn't have impacted your EC opportunities tbh (would have been high school or freshman year max unless you're a non trad).