Down with the Promiscuous Secondary

[scott858]

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Now even Stanford isn't screening! This trend of increasing secondary fees and decreasing screening has gone too far. I want to author a bill that requires medical schools to either: set their secondary fee <$40 or agree to screen primaries. Who wants to write the bill with me? I'll do it alone...with the fish, if need be.

 

[rockstar2525]

I TOTALLY AGREE.
Please don't anyone write the "if you don't like the secondary, don't apply response," I understand that is an option, I just don't understand why we pay money to AMCAS if no school uses that info to choose candidates.

 

[Scrubz67]

Now even Stanford isn't screening! This trend of increasing secondary fees and decreasing screening has gone too far. I want to author a bill that requires medical schools to either: set their secondary fee <$40 or agree to screen primaries. Who wants to write the bill with me? I'll do it alone...with the fish, if need be.

I'm with you...as much as I enjoy sharing my academic background and personal thoughts (in 500 characters or less) I'm gonna have to say that forking over approx $70 dollars per application only to have them look at 4 numbers and toss you to the dingos is NOT my idea of charitable donation.

 

[Mleung39]

AGREED! DOes anyone still know of the schools that actually screen? What are the AMCAS for anyways? Just another scam to get more money?

 

[Long_John]

AGREED! DOes anyone still know of the schools that actually screen? What are the AMCAS for anyways? Just another scam to get more money?

I'm in! Punky medical schools trying to squeeze every dime out of you.

 

[Darko]

👎 As future doctors you need to learn you will be shelling out tons of money to people who don't deserve it -- lawyers, insurance agents, lawyers, your spouse when they divorce you, lawyers, the government, and lawyers.

Might as well get used to it!

 

[Medikit]

I bet it keeps tuition down a little

 

[Scubadoc]

I bet it keeps tuition down a little

ha ha ha ha...!

 

[leechy]

👎 As future doctors you need to learn you will be shelling out tons of money to people who don't deserve it -- lawyers, insurance agents, lawyers, your spouse when they divorce you, lawyers, the government, and lawyers.

Might as well get used to it!

So true...

But, I sympathize with the others - with all these secondaries, I feel like AMCAS is this redundant piece of junk...

 

[hy2026]

i bet they don't even read most of the essays.

 

[principessa]

I agree with you guys. The schools say they don't screen because they want to look at the "whole applicant," but so many people just get rejected right after sending in the secondary, it seems like they're just doing a quick screen after all. It would save people a lot of time and money just to screen before sending secondaries, but I don't think they'll go back to that any time soon - they've all figured out how to get a lot more money, and they don't want to give that up.

 

[monopolova]

👎 As future doctors you need to learn you will be shelling out tons of money to people who don't deserve it -- lawyers, insurance agents, lawyers, your spouse when they divorce you, lawyers, the government, and lawyers.

Might as well get used to it!

Boooooo. We don't have to get used to it.

I mean, if they screen after getting secondaries the way they should have screened the primaries, isn't that fraud? Like when Publisher's Clearing House led people on by saying "You may already be a winner"; by sending people secondaries when they have no chance is like saying, "You may already be accepted."

 

[pushkin]

👎 As future doctors you need to learn you will be shelling out tons of money to people who don't deserve it -- lawyers, insurance agents, lawyers, your spouse when they divorce you, lawyers, the government, and lawyers.

Might as well get used to it!

Not everyone on this site is a future doctor. Moreover some potentially good future doctors will not become docs because the application process was prohibitively expensive. I think it's unethical to expect people to shell out naively or even not so naively when schools KNOW they'll be rejecting tons of applicants.

What if AMCAS implemented a cap on the number of schools people could apply to? Say 10... That would reduce the amount of work adcoms would have to do and theoretically lessen their costs.

 

[Dr.LeoSpaceman]

Not everyone on this site is a future doctor. Moreover some potentially good future doctors will not become docs because the application process was prohibitively expensive. I think it's unethical to expect people to shell out naively or even not so naively when schools KNOW they'll be rejecting tons of applicants.

What if AMCAS implemented a cap on the number of schools people could apply to? Say 10... That would reduce the amount of work adcoms would have to do and theoretically lessen their costs.

While the goal is worthwhile, trying to do it like this would just be insanity. THink about it, many people would apply to the same 10 schools (or close variations of the same list). Then you would probably have qualified candidates getting denied from top schools, but they would not have the opportunity to get in at a lower tier school because they did not want to "waste" one of their choices.

Consequently, lower tier schools might be choosing from less competetive pools, and the classes would not be as competetive as the once had. THis could definitely be bad for everyone.

 

[jlee9531]

I bet it keeps tuition down a little

no.

 

[katnapper]

Not everyone on this site is a future doctor. Moreover some potentially good future doctors will not become docs because the application process was prohibitively expensive.

There are ways in which you can get fees waived if you are in a financial spot.

 

[ms2209]

I agree with you all, it's pretty ridiculous how expensive the process is. Plus, as someone else on this thread mentioned, I doubt that they even read the essays. If you think about the amount of time that they have to review thousands upon thousands of applications, it becomes quite obvious that they can't afford to spend an enormous amount of time on each application, let alone the ones that they don't think even minimally qualify for their school. So why not save time and screen before sending out the secondaries? Because it's all about the $$ .

 

[acl3623]

its pretty annoying that they wont take a minute to run your stats through their surely existent "cutoff MCAT/GPA" computer program before they get your hopes up with a secondary invite. i think its total bs...youre right..its all about those benjamins...

 

[Darko]

There are ways in which you can get fees waived if you are in a financial spot.

Only if you apply to the right schools. Many will not accept the fee waiver.

 

[Ypo.]

This really ticks me off, too. What really bugs me is when you spend days perfecting essays that they aren't even going to look at if you don't make their grade cutoff. If they are going to send a secondary to everyone-they shouldn't make them write essays until after they decide if they are going to seriously consider their application. We all know we're just getting screwed, anyways, so why put up the front when it just wastes more of our time and energy. Is anyone else with me here? Spending time and money on applications to schools that don't screen-that really bites. 😡

It seems like it would be much cheaper just to mail a copy of your transcripts, and primary application to the medical school and only have to pay one application fee, than to send it through AMCAS. Me thinks me smells a conspiracy.

Another pet peeve; why the heck do so many schools make you fill out the prerequisite classes you took and the dates you attended those classes on the secondary when they have it right in front of their noses on your primary application?

 

[Ypo.]

Grrrrrrr....

 

[Freakingzooming]

Another pet peeve; why the heck do so many schools make you fill out the prerequisite classes you took and the dates you attended those classes on the secondary when they have it right in front of their noses on your primary application?

to make you jump thru more hoops my friend. It's all part of the system.

 

[adamj61]

Very true, we all know the first big screen is the numbers. We don't have to accept it, we will not go quietly into the night!

How can we do something about this?

 

[Ypo.]

Very true, we all know the first big screen is the numbers. We don't have to accept it, we will not go quietly into the night!

How can we do something about this?

Buy an extra large jar of vaseline. Then sue after you graduate from medical school. 😀

 

[leechy]

This really ticks me off, too. What really bugs me is when you spend days perfecting essays that they aren't even going to look at if you don't make their grade cutoff. If they are going to send a secondary to everyone-they shouldn't make them write essays until after they decide if they are going to seriously consider their application. We all know we're just getting screwed, anyways, so why put up the front when it just wastes more of our time and energy. Is anyone else with me here? Spending time and money on applications to schools that don't screen-that really bites. 😡

It seems like it would be much cheaper just to mail a copy of your transcripts, and primary application to the medical school and only have to pay one application fee, than to send it through AMCAS. Me thinks me smells a conspiracy.

Another pet peeve; why the heck do so many schools make you fill out the prerequisite classes you took and the dates you attended those classes on the secondary when they have it right in front of their noses on your primary application?

This is all very true...
If any of you - twenty or thirty years down the road - ends up being a med school dean, please, PLEASE consider reforming the system.