Hey guys, I havent finalized a school list (waiting on MCAT scores) but want to get ahead on secondaries. I have started doing some of my state school’s secondaries but also have seen alot of “diversity” and “why me” essay talk around this forum. I havent seen those questions yet in my pre-writing so Im wondering if someone could clarify if these are the most common and important secondaries to pre write. Also could someone expand on those topics? Is it just “why am I good applicant to your school” and “how am I diverse as a person”? Thanks
For people pre-writing secondaries, which prompts are the most common
- Thread starter Eagleye2
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1. Diversity
2. Adversity
3. What did you do during your gap year
have been the most common from my list
2. Adversity
3. What did you do during your gap year
have been the most common from my list
Thank you for taking the time to reply. What is your opinion on using the adversity essay to talk about a family issue (divorce) and how I handled the situation/how I grew from it. Is it best to leave family issues out of it? Thanks
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This year I am applying to 32 schools. Although I have not received any of the secondaries, I drew the information fro last year, and analyzed their prompts, and came up this category system.
Cluster 1: Diversity (N = 13)
Cluster 2: Most Important Non-Academic Experiences (N = 2) /Work (N = 9) /Accomplishment (N = 3)
Cluster 2.5: Preparation to Medical Career (N = 4)
Cluster 3: Volunteer (N = 4)
Cluster 4: GAP years (N = 11) /2018-19 Activities (N = 9)
Cluster 4.5: Research (N = 7) / Global health (N = 2) / Most Important Honor (N = 2)
Cluster 5: Most difficult challenges (N = 8)
Cluster 6: Leaderships(Conflict-resolution) (N = 7)
Cluster 7: Hardship (N = 12)
Cluster 8: Why Here (N = 13) /Location (N = 4)
Cluster 9: Future (N = 5)
Cluster 10: Fun (N = 2)
Cluster 11: Others (N = 4)
Cluster 12: Crazy (N = 2)
Cluster 13: Anything Else (N = 11)
Disclaimer: This category system reflects my writing strategy, for example, I will write those topics under cluster 2 and 2.5 together as they may fit my overall narrative. The numbers in the brackets are how many schools had those prompts last cycle. So you can see, indeed, the diversity, adversity (most difficult challenge), and gap year questions are asked the most frequently. Yet, some other questions are asked quite a few times too, such as hardships (e.g. explaining the bad grades) and "why here/why this location". By the way, "Others" includes those prompts I don't know where to put, "Crazy" has prompts.... you will know when you see them, and "Anything else" is the prompt "do you have anything else to inform adcom?"
I highly recommend to make your own coding system/category so that you can have an overall idea, given the schools you are applying, about what topics you have to write and which topics gain high priority, and plan your writing strategies accordingly.
Good luck.
Cluster 1: Diversity (N = 13)
Cluster 2: Most Important Non-Academic Experiences (N = 2) /Work (N = 9) /Accomplishment (N = 3)
Cluster 2.5: Preparation to Medical Career (N = 4)
Cluster 3: Volunteer (N = 4)
Cluster 4: GAP years (N = 11) /2018-19 Activities (N = 9)
Cluster 4.5: Research (N = 7) / Global health (N = 2) / Most Important Honor (N = 2)
Cluster 5: Most difficult challenges (N = 8)
Cluster 6: Leaderships(Conflict-resolution) (N = 7)
Cluster 7: Hardship (N = 12)
Cluster 8: Why Here (N = 13) /Location (N = 4)
Cluster 9: Future (N = 5)
Cluster 10: Fun (N = 2)
Cluster 11: Others (N = 4)
Cluster 12: Crazy (N = 2)
Cluster 13: Anything Else (N = 11)
Disclaimer: This category system reflects my writing strategy, for example, I will write those topics under cluster 2 and 2.5 together as they may fit my overall narrative. The numbers in the brackets are how many schools had those prompts last cycle. So you can see, indeed, the diversity, adversity (most difficult challenge), and gap year questions are asked the most frequently. Yet, some other questions are asked quite a few times too, such as hardships (e.g. explaining the bad grades) and "why here/why this location". By the way, "Others" includes those prompts I don't know where to put, "Crazy" has prompts.... you will know when you see them, and "Anything else" is the prompt "do you have anything else to inform adcom?"
I highly recommend to make your own coding system/category so that you can have an overall idea, given the schools you are applying, about what topics you have to write and which topics gain high priority, and plan your writing strategies accordingly.
Good luck.
