For secondary prompts that ask you to share anything not included in the primary

[naixin]

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Please share anything your application does not include, but that you would like to bring to our attention.

.Please feel free to use this space to convey any additional information that you might wish the Committee to know..

Prompts like this, Is it good to use this to explain some academic blemishes, like a bad grade (did not mention in the personal statement)? Or it's better to include something more meaningful?

 

[DAPI]

Please share anything your application does not include, but that you would like to bring to our attention.

.Please feel free to use this space to convey any additional information that you might wish the Committee to know..

Prompts like this, Is it good to use this to explain some academic blemishes, like a bad grade (did not mention in the personal statement)? Or it's better to include something more meaningful?

Please search next time.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=928939

 

[LizzyM]

Please share anything your application does not include, but that you would like to bring to our attention.

.Please feel free to use this space to convey any additional information that you might wish the Committee to know..

Prompts like this, Is it good to use this to explain some academic blemishes, like a bad grade (did not mention in the personal statement)? Or it's better to include something more meaningful?

As I like to say, a bad grade on your AMCAS application is like a zit on your chin. Everyone can see it. They know it is there. Do you want to spend your time and their's pointing it out and explaining the stress you've been under or might it be better to distract them from that zit with something positive about yourself? Make them so excited about the good stuff you write about that they forget about the zit or decide to invite you over despite the zit.

 

[naixin]

Sorry, just saw this thread.

Please search next time.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=928939

 

[kpcrew]

I liked this post by LizzyM:

"The experience section doesn't provide much space to describe activities and the personal statement is about "why medicine" so this is another opportunity to describe yourself with fewer constraints on length.

What if you approached it as a letter of recommendation about yourself?

Another approach would be to use it to describe a formative childhood experience that didn't fit in your essay -- not necessarily a hardship but maybe how much you grew through the challenges experienced on a back country camping trip in HS, or how many different grade schools you attended (or countries you lived in) while your dad serve in the military or what you learned about customer service thanks to your parents' small business.

If it is a hard-core research-focused school and you've been engaged in research, you might open with a sentence that you have been in the [PI name] lab since [date] and then go on to describe the type of research being done there, what techniques are being used and what your role has been in the work and what the results have been and how those have been publicized (presentations, publications). If there is a clinical relevance to the work (e.g. understanding liver regeneration in zebrafish may make it possible to better understand fatty liver disease in humans) then you might work that in, too"

 

[naixin]

But if I can write someting l learned from this bad grade, and I improved a lot. Does that sound good?

As I like to say, a bad grade on your AMCAS application is like a zit on your chin. Everyone can see it. They know it is there. Do you want to spend your time and their's pointing it out and explaining the stress you've been under or might it be better to distract them from that zit with something positive about yourself? Make them so excited about the good stuff you write about that they forget about the zit or decide to invite you over despite the zit.

 

[LizzyM]

But if I can write someting l learned from this bad grade, and I improved a lot. Does that sound good?

The fact remains that you are going up against people who have the same grades you have EXCEPT that they got an A in that class that you did poorly in. Do you really want to draw attention to a bad grade, even if it is to say that you have learned from it and improved? Isn't that like writing about a car crash and saying you learned how to be a better driver on account of that??

 

[sciencebooks]

The fact remains that you are going up against people who have the same grades you have EXCEPT that they got an A in that class that you did poorly in. Do you really want to draw attention to a bad grade, even if it is to say that you have learned from it and improved? Isn't that like writing about a car crash and saying you learned how to be a better driver on account of that??

And as admissions, you've probably noticed a grade improvement (if there) anyway by the point, right?

 

[naixin]

I just feel that grade might be a red flag for me. Adcoms may notice the grade easily.

My situation is a little bit different than most applicants.

I came to US for graduate study in biology. I received a C in one course entitled "ethics in biomedical sciences." in the first semester I came to the states. The class was mainly discussion-based. I was not accustomed to this kind of class and also there was some language barrier when I first came to the US.

I got mostly As in other courses. So the C will stand out, especially the class seems so important.

Later I got good grades in other discussion-based classes, including some literature classes, because I learned to be brave to speak out.

The fact remains that you are going up against people who have the same grades you have EXCEPT that they got an A in that class that you did poorly in. Do you really want to draw attention to a bad grade, even if it is to say that you have learned from it and improved? Isn't that like writing about a car crash and saying you learned how to be a better driver on account of that??

 

[Jepstein30]

The fact remains that you are going up against people who have the same grades you have EXCEPT that they got an A in that class that you did poorly in. Do you really want to draw attention to a bad grade, even if it is to say that you have learned from it and improved? Isn't that like writing about a car crash and saying you learned how to be a better driver on account of that??

Well, there are more things you can learn than simply "doing better in a class." No?

You'd probably know better than us all combined here but I've been tossing around the idea of using this space to talk about the courseload I took on, what I learnt from it, etc.. not necessarily explaining away my slightly lower GPA (not really worried about that since I think the quality of school I am doing undergrad at will help me out a little bit).. but actually showing pride in it and how I think it prepared me for medical school.

To me, sounds like a good paragraph but what do you think?

 

[LizzyM]

It's like talking to a wall here tonight to tell ya'll not to write about academic stuff in that "anything else we should know" essay. Write something that makes the reader say, "this applicant sounds interesting... I'd like to interview this one." Frankly, anything academic does not give adcom's that feeling but do as you please.

 

[Jepstein30]

It's like talking to a wall here tonight to tell ya'll not to write about academic stuff in that "anything else we should know" essay. Write something that makes the reader say, "this applicant sounds interesting... I'd like to interview this one." Frankly, anything academic does not give adcom's that feeling but do as you please.

Noted!

I would assume the same applies as to writing "Why XXX?" type essays? Not really anything interesting nor personable.

I'll probably expand on a hobby or two of mine then!

 

[naixin]

Got it. Thanks! Maybe I will write about some hardships I went through in my home country.

It's like talking to a wall here tonight to tell ya'll not to write about academic stuff in that "anything else we should know" essay. Write something that makes the reader say, "this applicant sounds interesting... I'd like to interview this one." Frankly, anything academic does not give adcom's that feeling but do as you please.

 

[naixin]

So if the school does not have "Why XXX" in the secondary, maybe they think its not that important to them in the admission process?

Noted!

I would assume the same applies as to writing "Why XXX?" type essays? Not really anything interesting nor personable.

I'll probably expand on a hobby or two of mine then!

 

[LizzyM]

So if the school does not have "Why XXX" in the secondary, maybe they think its not that important to them in the admission process?

Or they are going to ask in the interview.

 

[MedPR]

So if the school does not have "Why XXX" in the secondary, maybe they think its not that important to them in the admission process?

Or they are going to ask in the interview.

+1. It's a trap for people who aren't legitimately interested and don't know a thing about the school.

 

[kpcrew]

Or they are going to ask in the interview.

yup
this question came up at almost every single school for me.