BU has essays:
1. Please provide a narrative or timeline to describe any features of your educational history that you think may be part of particular interest to us.
and the odd one is:
The following essay question is intended to provide you with an opportunity to expand and elaborate upon the information provided in other parts of your application. Our goal is to learn something about you as a person, to get a sense of who you are and what you are about, beyond the basic facts of your academic work and your life history as it is otherwise available to us. We do recognize, however, that most of our applicants are applying to many medical schools and that the cumulative work of the application process is substantial. Therefore, this essay is optional. We do hope that you will write the essay, but if you feel that this essay will duplicate information you have provided elsewhere or that we can get an accurate picture of you without it, please do not feel obligated to write it. If you have provided us with a comprehensive understanding of your life history, your academic work, your nonacademic pursuits, and your personal strengths, you will not be penalized in any way for choosing not to write this essay.
Query on Professionalism
The concept of professionalism in medicine has become an issue of great interest in the last several years. While there are many definitions of professionalism, the following commentary sets out the key points:
Medicine is not a trade to be learned, but a profession to be entered. A profession is characterized by a specialized body of knowledge that its members must teach and expand, by a code of ethics and a duty of service that put patient care above self-interest, and by the privilege of self-regulation granted by society. [Snyder L, et. al. Ann Intern Med. 2005;142;560-582.]
Please write a 250-500 word reflection on the concept of professionalism in medicine and the traits by which it is constituted. Focus your comments on ways in which you have been challenged by your own life experiences en route to a career in medicine, as well as on ways in which your own experiences have shaped your understanding of the profession of medicine and your own determination to undertake the obligations inherent in this career. Use this essay to provide us with insights that are not reflected in your AMCAS Personal Statement or other parts of your application.
and NYU does NOT screen - the lady at the admissions office said AMCAS is very slow sending in applications and she has to get all the stuff into the system before she can send out secondaries... trust me they do NOT screen so don't freak out if you don't have it yet.