How long is too long? Is mine too long? Rush secondaries

[basupran]

As far as SECONDARIES go, Rush asks you to thoroughly answer 12 questions....how long is too long? I was thinking about 1 page/question average, 12 total. Is this too long for the ADCOMs tastes? I have had a lot of experiences, and could keep adding details...but I don't know where I should cut myself off....any advice?

Here are the questions:
1. State one major problem you encountered during the past three to five years and explain how you resolved it.
2. Briefly describe the personal characteristics that make you effective in working with people and outline your skills, interest,
aptitude and temperament in relation to your suitability for a career in medicine.
3. What do you feel are your greatest academic and non-academic strengths? Explain.
4. What do you feel are your greatest academic and non-academic weaknesses? Explain.
5. Who do you feel will be most likely to provide you emotional support while in medical school? Give relationship and reason for
choosing the individual(s).
6. List your hobbies in order of importance to you.
7. What other career possibilities did you consider and why did you reject them?
8. Briefly describe your experiences in working with people, the general responsibilities of each, and how long you held the positions.
If you have had limited experiences in working with people in the health field, be sure to list any life experience, both
paid or voluntary, including high school, college or community service.
9. If you have had any experiences working with individuals from diverse backgrounds, please describe and explain what you have
learned from these experiences?
10a. What plans do you have following graduation from medical school?
10b.Do you have any plans to practice in a medically under-served area? ❑ Yes ❑ No If yes, please explain.
11. If you were forced to choose a medical specialty today, what area of medicine would you choose? Why?
12. List physicans or healthcare professionals in your family. Indicate relationship/profession and if, applicable, role with Rush
Medical College.

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[jlee9531]

i wrote a good amount for the rush secondaries. though i am pretty sure i decided not to write a page for each question.

for the first question it is pretty straight forward. A paragraph on the nature of the problem and another on how i resolved it and what i learned. maybe 1/2 page.

for number 2 and 8...nothing more than the above since they ask for something brief. Sure its easy to list every quality you think you have but i just named some major ones......3 max i think.

3 and 4 had 2 paragraphs each......not amounting to more than 1/2 page for each question.

the fifth one could be a bit longer and a page here isnt unreasonable.

your hobbies.....just like your major ones. I think i said i liked to do about 5 or 6 things. I just listed them without much of an explanation. 1/4 page

7. was simple for me and it was about 3/4 of a page.

8. could be pretty long, but since a lot of it was on my amcas i didnt want to go all out with detail. added stuff that wasnt on my amcas or stuff i forgot to add. but this could easily go a page if you have a lot of stuff.

9. did about half a page here. just talked about the good times i had working with the people i did at the hospital.

10a and b werent too long. Said what i wanted to do after and where. b) i answered yes and explained why. I think 3/4 page for both of those answers combined is what i wrote.

11. isnt too bad since you can just write about a field you like and that shouldnt be too hard. I did not go over half a page here from what I remember. 2 paragraphs.

number 12 doesnt apply to me since i would be the first doctor in my family if i got in.

i hope this helps. there is a reason why they dont have a limit, but i suppose they want you to be reasonable about it.
good luck man.

 

[LaurieB]

I took the space they alloted on the app to heart and wrote no more than what would fit in the section. We'll see if this was a good strategy or not. I'll let you know if I get an interview.

 

[Froze006]

I used about 10 pages for mine and I have an interview there. I think when they give you questions like that they sure better expect more than 3 sentence responses- or theyd say limited it to the space provided like some schools did.

BR

 

[Gleevec]

How long is too long? Is mine too long? Rush secondaries

The first two phrases threw me off.

 

[evines]

Originally posted by Gleevec

The first two phrases threw me off.

Me too. This guy knows how to rack up the "views".