how long to spend on secondaries

[chrissyxf]

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I know that this was asked back in 2006 and 2009 but I was hoping for some more recent info. How much time would you spend on each secondary? I know people say to turn it around in 2 weeks or less but for those of us working full time while taking classes, does this mean like 5 hours or like 20 hours? And do you review this the same way you did you PS (in terms of additional readers?)?
thanks all!

 

[flatearth22]

Two weeks is just a guideline for yourself so that you aren't swamped with 30 secondaries to do in August. If you are still waiting on letters or your committee, I highly doubt that schools will care that it took you 2 weeks or 2 months to do their secondary as long as you are complete at the same time.

It never hurts to have someone you trust read your stuff and offer advice.

 

[mauberley]

I know that this was asked back in 2006 and 2009 but I was hoping for some more recent info. How much time would you spend on each secondary? I know people say to turn it around in 2 weeks or less but for those of us working full time while taking classes, does this mean like 5 hours or like 20 hours? And do you review this the same way you did you PS (in terms of additional readers?)?
thanks all!

Most secondaries shouldn't take you too long. I don't recall spending more than a few days at most on any given application, and I didn't pre-write anything. This was also while working full-time, though not while also taking classes.

I didn't have any third parties review my essay responses, as they tended to be shorter in length and more focused/to the point than a personal statement.

 

[CodeBlu]

As long as it takes... try to get them out as soon as possible though.

 

[the humming sea]

...Two weeks is just a guideline for yourself so that you aren't swamped with 30 secondaries to do in August....

+1. The first time I applied I planned two weeks and ended up shooting myself in the foot by submitting late. 1) Read secondary prompts from the past 2 years and when you have time (sitting in class or at work) start thinking of how you will answer the questions. 2) If you have a problem with procrastination, tell yourself that you have 3 days for each secondary.