When I applied, I remember complaining about the lack of space for the personal essay on AACOMAS. What I did was take advantage of the secondary apps to elaborate or say the stuff that I didn't have room for on AACOMAS.
Pehaps you can use the secondary essay to explain why you are willing to be an osteopathic physician? Or explain your desire to become a physician? Or talk about a role model in your life that inspired you to be who you are. Or talk about the challenges you overcame as you grew up. Did you grow up in public housing? Did you attend an urban ghetto school? Were you extremely poor? Were you a first-generation American and had to bridge (and balance) two different (and sometime conflicting) cultures?
You can write about what you envision yourself doing in 10 years. Perhaps working in an underserved area? Or working for Doctors w/o Borders? Maybe you're on a fast-track to become AOA President, or dean of an osteopathic medical school. Perhaps you are doing cutting edge research, receiving NIH grants aglore.
Whatever you write about, write something that will make the reader go "gosh, I must meet this person" and invite you for an interview
My advice - write from the heart. Don't write what you think they want to hear. The readers are experienced and read thousands of essays - they can easily spot some generic essay. After writing your essay - read it again. Is this essay truly YOURS - or can it easily be from any other applicants?
Last advice - typing is preferred to handwriting. However, you don't need to get it professionally printed w/ high-quality high gloss paper - a computer printout will do.
Best of luck to all who are applying.
Group_theory
PCOM '007 <---- secret agent
