How often does the secondary essay(s) determine whether or not you get an interview?

[MTRN406]

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How often is the secondary essay the deciding factor that convinces an adcom to recommend someone for an interview?

The impression that I get is that secondary essays can harm you, but they can't help you. As in, a poorly written essay can cause an adcom to not recommend someone for an interview that they ordinarily would have, but a well written essay will never convince an adcom to recommend someone for an interview that they ordinarily would not have.

 

[ChopinLiszt]

I have no insider information whatsoever... but as long as the essay is reasonably well-written, I think the most important factor is the content of the essay. They want to see that you're a good fit and that you have real reasons for wanting to attend, that you're mature and reflective, want to help others, etc. And I think a convincing secondary essay can help you get an interview.

 

[el_duderino]

I don't think there's often a "deciding factor" other than something really extraordinary, like being an Olympic athlete or a major publication or a 99th percentile MCAT. An essay is not going to do that.

A bad essay can sink you, but it's not going to be what gets you in.

 

[JustAnotherMedStudent2000]

As one of the many med students tasked with reading them and scoring them, I will say the answer is: always.

And after reading some that were amazing but many others that were straight up ridiculous, without giving away top adcom secrets I will offer you all some general secondary advice. (Which 7/10 times is not followed believe it or not).

Do:
- answer the question asked if you, every part of it.
- spend the majority of you’re time talking about how whatever experience you just told me about affected YOU. Make sure 2/3 of the paragraph aren’t just the background story of what happened. I really don’t care what happened, I care about how it affected you and changed you and what you learned.
- be kind and no judge-mental. If you tell me a story about how a patient was an arrogant jerk I’m going to wonder how you’ll treat our patients here.


Don’t:
- spend time telling me some elaborate story about a surgery that you witnessed while shadowing. Don’t care. I’ve seen plenty myself. Not impressed. Again, I care why it made you who you are. Tell me a little background then explain that.
- be arrogant. Seriously though. There’s an applicant who has a PHD, saved children in Uganda, has been researching HIV and is close to a cure, was previously working in healthcare field, serves in the peace corps and is kind hearted and humble... and I just read his secondary. There’s Some amazing people applying. Don’t tell me you’re the best thing to enter medicine or why you’re the only one who can offer something. You’re not. Be humble.
- feel like you have to make it long to be good. Say it in as few worlds as possible.
- list off personal characteristics like how you are smart, driven and humble. Tell me you’re reflective thoughts on an experience that will SHOW me that.
- lie. Seriously. We know, and you’d be surprised how well we know. I had an essay describe volunteer activities in a country where I just happened to have a significant knowledge about having family there. And they’re description of these activities was incompatible with truth. So, seriously you know don’t know who will read it, just be honest.
- feel like you have to be the person with amazing global experiences to impress me. It can be a small experience where you served soup to homeless people in you’re town. Just tell me how it affected you
- tell me that although you grew up on the other side of the county and have never traveled to my city and know nothing about it you want to work at my med school for years to come and live forever in our state. Unless you have ties, I don’t believe you. But you don’t NEED too. Tell me something you read about our mission and values and how you’re experience and qualifications help meet those same goals.


Hope this helps you.... and me.

🙂 best of luck

 

[el_duderino]

To be fair, you're a med student reading and scoring essays. You're not making admissions or interview decisions based on that essay score.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if the admissions committee has tasked essay scoring to medical students, that by itself is evidence they aren't valued very highly.

 

[JustAnotherMedStudent2000]

To be fair, you're a med student reading and scoring essays. You're not making admissions or interview decisions based on that essay score.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if the admissions committee has tasked essay scoring to medical students, that by itself is evidence they aren't valued very highly.

Wow, I guess you know best then.

Med students also help do interviews, score all parts of the application and make up a decent part of the admission committee. Did you think they pay people to do all of that. There’s something like 9,000 applicants.

But obviously you got this already and don’t need my advice. Hope it helps someone else then.

Also for the OP... you have to remember that if you score high on the secondary and someone else scores low (which many will) it WILL help you stand out.

 

[el_duderino]

Wow, I guess you know best then.

Med students also help do interviews, score all parts of the application and make up a decent part of the admission committee. Did you think they pay people to do all of that. There’s something like 9,000 applicants.

But obviously you got this already and don’t need my advice. Hope it helps someone else then.

Also for the OP... you have to remember that if you score high on the secondary and someone else scores low (which many will) it WILL help you stand out.

I do MMI interviews as a med student too. But I also realize that scoring candidates on an essay or short interview is very different from making admissions decisions. I'd caution you not to presume the role of your scores unless you're also directly participating in the decision-making process.

 

[NickNaylor]

At my alma mater, the secondary application was quite important as it included two essays that, we (on the admissions committee) hoped, would offer an opportunity to make clear why they were interested in the school. Because of this additional information, this was quite important.

Ultimately, I’m sure there are some people that, barring some kind of horrible disclosure on a secondary, would likely get an interview invitation one way or another. And for schools that really don’t request any tangible information on the secondary, obviously it’s not going to play a huge role in the decision-making process.

But I would take seriously those applications that include the opportunity to talk about your interest in the school specifically and/or provide the opportunity to talk more in-depth about your application, as these are likely “high-value” aspects of the application.

 

[shortcoatdream15]

At my alma mater, the secondary application was quite important as it included two essays that, we (on the admissions committee) hoped, would offer an opportunity to make clear why they were interested in the school. Because of this additional information, this was quite important.

Ultimately, I’m sure there are some people that, barring some kind of horrible disclosure on a secondary, would likely get an interview invitation one way or another. And for schools that really don’t request any tangible information on the secondary, obviously it’s not going to play a huge role in the decision-making process.

But I would take seriously those applications that include the opportunity to talk about your interest in the school specifically and/or provide the opportunity to talk more in-depth about your application, as these are likely “high-value” aspects of the application.

Are you referring to essay prompts that ask for any "additional information," or essays that specifically ask for you to explain your interest in the school?

 

[NickNaylor]

Are you referring to essay prompts that ask for any "additional information," or essays that specifically ask for you to explain your interest in the school?

Primarily the latter, but really even the former can be valuable, too. There’s almost certainly things you could expand upon or provide additional information about that you talk about elsewhere in your application. These “additional information” essays shouldn’t simply be regurgitation of otherwise included information, but elaboration is definitely appropriate and encouraged.

 

[bae2017]

I think that, especially at the top schools, where they need to decide between candidates that are extremely qualified on paper, fit matters a lot, and secondaries are a really easy way to judge fit.

Certainly n=1 but my two earliest IIs were from top 20 schools, and looking back at my secondaries for these schools, I think I did an especially good job of talking about my goals for my medical career and how those schools specifically and uniquely would prepare me to achieve those goals.

That said, I've since received an II from another top 20 even though the secondary essays I sent them were admittedly trash. I suspect that for them, my stats were a big part of why they decided to interview me.

Point is: to maximize your chances at getting IIs, you should spend a good amount of effort to make sure your secondary essays are strong and speak to your fit with the school's mission/culture.

Edit: wording