How To Approach Secondaries for School's Interviewed at Previously

[anklelocktheworld]

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Hello!

I've never posted a thread before on SDN, very exciting, but I am a re-applicant who submitted approximately 14 secondaries last cycle with 3 interviews --> 3 WL. All of my interviews came at the end of the cycle due to my late primary and secondary submissions last year. This year I've ameliorated that through sending my primary out June 1 and pre-writing my secondaries - however I have not yet touched the 14 schools' apps I am reapplying to. I applied much more broadly and am feeling hopeful this cycle.

I assume for the schools I did not interview at, I should be reframing/rewriting a good chunk, but at those three schools I did interview with - how much do I need to change my previous submissions. I believe I did crush some of the essay prompts and am not sure how much to change/what is a good way to go about this.


Any advice appreciated, thank you!

 

[LizzyM]

This is going to require some self-reflection. After the interview you were not at the "top of the staircase" and getting an offer of admission but not so bad that you got a rejection. Looking at both the written application and the interview performance, what were your weaknesses? Most schools send secondaries to everyone or almost everyone. Some schools may choose to interview you again this year with the hope that whatever deficit they saw that kept you from the top of the heap last time has been ameliorated. It is your job to figure out what those deficits are and address them, not necessarily by writing an essay but by fashioning an application, including interview responses, that shows what you have done (including becoming more mature) since the last application cycle that might help you rise to the top.

 

[anklelocktheworld]

This is going to require some self-reflection. After the interview you were not at the "top of the staircase" and getting an offer of admission but not so bad that you got a rejection. Looking at both the written application and the interview performance, what were your weaknesses? Most schools send secondaries to everyone or almost everyone. Some schools may choose to interview you again this year with the hope that whatever deficit they saw that kept you from the top of the heap last time has been ameliorated. It is your job to figure out what those deficits are and address them, not necessarily by writing an essay but by fashioning an application, including interview responses, that shows what you have done (including becoming more mature) since the last application cycle that might help you rise to the top.

Thank you for your reply, I feel as though I have fashioned the rest of my application to incorporate my improvements and reduction of deficits from last cycle - through my newly written PS and activities section.

I will continue to do so when re-writing secondaries. After contacting 2/3 schools, I do believe I had interviewed for waitlist spots, as their classes were both full in March, and I'm hoping a mix of more timely submissions, better interview prep, and highlighting the various growths in my application since last cycle will give me more success!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Hello!

I've never posted a thread before on SDN, very exciting, but I am a re-applicant who submitted approximately 14 secondaries last cycle with 3 interviews --> 3 WL. All of my interviews came at the end of the cycle due to my late primary and secondary submissions last year. This year I've ameliorated that through sending my primary out June 1 and pre-writing my secondaries - however I have not touched the 14 schools' apps I am reapplying to. I applied much more broadly and am feeling hopeful this cycle.

I assume for the schools I did not interview at, I should be reframing/rewriting a good chunk, but at those three schools I did interview with - how much do I need to change my previous submissions. I believe I did crush some of the essay prompts and am not sure how much to change/what is a good way to go about this.


Any advice appreciated, thank you!

What were the essay prompts? Some schools expect wholesale revision but some prompts can't do that. It also depends how you responded.

 

[anklelocktheworld]

What were the essay prompts? Some schools expect wholesale revision but some prompts can't do that. It also depends how you responded.

Mostly, "What is the nature of interest in ____ school," and ,"Define resilience" or some other beneficial trait that would help in medical school.

I gave out specific reasons with examples from my clinical, volunteering, and shadowing experiences (when appropriate), and I feel I have really strong answers for some of those, within the character count! I'm just not sure how much I could change without compromising the depth of some essays I submitted last cycle - but, I've gone through which I definitely want to rewrite.