Including more than asked for on secondary

[dsherida]

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Hey guys, a few secondaries I have received just have an essay and want you to answer it. It basically is why do you want to come to our school. I was thinking about including abstracts from papers and research that I have done. Is this not a good idea? If it would be alright to send them, how would I go about including them-Just stick them in with the application? Thanks, I am sort of lost in this area

 

[SM-UCLA tech]

I think that's a very difficult question to answer. It's hard to know what an admissions committee is open to.

IMO I would probably not include that material. I was told when I applied that I should stick to their format. People told me that not only are they looking at the substance, but they want to know if an applicant can follow directions. Who knows if that's true or not. But I do have a friend that worked for a medical school and she told me stories about applicants getting creative with their applications. These "creative" students had their applications filed in the trash! One student sent a mirror with the application because they had printed everything backwards. Another student sent a door by UPS to the admissions office with a note glued to it. The note said that this was their door that they were knocking on for their opportunity!

But.......I would send in that additional information in a separate envelope as additional material to be added to your file. You can be assured that most medical schools will see this and review it with all of your other materials.

 

[Megalofyia]

Wow. you should start a thread on crazy things people have actually done to get into medical school.

 

[SarahGM]

I've heard a similar story... someone mailing a door with a shoe glued to it, with a note that said, "Just trying to get my foot in the door!"

Ughhhh.....

 

[XxRocKxX]

ive heard of one where a guy on the waitlist sent a shoe in saying he had one foot in the door and wanted to get the other one in as well

clever anal pre-meds 🙂

 

[Gleevec]

The only things schools would want "included more than asked for in a secondary" would be the application fee, if ya catch my drift. 😛

 

[tBw]

it really varies by school. Most do not want additional materials but some (eg Northwestern) welcome them. The best thing to do is just send the secondary in as is and then query the admissions office whether they accept additional materials. Depending on the answer, send it in or not as a follow up.

 

[efex101]

Also with 3000 applications pouring in they really do NOT want more unless it states so on their application period.

 

[ma-bas]

I have had a couple secondaries ask to explain any gaps between undergrad and now. It has been a while for me and I have done a lot since then, so on those I wrote "see resume" and attached my resume, but that is about it.

Some schools say specifically not to send additional materials either in the directions or on their website. I would definately read carefully before adding additional materials.

 

[Paws]

I would do EXACTLY what the secondary says: and I read mine like it's a love letter from a new boyfriend.

Even with the essays, I make a point of answering the questions exactly as they request. Absolutely, they are looking to see if we can follow simple directions - or do we somehow feel we are 'above' them.

My mom once spend a long airplane ride from Boston to California sitting next to a UCali medical school dean and she had 7 hours to learn about the whole application process because he was reviewing applications during the flight. The number one thing that bugged him was applicants who do not follow instructions, and he showed her some secondary applications where the applicant had gone on and on writing more than the one page per question (or whatever) limit. This guy said to my mom: "This applicant is going to be rejected because he didn't do what he was told; I asked him 'what time is it?' and he tells me how to make a watch." He didn't even bother to read what the applicant had written, it was an instant rejection.

😱

 

[deez4life]

if you've got something that direly sticks out in a negative light in your amcas application, my advisor recommends including an addendum in your secondary explaining the circumstances. otherwise, it's quite overboard to add stuff like publications, abstracts, etc. in your secondary.

 

[Catalyst]

I don't mean to sound overly negative, but IMHO, if an applicant sends a door, a shoe, a mirror, or anything like that they strike me as being a complete tool. I can understand attaching research abstracts and relevant material, but big objects just sounds a little pretentious. Anyone agree?

Sachin

 

[SM-UCLA tech]

Originally posted by raining4days
A classmate of mine in high school made a videotype of himself. He played some instrument and was in the marching band. Another classmate of mine wrote his essay with the title "how to eat an oreo cookie" and included with it a box of oreo cookies.

I don't know how how that turned out.

I can guess how it turned out: The admissions committee stamped the word "TOOL" across their foreheads on their secondary picture and posted it on the office wall for all to see!