Is anyone else having this problem?

[zempa]

I have absolutely no idea what to write when the secondary asks "Why do you want to attend ____ School of Medicine (fill in the name). I've went to the website of some of these schools but they all seem the same. Any help would be appreciated.

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[Generic Student]

I have absolutely no idea what to write when the secondary asks "Why do you want to attend ____ School of Medicine (fill in the name). I've went to the website of some of these schools but they all seem the same. Any help would be appreciated.

I've done pretty much the same for each one. I mention the school's reputation, the curriculum, residency choices based on location, then some general comments on the area from a wikipedia article about the city. If any of the information strikes my fancy, I mention it. The result is a fairly generic butt-kissing of the school.

 

[zempa]

I've done pretty much the same for each one. I mention the school's reputation, the curriculum, residency choices based on location, then some general comments on the area from a wikipedia article about the city. If any of the information strikes my fancy, I mention it. The result is a fairly generic butt-kissing of the school.

I was wondering if you could clarify what you mean by those 2. I thought the curriculum was the same? And I didn't really know what you meant by the residency thing.

Thanks for taking the time to answer the question though, I will try to apply some of those techniques.

 

[ziggydoc]

I was wondering if you could clarify what you mean by those 2. I thought the curriculum was the same? And I didn't really know what you meant by the residency thing.

Thanks for taking the time to answer the question though, I will try to apply some of those techniques.

there are differences in curriculums, for example, Yale has the "Yale System" where you don't get graded or have class ranking at all for the first two years, and you take exams only for self evaluation. Also, if a school and hospital serves a specific population, you can mention that. Furthermore, some schools require original research and thesis, so if you are interested in any field of research, you can mention that as well. Hope this helps.

 

[Naijaba]

there are differences in curriculums, for example, Yale has the "Yale System" where you don't get graded or have class ranking at all for the first two years, and you take exams only for self evaluation. Also, if a school and hospital serves a specific population, you can mention that. Furthermore, some schools require original research and thesis, so if you are interested in any field of research, you can mention that as well. Hope this helps.

Ziggydoc is correct. In particular, Stanford and Yale (and other schools) encourage students to take five years to complete their medical program, where the fifth year is usually tuition-free and used to complete a research thesis. Just to give you a starting point, here are some ways in which schools differ [in order of what I think is most important]:

1. Is the school predominantly research focused or primary care focused?

2a. If you want a research career: How established is the program in your field of research?

2b. If you want a primary care career: What are the program's highlights in terms of residency matches, and why?

3. Do you enjoy the curriculum methodology at the school? For example, the first two-years may be problem-based or predominantly lecture format.

4. Where is the medical school located, i.e. do you have a good geographic justification for going there?

5. How financially viable is the school? This may seem like a touchy subject, but it is reasonable to factor in the cost of a given school if you're under tight financial constraints. Note also that this may be a separate reason from question #3. For example, Southern California is closer to Nevada than to Northern California so a SoCal resident couldn't justify going to a NorCal state school based upon distance alone, but could justify it based upon finances.

 

[alli8004]

I think it's more important to talk about yourself and your credentials/experiences for these questions than to talk about the school's residency choices, money, etc. Let's face it, the admissions officers know way more than any of us do about any of these schools. Also, anyone can say "I am really excited about the curriculum for X school, or I love the Yale System" but what you must do is prove WHY you're the best for that system and why it's a perfect fit for what you want to achieve/ who you are as a student. Schools want to know both that you're interested in their program, and that you're going to contribute/ add to the student culture they already have.

Hope that helps

 

[Generic Student]

I was wondering if you could clarify what you mean by those 2. I thought the curriculum was the same? And I didn't really know what you meant by the residency thing.

Thanks for taking the time to answer the question though, I will try to apply some of those techniques.

Like stated above, the curriculum can be different from school to school with most differences being in the delivery. Some schools are traditional in that they use lectures and others use primarily group work. I've noticed an entire spectrum of differences.

The residency placement depends on the reputation of the school and location of school in proximity to major hospitals for exposure to a variety of different patients. For example, doing your rotations in inner city hospitals may increase your chances at landing an inner city residency (if that's what you like).

Of course like the advice above, always always make it about you. Why do you want to do an inner city residency? Why do you learn better in this environment?

It's one of the harder questions to answer but without them, I wouldn't know about these schools. It may also help prepare you for the interview question, "Why do you want to go here?".

 

[zempa]

Thanks to everyone for the help.

It's defintetly getting a bit easier to write these after the first few.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Since this thread isn't really about any one specific school or its secondary, I'm moving it to the main Pre-Allopathic forum.