Is this normal?

[DiverDoc]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I have begun to start on the secondaries that are available and for the essays I have wrote, I always feel like there not good enough. I realize that this is sorta my last time to let them know about me and my goals/experiences whatever, but I always feel like there nowhere near good enough. Despite, editing, rewording, and taking time away from the essays. Is this a normal feeling or do I need to keep pluggin at the essays? Im hoping its the former.

 

[Kuba]

I have begun to start on the secondaries that are available and for the essays I have wrote, I always feel like there not good enough. I realize that this is sorta my last time to let them know about me and my goals/experiences whatever, but I always feel like there nowhere near good enough. Despite, editing, rewording, and taking time away from the essays. Is this a normal feeling or do I need to keep pluggin at the essays? Im hoping its the former.

It's probably normal if you're OCD, lol. j/k. You can try having other people edit your essays. Quite honestly, I didn't spend too much time on the secondary essays, but I bet its a great idea to get them perfect. As long as you have the time and you have all other secondaries done, you can keep working to perfect them I guess.

 

[mdille2]

Let someone else read them and edit them. But it must be someone who you know will be honest with you. Wehn I wrote mine...I rlayed the message I wanted to get across, and then let someone else read/edit it. Then, I reread and edited myself, then let 2 others read. That was it. They are important, but you should not spend weeks on them.

Marcia

 

[laurenem]

I felt that way for my personal statement. I have no idea how many drafts I had for that damn essay... 🙄 I had many people read it and edit it. I purposely had people who knew me very well, as well as people who didn't know me at all (my mother's friends) read the essays. To be honest, the people who didn't know me edited better than people who knew me well. They could read it most objectively. For the secondary essays... in the beginning I did a lot of editing, but fast editing only. I had one or two people who I knew read them. My goal was to write the essays fast and return the app as soon as possible (ie within a couple of days for most of them.. keep in mind I was only working part time during this part of the application process). I felt the same as you in the beginning, but only did a max of 3 drafts per essay I think. after a few applications you end up having very similar questions on each application, so you can steal entire paragraphs or even entire essays from other applications. Also you just end up learning how to write very efficiently after writing 5 or 6 of them. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is... you need to find a balance between writing well and writing efficiently for the secondaries... Good luck!

 

[Tanner82]

I have begun to start on the secondaries that are available and for the essays I have wrote, I always feel like there not good enough. I realize that this is sorta my last time to let them know about me and my goals/experiences whatever, but I always feel like there nowhere near good enough. Despite, editing, rewording, and taking time away from the essays. Is this a normal feeling or do I need to keep pluggin at the essays? Im hoping its the former.

which secondary essays are available? I know some were available on schools websites ie- vcom, umdnj-som but I thought those were for last years cycle.... maybe if some are already available we can start up the "Official 2007-2008 secondary application prompts" thread

 

[Boner]

Since you've got some time until secondaries are officially available, I would say just set what you have aside for a couple of weeks and then come back and look your essays again. Just taking your mind off of your musings for a while can do some good. You may formulate some new ideas in the couple of weeks you're not writing, or you may just come back and find you're satisfied with what you have written. But when it comes down to submission time, just be happy with what you've written and submit. It can be nerve wracking, but most likely what you have will be solid as long as it is sincere and well researched. So get to know what osteopathic medicine is all about (read Gevitz, shadow a DO), and have a sincere interest in osteopathic medical education. If you really want to be an osteopathic physician it will show, and you should have no problems with your essays and interviews.

 

[HemaOncoDoc]

which secondary essays are available? I know some were available on schools websites ie- vcom, umdnj-som but I thought those were for last years cycle.... maybe if some are already available we can start up the "Official 2007-2008 secondary application prompts" thread

The "official 07-08 prompts" always comes up earlier than later. There's always a thread listing the prompts from last year. Many of the prompts do not change from year to year and if they do, they're pretty minor. So, if you work on the prompts from last year, you'll be on top of things. Best of luck.