MSTP Secondary Question

[rlaqhdus]

Hey guys,

I just have a question regarding a mstp secondary essay that asks us to write why we want to join the specific medical school.

Am I supposed to answer it as a MD applicant (i.e. focus on clinical exposure, etc..) or MSTP applicant (i.e. focus on research)?

Thanks in advance!

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[leeeooooo]

I think you can probably write as either. I had this question myself and decided to address my prompts as an MSTP, although I drew on exclusive features of the medical school.

 

[Choculitis]

I don't think you can go wrong with talking about both.

 

[Lil Mick]

On most of those, I focused on research but also on the MD part of the school. That seemed to suffice for schools. I personally think it would raise some flags for an MSTP applicant if they didn't mention research as a reason for wanting to attend that specific school...

 

[Dark Templar]

I also wrote all my essays from the perspective of an MD/PhD applicant and mentioned both clinical activities and research. This made those "why us" essays really easy for me compared to if I applied MD-only. I never tried to mask or apologize for my research interests in any part of my application including the interviews.

 

[rlaqhdus]

Thank you for the inputs!
I have one more question, would it be ok to mention a specific lab that I want to work for my PhD degree in the essay? I guess I'm little bit concerned, because the prompt is asking why I want to join the medical school.

Any help is appreciated!

 

[PfNO22]

Thank you for the inputs!
I have one more question, would it be ok to mention a specific lab that I want to work for my PhD degree in the essay? I guess I'm little bit concerned, because the prompt is asking why I want to join the medical school.

Any help is appreciated!

You should put interesting faculty into the secondary somewhere.

 

[SBR249]

I actually think it's rather hard to work faculty names into a normal-length (ie short) secondary essay. The problem I think is that if you mention too few, then the schools will wonder if that's all you are interested in and what would happen if, say prof X were to decide to leave. If you try for too many, then the length of your essay increases as you need to explain things too. The best way I believe would be to mention areas or fields of interest without getting too specific.

 

[PfNO22]

I actually think it's rather hard to work faculty names into a normal-length (ie short) secondary essay. The problem I think is that if you mention too few, then the schools will wonder if that's all you are interested in and what would happen if, say prof X were to decide to leave. If you try for too many, then the length of your essay increases as you need to explain things too. The best way I believe would be to mention areas or fields of interest without getting too specific.

Final sentence: "In addition, I have found many faculty to have research projects that interest me, including notably X and Y." Not hard. You are over thinking it.

 

[Choculitis]

Final sentence: "In addition, I have found many faculty to have research projects that interest me, including notably X and Y." Not hard. You are over thinking it.

I agree. I don't see why you need to explain why you're interested in these faculty. You're obviously going to be talking about your research interests, so it should be pretty obvious why you're interested in them.

 

[rlaqhdus]

Thanks, guys!