Not Shared Elsewhere essay prompt

[dipbk]

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I'm in the process of applying to one-year postbacs, and am a bit stumped by this question. Is the 'please address issues not found elsewhere in your application' essay a place to elaborate on "mistakes" (ie. that crummy semester during college), to talk about personal interests and experiences that do not make their way into your app, or what?

What have you guys used this space for?

 

[SeverusSnape]

I'm certain I know which app this question is pulled from because I struggled with it a bit as well. I have personally decided to use the space to discuss an aspect of my life that would not fit into any other category on the application, but still had the potential to be related to my choice to pursue medicine. I get the impression you can pretty much discuss anything about your life/experiences that make you unique in some way, as long as you can, at the very least, tie in some tangential relationship to medicine.

At first I interpreted the question as a) optional and b) a place to discuss any felonies etc., until I noticed that asterisk staring up at me and sections elsewhere on the app to discuss any criminal offenses... I did speak with a current post bac at this school on the forums though (name is Evidence Based) and they were able to speak from their own experience. My real concern was discussing something that was irrelevant or "not what they're looking for" but the question seems to be purposely vague and open ended, allowing for an endless possibility of things to discuss.

I'm not sure if this was helpful, but I share your bafflement.

 

[pineapplepancakes]

This question has had me stumped, as well! I'm not applying until next year, so I have time to think of course, but such vague and open-ended questions scare me, haha.

 

[Evidence Based]

This question has had me stumped, as well! I'm not applying until next year, so I have time to think of course, but such vague and open-ended questions scare me, haha.

I thought this essay prompt sounded familiar...

As Severus Sanpe's inside source, I'll share what I shared with him/her: You can talk about basically anything you want here, as long as it's something that you think is important, puts you in a good light, and is related to your application (however tangentially, make sure there's some connection!) Jodi (the program director at Bryn Mawr, where I suspect this prompt is coming from) actually addressed this with the current post baccs a few weeks ago. I get the sense it's not as important as the first essay (basically a dry run for your med school personal statement), but they like to include it because it's a question that comes up a lot in med school secondary applications.

For what it's worth, I wrote about bioethics and some previous work I had done in the field. This was (and is) an interest of mine, and something that helped shine more of a light on who I am. As long as you write well, and don't write something completely inappropriate, you should be fine. Definitely focus more of your effort on your personal statement.

P.S. Severus said the question seemed vague and open ended. Jodi literally laughed when we told her that same thing, and she said that was exactly the purpose. It's supposed to be vague and open ended, to let you do with it what you will. I promise, there's no secret agenda here with secret topics that you're supposed to write about.

 

[dipbk]

Thanks for your replies, both of you! I am right on the brink of sending in my application; just working on essays now.

Evidence Based, if you're not terribly busy, would you be interested in taking a look at a primary essay I'm working on? It is such a short amount of text to work with, and I worry that I'm writing more of a treatise on my view of the medical field than selling my own competencies. Would love some feedback!