I dread secondaries....if they aren't in my inbox I can't flog myself for procrastinating on them. As long as they don't send them...it's out of my hands.
I would much rather retake the MCAT; I'm so sick of these essays. I've really started to get apathetic towards them...after three years I'm tired of writing stodgy little excerpts about my life. This year I'm turning it into more of a creative writing exercise. They might not address the topic in the most efficient way, but I guarantee you they're interesting to read >).
Definitely ask yourself the hard questions about your life when you prepare for interviews. Don't go in without having at least 3 strengths/weaknesses, an ethical issue you've faced (anticipate a critical counter-argument), and solid answers to all the questions that have been asked before at that school (available through the interview feedback section).
Interviews are not usually combative, but if you present your opinion or actions on an ethical situation you should be prepared for the interviewer to challenge you on it. For instance, if a good friend offered to let you in on an academic cheating situation and you declined...that's not the only ethical issue; why didn't you turn him in? If you did turn him in, how do you justify breaking his trust- he only told you because he was trying to help you. Another example- a common hypothetical ethical question is a child who will die without a blood transfusion, but parents who are Jehovah's witness's and won't allow it. Assuming you could get a court to force the transfusion, what will you do? If you do it, the counter argument is how you can justify completely neglecting their beliefs and sentencing the child's soul to eternal damnation? If you don't do it then you've failed to act in your patient's best interest medically speaking (and you are a medical doctor, after all)? All I'm saying is watch out for both sides, and sub-issues if applicable.
