Optional Essays and Repetition on Secondaries

[BrCo]

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Several schools I'm applying to ask me to rehash information I've submitted to AMCAS. One school, for instance, wants a chronology for clinical experiences, community service, employment, etc. OK, fine. I can do that.

Another secondary also asks for an Arts description. I already used one of my Work and Activities to describe my musical hobby/interests. So how do I approach this? Do I say something along the lines of "Please refer to AMCAS," do I copy and paste, do I write an entirely new entry about the same thing, or do I leave it blank (it's optional)?

Another question. How important are optional questions? Obviously you want to fill in the prompt for a school with one optional essay to show interest, but what about a school that has 6 or 7 optional boxes w/ a limit of 500 words each? Is it necessary or helpful to write 6 optional essays detailing my most memorable experiences in service, student organizations, traveling, hobbies, etc?

May I just say that repeating information that I've already detailed in my AMCAS is not only annoying, but an utter waste of my time. Like whats the deal? Adcoms can't just flip to my AMCAS? Maybe I'm experiencing a caffeine crash or maybe I'm just irritated that I've wasted yet another day answering hollow questions. Honestly, just take my $$$ and ask me to do something other than rewrite my primary for fun. End Rant.

 

[RedPhys]

Arts...UM?

 

[hoihaie]

you can probably talk about it from another aspect? like anecdotes or something? surely your interests and hobbies can't be completely summed up in those 750 characters AMCAS gives you.

 

[BrCo]

I used the Art description in music as one of my most meaningful.

you can probably talk about it from another aspect? like anecdotes or something? surely your interests and hobbies can't be completely summed up in those 750 characters AMCAS gives you.

Yah...You guessed it, UM

Arts...UM?

 

[cupcakesandcadavers]

i was told to use the optional essay as "Why this school?" if they have not done so already.
if they have and have not asked me about diversity, I will copy and paste my diversity essay.
hope that helps!

 

[DokterMom]

Several schools I'm applying to ask me to rehash information I've submitted to AMCAS. One school, for instance, wants a chronology for clinical experiences, community service, employment, etc. OK, fine. I can do that.

Another secondary also asks for an Arts description. I already used one of my Work and Activities to describe my musical hobby/interests. So how do I approach this? Do I say something along the lines of "Please refer to AMCAS," do I copy and paste, do I write an entirely new entry about the same thing, or do I leave it blank (it's optional)?

Another question. How important are optional questions? Obviously you want to fill in the prompt for a school with one optional essay to show interest, but what about a school that has 6 or 7 optional boxes w/ a limit of 500 words each? Is it necessary or helpful to write 6 optional essays detailing my most memorable experiences in service, student organizations, traveling, hobbies, etc?

May I just say that repeating information that I've already detailed in my AMCAS is not only annoying, but an utter waste of my time. Like whats the deal? Adcoms can't just flip to my AMCAS? Maybe I'm experiencing a caffeine crash or maybe I'm just irritated that I've wasted yet another day answering hollow questions. Honestly, just take my $$$ and ask me to do something other than rewrite my primary for fun. End Rant.

I suspect some schools have long secondaries with lots of optional essay questions specifically to weed out applicants who are less committed to those schools. Think about it -- If the school gets 10,000 applications, and an applicant applied to 20 schools -- that's a lot of words...

If I were reading your secondary, and you wrote "Please refer to AMCAS, pg. 2" or something along those lines, I'd be a little bit annoyed. As in 'Strike 1'. If instead, you said "As described in my AMCAS 'most meaningful' essay ..." and then had an 'edited to fit' restatement, the redundancy would be completely acceptable.

If the point of having seven essays is to assess the depth of your commitment, I'd try to complete all seven with at least something, even if it's just to say briefly that this question doesn't really apply to your life.

 

[Catalystik]

Several schools I'm applying to ask me to rehash information I've submitted to AMCAS. One school, for instance, wants a chronology for clinical experiences, community service, employment, etc. OK, fine. I can do that.

Another secondary also asks for an Arts description. I already used one of my Work and Activities to describe my musical hobby/interests. So how do I approach this? Do I say something along the lines of "Please refer to AMCAS," do I copy and paste, do I write an entirely new entry about the same thing, or do I leave it blank (it's optional)?

Another question. How important are optional questions? Obviously you want to fill in the prompt for a school with one optional essay to show interest, but what about a school that has 6 or 7 optional boxes w/ a limit of 500 words each? Is it necessary or helpful to write 6 optional essays detailing my most memorable experiences in service, student organizations, traveling, hobbies, etc?

May I just say that repeating information that I've already detailed in my AMCAS is not only annoying, but an utter waste of my time. Like whats the deal? Adcoms can't just flip to my AMCAS? Maybe I'm experiencing a caffeine crash or maybe I'm just irritated that I've wasted yet another day answering hollow questions. Honestly, just take my $$$ and ask me to do something other than rewrite my primary for fun. End Rant.

You're assuming that the same person will review all parts of your application, and this isn't true everywhere. It's best if each part of the application can stand on its own, without referring to other entries. If you must rehash something you've related in detail elsewhere, then use new vocabulary words, use other anecdotes, find other impacts or insights to relate, specifically mention characteristics an activity brings out as they relate to desirable traits in a doc. Optional essays may not be required, but they are another way to sell yourself to a school you'd like a chance to attend if no one else accepts you. It's too early in the cycle to have Secondary burnout already, so take the extra time to show each school you care that they want to know more about you.

 

[Catalystik]

I suspect some schools have long secondaries with lots of optional essay questions specifically to weed out applicants who are less committed to those schools. Think about it . . .

This has crossed my mind, as well. I would not be surprised if it was true.

 

[BrCo]

Thanks @Catalystik and @DokterMom . This makes sense. Guess I gotta just suck it up and do the work lol.

 

[Lifeman]

I am writing a "name a challenge you overcame" secondary prompt, and man I have the perfect example in my PS about trying to manage a difficult patient and learning from preceptors etc.,--would it be bad to use that example in my secondary?