Order to do Secondaries

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StephBee

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Hey guy!
So, thanks to a long processing time, I was finally verified last week (Friday). Prior to that, I had recieved 4 of my secondaries (obviously schools that don't screen) but since I was verified they're literally coming in waves. In a matter of 2 days, I recieved 15 secondaries, including a few schools that do screen (univ. IL).

So anyway, my question is this:
Obviously, I'm going to get them all done as quickly as possible but I"m trying to figure out what order to do them in. I have 2 with Nov 1st deadlines so those are ASAP, a few more with Nov 15 (more ASAP).
Unfortuently, with a few exceptions, most of them require fairly different essays so I'm looking at at least 20 different essays.
The biggest problem is that it's midterm week so I've got a bunch of tests to study for too.

So if anyone else recieved secondaries en mass, what order did you do them in?
 
hm.... i'd do the essays w/ the most overlap (gap year stuff, stressful time, etc)

or i'd do your top schools first...(assuming they gave you secondaries already)
 
pick a couple secondaries for your bottom choice schools and do those first. counter-intuitive, I know, but it's a good "warm up" for the ones that really matter to you. after that, go in this order:
- secondaries you received before being verified
- secondaries with no essays...you can knock all those off in a day
- secondaries that specifically state a timeline for completion (e.g. submit within 2 weeks)
-top choice schools
- all the rest
 
A little different since I was verified in June but I had a ton at once and I simply did the ones I wanted to go to first.
 
This is probably a stupid question easily found with the search function.. but does it matter when you submit your secondaries as long as they're before the deadline? I.e., the earlier the better?
 
it's going to depend on the school. If the school is non-rolling, it matters less. Rolling schools, yes the earlier the better.
 
One thing I've learned is that my secondary essays have gotten progressively better. I look back on the first ones I wrote and am really embarrassed.
 
Garb said:
One thing I've learned is that my secondary essays have gotten progressively better. I look back on the first ones I wrote and am really embarrassed.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'll definantly keep that in mind. Sadly, some of my top-tier schools (harvard and Duke have november 1st deadlines so I have to do those first...Duke basicaly said DO IT NOW OR DIE! 😛 in the email they sent)
 
My secondary essays progressively got worse as I got burned out writing them. I'd suggest that at this time, you should focus on just saying what you want to say without worrying about style.
 
coreankim said:
My secondary essays progressively got worse as I got burned out writing them. I'd suggest that at this time, you should focus on just saying what you want to say without worrying about style.
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Haha same here. Mine got better for a time, and then they peaked for a while. I got burnt out and they got progressively worse... and then I just flat out didn't finish the last few.
 
It's kind of amazing. They just KEEP COMING> I know i shouldn't be complaining but with the exception of 1 school, none of them are screened secondaries. At least I get so save money for 2 schools that flat out rejected me for being OOS (Washington, though apperently I'm still in the running for MD/PhD and UC Davis)
 
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StephBee said:
It's kind of amazing. They just KEEP COMING> I know i shouldn't be complaining but with the exception of 1 school, none of them are screened secondaries. At least I get so save money for 2 schools that flat out rejected me for being OOS (Washington, though apperently I'm still in the running for MD/PhD and UC Irvine)
Click to expand...

You... didn't buy the MSAR, huh? :laugh:

Frickin' no one from OOS gets accepted @ UCI. UCI accepted 1 OOS applicant last year, out of ~900 applicants. 1. Thats ok... at least you didn't have to pay for a secondary. Just be careful not to waste precious time on schools that hate OOS and :luck:!
 
BaronVonZ said:
You... didn't buy the MSAR, huh? :laugh:

Frickin' no one from OOS gets accepted @ UCI. UCI accepted 1 OOS applicant last year, out of ~900 applicants. 1. Thats ok... at least you didn't have to pay for a secondary. Just be careful not to waste precious time on schools that hate OOS and :luck:!
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😛 I did get the MSAR actually and I knew there wasn't really a shot at UCI but Iv'e got really strong ties to the state so I figured it was worth a shot, to see if my ties would at least get me a secondary. Needless to say, I wasn't surprised in the slightest. 32$ bucks down the drain but it was worth a shot. UWashington is the same way except I applied MSTP which they claim doesn't descriminate IN vs. OOS. but we'll see.


EDIT: I just realized something very dumb. I had been thinking UCI and saying UCI but I actually applied to UC DAVIS. :facepalm:
 
StephBee said:
😛 I did get the MSAR actually and I knew there wasn't really a shot at UCI but Iv'e got really strong ties to the state so I figured it was worth a shot, to see if my ties would at least get me a secondary. Needless to say, I wasn't surprised in the slightest. 32$ bucks down the drain but it was worth a shot. UWashington is the same way except I applied MSTP which they claim doesn't descriminate IN vs. OOS. but we'll see.


EDIT: I just realized something very dumb. I had been thinking UCI and saying UCI but I actually applied to UC DAVIS. :facepalm:
Click to expand...

🤣 As long as you knew the risks before hand UC Davis was worth a $32 gamble. Good luck with your pile of secondaries 🙂
 
You're really in a battle for time not only to complete secondaries but to get noticed amongst applicants from across the season. You're applying to Harvard and Duke so I'd guess you've got great stats, but if not, you face even more of an uphill battle. If I were you and I was committed to getting into med school this year, I'd want to submit as many applications as possible (while still keeping up quality in my essays).

To that end, you might consider dropping Duke from your list. Its secondary is a beast. You said it's "Top Tier," but I don't know if you meant in terms of your interest or just that it's one of the more highly recognized schools you've applied to. If it's the latter, you might think about using that time for other secondaries at similar schools that require fewer essays. Presumably, in the time it takes to write four ~500-word essays for Duke, you could have applied to three or four schools. That said, if you love Duke- go for it! It's obviously a great school.

In general, my priorities would be:

-Schools that require no essays (Harvard if you're still in school and aren't going HST)
-Schools who only require short essays (e.g. 200 words, 1000 characters, etc.)
-Schools with Nov. 1 deadlines
-Schools you love that have later deadlines
-Other schools

One other bit of advice: go ahead and prepare a 2x2 professional-looking picture in front of a light background. You'll likely need it for your schools and if you submit it now, it'll be there by the time your secondaries are complete.

Best of luck!
 
Mine followed a bell curve. From "Could have used more practice" to "Motivated and well composed" to "I can't wait until this is over". I'd look and see if there are any schools with very limited secondaries (Coursework and a payment) that you can finish in a few minutes. Then go on to your top choices. I found that I could recycle portions of the essays far more than I had imagined. Good luck!
 
I would add some schools with no essays. Maybe they won't be your top choice but if you want in... it would be worth it. Some that come to mind are SLU and medical college of wisconsin.
 
Geographer said:
You're really in a battle for time not only to complete secondaries but to get noticed amongst applicants from across the season. You're applying to Harvard and Duke so I'd guess you've got great stats, but if not, you face even more of an uphill battle. If I were you and I was committed to getting into med school this year, I'd want to submit as many applications as possible (while still keeping up quality in my essays).

To that end, you might consider dropping Duke from your list. Its secondary is a beast. You said it's "Top Tier," but I don't know if you meant in terms of your interest or just that it's one of the more highly recognized schools you've applied to. If it's the latter, you might think about using that time for other secondaries at similar schools that require fewer essays. Presumably, in the time it takes to write four ~500-word essays for Duke, you could have applied to three or four schools. That said, if you love Duke- go for it! It's obviously a great school.

In general, my priorities would be:

-Schools that require no essays (Harvard if you're still in school and aren't going HST)
-Schools who only require short essays (e.g. 200 words, 1000 characters, etc.)
-Schools with Nov. 1 deadlines
-Schools you love that have later deadlines
-Other schools

One other bit of advice: go ahead and prepare a 2x2 professional-looking picture in front of a light background. You'll likely need it for your schools and if you submit it now, it'll be there by the time your secondaries are complete.

Best of luck!
Click to expand...


Thanks! Unfortuently, my MCAT isn't fantastic and if I don't get into any of my schools, that's going to be why.
I've been on the fence about Duke. I like the school but I'm not really crazy about NC and for me, location is one of the biggest deciding factors.
And sadly, I am apply HST. I was able to crank 3 out last night that were mininal as far as essays (pick 3 of your activites and say more about them. Why Yale, etc etc).
My number 1 choice right now is Stanford and of the 17 schools I've gotten responses from, Stanfords not one of them 😛

It's a ticking time bomb, I'm well aware. In all reality, I submitted a week after I got my MCATs and I took the MCATs as soon as I really could (I had a 40hr/week internship that wouldn't allow me time off to take it, the time commitment alone is probably partially why my score was lower)

After tomorrow, I've got a few days till my next midterm so I'm just oging to sit down and crank them out. Dunno how many more 3am days I can do though (class at 8am). :laugh:
 
Stanford's really slow. It'll take about 2 weeks for you to get a secondary. Plus, Stanford starts interviews late (I don't think anyone's received one yet) and ends late. So if Stanford's your first choice, then you should be okay.

You said location is a huge deciding factor for you. What kind of location are you looking for - an urban or very rich, suburban one? If you're looking for an urban setting, I think Columbia would be more appropriate. Stanford is located in a very rich town; everything is ultra-clean, safe and super modern, and there are amazing research opportunities. However, you might not see as great a patient diversity.
 
coreankim said:
Stanford's really slow. It'll take about 2 weeks for you to get a secondary. Plus, Stanford starts interviews late (I don't think anyone's received one yet) and ends late. So if Stanford's your first choice, then you should be okay.

You said location is a huge deciding factor for you. What kind of location are you looking for - an urban or very rich, suburban one? If you're looking for an urban setting, I think Columbia would be more appropriate. Stanford is located in a very rich town; everything is ultra-clean, safe and super modern, and there are amazing research opportunities. However, you might not see as great a patient diversity.
Click to expand...


Columbia's on my list too. I applied to a lot of research heavy institutions too because I want to continue doing my research (applied MD/PhD to several schools as well). As far as environment, I'm more interested in urban/suburban but not overly poor if that makes sense...and warmer. I've lived for 4 in the snowiest city in the country (literally, Syracuse recieves more snow than any other major metropolitan city in the country. Avg. 11 ft a year). Of course, there was a lot of deciding factors for which schools I applied to (and they range from Columbia, U IL, Washington, Stanford) etc. Stanford has everything. Great location (love CA), reserach heavy, etc etc.
 
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Just an update for those who care / future applicants in the same boat:

I got 16 of them done in a 2 day peroid on the 22nd and 23rd. It was midterms so I had to take a few days off but I've since done all but 3 and I"m officially burnt out. Going ot force myself to do these last 3 over the next day or so and then I'm officially done with all 23 secondaries (still waiting on 1 from a school that screens).

Just for giggles, I added together all of the essays (I was only able to reuse part of 1, how annoying is that!?). It amounted to over 30 single spaced paged.

Still left to do: Case western, brown and georgetown. (brown only got me the secondary about a week and a half ago)
 
No offense, but there's no way quality didn't suffer..
 
I think honestly the quality was worst on the few I've done in the past couple of days. You may be entirely right though. I felt good about all of them. The biggest problem was every essay was different but that allowed me to really personalize each one to the school (I had done all the research on the schools a long time ago nad have lists of things I like about each of them in folders 😛). Looking back over my excel sheet, I actually did it over 3 days (about 5-6 each day) and had a mix of really intense secondaries (ie, Duke, UCLA) and really easy ones (Univ. IL).

I did the best I could. For what it's worth, I'm an english minor so writing is kind of my thing (aka, it's easy for me to organize my thoughts in a cohesive piece of writing) and I was able to look over and review each of them before I submitted. I'm currently in a autobiography class so I've actually had to write so much about myself over the semester that it's so much easier than it would've been 3 months ago.

I guess we'll see. I was just really happy to get past the screen for Hawaii 😀
 
Hemichordate said:
Why did you submit your primary so late?
Click to expand...


I submitted like september 15th and it took over a month for verification.

I know it won't get me any sympathy with adcoms but I couldn't take an MCAT earlier than july. I was doing an internship that was 35-40 hours a week in Denver which is over an hour from my house so tack on 10 hours of cummuting and I was working nights. My fiance lost his job 'cause the buisness went under so I had to pay all of the bills (1,000 a month).
Long story short, I submitted shortly after I got my MCAT scores back.
I've got okay stats (30P, 3.9 gpa) so I wanted to apply this cycle and risk having to reapply rather than wait a year (something I'm kind of regretting now but it's too late to change my mind) and I've got a rather unique life story that I'm hoping will get me some love.


It sucks and I don't mean to make excuses but I didn't have the luxery of going out the gates early. I was taking 18 credit hours last semester, working 30 hours a week, spending 10 hours a week in my lab and shadowing so taking a few hours a week to study for the MCATs was all I could manage and I took the calculated risk that taking a later test so I could get a better score was better than taking a May test and being ready to apply in June. (and then some shinanigans went wrong test day that I think really lowered my score. i was getting 35-39 on my practice tests)


It's amazing to me the two very different worlds of pre-meds I encounter. There is everyone here one SDN who seemed to submit in June and already ahve acceptences under their belt. Then there's the pre-meds i know here on campus, most of which are in the same place I am (one friend just submitted like 2 weeks ago, took the september mcat and only applied to 3 schools).

Hindsight, I would have done this whole process differently and if I don't get in this cycle, I know where my weaknesses are and can easily correct them for next cycle. Yes, I'll be at a disadvantage as a reapp but who knows, it only takes 1 school to love you, right?😳
 
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