Penn State Secondary

[Apparition]

I have a couple of questions about the penn state secondary.
What are they looking for in their unique aspect of application question?
What did you guys write about? Also, do you think it's okay to leave SATs section blank or can it hurt me? Thanks

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[gotgame83]

Ha, i just got the secondary via email yesterday. I had no idea what to put for some of those things like unique aspect so im just putting it off until after the 20th. Sorry i couldnt be of more help.

 

[SuzieQ3417]

I have not started their essays yet, but I can tell you that I left the SAT portion blank. It said it was optional, and I didn't feel like digging through my old paperwork to find my exact scores. I have no idea why they want this info in the first place--you would think the MCAT scores would be sufficient. I wonder if any other schools also ask for old test scores.

 

[goinverted]

My feelings about the SAT/ACT were that everyone 'knows' what they got. It was the first large test of our lives. I didn't do extremely hot, nor extremely bad on the ACT, but I put the number there. I agree that it is stupid to ask since we probably all improved since high school, but I felt safer puting it than leaving it for an interview question. Also, the essay's are pretty stupid, they only allow you to type 50 words. Not much more than generalizations there!

 

[macamarna]

I have a couple of questions about the penn state secondary.
What are they looking for in their unique aspect of application question?
What did you guys write about? Also, do you think it's okay to leave SATs section blank or can it hurt me? Thanks

i left the SAT thing out last year. it was never mentioned in my interview, and i got in. so relax and put it if u did well, and forget about it if u didnt. good luck

 

[waterlily]

I still don't know what to put down for unique aspect of our application. anyone have a clue?

 

[Starvin Marvin]

I have not started their essays yet, but I can tell you that I left the SAT portion blank. It said it was optional, and I didn't feel like digging through my old paperwork to find my exact scores. I have no idea why they want this info in the first place--you would think the MCAT scores would be sufficient. I wonder if any other schools also ask for old test scores.

Yeah, Baylor asks for both ACT and SAT as well.

 

[C.P. Jones]

I still don't know what to put down for unique aspect of our application. anyone have a clue?

i've been trying to figure it out all day...i thought i already mentioned everything that's unique about me, what else do they want! looks like this one may take a while

 

[okayplayer]

The "negative aspects of medicine" essay is killing me! What the hell should you write there, and, more importantly, how can you turn it around to a positive in 50 words?!?

 

[tigress]

Heck, I left the SAT thing blank on Jefferson, and it wasn't optional there! I seriously don't remember what I made.

I haven't started Penn State's essays. I guess I'll do it in the next few days. I sort of like the one about negative aspects of medicine. It's a good question. Shows that we've been thinking about this decision.

 

[unfrozencaveman]

If you did well on the SAT, by all means put it on there, and I'd do it even if you did mediocre. I think by leaving it off, it's akin to leaving off GPA on a resume (where if it is left off, it is assumed to be under a 3.0).

 

[SuzieQ3417]

For the unique aspects of my application, I took the time to explain why I had no shadowing experience listed on my AMCAS (and to point out that I have scheduled upcoming shadowing experiences). As for the negative aspects of medicine...you need to figure that one out for yourself. No job is perfect, so you should be able to find something negative about this career. I did not turn it into a positive though....50 words is not enough. I just tried to phrase it in such a way as to say that I was aware that medicine has its downsides, and not to suggest I was repelled by them.

 

[bwells46]

If you did well on the SAT, by all means put it on there, and I'd do it even if you did mediocre. I think by leaving it off, it's akin to leaving off GPA on a resume (where if it is left off, it is assumed to be under a 3.0).

The rule of thumb is to include your GPA on your resume only if it is >= 3.25. However, I'm not sure how 3.25 was decided on - it seems arbitrary to me.

 

[Apparition]

The rule of thumb is to include your GPA on your resume only if it is >= 3.25. However, I'm not sure how 3.25 was decided on - it seems arbitrary to me.

What would be considered a minimum for SATs?

 

[alejodi]

i've been trying to figure it out all day...i thought i already mentioned everything that's unique about me, what else do they want! looks like this one may take a while

The worst part about this essay is that you only have 50 words to describe something unique about you. It's difficult to really describe something THAT unique in so few words...unless you have a second head or something like that...I am just going to write what I think is interesting/unique about myself (even if it really isn't super-unique).

 

[tigress]

The 50 word thing is killing me. I thought I had the perfect response for the question about negative aspects of medicine, but it was 65 words. And I thought I was being so succinct! Now I have to figure out how to cut that down. How in the world is 50 words enough to answer a question like this? Even 75 would have been better!

edit: Can anybody comment on what Penn State is particularly proud of? I've heard they're big on primary care. Anything else? I'm applying because it's my state school, but I'd like to write a bit more than that in answer to why I'm applying there...

 

[JDWflash44]

The 50 word thing is killing me. I thought I had the perfect response for the question about negative aspects of medicine, but it was 65 words. And I thought I was being so succinct! Now I have to figure out how to cut that down. How in the world is 50 words enough to answer a question like this? Even 75 would have been better!

edit: Can anybody comment on what Penn State is particularly proud of? I've heard they're big on primary care. Anything else? I'm applying because it's my state school, but I'd like to write a bit more than that in answer to why I'm applying there...

Case based learning, i think it was emphasized in their MSAR blurb...

Jim