pre-writing secondaries

[iwanttobedoctorpls]

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When going about pre-writing secondaries, should I just pre-write responses to common prompts or should I be answering schools' secondary questions from last year? Wondering how to spend the rest of my June!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thread 'Secondary Essay Q&A - April 27, 2025 at 9:00 PM Eastern'

Mar 27, 2025

Join SDN and Emil Chuck, PhD for tips on approaching your secondary essays. Get prepped to submit your AMCAS application by pre-writing your secondary essays, a key way to articulate how you’ll fit in at specific medical schools.

Post your questions for this livestream below!

• WildWing
• Replies: 4
• Forum: Expert Advice Live

 

[MD_Maker]

Some common topics that I like to address:
-how will you bring diversity to this campus -- not just race, gender, orientation, but diversity of thought, experience, and perspective
-a big challenge you've faced -- anything, either childhood, personal, professional, clinical
-what have you done - since graduation and what you'll be doing if you have a gap year
-why our school -- check the school's you're applying to, some have this question
-anything else you want to tell us -- for red flags, most leave this blank
-why medicine -- many schools have an additional question like this, you can focus it on your future pathway
-underserved -- a time you worked with someone different than you, some schools have a questions specifically asking about racism or the underserved, but this type of response can "fit" many prompts
-teamwork -- a time you worked with a team towards a goal, some prompts focus on difficulty in a team like a time you disagreed
-clinical -- always good to have a strong clinical anecdote on hand, this one is flexible and can be used in many places

 

[Mpsll]

Some common topics that I like to address:
-how will you bring diversity to this campus -- not just race, gender, orientation, but diversity of thought, experience, and perspective
-a big challenge you've faced -- anything, either childhood, personal, professional, clinical
-what have you done - since graduation and what you'll be doing if you have a gap year
-why our school -- check the school's you're applying to, some have this question
-anything else you want to tell us -- for red flags, most leave this blank
-why medicine -- many schools have an additional question like this, you can focus it on your future pathway
-underserved -- a time you worked with someone different than you, some schools have a questions specifically asking about racism or the underserved, but this type of response can "fit" many prompts
-teamwork -- a time you worked with a team towards a goal, some prompts focus on difficulty in a team like a time you disagreed
-clinical -- always good to have a strong clinical anecdote on hand, this one is flexible and can be used in many places

is it better to use the anything else you want to tell us for red flags or why our school if the why us prompt wasnt given this time?

 

[MD_Maker]

is it better to use the anything else you want to tell us for red flags or why our school if the why us prompt wasnt given this time?

I don't like drawing more attention to red flags, especially if they've been explained elsewhere. Also, I have a high bar for red flag. A 3.3 gpa or 505 MCAT does not qualify. Similarly, failing one class or reapplying is not a red flag.

Totally fine to use that space as a why our school, but only do that if you have meaningful things to say.