Re-applicants: are our apps reviewed Side-by-Side with the old app?

[j-med]

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Anyone know if our apps are reviewed side-by-side with the old one?

i.e. particularly these items:
- essays
- LOR
- resume
- scores (MCAT, GPA)

Do they print out our old apps and give them to our evaluators to be reviewed side-by-side with the new one?

I know they probably conveniently have the MCAT scores side by side, but anyone know about the rest of the items?

Thanks!

 

[redsquareblack]

Anyone know if our apps are reviewed side-by-side with the old one?

i.e. particularly these items:
- essays
- LOR
- resume
- scores (MCAT, GPA)

Do they print out our old apps and give them to our evaluators to be reviewed side-by-side with the new one?

I know they probably conveniently have the MCAT scores side by side, but anyone know about the rest of the items?

Thanks!

Essays? Doubt it. They've got enough material to read without pulling old essays, as well.
LORs, similarly.
Not sure where they'd got your resume.
Scores would be self-explanatory, and you wouldn't need to look at old scores.

 

[j-med]

thanks for ur input. Any more thoughts on this topic would be appreciated.

 

[BerlinDude]

No they don't. It's actually not as easy to see your old application as you'd might think.

All your grades and MCAT scores are there in both applications though. You can't erase an MCAT score once you take it.

 

[amakhosidlo]

Surprisingly enough, in some cases they actually are.
I know for a fact that U.Wash pulls the files of re-applicants, including essays. Negligible improvements, or even submitting the same application, is pretty much the kiss of death there. I mean think about it. Would you want an applicant that put absolutely NO effort into their actual application year-over-year? What sort of commitment -or interest- does that show?

I wouldn't completely re-write your PS, but maybe try to mix it up/dress it up a little before you submit.

 

[ygree001]

Surprisingly enough, in some cases they actually are.
I know for a fact that U.Wash pulls the files of re-applicants, including essays. Negligible improvements, or even submitting the same application, is pretty much the kiss of death there. I mean think about it. Would you want an applicant that put absolutely NO effort into their actual application year-over-year? What sort of commitment -or interest- does that show?

I wouldn't completely re-write your PS, but maybe try to mix it up/dress it up a little before you submit.

Same at SUNY Upstate.

 

[LiveUninhibited]

Surprisingly enough, in some cases they actually are.
I know for a fact that U.Wash pulls the files of re-applicants, including essays. Negligible improvements, or even submitting the same application, is pretty much the kiss of death there. I mean think about it. Would you want an applicant that put absolutely NO effort into their actual application year-over-year? What sort of commitment -or interest- does that show?

I wouldn't completely re-write your PS, but maybe try to mix it up/dress it up a little before you submit.

Yeah, and the personal statement really shouldn't be the same if somebody improved themselves and then reapplied. Sure, some portions could be the same or nearly the same, but one would expect there to be totally new paragraphs on recent things that made them "grow as a person."

 

[njmed]

I'm a reapplicant. I applied for 2008 and didn't get anywhere (no interviews either). Applied again for this year. I sent same exact documents from last year except for the MCAT scores which I took for a 2nd time. So when I went for the interview at this school, the interviewer had my file infront of me, but it was closed. When he opened the file, there were all these papers such as the LOIs and one LOR (which I excluded in this cycle) that I sent in the last cycle. I think, atleast this school had all the papers and they may have gone through all of them.

 

[Greonis]

I think it is safe to say that this is a school-dependent question. Some schools will review old application material (and to varying extents), while others may give their re-applicants a clean slate to work with. Of course, as has already been pointed out, some items from prior application years will have to be included in a new application no matter what, such as MCAT scores that are still valid.

Nonetheless, your best bet is to assume that all schools will take into account all of your old application material, so do your best to demonstrate growth/improvement in all areas.