Reapplicant - Change secondaries?

[camaras2480]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello,

Do secondaries need to be changed when reapplying? I have changed/updated my PS and my work/activities.

Thanks!

 

[wingiv]

I talked to my school's pre-med advisor about this, and he said to not change it if there's nothing to change. But I would say, you can probably elaborate on some stuff more or have had better experiences in your last year for you secondaries.

 

[nick_carraway]

I talked to my school's pre-med advisor about this, and he said to not change it if there's nothing to change. But I would say, you can probably elaborate on some stuff more or have had better experiences in your last year for you secondaries.

I'll be surprised if your opinion didn't change on what your most important experiences have been or if you didn't mature much since the last cycle.

In fact, I'd be wondering why you are reapplying without some modicum of personal development that you can elaborate upon in secondaries.

 

[shemarty]

Not that I really know... but I would take the time to rewrite the more subjective essay-style ones.

I dunno if they compare your applications, but if they did and saw that you copy/pasted your essay from the previous year, it would make you look pretty lazy.

I agree with koko_eats, a year is a long time, people mature, priorities change, your answers to some of these questions probably have too.

 

[flip26]

Not that I really know... but I would take the time to rewrite the more subjective essay-style ones.

I dunno if they compare your applications, but if they did and saw that you copy/pasted your essay from the previous year, it would make you look pretty lazy.

I agree with koko_eats, a year is a long time, people mature, priorities change, your answers to some of these questions probably have too.

Think about it: they don't have time to dig out your old app and compare. They barely have time to read your current app before giving a thumbs up or down on interview invitations...

Having said that, there has to be something you would say differently this year for your PS, your secondaries, etc...if it didn't work last year, why would you simply resubmit the same stuff this year?

 

[runx]

If there's a single thing that obviously held you back the first time around (eg MCAT score) and its "fixed" the second time around I don't think you need to worry about changing much of anything. If your question is are they going to be turned off if they see the same essays in your secondary app that were in there before I'd say no. I don't think they hold on to prior apps, but even if they did I don't think they would bother doing a side by side microscopic comparison.

 

[mvenus929]

I'm with koko_eats and shemarty here. If your application has changed at all, surely you'll want to draw attention in a different direction. You've surely changed because of that first application process, so some of your answers probably have as well. If they haven't... do you know exactly why you didn't get in last time?

 

[camaras2480]

hey thanks everyone, really appreciate it.

just to address most of the posts here - the reason i didnt get in is because i had a not-highly-competitive undergrad GPA. so in the past year, i have done an SMP. i spoke of this in my PS, but i really dont see much reason to change secondary essays such as... why do you want to attend [insert school name]? or... what specialization do you wanna do?

what do you think?

 

[witness23]

did you get any interviews at all? have you learned about the certain traits schools look for? do you find new things about yourself that are marketable?

 

[camaras2480]

did you get any interviews at all? have you learned about the certain traits schools look for? do you find new things about yourself that are marketable?

Yeah, I completed my applications late, in like September, and got 5 interviews, 5 waitlists.

Obviously, GPA is something schools look for, which is why I went into the SMP. Unfortunately, as you probably know, that doesn't change my undergrad GPA haha. I do have quite a high GPA from the program though, and that is the most new marketable thing.

 

[witness23]

I would tailor some secondaries with what you learned from the mission statements/qualities of med schools

 

[Stixman28]

Think about it: they don't have time to dig out your old app and compare. They barely have time to read your current app before giving a thumbs up or down on interview invitations...

Having said that, there has to be something you would say differently this year for your PS, your secondaries, etc...if it didn't work last year, why would you simply resubmit the same stuff this year?

At my school, this is not true. They toss your new application in right next to the old one (it's digital). They do look to see if you're giving them the same app or not. I have heard from deans that they have rejected folks that gave them the same personal statement in consecutive years.

Be smart, change everything. If it didn't work the first time, why try again with the same material? (I didn't see a response to whether or not your got interviews, so it may have partially worked).

 

[runx]

At my school, this is not true. They toss your new application in right next to the old one (it's digital). They do look to see if you're giving them the same app or not. I have heard from deans that they have rejected folks that gave them the same personal statement in consecutive years.

Well I guess some of them do compare. Maybe those are the ones I didn't get acceptances from

 

[flip26]

At my school, this is not true. They toss your new application in right next to the old one (it's digital). They do look to see if you're giving them the same app or not. I have heard from deans that they have rejected folks that gave them the same personal statement in consecutive years.

Be smart, change everything. If it didn't work the first time, why try again with the same material? (I didn't see a response to whether or not your got interviews, so it may have partially worked).

Oh, please.

What BS.

 

[sarahl86]

As a reapplicant myself, consider this: if it didn't work the first time, why would it work the second time?

You've no doubt done a lot of thinking and matured over the past year. Your application and essay need to reflect this.

 

[sarahl86]

At my school, this is not true. They toss your new application in right next to the old one (it's digital). They do look to see if you're giving them the same app or not. I have heard from deans that they have rejected folks that gave them the same personal statement in consecutive years.

Be smart, change everything. If it didn't work the first time, why try again with the same material? (I didn't see a response to whether or not your got interviews, so it may have partially worked).

I work with a member of the adcom -- as far as I've had it explained to me, yes, they keep everything from the previous year on file to get a general idea of what the problems were before and see what changes are made but as for counting a previous application's faults against you the second time around? Not so much. I imagine every school will keep things on file to note changes and improvements for a reapplicant because they don't make acceptance decisions on a whim - they do put a little more time and effort in it when it comes to discussing your file at final decision time (ie, post-interview).

Then again, it would be pretty silly IMO to recycle a personal statement. I did however, basically reuse one secondary essay because I couldn't think of how to change it and thought it was pretty good the first time.

 

[nick_carraway]

hey thanks everyone, really appreciate it.

just to address most of the posts here - the reason i didnt get in is because i had a not-highly-competitive undergrad GPA. so in the past year, i have done an SMP. i spoke of this in my PS, but i really dont see much reason to change secondary essays such as... why do you want to attend [insert school name]? or... what specialization do you wanna do?

what do you think?

Sure, leave some secondaries the same as shemarty suggested. But I would still be stunned if nothing worth writing about has happened at all. Your SMP didn't give you a more mature perspective on med school or you didn't gain insights from the people you've met? You can't elaborate on the past year despite writing about it in your AMCAS?

At the very least, go through each of your answers and ask yourself if you'd be proud to send it in again despite how annoying it'll be to rewrite it. You'll say yes to some of them and, at least for me, you'll look at some of them like whaaa?? At the very least, clean up some of the prose because what sounded great a year ago looks like a grade schooler wrote it in retrospect (at least that's true for my secondaries).

 

[camaras2480]

Sure, leave some secondaries the same as shemarty suggested. But I would still be stunned if nothing worth writing about has happened at all. Your SMP didn't give you a more mature perspective on med school or you didn't gain insights from the people you've met? You can't elaborate on the past year despite writing about it in your AMCAS?

At the very least, go through each of your answers and ask yourself if you'd be proud to send it in again despite how annoying it'll be to rewrite it. You'll say yes to some of them and, at least for me, you'll look at some of them like whaaa?? At the very least, clean up some of the prose because what sounded great a year ago looks like a grade schooler wrote it in retrospect (at least that's true for my secondaries).

sounds like a plan - thanks folks
always dependable, SDN 🙂

 

[buffywannabe]

Think about it: they don't have time to dig out your old app and compare. They barely have time to read your current app before giving a thumbs up or down on interview invitations...

Having said that, there has to be something you would say differently this year for your PS, your secondaries, etc...if it didn't work last year, why would you simply resubmit the same stuff this year?

I thought this last year. After my interview I called the dean and asked why I didn't get in. She said one of the main reasons was because I didn't rewrite my essays. She told me they always look. That is University of WI. My thought was why did you have me skip a day of work to come in for an interview if you were gonna reject me for my essays but that is quite another topic. Ohio State also claims to check.