Reapplication Essays

[2greeneyes]

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Hi everyone! I'm a current applicant in the 24-25 cycle and am prepping for a reapp for this upcoming cycle. I'm also in my first gap year and will be taking another while I reapply. I'm looking for some advice on how I should handle essays and activities for my reapplication.

I didn't receive any interviews this cycle, which is likely due to low volunteer and clinical hours, and I plan on rewriting secondaries mostly from the ground up with some "inspiration" from my previous ones.

However, I had my personal statement reviewed by a few sources and I think it does explain my "why medicine" pretty well. Would it make more sense to keep my personal statement mostly the same and add a section in it that details how my gap year experiences impact my journey to medicine, or should I be completely rewriting it? If it helps to know, my biggest gap year experience is working in a clinic that I used to volunteer at while I was in college, but I do have a couple other experiences during this past year as well.

Also, for the activities section, I'll be adding 3 new activities to my re-application that weren't in my previous application. However, for the activities that I haven't participated in since I last applied, would I need to change those activity descriptions or would it make sense to keep those the same?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[ClashRoyaleKing]

I kept my personal statement about 75-80% the same. I also conveyed a good "why medicine," but also had some cliche things that were not helpful and other things that I removed/changed. If you accurately portrayed your experiences and MMEs, then they might not need to change much. I rewrote all of mine because they were too flowery/focused on stories last cycle.

If you need an extra set of eyes on anything, feel free to message me!

 

[AsclepiusAdvisingLLC]

Hi everyone! I'm a current applicant in the 24-25 cycle and am prepping for a reapp for this upcoming cycle. I'm also in my first gap year and will be taking another while I reapply. I'm looking for some advice on how I should handle essays and activities for my reapplication.

I didn't receive any interviews this cycle, which is likely due to low volunteer and clinical hours, and I plan on rewriting secondaries mostly from the ground up with some "inspiration" from my previous ones.

However, I had my personal statement reviewed by a few sources and I think it does explain my "why medicine" pretty well. Would it make more sense to keep my personal statement mostly the same and add a section in it that details how my gap year experiences impact my journey to medicine, or should I be completely rewriting it? If it helps to know, my biggest gap year experience is working in a clinic that I used to volunteer at while I was in college, but I do have a couple other experiences during this past year as well.

Also, for the activities section, I'll be adding 3 new activities to my re-application that weren't in my previous application. However, for the activities that I haven't participated in since I last applied, would I need to change those activity descriptions or would it make sense to keep those the same?

Thanks in advance for the help!

There are two things to consider when drafting your reapplication.

1) only the schools that you applied to last cycle will know you are a reapplicant
2) It may be essential to address the fact you have already applied to demonstrate your growth between admissions cycles

We would caution against you explicitly mentioning that you are a reapplicant in your primary application if you expand your school list from your previous cycle. This would be a great narrative to disclose in your secondary apps under the “why us” prompt or “is there anything else you would like to share.” The answer as to what the “right” answer is for your reapplication all depends upon how many new experiences you have accumulated between applications cycles and what the focus of your updated narrative is.