Redundancy in Secondary Applications

[DocJuan]

So I'm perusing through the supplemental applications of the schools for which I've submitted my primary and I notice a lot of questions that I very clearly and specifically addressed in my work/activities. For example, I'm working on one supplemental that asks:

" Are you currently volunteering abroad or have you volunteered abroad? If yes please give a short description"

I gave both a short and long description international community service as one of my "most meaningful" experiences. I'm not sure what the protocol is here. Would it be okay to just copy or paraphrase what I've already said? This goes for any other bit of info that might have been addressed in the primary.

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[LizzyM]

Do consider that some schools might want to have some reviewers see part of your application (the secondary) but not the grades & scores on the primary and so the redundancy.

They also don't want to wade through 15 descriptions when what they really want is a quick way to find applicants with international volunteer experience (or whatever).

 

[avgn]

OP, do you really think it's a good idea to have the same avatar as the legendary @circulus vitios, after all that's happened to him? @LizzyM must've noticed too.

 

[Catalystik]

I'm working on one supplemental that asks:

" Are you currently volunteering abroad or have you volunteered abroad? If yes please give a short description"

I gave both a short and long description international community service as one of my "most meaningful" experiences. I'm not sure what the protocol is here. Would it be okay to just copy or paraphrase what I've already said? This goes for any other bit of info that might have been addressed in the primary.

Why not use some slightly different vocabulary to say something similar, so it looks fresh for any who have access to your entire file.

 

[LizzyM]

OP, do you really think it's a good idea to have the same avatar as the legendary @circulus vitios, after all that's happened to him? @LizzyM must've noticed too.

It did look familiar. That poor guy lasted one semester in med school. I could have guessed he would not be a good fit.

 

[DocJuan]

Do consider that some schools might want to have some reviewers see part of your application (the secondary) but not the grades & scores on the primary and so the redundancy.

They also don't want to wade through 15 descriptions when what they really want is a quick way to find applicants with international volunteer experience (or whatever).

Thanks, this will be useful to keep in mind! Also that makes sense as they specified "short" description.

Why not use some slightly different vocabulary to say something similar, so it looks fresh for any who have access to your entire file.

Yea I can definitely do that

 

[nwts]

It's fine to say similar things, but don't copy and paste. That probably comes off as lazy.

 

[Lawpy]

OP, do you really think it's a good idea to have the same avatar as the legendary @circulus vitios, after all that's happened to him? @LizzyM must've noticed too.

Similar, but not the same. Difference being..... ....

It did look familiar. That poor guy lasted one semester in med school. I could have guessed he would not be a good fit.

I gave both a short and long description international community service as one of my "most meaningful" experiences. I'm not sure what the protocol is here. Would it be okay to just copy or paraphrase what I've already said? This goes for any other bit of info that might have been addressed in the primary.

I noticed there's some significant overlap between secondaries and descriptions mentioned in Works and Activities Section and Personal Statement. The best way to approach this is paraphrasing and restating things in different ways. That way adcoms won't be reading the redundancy.