Reoccuring themes in med school applications, ps and secondaries?

[pk2016]

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Applying to med schools next cycle, have some problems with PS, the secondaries, and the questions on the AMCAS asking if you are disadvantaged (economic). Secondaries usually ask questions about failure, challenge, community, and most importantly I think for me is have you taken any time off, etc... These are all things I'd like to bring up in my PS so there will obviously be some overlap. Is this a bad thing? Should I think harder about secondaries when the time comes so that there aren't any overlaps?

 

[LizzyM]

There is a separate "economic disadvantage" section of the AMCAS. It need not be addressed in the longer personal statement.

Secondaries that ask about "failure" want to know what skills or coping mechanisms you used to deal with a challenge or difficulty that you've encountered. They are less interested in hearing details of how you have failed and more interested in how you bounce back.

The PS should focus on why you want to be a doctor and how you have tested your interest in medicine as a career through some combination of experiences. It need not be a complete autobiography covering every aspect of your life to date.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

Your PS is only 5300 characters, roughly 2 pages single spaced. You may think that's a lot of space, but it fills up quickly. Even if you mention something that may overlap with a secondary, it will probably not be in enough substance to preclude you from expanding on it in a secondary.