Schools that have Long/Hard Secondaries

[jaksmith]

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[armpitsOFmight]

Ross, AUC

 

[Brainchild777]

Duke and Vanderbilt have fairly long secondary applications.

 

[jaksmith]

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[jemstone]

Georgetown was kind of cumbersome. And Commonwealth had like 5 essays.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Ohsu

 

[stkjhu]

Duke is probably the worst

 

[IncognitoGuy]

Brown and NYU have potentially fairly length essays (3,000 characters x3 for Brown and 2,500 characters x3 for NYU).

 

[Lucky Louie]

I heard the two craziest ones were Case and Duke.

 

[jemstone]

Brown and NYU have potentially fairly length essays (3,000 characters x3 for Brown and 2,500 characters x3 for NYU).

That was kind of average, wasn't it? I guess by the time I got to NYU, I had enough secondaries completed to copy and paste a new essay.

 

[IncognitoGuy]

That was kind of average, wasn't it? I guess by the time I got to NYU, I had enough secondaries completed to copy and paste a new essay.

Haha, I would say the potential length combined with some of their prompts made it seem a bit worse..

 

[jaksmith]

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[Pacna]

UoMN-Duluth's is 20 essays.

 

[Arbor Vitae]

the worst, most ridiculous one is Case, they have multiple few thousand character essays,

 

[kickster]

Ohio State, Loyola

 

[pawn2chessplaya]

florida altantic has many essays, several that are picky, (aka write about specific non-academic experience that taught you about such and such)

USC's are short but require alot of creativity since you can't write about clinical or academic experiences

 

[5lippy]

I thought Duke's were really long, but they do it for a reason, and I am glad they do. Unlike some schools' essays that are long, nitpicky and don't reveal anything extra about your character, Duke's essays are a great way to showcase your personality, background, and upbringing.

 

[dsoz]

Ohsu

+1 for OHSU, it was the worst one that I had to do. There are 5 prompts of 1500 characters and a 6th one of 2000 characters.

Question 1 - What experience have you had that has given you insight into the patients you hope to eventually serve?
Question 2 - What will be your greatest challenge in becoming a physician?
Question 3 - Give an example of a time when you tried your best to work with a person or a group but the problems still remained. What did you learn from the experience?
Question 4 - Describe a time when you did not receive what you felt you deserved, and how you reacted.
Question 5 - Give an example of personal feedback in the last few years that was difficult to receive. How did you respond?
Question 6 - Please discuss the diversity that you would bring to the OHSU School of Medicine and the profession of medicine.

Here is how I read the questions the first time.
question 1- tell us that you are not just some schmuck that grew up with a silver spoon in your mouth.
question 2- tell us how you will suck if you come here.
question 3- tell us of a time you worked with an A** Hole.
question 4- tell us how much of a whiny little brat you are.
question 5- tell us how much of a spoiled little brat you are.
question 6- tell us how your life sucked when you were a child.

Obviously I got through them, and had answers that were acceptable. This is where I am matriculating.

dsoz

 

[mcloaf]

I don't recall Vandy being too bad. Gtown was a pain and OHSU was awful.

 

[hunterjumper14]

UMiami had (if I remember correctly) 12 questions, most of which required an essay. Plus the secondary formatting was off the wall! There were different fonts and font sizes, no applicant portal.... Good times. 😛

 

[dwills]

Ohio State, Loyola

The hardest one i remember filling out. I'm sure there were worse ones.

 

[mirimonster]

Duke and Vanderbilt have fairly long secondary applications.

Yeah, but Vandy only sends you a secondary if you have a very high chance of getting in, so it's worth it. The worst is slaving over a long secondary only to be rejected within hours of submission (I'm looking at you, U Chicago 😡 - actually not even close to making the list of long secondaries.)

 

[Ismet]

I think Hopkins had several essays, but it wasn't too severe. TCMC had a lot of essays too (7 comes to mind?)

 

[jcaptian]

University of South Florida COM. I took one look at it and I said forget it lol

 

[circulus vitios]

I think Hopkins had several essays, but it wasn't too severe. TCMC had a lot of essays too (7 comes to mind?)

Welp, guess I'm not applying there. Scranton sucks anyways.

 

[GrabSlamBoot]

Duke haha no doubt. I wouldn't long secondaries deter you though. Often they are geared towards getting to know more about who you are as an applicant besides your numbers and what was on AMCAS. They may take longer yeah but the extra week it takes is worth it if you would like to attend that school

 

[GoPelicans]

Anything with 'why this school?' I also remember skipping NW and U Chicago last cycle because I thought the secondaries looked painful. UCLA had a ton of questions from what I remember. And U Michigan had a 'something you are passionate about' essay which sucks if your life is boring.

 

[Ismet]

Welp, guess I'm not applying there. Scranton sucks anyways.

Haha yep, I had them on my primary, took one look at the secondary, and said "nope"

 

[eggs13]

Duke. It was the only secondary I didn't complete.

 

[SilverCat]

I think Georgetown's was one of the worst. A one- page essay on how much you love them. Then the admissions lady grumbled about how redundant and silly they were. So why are they part of the secondary, then? Georgetown's admissions was not amongst my favorite, to say the least.

 

[Ellie Arroway]

Yup, OHSU was my worst. It did not go well. UCLA also has a fairly long secondary.

 

[mcloaf]

I think Georgetown's was one of the worst. A one- page essay on how much you love them. Then the admissions lady grumbled about how redundant and silly they were. So why are they part of the secondary, then? Georgetown's admissions was not amongst my favorite, to say the least.

Is that you Jalby?

 

[yehhhboiii]

Is that you Jalby?

Georgetown is just that bad.

 

[TheShaker]

Case Western. Dear god, I spent like 8 hours on that thing.

UCSD. "Write an autobiography about yourself..."

 

[487806]

Yeah, but Vandy only sends you a secondary if you have a very high chance of getting in, so it's worth it. The worst is slaving over a long secondary only to be rejected within hours of submission (I'm looking at you, U Chicago 😡 - actually not even close to making the list of long secondaries.)

Well the bright side is UChicago does give out II's within a day or two after submitting secondaries. Although it's a bit rarer than getting rejected. 😳

 

[Josh7]

Well the bright side is UChicago does give out II's within a day or two after submitting secondaries. Although it's a bit rarer than getting rejected. 😳

I respect medical schools who do stuff like this. It means the admissions committees are really on the ball.

 

[mcloaf]

I respect medical schools who do stuff like this. It means the admissions committees are really on the ball.

Maybe. My 4 months in preinterview "application continued" limbo at Pritzker make me less inclined to agree.

 

[487806]

I respect medical schools who do stuff like this. It means the admissions committees are really on the ball.

One thing for sure, this is much better than those evil schools (Jefferson and Rush come into mind) that do silent rejections. Silent rejections are an insult in all ways possible.

Maybe. My 4 months in preinterview "application continued" limbo at Pritzker make me less inclined to agree.

Are you sure you don't mean postinterview? That seems unusual.

 

[mcloaf]

One thing for sure, this is much better than those evil schools (Jefferson and Rush come into mind) that do silent rejections. Silent rejections are an insult in all ways possible.

Are you sure you don't mean postinterview? That seems unusual.

Lol yes. I am sure I didn't interview at Pritzker and forget about it.

 

[SilverCat]

Is that you Jalby?

Lol, no. It was my first post- interview rejection of the cycle, and it stung. Overall, though, I disliked their practice of requiring frequent love letters from the people on the wait list to be considered. It just seemed like the adcom was composed of some insecure middle-schoolers who need constant reassurance of their superiority. I liked the school, just not their admissions practices.

 

[tennisguitar]

Miami secondary was a nightmare. The Virginia state schools are pretty lengthy as well.

 

[Camy99]

University of South Florida COM. I took one look at it and I said forget it lol

Yesssss USF's had sooo many questions >.< But I'm glad I filled them out because that's where I'm matriculating 😛

 

[googoo]

Duke without a doubt. Horrible secondary.....so long!

 

[AxiomaticTruth]

I'm curious, is there as much of an emphasis to turn in your secondaries as soon as possible as submitting your primary application? Like, can we spend a week on secondaries, or is the trend just as extreme where applying a week late can add almost a week to an interview and can prevent an invite?

 

[Ismet]

I'm curious, is there as much of an emphasis to turn in your secondaries as soon as possible as submitting your primary application? Like, can we spend a week on secondaries, or is the trend just as extreme where applying a week late can add almost a week to an interview and can prevent an invite?

It depends on the school and how often they meet to review applicants for interview invites, but in general, the sooner you submit secondary = the sooner you're considered for interviews. The "rule of thumb" that's thrown around on SDN is to complete the secondary within 2 weeks of receiving it, but that's just more of a guide so you don't fall behind. Keep in mind that within a day or so of being verified, all the schools on your list that don't pre-screen will send you their secondaries. I think I received 7-8 secondaries in a couple days. That's where pre-writing your secondary essays comes in handy, so you can churn out the secondaries soon after they come in.

 

[tennisguitar]

The purpose of submitting the primary early is so that you are in the first wave of secondary recipients. You don't want to waste an early primary completion by holding onto secondaries for too long.