Secondaries - Why are you interested in XYZ medical school

[Dr Turninkoff]

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After doing several secondaries with the prompt Why are you interested in XYZ medical school, I've begun to wonder whether or not these schools will even read them. For instance, how can the Yale admissions staff possibly read through 5000 applications that each have 500 word statements along the lines of "According to page 6 of the online viewbook, Yale's blah blah blah will undoubtedly provide an opportunity to blah blah blah". I'm beginning to think that they just request these secondaries to weed out people who are too lazy to do them. That would also explain why Yale's secondary is available online to anyone who wishes to take a look at the daunting amount of information that is requested (that coincidentally is also available on the AMCAS) in addition to this personal statement that isn't all that personal. I feel that I made their secondary statement fairly interesting for what they asked, but is this just a test?

 

[katnapper]

I'm beginning to think that they just request these secondaries to weed out people who are too lazy to do them. I feel that I made their secondary statement fairly interesting for what they asked, but is this just a test?

I think it is a way to weed out. It's also going to ensure that you've done a little reading about the program and thought about why you would be a good fit. I think those "Why are you a good fit for our school and why is this school a good fit for you" questions at the interview are totally game and mabye it's a suggestion that you think about that before you proceed with your application process.

 

[Dr Turninkoff]

I think it is a way to weed out. It's also going to ensure that you've done a little reading about the program and thought about why you would be a good fit. I think those "Why are you a good fit for our school and why is this school a good fit for you" questions at the interview are totally game and mabye it's a suggestion that you think about that before you proceed with your application process.

From reading what people have said that have gone through with this process, a lot of what each school offers in terms of curriculum, etc. is just a selling point for the school. Ultimately, except for factors like research vs. clinical and urban vs. rural/suburban, many of these selling points aren't going to impact the first 2 years very much. Furthermore, with the number of schools that people apply to vs. the number they are accepted to makes it impossible to try and match yourself to any school in particular because unfortunately, the odds are usually stacked against you. I applied to 10 schools, and I think that I would be happy at all of them. Every school has its advantages and disadvantages. However, you are never asked about the disadvantages which are often times more influential in the decision making process than advantages. Questioning this reasoning is not an implication that someone has not thought about the application process. At the interview, yes, this is fair game, but in a secondary application it seems somewhat unnecessary. I would prefer to talk about myself rather than how I am suited for a PBL curriculum. In the end, are some people really more suited for a particular curriculum than another?