Secondary Essay Writing Strategy - My Plan

[TwistinD]

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So I just wanted to share this in case anyone was interested or in a similar boat as I am - I've started seeing questions about secondary app pre-writing plans, so I figured I'd contribute mine. I happen to be applying to an exorbitant amount of schools (~42 MD, 3 DO), so it should come as no surprise that I have LOADS of secondary essays sneaking up on me, and devising the most efficient plan of attacking them is rather necessary.

First, I started by making google documents for each school - where I listed the prompts from last year and a special section where I have interesting facts/unique notes on each school from perusing their individual websites and sites like SDN. These "mobile" documents are where I will do all of my draft writing and editing for each individual secondary.

Then today I made an excel spreadsheet of each essay prompt type and their overall frequency according to last year's applications. On this spreadsheet I systematically listed every prompt in the vertical column and listed each school in the horizontal column. Any time a prompt overlapped with another, I congealed them into one type where I could use the same example (i.e. greatest challenge) and put X marks next to all schools that included that essay on their secondary app. In the end, I calculated that I have 117 or so essays total that I will be responsible for, however, due to all the overlap as seen on my spreadsheet, I really only have 56 various prompts. Note that this number includes the total number of school-specific "why are you interested in "X"SOM?" where I obviously cannot use the exact same essays.

This information will be useful because I've been able to identify the top 5 most common essay prompts specific to my list of schools. I will first pre-write these 5 most frequently included essays so that I get most of the work out of the way first. Off the top of my head this includes essays that ask about your gap year activities, ability to contribute to student body diversity, greatest challenge, vision of your future medical career, and something else...

Finally, I saw an earlier post today about the schools that send out their secondaries out earliest, and will put those as my next to-do list item. After I write the top 5 most common essays, I will prioritize the other prompts based on whether or not they show up on the earliest schools secondary from last year.

Hopefully that doesn't sound too confusing. But I find myself with a full-time clinical research job, independent part-time research & teaching post, and a July 25th MCAT. I really wanted to devise a logical system that would ensure I'm as efficient as possible and able to manage the mountain of work I've created for myself.

If anyone would like to see the spreadsheet (as Im sure it includes a large majority of schools others are applying to), I'd be happy to share.

Best of luck to everyone! 👍

Cheers,
TwistinD

 

[HopefulReapp]

Seems like a great way of procrastinating for a day that you didn't want to spend writing essays, haha.

Nice work if you're willing to share it, but I've found that it is better to just go down the list one by one as long as there is a lot of time before submitting them.

 

[SixStringPsych]

Dude, you are awesome.

This is definitely worth the trouble you went through to make it, and though I'm thankful that I have a lot less on my plate than you right now, I'm going to PM you for this spreadsheet because it'll help me out a lot (I'm also applying to a butt load of schools).

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Serious question: Why 42?

 

[TwistinD]

Definitely willing to share it.

Literally took me a max of an hour which I had budgeted into my schedule for the day, so I'll have to politely disagree about calling it procrastination. I also happen to be very strapped for time, so this method will keep me very focused and efficient/organized with use of personal examples.

Thanks for your thoughts, though,

Seems like a great way of procrastinating for a day that you didn't want to spend writing essays, haha.

Nice work if you're willing to share it, but I've found that it is better to just go down the list one by one as long as there is a lot of time before submitting them.

 

[TwistinD]

Haha, the short version of my response is this: (1) applying broadly due to lower undergrad GPA, (2) I'm often over-ambitious in nature, and (3) I actually have a specific interest in all of the schools.

 

[dkpremed]

Wow this is great. Thank you for sharing .

A few questions...
When looking up all past questions did you use the school websites or SDN threads?

I know I've come across secondary app topic threads but can someone post the best one they've found?

And one more general question for anyone...when exactly are secondaries sent in relation to verification on AMCAS. Like how much time do I have to prewrite some of these?

Thanks again!

 

[TwistinD]

Wow this is great. Thank you for sharing .

A few questions...
When looking up all past questions did you use the school websites or SDN threads?

I know I've come across secondary app topic threads but can someone post the best one they've found?

And one more general question for anyone...when exactly are secondaries sent in relation to verification on AMCAS. Like how much time do I have to prewrite some of these?

Thanks again!

I used the SDN threads because the school websites don't post them.

I don't know exact dates, but I believe the earliest a secondary will be sent to you (depending on if you submitted the earliest date and was verified the earliest date) is first week of August. I could be wrong on this, but you definitely have at least a month to comfortably pre-write before your inbox should be full of new apps.

 

[dfogt]

Prewriting secondaries: easy mode

Write the following essays:
1. What makes you a unique applicant?
2. What are your career goals?
3. What is a challenge you have overcome?

You are new done with 70% of secondary essays. Use your free time to read schools mission statements and take notes off what you can say if they ask why you fit that particular school.

If you've done all that, look up specific secondaries and take any tough ones (Duke, Ohio State, etc.)

 

[QrtrLifeCrisis]

Wow, 42. You must be rolling in it.

 

[thisandthat]

Thank you for offering to share the spreadsheet. I would love to see it! I am applying to 33 schools and am definitely a bit overwhelmed by all the secondaries. Between working 40-60 hours a week and volunteering, I want to be as prepared as possible when they actually start rolling in.

 

[Elewynne]

Interested in the spreadsheet as well, I've been considering making a similar one but haven't had the time.

 

[nabilesmail]

Interested as well, thank you!

 

[TwistinD]

Wow, 42. You must be rolling in it.

FAP plus been working for a couple years. Far from rolling in anything unless you're talking about grad loans! 😉

Sent from my ADR6410LVW using SDN Mobile

 

[TwistinD]

Interested as well, thank you!

Anyone who's interested should PM me their email address, and I'll forward it along when I have a down moment at work.

Sent from my ADR6410LVW using SDN Mobile

 

[gettheleadout]

FAP plus been working for a couple years. Far from rolling in anything unless you're talking about grad loans! 😉

Sent from my ADR6410LVW using SDN Mobile

How many interviews would you attend max? Just wondering, since travel costs can rack up fast.

 

[love123]

Sounds like a great idea. I'm applying to a large number of schools as well (not 42 though lol), and I thought of doing something similar but never actually got started. I'll PM you 🙂

 

[lcollier7]

Wow, 42. You must be rolling in it.

Holy crap no kidding- I just applied to 9 and when I came across the payment page my jaw hit the floor- I can't even imagine 42, plus all the secondary app fees you could be looking at an upwards of $4000 but hey if you've got the money and time go for it! I'm still finishing up as an undergrad so time wise I wouldn't even be able to do this - but nice plan maybe if any of this process is similar for residency ill keep it in mind!

 

[Amba]

I don't know exact dates, but I believe the earliest a secondary will be sent to you (depending on if you submitted the earliest date and was verified the earliest date) is first week of August. I could be wrong on this, but you definitely have at least a month to comfortably pre-write before your inbox should be full of new apps.

Nah, the first day is actually tomorrow (if you're verified). That being said, most schools probably won't send out secondaries the first day.

 

[TwistinD]

Holy crap no kidding- I just applied to 9 and when I came across the payment page my jaw hit the floor- I can't even imagine 42, plus all the secondary app fees you could be looking at an upwards of $4000 but hey if you've got the money and time go for it! I'm still finishing up as an undergrad so time wise I wouldn't even be able to do this - but nice plan maybe if any of this process is similar for residency ill keep it in mind!

If you see one of my earlier comments, I mention FAP plus having worked through both undergrad, grad, and now 2 years out.

 

[TwistinD]

Nah, the first day is actually tomorrow (if you're verified). That being said, most schools probably won't send out secondaries the first day.

Oh okay, thanks for the clarification. I saw an earlier thread that ranked the earliest schools and they all mentioned dates in early August - maybe last week of July.

With that said, the TX public schools on TMDSAS all have their secondaries ready from day one in May. I've finished those and submitted my apps, so that has helped a bit for my pre-writing process.

 

[TwistinD]

Holy crap no kidding- I just applied to 9 and when I came across the payment page my jaw hit the floor- I can't even imagine 42, plus all the secondary app fees you could be looking at an upwards of $4000 but hey if you've got the money and time go for it! I'm still finishing up as an undergrad so time wise I wouldn't even be able to do this - but nice plan maybe if any of this process is similar for residency ill keep it in mind!

Also, I should mention that time-wise I don't even have the ability to do it either. However, I've been planning for this process for at least a year - I'm a non-trad one year out of grad school, so I've had a bit more time to think about my schedule. I currently work a full-time clinical research job in a big hospital system, a part-time independent research project in medical humanities, an off/on tutoring gig, full-time MCAT studying, and I also teach a med class every semester. It really is all about the pre-planning if you're going to apply to so many.

Good luck! 👍

 

[lcollier7]

Also, I should mention that time-wise I don't even have the ability to do it either. However, I've been planning for this process for at least a year - I'm a non-trad one year out of grad school, so I've had a bit more time to think about my schedule. I currently work a full-time clinical research job in a big hospital system, a part-time independent research project in medical humanities, an off/on tutoring gig, full-time MCAT studying, and I also teach a med class every semester. It really is all about the pre-planning if you're going to apply to so many.

Good luck! 👍

I'm sure you will get multiple interviews and get your pick of schools especially applying so broadly so early

 

[supermintyfresh]

Serious question: Why 42?

'Cause 6*9 = 42 😀

Best of luck on your MCATs!