secondary ( passionate about blah blah blah)

[chrisjh]

Quick question, for the secondary's that ask about something you are passionate about, do you guys think it would be acceptable to write about something I already listed in my AMCAS as a meaningful activity? I mean, pretty much everything I'm passionate about is already listed in there, so idk what else I would put?

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[Cotterpin]

I have a follow up question. I am a reapplicant and I'm reapplying to a school I really love that has one of these "talk about a passion of yours" questions. Should I choose a different passion this time around? I really wanted to highlight that particular passion, which is why I used it last year. Do they look at last year's secondary responses when I reapply? Obviously I'm going to write something new this time, but can it be on the same topic?

 

[Cotterpin]

Same topic will be fine; just dont cut and paste from last year

Gotcha. Reapplying is so awkward.

 

[nc1237]

I have a follow up question. I am a reapplicant and I'm reapplying to a school I really love that has one of these "talk about a passion of yours" questions. Should I choose a different passion this time around? I really wanted to highlight that particular passion, which is why I used it last year. Do they look at last year's secondary responses when I reapply? Obviously I'm going to write something new this time, but can it be on the same topic?

After my first time applying, I spoke with the admissions office at one of the schools I had applied to and they told me that it was okay to keep the same general idea for my secondary essays but to definitely not copy-paste pieces or keep the same exact essay. Obviously it varies by school, but I would think that schools would be likely to understand that many of your passions from last year are the same as this year, in fact it might even reinforce your argument if you are still passionate about the same things (and possibly could talk about how you have built upon that interest in the past year). However I would be careful not to simply restructure your essay from last year, but instead to add some sort of new spin or flair that would give you the opportunity to tell them more about yourself.

Many of the schools to which I applied gave me the opportunity to speak with them regarding how I could improve my application. If the school in question has this policy, this might be a good opportunity to ask the question that you have. However you would likely have to do that soon as in a month or so they will become inundated with secondaries.

EDIT: ah someone else beat me to it!

 

[questionsquestions!]

Hi - sorry to bump this thread but I also have a question about the passion essay -

This may be dumb, but it is okay to talk about a passion completely separate from medicine? I was thinking about writing about my passion for theater. It's hard to tell with these prompts if they are looking for something that makes you interesting or if they are looking for you to tie everything back to being a good physician.

A couple of the secondary prompts I am looking at:
Tell us something you are passionate about and why. Do not exceed 1500 characters (about 250 words).

Please tell us about a passion (professional or personal) you have had thus far in your life. (250 words)

Thanks!

 

[chrisjh]

Should be about anything you're actually passionate about. I'm writing about running. I expect if someone wrote about medicine as their passion it would come off as clichéd and tacky.