Secondary Question Help!

[swtiepie711]

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I'm finding that most secondaries ask you to write about what you've done since college or what you will do over the next year if not in college - but I already wrote about my jobs/volunteer/shadowing experience which I plan to continue through the next year on the AMCAS. Do I just repeat myself? I mean, I can't talk about anything else because this is what I am doing/have done for the last year?? Any thoughts?

 

[spospo]

i just wrote "i am going to continue......." and so on. i also wrote some other activities i am planning on getting involved with because i didn't put future activities on AMCAS

 

[LizzyM]

I'm finding that most secondaries ask you to write about what you've done since college or what you will do over the next year if not in college - but I already wrote about my jobs/volunteer/shadowing experience which I plan to continue through the next year on the AMCAS. Do I just repeat myself? I mean, I can't talk about anything else because this is what I am doing/have done for the last year?? Any thoughts?

Repeat yourself without doing a cut & paste. Some readers will see that you are non-trad and go right to that secondary essay to see what you are or will be doing in your year(s) off. Others read through from front to back (we all have our systems).

You can rephrase and expand. Keep in mind that some readers will read the secondary first and others will have already reviewed the AMCAS before moving on to the secondary. Some will review the ECs before reading the PSs, others do the reverse.

 

[swtiepie711]

Repeat yourself without doing a cut & paste. Some readers will see that you are non-trad and go right to that secondary essay to see what you are or will be doing in your year(s) off. Others read through from front to back (we all have our systems).

You can rephrase and expand. Keep in mind that some readers will read the secondary first and others will have already reviewed the AMCAS before moving on to the secondary. Some will review the ECs before reading the PSs, others do the reverse.

What I meant was that they ask "what have you been up do" which is in the activities section of my ACMAS. My personal statement wouldn't be rehashed, but my summaries from AMCAS experiences would basically be (when put together for the past year) what I've done for the past year. I can take out/add a sentence, etc. but it doesn't change much. Seems like you can't do much to change that...

 

[LizzyM]

What I meant was that they ask "what have you been up do" which is in the activities section of my ACMAS. My personal statement wouldn't be rehashed, but my summaries from AMCAS experiences would basically be (when put together for the past year) what I've done for the past year. I can take out/add a sentence, etc. but it doesn't change much. Seems like you can't do much to change that...

Not everyone reads every word of those ECs. A reader might scan down to see if you have clinical exposure of some kind, research (if that's important to the school), what you did with your summers, leadership roles, something "interesting" that distinguishes you from the pack.

The secondary will get read. Put your little EC blurbs into paragraph form with a strong focus on what you have learned so far and what you are looking forward to in the coming year and how this time away from school is preparing you for med school (or motivating you to go back to school so you are not stuck in that job forever )