Share your most irritating secondary question! A VENTING thread.

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inhiding

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I think USC officially wins the "annoying questions of the year" award.

Essays 2 + 3: How do my unique qualilties and abilities contribute to (2) the educational environment at Keck and (3) the diversity of the entering class --> THESE ESSAY QUESTIONS ARE EXACTLY THE SAME, AT LEAST FOR ME THEY ARE.

Essay 5:
Briefly describe your most relevant extra-curricular activites [sic] (volunteer, research,serving disadvantaged or underserved populations, etc...) related to your interest in medicine. --> DO YOU THINK I LEFT THIS OFF OF MY AMCAS APPLICATION SOMEHOW? ARE YOUR APPLICANTS EXCEPTIONALLY STUPID OR IS IT JUST THE ESSAY READERS WHO CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT'S GOING ON?

I'm so far away (NYC) and have so little interest in LA I'm really seriously considering just ditching the $30 for the AMCAS fee.👎thumbdown👎thumbdown
 
I love this one from Albany:

Describe yourself (max: 1000 characters).

I honestly have no idea how I (or anyone else) could adequately describe themselves in just 1000 characters. That's like 100-150 words.
 
dook7.jpg


The one on the right
 
chad5871 said:
I love this one from Albany:

Describe yourself (max: 1000 characters).

I honestly have no idea how I (or anyone else) could adequately describe themselves in just 1000 characters. That's like 100-150 words.
Click to expand...

Wow that IS short. Apparently, you should refrain from sharing any interesting nuances...😕
 
OHSU's .How will you evaluate your success as a medical student? (Please submit on a separate sheet of paper, do not exceed one page. No particular format, font or spacing is required.)

This question is really starting to piss me off. Mostly the page-long length limit. If it was short, I could bang it out in 30 mins. But with a page, Im outlining and brainstorming and procrastinating for 2 days. .
 
JoltOfFuel said:
OHSU's .How will you evaluate your success as a medical student? (Please submit on a separate sheet of paper, do not exceed one page. No particular format, font or spacing is required.)

This question is really starting to piss me off. Mostly the page-long length limit. If it was short, I could bang it out in 30 mins. But with a page, Im outlining and brainstorming and procrastinating for 2 days. .
Click to expand...
haha i thought that one was really easy! i hated usc's and duke's are pissing me off...
 
Duke was a beast, but not impossible for me. I really loathe the "WHY ME" questions. The correct answer to all of them is - "because you might accept me."
 
inhiding said:
the educational environment
Click to expand...

:laugh: When I read that prompt, I thought of the little boxes teachers could check off in elementary school: "participates in class", "works well with others", "a pleasure to have in class". 👍
 
What's a challenge you've overcome?

Well, gee, I don't know. Filling out these dumb questions. If you're smart nothing should be so difficult you don't know how to solve it, or, it doesn't seem amazing you did get through it in retrospect.
 
What can you contribute to the diversity of our undergraduate class?

Honestly, F*** this question. Either I can piece together the most ridiculous sounding bull**** or I can tell the truth:

Well I was extremely lucky enough to be born into an upper-middle class family, haven't had any sort of troubles/difficult personal experiences in life, part of an over-repped majority in medical school AND have the same exact activities, ECs, and scores as everybody else. Guess I should consider suicide before entertaining any thoughts of pursuing a career in medicine.

This question makes me think that med schools are only interested in african-american students who have fought the most extreme poverty and currently teach swahili to endangered whales off the coast of Antarctica all while remotely administrating volunteer hospitals across the globe. ****.
 
enjoydrywax said:
This question makes me think that med schools are only interested in african-american students who have fought the most extreme poverty and currently teach swahili to endangered whales off the coast of Antarctica all while remotely administrating volunteer hospitals across the globe. ****.
Click to expand...

I seriously just laughed out loud at work. Endangered whales...classic. :laugh:
 
yo i dont like the pittsburgh one where you have to explain a situation where you faced a substantial moral or ethical dilemma. im drawing a blank.
 
I am just tired of coming up with reasons why I want to go to ___ Medical School. All I really want to write is "I like your location and your stats were such that I had a chance and all I want is to go to med school." I was OK with coming up with a paragraph or two, but Georgetown had to ask you for 5,000 characters! That is ridiculous. I couldn't fill up a whole page. Hopefully that doesn't translate into instant rejection.
 
enjoydrywax said:
What can you contribute to the diversity of our undergraduate class?

Honestly, F*** this question. Either I can piece together the most ridiculous sounding bull**** or I can tell the truth:

Well I was extremely lucky enough to be born into an upper-middle class family, haven't had any sort of troubles/difficult personal experiences in life, part of an over-repped majority in medical school AND have the same exact activities, ECs, and scores as everybody else. Guess I should consider suicide before entertaining any thoughts of pursuing a career in medicine.

This question makes me think that med schools are only interested in african-american students who have fought the most extreme poverty and currently teach swahili to endangered whales off the coast of Antarctica all while remotely administrating volunteer hospitals across the globe. ****.
Click to expand...

Well diversity is not equal to African americans, financial hardships or minority. It just means that tell them about your uniqueness. I am sure even an average guy/gal like you have something distinct!

My most dreaded question is from Maryland: What does it mean to enter a profession?
 
CancerKiller007 said:
Well diversity is not equal to African americans, financial hardships or minority. It just means that tell them about your uniqueness. I am sure even an average guy/gal like you have something distinct!

My most dreaded question is from Maryland: What does it mean to enter a profession?
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now there's a horrible question! glad i didnt have to do that one 😛
 
Discuss an ethical or moral dilemma you have faced and its resolution.

Honestly I've faced many ethical/moral situations but they were never dilemmas. In my mind, there was always one clearly right solution to every situation. I've been sitting on this question from UPitt/Duke for 6 weeks now.
 
Describe 2 situations that you worked with people, 1 that shows our leadership skill and 1 that show your problem solving abilities. By the way, we only give u 1000 characters.
 
University of North Carolina:

Descrive five qualities (in 1 page) 1!? 5 paragraphs
 
What does it mean to enter a profession (1500 chars) NOT COOL!
 
I'm not sure if there's already a thread about this, but someone should make one where people come up with 'gag' responses to questions that annoy them... If I had the money and was not worried about ruining my rep. with other schools, I would totally fill out gag secondaries...

For instance: Keck

2. Please briefly explain your interest in the Keck School of Medicine.

In short: beaches, waves, and chics with daddy's money. Surf's up, dude!

For instance: Tufts
1. Do you wish to include any comments (in addition to those already provided in your AMCAS application) to the Admissions Committee at Tufts University School of Medicine?

Naah, that's cool. I'm sure you guys have it all under control. Let me know when I should schedule an interview. Laters.

For instance: Duke

3.) How will you add a unique dimension to our medical school community? In answering this question, please also describe your greatest strength? What is your most significant vulnerability? Please understand that the strength/vulnerability" questions will in fact require two separate responses; they are two different questions. They are both important but not necessarily related.

I don't get it. Could you repeat the question ? Just kidding. I would have to say that my greatest strength is my sense of humor; I can always find a way to make a person laugh, no matter who they are, what language they speak, or whether they are some 'gunner' medical student with a giant stick up their ass. I think my greatest vulnerability is not having the patience to answer stupid pretentious questions like the one that is being asked of me now. It is truly hard for me not to imagine the jagg-off who came up with this question and maintain a lingering desire to apply to this school. (GAG)
duke again:

What has been your most humbling experience and how will that experience affect your interactions with your peers and patients?

Being Jesus, I'd have to say my most humbling experience would be not paying my taxes, claiming to be king of the Jews, and then being crucified by the Romans. I totally thought I could get away with it. As a doctor, I would take nothing for granted and I would never 'lord' over my patients and peers, despite the fact that I am the son of God and all. One love.

:laugh:

 
AtheGre said:
Naah, that's cool. I'm sure you guys have it all under control. Let me know when I should schedule an interview. Laters.
Click to expand...

This is my favorite. Maybe it's because I just finished making up some bs for that exact question.
 
This is similar to the diversity questions that have already been mentioned, but Tufts takes it to a more interesting level:

Do you consider yourself a person who would contribute to the diversity of the student body of Tufts University School of Medicine? (please explain in 1000 characters or less)


I wonder what happens to the people who say "no"....
 
I hate all questions that I already answered in my personal statement. 😡 Unfortunately, this applies to most questions.....
 
Stony brook:

12. In your intellectual development and preparation for a medical career, which non-science college course has been most valuable? Why?
Click to expand...

Yeah you know what, it was definitely when I was sitting in philosophy 101 listening to Plato's allegory of the cave that my interest in medicine began to grow. I started to think "Wow, I wish I knew the exact dose of painkillers I would need to swallow right now so I'd never have to worry about this class again".

Touro-COM NY:

On a separate sheet of paper, type an essay discussing your aims in seeking admission to the College of Osteopathic Medicine. Include such items as your personal and academic background, your career goals, experiences which nurtured your interest in the health field and in the Osteopathic profession, your "shadowing" experience, and any other factors which you feel are relevant to admission. (no more than 2 pages)
Click to expand...

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the ****ing personal statement?
 
engineeredout said:
Stony brook:



Yeah you know what, it was definitely when I was sitting in philosophy 101 listening to Plato's allegory of the cave that my interest in medicine began to grow. I started to think "Wow, I wish I knew the exact dose of painkillers I would need to swallow right now so I'd never have to worry about this class again".
Click to expand...

:clap: :clap: :clap:

For those secondaries that basically ask you crap that was in your personal statement, do you think it would be ok to simply say it again...slightly different though?
 
AtheGre, that is some funny S***. I think you're going into the wrong profession. Ever thought about stand up comedy?😀
 
RFU won this one last year, hands down. "What does a 'Life in Discovery' [RFU's bullcrap motto] mean to you?" I wanted to go unabomber over that one.
 
TupacalipseT96 said:
Discuss an ethical or moral dilemma you have faced and its resolution.

Honestly I've faced many ethical/moral situations but they were never dilemmas. In my mind, there was always one clearly right solution to every situation. I've been sitting on this question from UPitt/Duke for 6 weeks now.
Click to expand...


Finally, someone that has the same problem with that question :hardy: (okay, smilie wasn't needed, but I've never used this one).

To me, a dilemma is something where you unwillingly choose the better choice out of two bad options. It's something you struggle coming up with a decision. However, I'm in the same boat in that I've had situations, but never a dilemma because I always see a right choice.
 
TupacalipseT96 said:
Discuss an ethical or moral dilemma you have faced and its resolution.

Honestly I've faced many ethical/moral situations but they were never dilemmas. In my mind, there was always one clearly right solution to every situation. I've been sitting on this question from UPitt/Duke for 6 weeks now.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this one wasn't fun.

It took me forever to think of anything to write about, and after I finally wrote something out, I was way over the word limit 🙁
 
:laugh:
engineeredout said:
Yeah you know what, it was definitely when I was sitting in philosophy 101 listening to Plato's allegory of the cave that my interest in medicine began to grow. I started to think "Wow, I wish I knew the exact dose of painkillers I would need to swallow right now so I'd never have to worry about this class again".
Click to expand...

:laugh:
 
Although slightly more difficult than some others, I didn't find Maryland's "profession" question to be all that difficult.

Who knows, my answer will probably turn out to be the exact opposite of what they wanted. :laugh:
 
AtheGre said:

What has been your most humbling experience and how will that experience affect your interactions with your peers and patients?

Being Jesus, I'd have to say my most humbling experience would be not paying my taxes, claiming to be king of the Jews, and then being crucified by the Romans. I totally thought I could get away with it. As a doctor, I would take nothing for granted and I would never 'lord' over my patients and peers, despite the fact that I am the son of God and all. One love.

:laugh:
Click to expand...

Awesome.
 
AtheGre said:
I'm not sure if there's already a thread about this, but someone should make one where people come up with 'gag' responses to questions that annoy them... If I had the money and was not worried about ruining my rep. with other schools, I would totally fill out gag secondaries...



What has been your most humbling experience and how will that experience affect your interactions with your peers and patients?

Being Jesus, I'd have to say my most humbling experience would be not paying my taxes, claiming to be king of the Jews, and then being crucified by the Romans. I totally thought I could get away with it. As a doctor, I would take nothing for granted and I would never 'lord' over my patients and peers, despite the fact that I am the son of God and all. One love.

:laugh:

..[/COLOR]
Click to expand...

This is way better than any answer i could have come up with :laugh:
 
efitzpat said:
I am just tired of coming up with reasons why I want to go to ___ Medical School. All I really want to write is "I like your location and your stats were such that I had a chance and all I want is to go to med school." I was OK with coming up with a paragraph or two, but Georgetown had to ask you for 5,000 characters! That is ridiculous. I couldn't fill up a whole page. Hopefully that doesn't translate into instant rejection.
Click to expand...

Thank you!! That is exactly how I feel. How many different essays am I going to have to BS for these. For a few minutes I seriously thought about just cutting and pasting stuff out of my personal statement. :laugh: But then I remembered that I actually do want to get in somewhere.
 
.
 
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I think the hardest questions to answer are the personal ones. You want to write a good essay, but you want some privacy too... you want to move your readers, but not sound too cheesy or mawkish.

Duke = essays from hell
 
Chicago-COM:

2. Why do you believe CCOM would provide you with the type of osteopathic medical education you are seeking? (1,500 characters)

3. Why should CCOM accept you into this year's class? (1,500 characters)
Click to expand...

CCOM should accept me into this year's class because I believe that CCOM will provide me the medical education that I seek.

I believe CCOM provides the medical education that I seek because of all the qualities that would make me a good addition to this year's class.






On a side note, do people ever try to interject sarcastic humor into these essays? I know that we're all posting these now, but does anyone actually try and make it funny, or is that just a guarentee that your application will get tossed in the trash? I always liked getting a little sarcastic/cynical in some of my papers. It goes over well with some professors, not so much with others. I'm not saying that it has to get to the extreme that people are posting here but maybe actually answering a question with a response like Athegre's:

AtheGre said:
I don't get it. Could you repeat the question ? Just kidding. I would have to say that my greatest strength is my sense of humor; I can always find a way to make a person laugh, no matter who they are, what language they speak, or whether they are some 'gunner' medical student with a giant stick up their ass.
Click to expand...

But obviously writing more and still keeping with some of the traditional premed bull****.
 
inhiding said:
I think USC officially wins the "annoying questions of the year" award.

Essays 2 + 3: How do my unique qualilties and abilities contribute to (2) the educational environment at Keck and (3) the diversity of the entering class --> THESE ESSAY QUESTIONS ARE EXACTLY THE SAME, AT LEAST FOR ME THEY ARE.
Click to expand...

Those answers could/should be very different.

Bradstein said:
What's a challenge you've overcome?

Well, gee, I don't know. Filling out these dumb questions. If you're smart nothing should be so difficult you don't know how to solve it, or, it doesn't seem amazing you did get through it in retrospect.
Click to expand...

think outside the box here buddy. They aren't talking about intelligence and problem solving ability.

On another note, the most annoyin questions are the ones that ask you to repeat **** that is already clearly stated on ACMAS. READ MY PRIMARY APPLICATION!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with the ethical/moral delimma question that Tupac mentions and I am in the same boat.....I have NO idea what to write about.
 
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