Start Pre-Writing Everyone!!

[NYCNative]

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You'll thank yourself when you have 5 secondaries a day coming at you. Aim to get them out in 24 hours (totally possible if everything is pre-written). Give yourself a few days to complete secondaries that changed the questions / lengths (5-10% of them). It's not as bad as you think -- start with one long, overarching essay, and just continue to write new ones until you find yourself recycling content / changing word lengths / finding amazing new ways to say things that send you back to edit the original essays (that you would have sent off if you weren't pre-writing). Don't underestimate the power of a good secondary to get you an interview--it will.

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[baxt1412]

This may sound stupid... but oh well.

What are secondary essays typically asking/looking for?

 

[PreciousHamburgers]

This may sound stupid... but oh well.

What are secondary essays typically asking/looking for?

You can find the actual prompts in the school specific discussions threads. However there are some common themes. Something about diversity, like your experience with diverse groups and what you bring to the class. There were a couple about an ethical dilemma or a situation where you had difficulty working with someone. Many just say "additional information," which can be the best or worst, depending on how you look at it. Most meaningful clinical experience.

EDIT: And of course, oviously, "Why medicine?"

 

[mrh125]

That's the truth. Aside from prewriting, don't forget to proofread seriously. I just realized one of my secondaries said "I pushed myself to obtain ass every quarter" instead of As. I'm sure that would've went over so well with adcoms and they really would have appreciated my motivation and the level of my hustle.

 

[Alucard6]

That's the truth. Aside from prewriting, don't forget to proofread seriously. I just realized one of my secondaries said "I pushed myself to obtain ass every quarter" instead of As. I'm sure that would've went over so well with adcoms and they really would have appreciated my motivation and the level of my hustle.

Well....did you also push yourself for that too? I assume it was not a lie...which is good.

 

[starstarie]

THIS IS THE BEST ADVICE ANYONE WILL EVER GIVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU

 

[mrh125]

Well....did you also push yourself for that too? I assume it was not a lie...which is good.

Hell yea I did! and pushing myself to do that on top of organic chemistry and intensive premed courses really represents the struggle 😛.

 

[Zelda840]

the dancing bananas are hypnotic! lol

 

[NYCNative]

i'm bumping this every day until everyone has prewritten their essays

 

[baxt1412]

will start after my MCAT saturday

 

[NYCNative]

Good for you! Come on people, start your essays. How many have you pre-written? Did anyone else pre-write all their secondaries in previous cycles?

 

[snowman.33]

i'm bumping this every day until everyone has prewritten their essays

^ Good man. I will help.

Only did 8 secondaries last year, but I did not prewrite, and I was miserable for about a month. Secondary prompts don't seem to change too much from year to year, so look at old prompts on school specific threads for a direction to start!

 

[baxt1412]

Just realized that my EDP school doesn't require a secondary. But I'm still going to look up example secondary prompts and write on them because I feel like it will prepare me for an interview and then if I don't get in EDP, I will need the secondary prompts.

 

[manofmen]

i too did not prewrite at all last cycle. that will change this time.

 

[turayza]

I was inspired by all the dancing bananas... but that inspiration lasted only long enough for me to find and copy+paste all of last year's prompts onto a word document. 🤔

 

[rachel993]

wait this is probably a dumb question but where can I find Secondary App questions to start pre-writing them??

 

[AspiringERMD]

That's the truth. Aside from prewriting, don't forget to proofread seriously. I just realized one of my secondaries said "I pushed myself to obtain ass every quarter" instead of As. I'm sure that would've went over so well with adcoms and they really would have appreciated my motivation and the level of my hustle.

Just made an idiot out of myself laughing on a plane. Thanks. 😀

 

[PreciousHamburgers]

I was inspired by all the dancing bananas... but that inspiration lasted only long enough for me to find and copy+paste all of last year's prompts onto a word document. 🤔

I made a different Google Doc for each school. That way I can work on them anywhere and it doesn't become overwhelming with dozens of pages of prompts and answers.

 

[turayza]

wait this is probably a dumb question but where can I find Secondary App questions to start pre-writing them??

They are posted somewhere (usually on the first page) of the school-specific threads in 2013-2014.

 

[turayza]

I made different Google Doc for each school. That way I can work on them anywhere and it doesn't become overwhelming with dozens of pages of prompts and answers.

But then you have dozens and dozens of google docs (ok, exaggeration. but at least one dozen.)

 

[Lamel]

I was inspired by all the dancing bananas... but that inspiration lasted only long enough for me to find and copy+paste all of last year's prompts onto a word document. 🤔

That's the first step. I felt so proud when I did this that I called it a day and didn't do anything else.

That's the truth. Aside from prewriting, don't forget to proofread seriously. I just realized one of my secondaries said "I pushed myself to obtain ass every quarter" instead of As. I'm sure that would've went over so well with adcoms and they really would have appreciated my motivation and the level of my hustle.

A far more noble pursuit.

 

[PreciousHamburgers]

But then you have dozens and dozens of google docs (ok, exaggeration. but at least one dozen.)

Put them all in a folder labeled "Secondary Prompts" or something, then name each file after the school. Trust me, I had them all in one document last cycle and it gets confusing. You don't want to worry about accidentally having the wrong school name in the essay!

 

[exmoderpina]

I made the mistake the other day of trying to accumulate all of the secondaries on an excel spreadsheet.

Erm... too many cells. 😕

 

[Teleologist]

What are primary prompts?

 

[hoihaie]

Are questions that ask you to elaborate on leadership experiences common?

Do schools really track the response time of these secondary essays and compare them to the average?

 

[mrh125]

Are questions that ask you to elaborate on leadership experiences common?

Do schools really track the response time of these secondary essays and compare them to the average?

a lot of secondaries do expect you to describe experiences that could be described as leadership. As for your second question it's a mystery, and i'm not sure anyone knows for sure.

 

[aegistitan]

Anybody know which schools have either no secondary essay or very few? I know some schools have 7 secondary essays... trying to avoid applying to those just to find out so later

 

[lmn]

Anybody know which schools have either no secondary essay or very few? I know some schools have 7 secondary essays... trying to avoid applying to those just to find out so later

Look at the beginning of all the 2013-14 school specific threads for schools you are interested in, the prompts are there, most schools don't change their prompts year to year or if they do it is relatively minor

 

[turayza]

Anybody know which schools have either no secondary essay or very few? I know some schools have 7 secondary essays... trying to avoid applying to those just to find out so later

Out of the 15 I'm applying to, Drexel and Einstein have no essay and Jefferson's is optional (option = still do it, but it's "additional information" so you can write whatever you want).

 

[Ruby109]

Yes to all of this!! I'm applying to 20 schools this year and already went through the painful task of searching previous years threads for prompts. If anyone's feeling lazy let me know and I can post them here!

 

[NYCNative]

^ Good man. I will help.

Only did 8 secondaries last year, but I did not prewrite, and I was miserable for about a month. Secondary prompts don't seem to change too much from year to year, so look at old prompts on school specific threads for a direction to start!

From my experience, only about 1 in ten changed, and when they do change, there is a 50% chance they will change to other questions that you already have answers for. Except USC.

I created separate word docs for each school, then put everything into a master doc as I went along so I could keep everything in one place for reference as I completed new secondaries. I also did wordcounts of everything all the time and made sure to include that information in the master doc. Sometimes you'd have to only remove 100 characters or 50 words from an essay, so I would also note on the master doc that that particular essay was derived from XX school's longer essay.

 

[Catalystik]

Yes to all of this!! I'm applying to 20 schools this year and already went through the painful task of searching previous years threads for prompts. If anyone's feeling lazy let me know and I can post them here!

Great idea, since the most recent collation I've seen is here: Summary most Secondary essay prompts from 2010 cycle: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=10763720

Edit: Post #44 below has links to the 2013 cycle's Secondary prompts.

 

[LostinLift]

Start pre-writing. I regret not doing it as it affected my sanity up until January.

 

[Jay2910]

Can I re work the examples, that I used in my PS, in my secondary as well?

 

[AspiringERMD]

Can I re work the examples, that I used in my PS, in my secondary as well?

I don't know about "rework," but expanding on them? Absolutely.

 

[snowman.33]

What are primary prompts?

wait....lol

 

[sunflower18]

I am prewriting!!! I have written ~15 essays and have ~17 left to go. Aaaahhh. I have most of them drafted... I really want to get almost if not all of them done by Friday. Hours of writing every day? Let's go! 🙂

 

[Teleologist]

That's the truth. Aside from prewriting, don't forget to proofread seriously. I just realized one of my secondaries said "I pushed myself to obtain ass every quarter" instead of As. I'm sure that would've went over so well with adcoms and they really would have appreciated my motivation and the level of my hustle.

Rookie mistake, brah.

Essay is like a date with the adcom.

Have you ever dated someone?

If not, I'll let you know how it works.

First, you don't tell the other person you're so hot and smart and funny and totally cool.

You SHOW it. Maybe you tell jokes, be a cynic, pay for dinner, hold open a door, share a blunt.

Same with the essay ... Coming out and saying that you strive for As is cheesy and a waste of the adcom's reading time. Who doesn't do that as a premed? That's like telling your date "I'm jacked and sexy." First, that sounds like a punch line to a joke. Plus, who would ask someone out if they thought they were totally undesirable themselves?

Source: read otherwise perfect students' essays who got rejected from Ivys.

Anyway, best wishes, brah.

 

[mrh125]

Rookie mistake, brah.

Essay is like a date with the adcom.

Have you ever dated someone?

If not, I'll let you know how it works.

First, you don't tell the other person you're so hot and smart and funny and totally cool.

You SHOW it. Maybe you tell jokes, be a cynic, pay for dinner, hold open a door, share a blunt.

Same with the essay ... Coming out and saying that you strive for As is cheesy and a waste of the adcom's reading time. Who doesn't do that as a premed? That's like telling your date "I'm jacked and sexy." First, that sounds like a punch line to a joke. Plus, who would ask someone out if they thought they were totally undesirable themselves?

Source: read otherwise perfect students' essays who got rejected from Ivys.

Anyway, best wishes, brah.

lmao do you even lift, brah?

 

[Teleologist]

lmao do you even lift, brah?

Sorry if you already submitted your secondaries.

Also I don't lift but I am jacked. You'll find that self evident if you take me on a dinner date; I almost can't flex my arm enough to put a spoon in my mouth.

 

[snowman.33]

Sorry if you already submitted your secondaries.

Also I don't lift but I am jacked. You'll find that self evident if you take me on a dinner date; I almost can't flex my arm enough to put a spoon in my mouth.

Wait guys show me how to submit secondaries before schools send them to you I believe this new technique will give me an edge for this cycle!!!

 

[Teleologist]

Wait guys show me how to submit secondaries before schools send them to you I believe this new technique will give me an edge for this cycle!!!

It's called looking up last years' prompts.

 

[claduva94]

Here is a thread with all of them from last year. The prompts, if they exist, are on the linked page!
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2013-2014-secondaries-alphabetical-list.1012979/

 

[snowman.33]

It's called looking up last years' prompts.

Some schools are known to change up secondary prompts from year to year...nevertheless...Although English is my second language I believe submit and complete are two different things

 

[claduva94]

Some schools are known to change up secondary prompts from year to year...nevertheless...Although English is my second language I believe submit and complete are two different things

They are. Although the point stands that if you are applying to a lot of schools it will save you a lot of time to draft the secondaries. Mine are currently no where near short enough to submit but at least they have the content I want to include written down so that I can modify them as I receive the secondaries.

 

[snowman.33]

They are. Although the point stands that if you are applying to a lot of schools it will save you a lot of time to draft the secondaries. Mine are currently no where near short enough to submit but at least they have the content I want to include written down so that I can modify them as I receive the secondaries.

Although the point also stands that I was making a joke two posts ago lol (and yes Ive started to prewrite, thanks to the dancing bananas. Thank you OP)

 

[NYCNative]

I am prewriting!!! I have written ~15 essays and have ~17 left to go. Aaaahhh. I have most of them drafted... I really want to get almost if not all of them done by Friday. Hours of writing every day? Let's go! 🙂

Although the point also stands that I was making a joke two posts ago lol (and yes Ive started to prewrite, thanks to the dancing bananas. Thank you OP)

Y'all are making me proud... sniff... I'm just happy for you guys that you have an edge over the competition! People don't realize how long it takes to actually do a good job writing these things.

 

[aegistitan]

@NYCNative would you say it is a good idea to start prewriting even if we are not applying during this cycle? Or is that overkill?

 

[NYCNative]

@NYCNative would you say it is a good idea to start prewriting even if we are not applying during this cycle? Or is that overkill?

If you have the time, and a lot of things to write about, I think it's a great idea, because this year's experiences are still fresh in your mind. You'll be able to condense what you wrote and add more next year, making for super-dense and specific descriptions of what you have actually done (the worst essays are a lot of navel-gazing fluff about one minor experience). But I would pick the schools that you are applying to now and more or less stick to them. If you can actually motivate yourself to do this without a gun to your head, you will be dancing all over everyone else by July of next year. Another thing you could do is take every medical / volunteer experience and write a paragraph about them, to keep a running descriptive resume to use.

 

[Primo Beats]

Sorry if you already submitted your secondaries.

Also I don't lift but I am jacked. You'll find that self evident if you take me on a dinner date; I almost can't flex my arm enough to put a spoon in my mouth.

Lmao at your avatar