Time to take filling out secondaries

[Asyouwereatrio]

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Hi guys,

I just wanted to make sure of something regarding secondaries. Aside from those with deadlines, what's the "average" time one takes filling out secondaries (ex: those with about 3 essays, each with 1800 characters or so...)? Would you say about one week, or less than that? On that note, what's the "maximum" amount of time one could wait to send them back in?

Thanks a ton guys! 🙂

 

[Poliscidoc]

Hi guys,

I just wanted to make sure of something regarding secondaries. Aside from those with deadlines, what's the "average" time one takes filling out secondaries (ex: those with about 3 essays, each with 1800 characters or so...)? Would you say about one week, or less than that? On that note, what's the "maximum" amount of time one could wait to send them back in?

Thanks a ton guys! 🙂

I would say the sooner the better, I mean some people on here will knock out 25 of them in 3 days. I would say the safest thing is try to do them as soon as you get them and return as soon as possible. So I'm going to say a little less than a week- more along the lines of a few days

 

[JJMrK]

I remember doing 2-3/day.

 

[Catalystik]

Just be sure the quality of the essays matches the Primary Statement so it looks like the same person wrote all of them.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Just be sure the quality of the essays matches the Primary Statement so it looks like the same person wrote all of them.

👍 Take as long as you need to get them right.

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

Thanks guys! I'll try to knock them out in a few days time....I realised that I need to amke sure the writing styles of the two essays match. My PS is very well-written, but that's because I had a lot of time to do it; with this shorter amount of time, my writing style is a lot more forced and doesn't flow as well, so I'm having to "revise revise revise" which eats up time. 🙁

 

[ThaliaNox]

Quality is way better than fast. Folks here overexaggerate the neccessity of getting your secondaries back immediately. Some schools set deadlines, but I've never heard of a school actually enforcing one. (Like rejecting the late applicant immediately)

As Cat said, make sure the secondaries are of the same quality as your personal statement, or we're going to wonder who really wrote it. Also, if you're going to reuse or tweak essays, do make sure the essay actually answers the question. You wouldn't beleive how many completely off-topic essays I see where an essay from another school's secondary has been poorly adapted. No matter how well written, that just won't do.

Also, when editing re-used essays, make sure to change names. Telling the University of Wisconsin that the University of Minnesota is your absolute dream school just isn't going to go over well. I see this one a lot too.

 

[Phosphorus Ylide]

I wouldn't try to adhere to a strict secondary turnaround schedule. Last summer I applied to a plethora of schools and was seemingly getting a secondary or two every time I checked my email. I panicked and set "deadlines" for when I wanted to get them done since I didn't want to be too far "behind" what others were doing. As a result, some of my secondaries were poorly written and I think, unfavorably affected my chances at certain schools. Don't slack on them, but make sure they are well-written and convey your enthusiasm/reason for applying to that school.

 

[Tippyboat]

Just be sure the quality of the essays matches the Primary Statement so it looks like the same person wrote all of them.

Hmm I have a question about this. I agree that the secondary essays should have great quality just like the PS, but my understanding is that they're slightly different in style.

For my PS, aside from content and quality, I spent a lot of time on subtle things like themes, flows, red thread through the story, opening and closing, etc.. It's more "fancy," not sure if that's the right word.
I feel like secondaries are more straight-up informative. If they ask a question, answer it directly with supporting evidence. I didn't think it needed to be the same type of writing as the PS. Of course it should flow, make sense and make you look good, I just thought the tone should be much more direct, informative and more blunt.

Am I wrong?

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

Tippy, that's the feeling I get with hte secondaries, because of the length constraints. Granted, I believe that the general flow/wording/structure should "mimic" your PS such that it doesn't seem like two people wrote it. considering that secondaries are read with the primary (I assume), it's not like they can't put the two side by side.

Thanks for everyone's opinions. I'll lower the neuroticism and wait on mine and give it "about a week with good writing" turn around time instead of a "few days of crappy writing"