Tips for writing Secondaries

[cather]

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Hi SDN,

I looked at the thread on last year's secondaries and a lot of schools ask why you want to come to our medical school, ethical situations you have encountered, exposure to medicine etc.

I was wondering what tips you all have writing these secondaries (I apologize if I'm rambling):

1) how long they should be?

2) the problem with explaining why I want to go to so and so medical school is that I picked medical schools I would have a good shot at getting in based on gpa and mcat scores and number interviewed/number applied and residency factors - e.g. me being from VA, I didn't bother applying to Texas schools since I figured I would get rejected since not a Texas resident.

I am not sure if it's good idea to write in the essays that I picked the schools b/c I figured I had a good shot at getting in based on the above criteria so I'm wondering what I should write instead about why I'm applying to so and so schools?

I've heard talk about mentioning the schools' curriculum. But is
curriculum that important? The schools teach the same material which is covered on the boards, so does it matter how they teach it? I figure if people pass the licensing exams, it would shouldn't matter how they learned the material.

I have also thought about mentioning the location of schools but with that, I applied to schools that were in an area that didn't have too much crime. Some schools are in some pretty bad areas and I don't want to have to worry about getting mugged, stabbed or shot while going to school, so I didn't bother applying to those schools.


So what are your tips for writing these secondaries?

Thanks for all your help SDN! I love you all!
Thanks,
Catherine (Cather)

 

[Paws]

I just asked this question in an earlier thread last week sometime, so I figure I could maybe answer some of your questions.

What I've learned to do is treat each school like a 'project' and I go through everything in their website, and their bulletins. I look for something different or unique or that would be important to me. It's like writing a term paper, I do the research, think it all over and then write up a sort of outline and then do the actual writing.

This way, none of the information is wasted; if I go for the interview I have alot of knowledge and won't sound like a big dummie, and I'll be able to ask intelligent questions as well. I think now that I've been doing it this way, it doesn't feel like such a chore - and to be honest, I should know as much about these schools as possible. It's kind of weird to say 'yeh, I want to go to your school, but I really don't know anything about you or can't be bothered to learn.' So, I definitely feel I have learned a valuable lesson about this !

 

[Cydney Foote]

That's great advice from Paws. The schools want to know that you've taken the time to learn about their program. On the one hand, this is one way to prove that you are motivated and take initiative. On the other, this helps ensure that you won't start med school and, a year into the program, say that you didn't know you wouldn't be seeing patients until later, or didn't know there wasn't a chance for research, etc.

Curriculum is one thing to write about -- and although the boards test the same material, the way it's taught vary widely. Location can be another attraction to a program, as can your experiences with graduates from that school.

Whatever you write about, the most important thing is to tie it into your own personal experiences. The whole purpose of the secondary essays is to let the admissions committees know more about you. Is there an emphasis on the same kind of small-group work that you used to teach sailing to disadvantaged kids? Is the school of medicine known as a diabetes research center, which you learned about while completing undergrad research in the subject? Linking your own strengths to those of the school reiterates your qualifications for becoming a doctor as well as your suitability for their med school in particular.

Good luck!

 

[cather]

Thanks for your tips. It helps.

Thanks,
Catherine