Update Letter Question

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Ikzencriel

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Hi guys, I was looking for some advice on a certain aspect of my update letter.

Recently, I had a hospice patient pass away. I grew very close to her and her family over the last few months, to the extent that I'm even going to be speaking at her funeral. She has become a significant part of my motivation to practice medicine, as she was an important person to me.

My question is whether I should talk about her/this experience (from meeting her and getting to know her to her condition worsening and her passing) in my letter or not. To begin with, I feel kind of like I would be "exploiting" her, which makes me feel gross. On the other hand, she repeatedly told me that she wanted me to share our experiences together with whomever would listen, perhaps even writing a book about it (I'm no writer myself, but this wonderful lady thought of me highly for whatever reason).

I'm wondering if this is something I should include in my update letter or if it's too personal and should only be brought up in an interview setting.

As always, thanks for all the help you guys provide me. I really appreciate it.

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I feel like this would be an interview thing. You've already proven (or should've) your motivation for medicine in your primary and secondary.

Agree. I think this would be redundant.
Updates that are worth sending are publication acceptances, major awards/scholarships, new job/activity that you think would bolster your app
 
Agree. I think this would be redundant.
Updates that are worth sending are publication acceptances, major awards/scholarships, new job/activity that you think would bolster your app

To clarify, there are a bunch of those other things as well in the update. This wouldn't make up the entire update if I include it.
 
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Hi guys, I was looking for some advice on a certain aspect of my update letter.

Recently, I had a hospice patient pass away. I grew very close to her and her family over the last few months, to the extent that I'm even going to be speaking at her funeral. She has become a significant part of my motivation to practice medicine, as she was an important person to me.

My question is whether I should talk about her/this experience (from meeting her and getting to know her to her condition worsening and her passing) in my letter or not. To begin with, I feel kind of like I would be "exploiting" her, which makes me feel gross. On the other hand, she repeatedly told me that she wanted me to share our experiences together with whomever would listen, perhaps even writing a book about it (I'm no writer myself, but this wonderful lady thought of me highly for whatever reason).

I'm wondering if this is something I should include in my update letter or if it's too personal and should only be brought up in an interview setting.

As always, thanks for all the help you guys provide me. I really appreciate it.
I would not include this in an update letter.
 
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May I ask what what are the updates?

Statistically there are a few hundreds of hours added since my primary in clinical, nonclinical, and shadowing experiences (which were kind of sparse during my last year due to personal/fanily issues).

I also took on a few new leadership positions, including one where I manage/run a food pantry and groups of volunteers, and wanted to add them and the changes I've made in these positions.

Some schools actively encourage updates so I'm aiming for those.
 
Hi guys, I was looking for some advice on a certain aspect of my update letter.

Recently, I had a hospice patient pass away. I grew very close to her and her family over the last few months, to the extent that I'm even going to be speaking at her funeral. She has become a significant part of my motivation to practice medicine, as she was an important person to me.

My question is whether I should talk about her/this experience (from meeting her and getting to know her to her condition worsening and her passing) in my letter or not. To begin with, I feel kind of like I would be "exploiting" her, which makes me feel gross. On the other hand, she repeatedly told me that she wanted me to share our experiences together with whomever would listen, perhaps even writing a book about it (I'm no writer myself, but this wonderful lady thought of me highly for whatever reason).

I'm wondering if this is something I should include in my update letter or if it's too personal and should only be brought up in an interview setting.

As always, thanks for all the help you guys provide me. I really appreciate it.
This doesn't belong in an update.

Updates are for:

A semester of great grades
A publication (NOT a submission) or a presentation at a national/international meeting
A significant award or scholarship
 
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This doesn't belong in an update.

Updates are for:

A semester of great grades
A publication (NOT a submission) or a presentation at a national/international meeting
A significant award or scholarship

Thanks! Im also wondering about that list you gave there though because for example some schools lile uchicago say they lile updates, and give examples of updates like "november activities". Would those not encompass more than your list?
 
Thanks! Im also wondering about that list you gave there though because for example some schools lile uchicago say they lile updates, and give examples of updates like "november activities". Would those not encompass more than your list?
For the needy schools, remind them of your desire to attend, and add in anything significant, like "I've accumulated 100 more hours of volunteering at the Jones Hospice."
 
For the needy schools, remind them of your desire to attend, and add in anything significant, like "I've accumulated 100 more hours of volunteering at the Jones Hospice."

Gotcha. Thanks again
 
For the needy schools, remind them of your desire to attend, and add in anything significant, like "I've accumulated 100 more hours of volunteering at the Jones Hospice."

If I could pivot the thread a bit, to go back to this, how exactly can I tell what a "needy" school is?

Yes, some schools make it abundantly clear that they DON'T want updates unless they're really significant (harvard only allowing 2/cycle, stanford/JHU/Duke not allowing any, some not even after II). On the other hand, some schools are really open to updates (like UChicago, who say they welcome updates and give examples of submitting month-month updates). But for a lot of them, they just have open update fields with unlimited submissions. So my question is: is there a way to tell which schools are open to sending more updates when they don't say much on the topic?
 
If I could pivot the thread a bit, to go back to this, how exactly can I tell what a "needy" school is?

Yes, some schools make it abundantly clear that they DON'T want updates unless they're really significant (harvard only allowing 2/cycle, stanford/JHU/Duke not allowing any, some not even after II). On the other hand, some schools are really open to updates (like UChicago, who say they welcome updates and give examples of submitting month-month updates). But for a lot of them, they just have open update fields with unlimited submissions. So my question is: is there a way to tell which schools are open to sending more updates when they don't say much on the topic?
It's something that I only have heard about
Jefferson
Gtown
Mayo

How about reading the Admissions websites to see if they accept updates?
 
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