What is the point of supplemental apps?

[pinksparkly]

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Okay, I get the point. I know that some of the essay questions are school-specific.

Half the damn thing involved me re-entering things that I already entered into PharmCAS. Do they not look at what they receive from PharmCAS? I suppose the better question would be, "Why do these schools bother participating in PharmCAS if they are going to just make the applicants re-enter everything on the supp?"

Yeesh. These are going to take forever.

 

[owlegrad]

Okay, I get the point. I know that some of the essay questions are school-specific.

Half the damn thing involved me re-entering things that I already entered into PharmCAS. Do they not look at what they receive from PharmCAS? I suppose the better question would be, "Why do these schools bother participating in PharmCAS if they are going to just make the applicants re-enter everything on the supp?"

Yeesh. These are going to take forever.

In a word, Money.

 

[phathead]

Okay, I get the point. I know that some of the essay questions are school-specific.

Half the damn thing involved me re-entering things that I already entered into PharmCAS. Do they not look at what they receive from PharmCAS? I suppose the better question would be, "Why do these schools bother participating in PharmCAS if they are going to just make the applicants re-enter everything on the supp?"

Yeesh. These are going to take forever.

Another reason is they don't want to make it easy to apply. As stupid as it sounds, it weeds out those who are less serious and thus wastes less of their time.

Word for word, that's what two schools told me.

 

[SparkLy09]

In some aspect, it lets me explain some things that I wanted to include in my PS but didn't have room for. I just dislike having to pay ~100 bucks to tell them that. 👎

But I assume it does give them benefits... I'm sure plenty of students apply through PharmCAS but then as soon as they get into a school, they quit doing supps for every other school... so in that respect, now those schools don't have to waste time reviewing his app & can concentrate on the others. Like ours! 😉

 

[UNMorBUST]

pinksparkly meet hoop. Hoop meet pinksparkly.
😀

 

[pinksparkly]

pinksparkly meet hoop. Hoop meet pinksparkly.
😀

I totally forgot about the money! Doh. Makes sense, as I paid $45 for the privilege of typing in my name and address and answering a few "yes or no" questions. But hey, at least they didn't want me to re-calculate my PharmCAS GPA or something like that. I'd rather pay $45 to do no work than pay $45 to compose six essays!

 

[b1234]

The questions for the Minnesota supplemental essays are online, the actual supplemental application may not be available yet, but you can still look up the essays if you want.

This is Wisconsin's first year using PharmCAS. In the past they've had quite a lengthy application including (quite a few) more essays than most schools... I wouldn't be surprised if they have a very lengthy supplemental...

 

[BelleMD2B]

I totally forgot about the money! Doh. Makes sense, as I paid $45 for the privilege of typing in my name and address and answering a few "yes or no" questions. But hey, at least they didn't want me to re-calculate my PharmCAS GPA or something like that. I'd rather pay $45 to do no work than pay $45 to compose six essays!

I'm applying to that same "top east coast" school. I just knew their supp app was gonna be killer. I'm with you though...$45 for a one page questionnaire is way better than some of the other essays I've seen.

 

[pinksparkly]

The questions for the Minnesota supplemental essays are online, the actual supplemental application may not be available yet, but you can still look up the essays if you want.

This is Wisconsin's first year using PharmCAS. In the past they've had quite a lengthy application including (quite a few) more essays than most schools... I wouldn't be surprised if they have a very lengthy supplemental...

I saw that about MN... I'll start working on that after I get done with the current beast I am wrestling with. Apparently the U of MN wants to receive your PharmCAS before they will release the supp to you. Funny how my number one choice, which has rolling admissions, is the one supp that I cannot submit now! I hope my GPA calculations go fast.

I'm applying to that same "top east coast" school. I just knew their supp app was gonna be killer. I'm with you though...$45 for a one page questionnaire is way better than some of the other essays I've seen.

I was so relieved when I saw that! Honestly, despite my original complaint, I got lucky. Out of six apps, one had no supp, three had "check the box and pay your money if required" supps, and two have essays in which I have to sit down and really think about my feelings on the issue in order to craft an intelligent response.