When is it ok to repeat information on a secondary?

[wxl31]

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I'm writing my autobiography. Do I just skip whatever I talked about in my AMCAS personal statement? Or should I just mention it in passing?

 

[ambrosia]

I would mention it in passing if its relevant. You just don't want to look like you're stressing the same things over and over.

 

[Dr.LeoSpaceman]

I would mention it in passing if its relevant. You just don't want to look like you're stressing the same things over and over.

I don't know, I think it would be better to talk about the same things than to sound inconsistent. If you wrote your PS and talked about why you felt you really wanted to be a doctor, then the secondary asks you "Why did you choose medicine?" its going to be hard to not say pretty much the same thing becasue in the two months between these apps I doubt your reasoning changed. It would be good, however, to maybe add some new detail or expand a little on one point. Sounding like you copy and pasted is not going to be good.

Similarly if there are a few experiences that really shaped you as a person or your desire to go to med school, those are going to be the things you want to talk about, even if you have mentioned them in the PS. If they were things that really impacted you, I would expect to see them referenced more than once in various parts of your app.

 

[jazger]

Have any of you had to repeat your ECs for a secondary? I really want to just cut and paste from AMCAS, but I feel like they must want something else. Advice?

 

[leechy]

Have any of you had to repeat your ECs for a secondary? I really want to just cut and paste from AMCAS, but I feel like they must want something else. Advice?

It depends. If they just want you to list your activities and positions, hours/week and so on, then go ahead and copy.

In general, I'm beginning to wonder how much schools look at AMCAS. They look at personal statements, but other than that - I don't think they pore over each one of the activities you listed and the length of time you've been pursuing them. If you're asked to list or describe them again in the secondary, it may be because they're not going to bother poring over your AMCAS list. Just a wild guess.

 

[Jason110]

It depends. If they just want you to list your activities and positions, hours/week and so on, then go ahead and copy.

In general, I'm beginning to wonder how much schools look at AMCAS. They look at personal statements, but other than that - I don't think they pore over each one of the activities you listed and the length of time you've been pursuing them. If you're asked to list or describe them again in the secondary, it may be because they're not going to bother poring over your AMCAS list. Just a wild guess.

It maybe that or they just want more info (the AMCAS EC descriptions are pretty short). I think they also recognize that most applicants use the post-secondary section of AMCAS to describe their activity, not want the applicant actually learned from it. So the essays are worded so they gain insight into how the activity affected you. Just a thought.

Jason

 

[uclakid]

It depends. If they just want you to list your activities and positions, hours/week and so on, then go ahead and copy.

In general, I'm beginning to wonder how much schools look at AMCAS. They look at personal statements, but other than that - I don't think they pore over each one of the activities you listed and the length of time you've been pursuing them. If you're asked to list or describe them again in the secondary, it may be because they're not going to bother poring over your AMCAS list. Just a wild guess.

i hope they look at the amcas in depth; i spent time a lot of time on that...especially in describing my ECs!

 

[jazger]

It maybe that or they just want more info (the AMCAS EC descriptions are pretty short). I think they also recognize that most applicants use the post-secondary section of AMCAS to describe their activity, not want the applicant actually learned from it. So the essays are worded so they gain insight into how the activity affected you. Just a thought.

Jason

This one actually says "List extracirricular/community activities, including hours each week, position held and a brief description." Which is exactly what I did on AMCAS. I think I'm just going to cut and paste. They don't give much room either. 👎