Which secondaries to start with?

[DCSB6]

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How should I choose which secondaries to write first if I am pre-writing? Are there any schools known to change their essays each year; on the flip side, are their any known for a fact to keep them the same every year?

Lastly, are there any that cover a wide range of essays that will most likely be useful in other secondaries as well? I am applying to 40 schools, so pre-writing is a must! Would really appreciate some advice on where to start.

 

[DOCTAfoHIRE]

Im starting with the 'what makes you special' question. Seems like quite a few of my schools have it and it seems like it would be decently easy to tailor to almost all of the schools. After that I think I will spend a day or two per school doing research about them and writing the 'why this school' essay. Thats pretty much 80% of my secondaries.

 

[thlaxer]

How should I choose which secondaries to write first if I am pre-writing? Are there any schools known to change their essays each year; on the flip side, are their any known for a fact to keep them the same every year?

Lastly, are there any that cover a wide range of essays that will most likely be useful in other secondaries as well? I am applying to 40 schools, so pre-writing is a must! Would really appreciate some advice on where to start.

It would help if you provided us with your list of schools. When I applied last year, none of the prompts had changed from the previous year (at least at the schools I applied to). So it's probably safe to start from any school's secondary. Good luck!

 

[theseeker4]

How should I choose which secondaries to write first if I am pre-writing? Are there any schools known to change their essays each year; on the flip side, are their any known for a fact to keep them the same every year?

Lastly, are there any that cover a wide range of essays that will most likely be useful in other secondaries as well? I am applying to 40 schools, so pre-writing is a must! Would really appreciate some advice on where to start.

Peruse the school specific threads in the 2011/2012 subsection for the schools you are applying to. Begin outlining the most common themes asked, such as "anything else you want us to know," "why us?" "Why you?" etc. Once the secondaries are released, you can polish the specific essays for the specific schools quickly and submit immediately.

As to whether schools change every year, the school-specific threads for the schools you are applying to should be the best source of that information.

 

[Catalystik]

Summary most Secondary essays from 2010 cycle: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=10763720

 

[octupus]

For schools that ask "why this school", start doing some research if you haven't already. Also, typical questions like "what is something your professor doesn't already know about you?" or "what difficult situations have you faced and how did you overcome it". Browse through last years' questions and you'll see many similar ones pop up across difficult schools.

The only exception I came across was Cooper (b/c they are taking in their inaugural class) and University of Florida (had to read 2 student essays and comment on it).

 

[octupus]

I didn't pre-write my secondaries, but I definitely noticed my answers to the same questions sounded a lot better in the secondaries I submitted in September, compared to the ones I submitted in August. It helps to have more time to revise. Just start drafting answers to the common ones and refine it from there as you get ready to submit it.

 

[Tots]

Summary most Secondary essays from 2010 cycle: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=10763720

I have attached an updated version with the 11-12 year included. The format is not exactly amazing and it can be a little cumbersome but I found it nice to have all the secondary questions in one place. Also you can compare a school between the 2 cycles. All questions were taken from the secondary threads so some questions are missing if I couldn't find them in the thread.

 

[snorlax]

Wow Thanks! I don't have time to deal with this stuff until my finals are over but this is really nice to have. Thanks

 

[NickNaylor]

Just a general recommendation: don't mindlessly copy and paste essays across schools. Even if you think the question is exactly identical from one school to the next, tailoring your responses to each school (if possible) would be well worth your time IMO.

As far as which to complete first, I don't think it really matters all that much as long as you get them done.

(sent from my phone - please forgive typos and brevity)

 

[Catalystik]

I have attached an updated version with the 11-12 year included. The format is not exactly amazing and it can be a little cumbersome but I found it nice to have all the secondary questions in one place. Also you can compare a school between the 2 cycles. All questions were taken from the secondary threads so some questions are missing if I couldn't find them in the thread.

Nice! Thanks for sharing.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

Check the school-specific discussions from the last couple years to see which secondaries change and which stay the same. I would start with the schools that you care the most about, so that you spend enough time on those essays and can submit right away.

 

[MedPR]

I'm just doing whichever one I feel like on that day. I did SLU's yesterday. Probably do another short one tonight. Saving the long/hard ones (like Rosalind Franklin and Rush) for weekends.

I plan to have them all done by June 30 anyway so I don't think it really matters what gets done when.