Why are some secondaries just like the primary?

[bozz]

1) For example, Columbia's secondary last year:

Seems like it would take 5 minutes.. do you just list them?

2. In what collegiate extracurricular activities did you engage?*
Enter your response in list format using commas. LIMIT WRITING TO 760 CHARACTERS. Do not use return or enter.

3. Please list collegiate honors,awards, and memberships in honorary societies*
Enter your response in list format using commas. LIMIT WRITING TO 345 CHARACTERS. Do not use return or enter.

4. About how many hours per week, if any, did you spend in work for which you were recompensed during the college year?*
LIMIT WRITING TO 200 CHARACTERS. Do not use return or enter.


2) Some of them seem really easy too o.0 and don't ask school-specific questions!
Many of them simply ask something along the lines of:

"Please share with us something about yourself that is not addressed elsewhere in your application and which could be helpful to the Admissions Committee as we review your file"

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[Isoprop]

cynical answer: more application fees. see if you mess up with simple instructions so they can screen you out.

uncynical (is that a word, i don't think so) answer: to give you an opportunity to stand out.

 

[87138]

I believe some schools up until somewhat recently did not participate in the AMCAS system, and so their "secondaries" asked much of the same things that your AMCAS primary includes/addresses.

You'll also find that some schools (NYMC, SUNY Buffalo, etc) have virtually no secondary at all, just a page saying "send us money and you'll be complete."

 

[bozz]

So what do you do when UChicago asks you:

"3A. At the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, we strive to identify students who will be a great "fit" with our medical school. Our Mission Statement is an expression of our core purpose and educational philosophy. Please reflect on its content and write an essay describing why you see yourself as a great "fit" for Pritzker. Please include examples of past service, community, clinical, educational, and research experiences. Please also discuss your future goals."

That would basically be my personal statement :O

Did you guys basically paraphrase your PS for questions like this?

Correct me if I'm wrong... but as long as you don't screw secondaries up, you're fine? In the end, it's all your grades, MCAT, and ECs?

 

[167649]

I believe some schools up until somewhat recently did not participate in the AMCAS system, and so their "secondaries" asked much of the same things that your AMCAS primary includes/addresses.

You'll also find that some schools (NYMC, SUNY Buffalo, etc) have virtually no secondary at all, just a page saying "send us money and you'll be complete."

Actually, as you mention it, from what I know Columbia was non-AMCAS until very recently.

 

[TheRealMD]

Schools that do this usually only give interviewers your secondary application and not your primary. It pretty much is the easiest way to give them all the necessary info without having GPA/MCAT attached to it.

 

[Isoprop]

So what do you do when UChicago asks you:

"3A. At the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, we strive to identify students who will be a great "fit" with our medical school. Our Mission Statement is an expression of our core purpose and educational philosophy. Please reflect on its content and write an essay describing why you see yourself as a great "fit" for Pritzker. Please include examples of past service, community, clinical, educational, and research experiences. Please also discuss your future goals."

That would basically be my personal statement :O

Did you guys basically paraphrase your PS for questions like this?

Correct me if I'm wrong... but as long as you don't screw secondaries up, you're fine? In the end, it's all your grades, MCAT, and ECs?

essays are important. don't get me wrong. and try not to repeat yoru ps. you can go into more detail into something, but don't repeat information. doctors and especially adcoms love brevity.

 

[bozz]

Oh I see..

So is there any strategy that we should employ when completing secondaries

do we fill out the more rolling ones first? is there a list somewhere that shows which ones are "more" rolling.

 

[materialist]

The OP basically described secondaries that are require you to give info that you've already given on AMCAS in a more condensed form (all your ECs in a short paragraph, for example). My impression was that the purpose of secondaries such as this is to get all your info on one page, so that they can easily give your app a once over and quickly determine if they want to look at you more closely (i.e. invite you for an interview, read your AMCAS in more detail, etc.)

Oh I see..
So is there any strategy that we should employ when completing secondaries
do we fill out the more rolling ones first? is there a list somewhere that shows which ones are "more" rolling.

Obviously the best thing to do is get all your secondaries in early enough that more/less rolling isn't even as issue. But no one's perfect (like me for example).

An important thing to keep in mind is that even if a school is not rolling at all as far as acceptances go, all schools are "rolling" with respect to interviews. By that I mean, at the start of the interview season a school may have 500 interview slots to fill. By the end of the season when they've only got 20 interview spots left, they're probably going to be more picky about who they interview. In addition, the later you apply the bigger the pile of applications sitting in the admissions office, and the less likely your's will get noticed. Which raises a point I wish I had understood better at the beginning of this cycle which is: Regardless of how rolling a school is, the earlier you apply the better chance you have to get your foot in the door.

Of course, if you apply to a lot of schools with secondaries that require some time to complete, it may take you a while to get through them all and it's only natural to prioritize. I tried to do this by looking at the MSAR for when schools start sending out acceptances as a gauge of how "rolling" they were. I realize now that date isn't necessarily very informative. For example, Emory's earliest date for acceptances in Oct. 30th, but (this year at least) they only sent out a few offers before the end of the interview season.

Well, I've certainly rambled on about my personal brand of naiveté, hopefully this will be of help to someone...

 

[UFMed]

Most secondaries are like primaries because they are usually a good way for the school to make some extra dough. But I guess you can always try to answer the questions with a spin tailored to that specific school. But some of these secondary fees are ridiculous ($90-130) jeeze!

 

[186321]

Show Me The Money

 

[Jolie South]

secondaries similar to the primaries usually have a character/word limit that is much less than AMCAS. my guess is that they don't want to read dissertations about volunteering experiences and the like and would prefer to read a succinct version of the story that hits on key points.

maybe this and a combination of what theRealMD said about giving this synopsis to interviewers without GPA/MCAT attached.

but, what do i know? i'm not an adcom.

 

[[pj]]

Oh I see..

So is there any strategy that we should employ when completing secondaries

do we fill out the more rolling ones first? is there a list somewhere that shows which ones are "more" rolling.

Do as many as fast as you can. If anything, give priority to the ones you actually want to finish as opposed to schools that you're applying to just to apply to. There were a few schools that I was applying to just for the heck of it. After looking at the secondary, I withdrew.

As for why they want secondaries? It's all about money (very slight exaggeration).

 

[pride4jc727]

Well, on the other hand, there are some schools that don't even have a secondary application with essays. At the two NJ state schools, I simply had to fill out their secondary that asked only about demographic information and other small things. It was simply another way of asking $75. After 16 schools, that's going to take a huge toll.

 

[Team Zissou]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[SamusLives]

Its all about jumping through hoops. Most people are turned off by the magnitude of the application process, that they just don't do it. Besides, filling out the primary is generic, same for all schools. If you fill out the secondary, you're putting effort to applying to that school in particular.

I know its just a hoop. When I filled out a secondary which I was putting off (to the most competitive school I was applying to), I ended up getting an interview invitation sent to me (overnighted). I ended up getting into that school (I'm here now). Fill them out the best you can.

 

[bozz]

So for the most part, interviews are mainly based off numbers?

From MdApps atleast, at many of the top schools interviewed and not accepted/accepted people have similar stats.
Let's pick an arbritrary 36 MCAT, 3.8 gpa

While students not interviewed for an interview: you'll have and average of 32 MCAT, 3.6 GPA

 

[LizzyM]

So what do you do when UChicago asks you:

"3A. At the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, we strive to identify students who will be a great "fit" with our medical school. Our Mission Statement is an expression of our core purpose and educational philosophy. Please reflect on its content and write an essay describing why you see yourself as a great "fit" for Pritzker. Please include examples of past service, community, clinical, educational, and research experiences. Please also discuss your future goals."

That would basically be my personal statement :O

Did you guys basically paraphrase your PS for questions like this?

Correct me if I'm wrong... but as long as you don't screw secondaries up, you're fine? In the end, it's all your grades, MCAT, and ECs?

When a school uses a question like this, they want evidence that you have read the mission statement and that you buy into the school's educational philosophy and that you can show evidence through your previous activities of a personal values that fit well with the school's.

 

[merc280]

So if one question of the secondary is to list all of the awards you have gotten at the university, and you haven't really gotten any besides being on the deans list, what are you supposed to do? leave it blank?