Working Full Time and Secondaries

[PreMedAdAG]

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Hi,
I'm wondering if there is anyone else out there in my same position.
I work full time so it's pretty hard to get my secondaries out. I have a giant stack of them, and I can really only get through one secondary every second or third day. Any advice. I'm thinking about bringing them to work (not very honest of me.. but...) because when I get home, I am just exhausted and have little time to spend on secondaries. I have completed almost 5 of the 22 secondaries I have received since July 7th. not very good!!

Does anyone have any advice?

 

[Peterock]

Hi,
I'm wondering if there is anyone else out there in my same position.
I work full time so it's pretty hard to get my secondaries out. I have a giant stack of them, and I can really only get through one secondary every second or third day. Any advice. I'm thinking about bringing them to work (not very honest of me.. but...) because when I get home, I am just exhausted and have little time to spend on secondaries. I have completed almost 5 of the 22 secondaries I have received since July 7th. not very good!!

Does anyone have any advice?

Honestly, secondaries have so many overlapping questions, aside from why school X. You should be able to get through more than 2 / week. I bet once you do a few more you'll see what I mean.

 

[CUMD]

I was in your exact same position a year ago, and I remember how difficult it was to juggle a full time job and complete secondary apps at the same time. However, while I understand that you want to get these apps out as soon as possible, you still have quite a bit of time. I'd say that if you can complete them by early to mid September, you should be in great shape.

If you have any questions at all, please PM me. I'm just chillin, waiting for school to start in August...

 

[krebse]

I agree with the poster above me - chill - don't let the SDN crazies get ahold of you - having 5 secondaries in before August is early, you're doing great.

I'm in the exact same spot you are but I've only got 3 in, my stack of those waiting is 11 deep, and one of those (a more involved one I might add) is due on August 7th! I'm doing paramedic school full time and working 3/4 time, life sucks right now, but I just plug away at it.

We'll both be fine,
Liz

 

[CharlieVN]

I am in the exact position too...Working full time (EMT nights) + 10 units summer school...so secondaries are gaining some dust...

I like to come on SDN to see how the SDN crazies are turning in secondaries 1 hr after they get emailed to them...its cool...I admire the go-getters... =)

 

[smallqt]

My schedule has been crazy too....working one full time job, one part time, studying for the mcat and going to see a doctor at least once a week for a couple of hours.....I agree with the overlapping thing, thats the only reason some of mine have been sent out. Plus im tryin to wait until my schedule dies down to really do most of them. What about your weekends?

 

[leechy]

My schedule has been crazy too....working one full time job, one part time, studying for the mcat and going to see a doctor at least once a week for a couple of hours.....I agree with the overlapping thing, thats the only reason some of mine have been sent out. Plus im tryin to wait until my schedule dies down to really do most of them. What about your weekends?

Wow, that's an amazing number of things to be juggling - props to you.

 

[Cerbernator]

i'm working full time and taking a class. I am not having any trouble getting them out.

 

[rockstar2525]

There was a thread about this a few weeks ago, I was feeling a little crazy then too. I was really overwhelmed with how much I had to get done and felt like I had to have it all done yesterday 😱
I applied to Rush, which had 11 essays, and now I am finding that I can cut and paste some things from those essays into all my other essays. I think you'll find you can re-use a lot of material and that will speed up the process. Plus, I got a couple more that really just want my name, address, and money. Don't get overwhelmed, just keep plugging away. Prioritize your applications and do the schools that you really want to go to first. Then, if by chance you don't finish some until the fall, those will be schools that are your last choice anyway. Good luck, we'll get through this!

 

[Harps]

Hi,
I'm wondering if there is anyone else out there in my same position.
I work full time so it's pretty hard to get my secondaries out. I have a giant stack of them, and I can really only get through one secondary every second or third day. Any advice. I'm thinking about bringing them to work (not very honest of me.. but...) because when I get home, I am just exhausted and have little time to spend on secondaries. I have completed almost 5 of the 22 secondaries I have received since July 7th. not very good!!

Does anyone have any advice?

Nice to see you're back 🙂 Anyhow, it's very difficult to finish secondaries quickly, but last year I used the 1-week-secondary-turn-in method. Try you best and good luck!

-Harps

 

[DocMizzle]

I'm in the same boat, working 50+ hours a week. My suggestion is to prioritize secondaries based on deadlines, how highly the school ranks on your list, and and how easy the application is to complete. Some secondaries can be completed in an hour, and being able to get these turned in will make the pile seem a little less intimidating.

 

[liverotcod]

What's killing me is not the time, but the money. I can only afford to send in 2-3 per paycheck.

 

[getcloned]

In relation to an above post... the secondaries will overlap quite a bit. Type all of your essays in a word processing program before pasting them into the website (or at least make sure you have a saved copy of it.)

Then for most secondaries you should be able to copy and paste paragraphs, sentences, and maybe even whole essays. When I was applying, I don't think I wrote a whole essay from scratch after I had completed my third secondary. I was able to mold parts of others into new essays that made sense. (Make sure it makes sense!)

This worked for me... maybe it will for you guys.

 

[lorelei]

I whine about my secondaries every day. I didn't realize that they would come out so early, so I scheduled some vacations in July and August, and I'm moving next week. Not the best plan. So basically I've been home something like 3-4 weekends of the summer, and that makes it hard to get motivated. When it's slow at work, I bring them in (in that case I'm allowed to do whatever I want as long as I'm here in case something comes up), but we've been busy lately. It feels so good to check them off though, so I keep plugging away.

 

[BisMuOxo]

Almost everyone on SDN is working, taking classes or otherwise very busy while applying. EVERYONE is extremely busy. DEAL WITH IT. Sorry for my lack of understanding but I myself am very busy and I've seen too many of these posts.

 

[rgporter]

...because when I get home, I am just exhausted and have little time to spend on secondaries...

Because your too busy relaxing? If that is the case you better just get yourself in gear and do them. The application process sucks but if you do it right you'll only have to do it once. 😉

 

[yancantcook]

how long do you guys spend on a secondary on average if it has one or two short essays?

I doubt they can really take that long...i keep procrastinating on mine but when I can sit down and do the work, they get done very quickly

 

[UCLAstudent]

We're all busy. You have to make time to do them. I had a pile of 7-8 a few weeks ago, and I made the effort to complete one secondary each day.

 

[wends]

im lucky because i can do my secondaries at work 😛 ,

 

[mcjay]

Sack it up. It's not that hard to finish them, and when you do it's a damn good feeling. 👍

 

[smallqt]

how long do you guys spend on a secondary on average if it has one or two short essays?

I doubt they can really take that long...i keep procrastinating on mine but when I can sit down and do the work, they get done very quickly

I procrastinate so much and the only time i can actually sit down and make myself write them is before i go to bed. Sad that sleep is the only thing that motivates me....

 

[PreMedAdAG]

i'm working full time and taking a class. I am not having any trouble getting them out.

well whoopdee frieggin doo! ha ha.. just kidding..
but your comment made me laugh.. it reminded me of kindergarten:

Kid1: I'm cooler than you
Kid2: No, I'm cooler than you
Kid1: no.......... I'm telling on you!!!!!!!!!!!!!


ha ha good job cerbenator.. you made me feel quite inadequate!! j/k 😀

 

[leechy]

well whoopdee frieggin doo!

This phrase has got to be patented 👍

 

[leechy]

I procrastinate so much and the only time i can actually sit down and make myself write them is before i go to bed.

I have this problem too. 🙁

 

[RaistlinMajere]

when I get home, I am just exhausted and have little time to spend on secondaries. I have completed almost 5 of the 22 secondaries I have received since July 7th. not very good!!

Does anyone have any advice?

I'm in a similar situation and my advice is to suck it up. Sleep less, have no personal life and complete your applications. MAKE TIME. It's only 1 month of your life and it's important.

 

[the other Dr.]

The first 5 or 6 are the worst because of all the de novo typing. Once you get into cut and paste territory, you're home free. Try keeping a record of all the essays you write, their main point, length in words and characters, etc. That way when the app asks you what you have done to help someone in 400 words or less, look it up in your list, tweak it for the particular school, and slap it into place.

It also helps to give up every aspect of your life that doesn't pertain to filling out secondaries, mailing secondaries, or working to afford secondaries, except spending hours on SDN for "motivation"