Writing Secondary Essays

[thf214]

I am just starting the process of writing my secondaries (made the mistake of not prewriting them), and I am looking for a link with good advice for writing the essays. Specifically, is it usually worth it to write the optional essays, and how do you gauge for specific schools the relative worth of writing versus not writing them.

Also, many of the sample essays I have seen focus on the diversity I can bring to their schools. What do they mean by diversity? Can that be applied to research, and experience, or what kind of diversity are they specifically talking about? How can I show that I can add diversity if I do not appear on the surface to be the most diverse person in terms of educational or ethnic backgrounds. Finally I have seen a lot of opinions on when you should submit the secondaries after you receive them, what are your opinions on a deadline for submitting them after I receive the application?

Thanks for the help!

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[Jepstein30]

1) Write the optional essays if you feel you have something important to add to the secondary that was not already addressed. Don't just stick a random essay from another secondary in there though. I don't think schools care either way if you do it or not... but it can't be anything but a positive if you use the space well.

2) Think of the diversity essay as "what would YOU bring to our school". It can be anything. Passion, experience, etc. Anything. Not necessarily related to your background at all. It can be that you really like working with your classmates and you are excited to bring that teamwork, etc. Think what's special about you relative to the average pre-med. I'd probably stay away from anything academic though.

3) Should submit a secondary as soon as you can. Preferably within a week or two but it's better to submit a well-written secondary a little late than a poorly-written secondary on the early side. I wouldn't let them sit for too long though.

 

[gettheleadout]

1) Write the optional essays if you feel you have something important to add to the secondary that was not already addressed. Don't just stick a random essay from another secondary in there though. I don't think schools care either way if you do it or not... but it can't be anything but a positive if you use the space well.

2) Think of the diversity essay as "what would YOU bring to our school". It can be anything. Passion, experience, etc. Anything. Not necessarily related to your background at all. It can be that you really like working with your classmates and you are excited to bring that teamwork, etc. Think what's special about you relative to the average pre-med. I'd probably stay away from anything academic though.

3) Should submit a secondary as soon as you can. Preferably within a week or two but it's better to submit a well-written secondary a little late than a poorly-written secondary on the early side. I wouldn't let them sit for too long though.

Agreed on all counts with Jepstein here. I would add that with regard to optional prompts, having "something important to add" can go beyond simply adding info about your qualifications that isn't on your primary. An optional prompt can be valuable if you can answer it in a way that adds insight into your character that isn't conveyed by the rest of your app, for whatever reason. As an example, WashU has an optional prompt about experiencing failure. I'd argue that being able to respond to that articulately is an opportunity to say something about one's attitude and resilience that might not be apparent from the successes listed on AMCAS.

Another tip is to check out the official diversity statement from a medical school or its associated university when a diversity prompt is given. A lot of these formal statements are well-written and thorough and can help spark inspiration about ways to conceptualize one's own contribution to a diverse class.

 

[Jepstein30]

Agreed on all counts with Jepstein here. I would add that with regard to optional prompts, having "something important to add" can go beyond simply adding info about your qualifications that isn't on your primary. An optional prompt can be valuable if you can answer it in a way that adds insight into your character that isn't conveyed by the rest of your app, for whatever reason. As an example, WashU has an optional prompt about experiencing failure. I'd argue that being able to respond to that articulately is an opportunity to say something about one's attitude and resilience that might not be apparent from the successes listed on AMCAS.

Another tip is to check out the official diversity statement from a medical school or its associated university when a diversity prompt is given. A lot of these formal statements are well-written and thorough and can help spark inspiration about ways to conceptualize one's own contribution to a diverse class.

Oh, I was actually only referring to the "Any additional info" prompts that many schools have. I would pretty much definitely do all other optionals unless they don't apply to you. The additional info one should be a judgement call based the other prompts already in the secondary. If you can add something important, go for it.. otherwise, don't use the space to repeat the same thing a third time.

Diversity statements are also a good thing to look at. You'll notice that many of them don't just talk about ethnic backgrounds... that's not the only diversity medical schools are looking for.