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Hey people,
so when a school has an "OPTIONAL" essay, especially about why you want to go to their school, how bad is it to leave it blank. I don't just want to answer "cuz you have a medical school and I'm applying everywhere". Feedback is appreciated.
 
definitely answer those "optional" essays. I forgot to answer one on the UCLA application and it came up during the interview and I kind of freaked because I knew I had answered it, but just forgot to fill it in online. As for filling out the "why here" question, take 10 minutes to look at the school's webpage and see what they're advertising as their selling points and just basically copy and past that for your answer. you can also add something about how you'd love to live in the area that the school is in.
 
Thanks Feminist,
Good to see people with knowledge of things outside of o-chem. It seems that all I need are two form essays, 1 for research oriented schools, and 1 for primary care type schools. But essentially my reasons for attending all schools come down to "I like your curriculum, the city, and the opporunity to blah blah blah. Is this essentially it? I'm looking at friends' old applications where they talk about visiting the schools and how nice the facilities are and that sort of stuff. Basically, I guess my point is that it's rather hard to stand out from the crowd on the "why do you want to be here" question since all answers are the same.
 
COME ON PEOPLE, 50 VIEWS AND ONLY 1 RESPONSE?????? GIMME SOME ADVICE.
 
i would answer the question. if i were on an adcom and saw that you didn't take the time to answer, i'd wonder how interested you really were in my school. i think it just makes good sense.
 
I think Moskeeto has a good point about looking at what their selling points are. Choose the ones that sound good to you, and use those as the focus of why you want to go there. Adcoms will probably appreciate the fact that you are looking for the particular qualities in the school rather than a general statement for why you like all schools.

For example, if a school has a unique way of integrating courses with clinical work, and you like the sound of that, tell them so. If they have a highly respected facility for a certain field that you want to go into, say that. It's pretty much up to you, but essentially they want to know that you have some level of interest in that school in particular. If you don't bother to tell them why you want to go there, they may just assume that you will go somewhere else if you get accepted in more than one place.
 
I think that I will always try to include something in the optional essay. You only get 5300 characters to "sell yourself" in the personal statement so I see this as just another way to give the school a reason to interview you. Talk about stuff you didn't include in the personal statement. Discuss why you will be a good fit for that school. I've read on here that many people don't type anything at all and end up fine, but I'm a very, very borderline (if that) applicant. I'll take every opportunity to divulge some little tidbits about myself that could potentially help out.
 
Very Good point. I am a borderline candidate as my name implies and so I really should be taking every opportunity to divulge good stuff about myself, especially since so much of my application divulges bad stuff 🙂

But then again, I'm the AVERAGE APPLICANT, so maybe I should do what everybody else does. Of course the people on SDN are crazy (myself included) and not at all average.
 
i think these "why our SOM?" essays are good to do for a couple of reasons. they don't take all that much time, and in addition to making the ad com smile ("oh yeah... we are really great at that... what a great school we are...heh heh heh") it gives you a chance to find out more about that particular school. knowing more about the school will help you at an interview at that school and will help you pick which school you want to go to if you get in more than one place.

i agree that scanning their web site for what they think are their best attributes and then talking about why those interest you is a good strategy. i also try to find some faculty member or research project that particularly interests me and mention that. ("i am so intrigued by dr. soandso's research on diabetes during pregnancy and would love the opportunity to work on this type of research. i have always been into women's health and am particularly interested in relationships between reproductive and metabolic hormones...") just a quick something to show that you are unique and interesting and you really looked into their school and found them unique and interesting too.

you know... you have to stroke the ad coms and make them feel good about themselves every chance you get.😍
 
Absolutely use this optional essay to say why you want to go to their school. Do you have family in that city? are you from there? Do you love their football team? Do you love the campus or the extra programs they may have for their med students? This is where you tell them something extra that has drawn you to that particular school.
 
Well, when you answer those optional essays, it shows that you have real initiative, enthusiasm, and drive. You're willing to put in the extra work. That's exactly the kind of people med schools are looking for.
 
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