Congratulations on submitting your medical school primary application.
While the primary and personal statement are key, the secondary application is equally important.
This is your chance to show each school that you didn't just shotgun apply to them but
that you actually want to attend their program.
Here are nine tips to crush your secondary applications.
What's going on guys, Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.
The secondary or supplemental application
as the name suggests is the second component to the medical school application.
Each school has a unique secondary application whereas the primary application was a single
common app sent to several schools using either AMCAS for MD schools or AACOMAS for DO schools.
Secondaries consist of a series of short essay questions.
Questions will be unique to each program though there is a fair amount of overlap among them.
If you submitted your primary application in June, expect secondaries to roll in starting
in July and continuing throughout summer.
Now, let's get to the tips for crafting an outstanding secondary.
Number one, get organized.
Secondary applications can be overwhelming and that they arrive in quick succession.
This means you'll be faced with several, possibly even dozens of applications within a one to
two month period.
This necessitates organization in your approach.
I recommend creating a spreadsheet listing each program with the following components.
Name of the school, date you receive the secondary, submission deadline, number of essay questions,
school ranking and relative ranking of importance to you.
A system like this will allow you to keep track of each school and organize and prioritize
your approach.
Which brings us to the next point: prioritize certain schools.
You will have to decide on which secondaries to do in which order as you will likely get
multiple at a time.
Using the spreadsheet you created, you'll have the information needed to make that decision.
There are different ways to approach this.
First, you can apply to your top choice schools first.
This will allow you to get ahead of the curve during rolling admissions maximizing your
chances to get an interview offer.
Number two, you can also consider applying to the most competitive schools first for
the same reason.
And number three, you can consider submitting some secondaries for the lower ranked or lower
preference schools prior to submitting your higher ranked or higher preference ones.
This will afford you some practice possibly making your later secondary essays more effective.
While this point does have merit, it can quickly be mitigated by the rapid turnaround secondary
application editing that we offer on MedSchoolInsiders.com.
Our advisors are real doctors that have served
on medical school admissions committees so they know what it takes to stand out.
Number three, tailor your response to each medical school.
The more you can tailor and craft your secondary to be appropriate to the program, the better.
Research the program, familiarize yourself with their strengths and tell them why they
are pertinent to your goals.
Maybe it's certain research areas that interests you, clinical exposure to unique populations
or a community outreach aspect.
These elements are key to incorporate into your final answer for "why is this medical
school the right fit for me?"
At the same time, be honest. It will show if you embellish or stretch the truth.
A great way to get a head start on these essays is by preparing the secondary prompts before
you even receive them.
The free Med School Insiders secondary database is updated daily with secondary prompts as
soon as they are released.
It also contains previous year prompts and high yield writing tips on how to appropriately
answer each prompt.
Number four, outline prior to writing.
It's always a good idea to create an outline prior to writing an essay, but it is particularly
helpful here.
Because secondaries contain multiple questions each, it is important to plan and outline and
answer to each question in an individual application before writing.
This will prevent you from repeating ideas or themes on questions which may overlap.
Number five, content is king.
It's important to have a quick turnaround with your secondaries but do not prioritize
speed over quality.
You must have well-written essays with well crafted answers.
Make sure you answer the specific question being asked as the prompts will often be less
open-ended than the personal statement.
Remember to strive to answer the following overarching themes in your responses:
"What makes me unique?
Why am I the right fit for this program and why am I interested in this medical school
in particular?"
Number six, do not repeat your primary application.
This is a crucial piece of advice and a common pitfall for applicants.
The admissions committee already has all the information in your primary.
This is your opportunity to show them something new. Focus on different strengths and experiences
which will demonstrate why you are a great candidate.
If you do touch on an experience that has been described before, be sure to elaborate
or shine a different light on the subject.
Number 7, be careful copying and pasting.
With so many essay prompts coming in, you will invariably have some overlap of similar questions
between schools.
It is absolutely acceptable to carry over common answers to multiple applications but
be very careful when doing so.
If copying and pasting a response, make sure you closely review it and ensure that it adequately
answers the question.
Furthermore, be sure that there is no language or specific component referring to another
school, which would be a clear red flag on your application.
And yes, this does happen.
Tailor the response to the specific program if possible.
Number 8, take the appropriate amount of time.
The legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden once said be quick but don't hurry.
It is certainly important to be timely with your responses to prevent falling behind in
the rolling admissions process, but you also do not want to compromise quality.
It is reasonable to take a few days to complete secondaries particularly the important ones.
I would recommend you try to respond within one week.
You can work on multiple applications concurrently to stay fresh,
coming back to the essay in the next day or so to review.
The key is to ensure high quality. Don't hurry, timeliness is only helpful if the application
is effective.
And number nine, get feedback.
Most applicants know that it is crucial to have their personal statement reviewed by
others.
It may be harder to do so for secondaries due to the sheer volume and therefore soliciting
feedback may be overlooked. While the time constraints and volume of essays is undeniable,
I urge you to still seek feedback on secondary essays as often as you can.
Particularly for your high priority programs, your essays should certainly be reviewed by
someone with experience in the medical school application process.
Check out the Med School Insiders secondary application editing service.
Our team of doctors will provide in-depth, professional, high yield advice to help perfect
your secondaries.
Our editors can assist with any part of the secondary process, from brainstorming ideas
all the way to fine-tuning details of the essay.
Our quick turnaround time means that you are on time and on target with all of your secondaries.
Learn more at MedSchoolInsiders.com, I will also have a link down in the description below.
Follow these nine tips and you'll be well on your way to a stellar secondary application!
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