What are Secondary Applications and How Can I Ace Them

Make sure your secondary writing time is uninterrupted. First and foremost, congratulations on having pummeled through the past few years as a premed, beasting the MCAT, shadowing in hospitals, doing research, volunteering about a bagillion  hours, and successfully submitting your  primary application  through AMCAS. You’ve come a  long way, and I imagine you are  anxiously awaiting that ominous â€Å"secondary application.† Wait, I already applied to medical  school and told them my ENTIRE life story – what more could they possibly want to know? Fear not, for I successfully submitted a dozen  secondary applications  while studying for my  MCAT. Let’s go through a few basics of what a secondary is, how to write them well, and how to  manage the stress during your application cycle. What exactly IS a medical school secondary application? Your AMCAS application does an incredible job of painting a picture of how you came  to be the person you are today through your life experiences, but it also helps medical schools  objectively assess your academic know-how by looking at your GPA and  MCAT. Secondaries are for those applicants who made it to the  next round and present the opportunity for you to expound on who you are today and what you  want to do in medicine. â€Å"You have two patients who experience the same critical injury, but one  has insurance and the other doesn’t. How do you handle this emergent care situation?† How do I write a successful secondary application that will land me an interview? Receiving a secondary is a rewarding feeling because it  finally  feels like you’re one step closer  to wearing a white coat and rounding in the hospital as an actual medical student. Writing your  secondary should reflect your passion and desire to see this process to a successful end. Put  everything you’ve got into them; shed as much light as possible on your personal character  development; and show medical schools you are mature and ready to become a medical student.   Also, you had a thousand people edit your AMCAS application (hopefully), so why wouldn’t  you have people edit your secondary application? Sitting down with close friends and family to  choose what life experiences you’ll write about when answering the vast array of questions that  come up will be crucial to best representing the able-minded applicant you are. It’s a good idea to  expand on more in-depth on experiences from your AMCAS application. â€Å"There are a LOT of applications coming in at once and they’re all due in two weeks! HELP!† 3 Ways to Get Ahead 1. Time Management You budgeted specific hours each day to study for your MCAT, so do the  same for secondaries. Some of these applications may take you several hours to complete, so  budget accordingly. Whatever you do, make sure your writing time is uninterrupted, and  you’ve informed your editors ahead of time. I recommend getting them done as soon as you  can, so you can be on the top of the pile for being considered for an  interview! 2. Copy Paste This beautiful little invention will save you tons of time, and be useful because  you’ll see a lot of very similar questions from schools.  WARNING: The quickest way to get  your application thrown in the trash is to send a secondary app telling X College of Medicine  how much you absolutely love their school, but you forgot to change the name and you mention Z College of Medicine.  MAKE SURE YOU EDIT BEFORE SUBMITTING. 3. Make Executive Decisions So maybe you went a little gung-ho/click-happy on your  AMCAS application, applied to more schools than you intended, and are now facing the  consequences of more secondaries than you know what to do with. *Guiltily raises hand*  Yeah, I did it too. Well, points to consider when choosing which secondaries you may scratch  are: 1. Secondaries are not free. 2.When push comes to shove, are you really willing to move across the country where you  don’t know anyone? 3.  State universities only accept 10% out-of-state students who have stellar applications and  usually have ties to the area. 4.  Have you visited or spoken with the school and are you certain would attend if given an  offer? Best of luck, and be sure to be reading medical-related books that will keep you inspired during  the process;  Hot Lights, Cold Steel  by Dr. Michael Collins is a great one to keep you motivated. This is a repost of an article by  Joshua Wienczkowski  from our popular series  Journeys with Joshua. Related Resources: †¢Ã‚  Medical School Admissions Services †¢ How to Write Succinct Secondary Essays †¢ What NOT to Write in Your Medical School Secondary Application Essays