While your personal statement is an extremely crucial part of your medical school application, what some premeds might not know is that the application process isn’t over once you hit submit. Once your primary application is confirmed and verified (see my previous blog post for a detailed outline of the application process), your emails will be flooded with secondary applications – along with dozens of essays for you to write. It can be daunting and overwhelming, but it’s not impossible.
In today’s post, I’m going to break down what the secondary application looks like, how to prepare for its myriad essays, and how to stay sane throughout the process!
_____________
A BREAK DOWN OF THE SECONDARY APPLICATION
Before tackling secondaries, its important to understand what they are and consist of.
- Almost every school you apply to will offer a secondary application.
- Each secondary application will cost approximately $50-100 per application.
- Most applications will ask for additional demographic information and any legacy/affiliations with the school.
- Many will ask for 2-6 essays about a range of topics and can vary in length from 50-1000 characters.
- Some might have a definitive deadline, others are rolling admissions. Either way, submit them as soon as you can (a general rule is to submit within 2 weeks of receiving an application.)
TIPS FOR TACKLING SECONDARY ESSAYS
- Get organized. I have yet to meet a med student who didn’t use some kind of tracker for secondary essays. Mine was quite simple in excel and looked like this:
I particularly found the columns for usernames/passwords and link to the application extremely helpful for easier access.
As I received each secondary application, I created a Word Document which outlined the different essay prompts and the character/word count. Something like:
Whatever system works for you, use it to prepare.
2. Brainstorm responses to common secondary essay prompts.
If there is anything you take away from this post I hope it is:
Do. not. procrastinate.
Half the battle of writing 20 secondary essays, is trying to think of a creative answer or clever response to each prompt. Doing a little soul searching before you’re flooded with applications will help this process immensely.
Don’t wait until your inbox is full and you’re overwhelmed to think about why you want to attend a specific school or what your greatest strengths and weaknesses are.
Here is a great list of common secondary essay prompts. Add them to a running Word Document and think of concrete answers (with direct examples) to demonstrate the trait/growth/accomplishment you are trying to portray.
While your exact prompt might be slightly different, the exercise is still helpful in compiling a list of topic ideas you can pull from.
3. Pre-write essays. In addition to brainstorming answers to some of the most common secondary essay prompts, I recommend pre-writing full-length essays. Many schools reuse the same essays for multiple application cycles. Even if they don’t use the exact prompt, chances are another school will utilize a similar theme, and extra practice writing essays doesn’t hurt.
Here is a thread that includes past secondary essay prompts for a ton of different schools. Use them as inspiration and begin writing those essays!
4. Understand burnout is likely, so prioritize. By my 23rd secondary application, I was burnt out. Writing essay after essay is draining. Not to mention, emotionally taxing. The medical school application, in general, has a way of making you question everything you’ve ever done, and the secondary application is no exception.
The strategy that worked best for me was ranking my secondaries by schools I most wanted to attend, and by how well I thought I could respond to the essay prompt. This led not only to a successful application but one where I felt I did the best I could.
*Fun fact the very first secondary application I submitted ended up being the school I am attending now!*
5. Remember your “why”. The process will make you question everything you’ve done until this point. The secondary prompts are made for you to dig deep, and reflect on “why”. Why this school? Why a suburban vs urban campus? Why MD? Why? Why? Why?
My biggest advice for surviving this process mentally and emotionally is keeping your personal “why” at the forefront of your mind. Not necessarily why you want to attend a specific school, but why you want to be a physician in general. Remind yourself when you’re up till midnight re-writing essays. When you’re reviewing your application instead of ____ (insert something you’ve sacrificed here).
As corny as it is, holding onto that “why” will not only get you through secondaries, it will get you through some of the hardest days you encounter on the road to becoming a physician. So think about it every day, and let it motivate you to work for your dreams until they become reality.
_____________
The secondary application process can be daunting, but hopefully, this post helped to elucidate some of the do’s and don’ts when it comes to this part of the medical school application. As always feel free to reach out if you have any questions or if there are more topics you’d like me to cover!
Have a beautiful week!
Find me on: Instagram