med school secondaries

So I'm knee-deep in the process of med school secondary applications. I call them "letters of doom" because they flooded my inbox until I was scared to check my email every morning. Since I applied to over 30 schools, I've been writing a TON of essays, and unfortunately I'm a very slow writer.

I'm not done yet, but here's what I've learned so far...

1. Be organized. Create an Excel spreadsheet to track your progress. Or if you are old-fashioned like me, keep detailed written records. I started with a spreadsheet that my friend made, but I love my good ol' pen-and-notebook combo way better. Here's a screenshot of what I had started:

On separate tabs/pages, keep info about each med school - essay questions, letter of rec requirements, or any special requirements. 

2. Start early! Ok, you are probably tired of hearing the E-word by now. But imagine this...you submit you primary and are thrilled about being able to relax a little. Then you get verified and suddenly you have 30 secondaries sitting in your inbox, eagerly awaiting your love and attention. YES, this is what happened to me. It became impossible for me to turn in my secondaries within 2 weeks of receiving them. 

I had heard people suggest looking up last year's prompts on SDN, but I did not feel very motivated to write for prompts that I wasn't 100% sure would be the same. However, I now realize that many prompts are similar enough that preparing essays beforehand would have been a very good thing to do. Trust me, a VERY good thing to do. 

3. Distinguish yourself. Secondaries are you best chance to make yourself stand out. You can choose what you want to emphasize about yourself. Think about an admissions committee reading tons of applications, and then ask yourself "what can I write that will make them want to get to know me more?" or "how can I show them I will contribute positively to their school?" Many essay prompts will ask these questions directly. But even other essays are great opportunities to weave in your answers to these questions. 

4. Take a nice photo of yourself. Many schools request one, just so if they interview you they can put a face to a name. You could be daring and submit a fun, casual photo, but I would be safe and submit a semi-professional looking one. Wear a nice dress shirt and have a friend take a photo (in good lighting) or get one taken at any place that does passport photos. It shouldn't cost too much.

That's all for now! Maybe when I'm done with this process I'll add a Part 2.

But look out for a future post featuring commons types of secondary essay prompts!

<3 (kathleen)