MEDICAL SCHOOL SECONDARY ESSAYS

I heard I should complete all of my secondary essays within 24 hours of receiving them.
I heard the secondaries don’t matter.
I heard the secondaries are the most important part of the application.

Needless to say, there are many myths about secondary essays floating around. Alot of them, like those above, are not true. Every piece of your application is important and the most important part is largely dependent on the perspective of the person reviewing your documents. This is why I encourage my clients to put equal effort and thought into everything they submit. Don’t rush your writing; inevitably, this leads to sloppy work and weak documents.

Read my previous posts on secondary essays.

I would also like to congratulate our 2013 medical school applicants who have already received interviews at medical schools.

GETTING INTO RESIDENCY: WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS?

Read my article on the Student Doctor Network about what factors aremost important for getting into residency. Click Here to read the article.

HOW DO I APPROACH SECONDARY ESSAYS?

A client wrote me today and asked: “Dr. Freedman, I am confused about my secondary essays. What should I write about?”

I encourage clients to read secondary essay prompts carefully. Many applicants don’t answer the actual question that is being asked. It is important to say something fresh that isn’t stated elsewhere in your application. Don’t drone on and try to be as succinct as possible. Think of the person reading your application — they have already read through your entries, personal statement, letters of reference and now they are reading your secondaries. This is a tiring process especially when the reviewer may have a huge stack of applications to review in one sitting.

Regarding optional essays, don’t feel that you must complete these. If you have nothing new to add and have done a thorough job representing yourself in the rest of your application, it is OK to leave this space empty. The thing that made me crazy when I screened medical school applications was reading something in a secondary essay that I had already read elsewhere.

Also be sure to proofread your secondary essays. More than once I read a secondary essay when an applicant referenced the wrong medical school rather than the school for which the secondary essay was intended. These applications were screened out because this spoke volumes about the applicant.

MedEdits provides comprehensive assistance for medical school applicants.

Visit: www.MedEdits.com

JULY MEDICAL SCHOOL INTERVIEWS

It may only be July 30th, but MedEdits clients already have medical school interview invitations!!! We congratulate our students and see this as a good sign of things to come!

However, it is still very early in the medical school admissions process so don’t worry if you aren’t at the interview stage yet! We can help you get there.

If you need help preparing for your medical school interview, click here.

Also be sure to read our book, The Medical School Interview.

Click above to schedule your session.

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