Medical school re-applicants: your secondary application

medical school admissions secondary applications
By Seth A.

Writing essays for secondary applications can take up a lot of time, especially if you’re writing each essay from scratch for each school. Still, an almost universal essay prompt for those who have applied before is: “Tell us how your application has changed since you last applied.” 

You’ve Done Something, so Tell Them What It Means to You

This is your opportunity to elaborate on your experiences since you last applied and to show the committee how you’ve grown. Unless you sat on your hands for the last year, you’ve likely done something to change your application. So, it’s time to explain your work! Whether you have been continuing to do research, traveling the world, or volunteering at home, you have had meaningful experiences that have almost certainly changed your perspective on any number of things. Share briefly about the wonderful things you saw, the tasks you accomplished, the people you met, and how it has made you better for it. 

Focus on Your Previously Weaker Areas

Think back to the last application cycle: what were the things you wish you could’ve had more of in your application or could have changed? What do you think (or what were you told) would have made you an even better applicant? That’s what this next part of the essay should be about. You’ve told them a few things you’ve done and some ways you’ve grown as a person; now it’s time to tell them how you’ve grown as an applicant

This is your chance to show the committee that you’ve used your time to ensure that you are prepared for medical school, or at least more so than before. If you lacked research experience the first time, did you spend the last six months working in a lab? Tell them that. Did you need more clinical experience, so you became an EMT or nurse aide? Tell them that. Brag on your accomplishments a bit here; you’ve earned it. 

Customize: Talk to the School

The third thing you should tackle in this prompt deals with the specific school at hand. The school asking you for a secondary application has a focus: research, primary care, educational innovation, etc. Use that to your advantage; talk briefly about how you've improved in that domain specifically. Take the “standard” essay you built above and mold it slightly to fit that mission. Sell yourself as an applicant for their specific program based on the work you've done since last applying.

Summary

This secondary essay is your opportunity to showcase how you’ve improved your application as a person and as an applicant. Use some of this space to focus on how you’ve used your time to enhance your application and, where you can, customize your essay to show how you’ve made yourself a better applicant for the specific program. 

Comments

topicTopics
academics study skills MCAT medical school admissions SAT expository writing college admissions English MD/PhD admissions GMAT LSAT GRE writing strategy chemistry physics math biology ACT graduate admissions language learning law school admissions test anxiety interview prep academic advice MBA admissions premed homework help personal statements AP exams career advice creative writing MD study schedules summer activities Common Application history test prep philosophy computer science secondary applications organic chemistry economics supplements PSAT admissions coaching grammar law statistics & probability psychology ESL research 1L CARS SSAT covid-19 legal studies logic games reading comprehension dental admissions mathematics USMLE Spanish calculus engineering parents Latin verbal reasoning DAT case coaching excel mentorship political science AMCAS French Linguistics Tutoring Approaches academic integrity chinese DO MBA coursework PhD admissions Social Advocacy admissions advice biochemistry classics diversity statement genetics geometry kinematics medical school mental health quantitative reasoning skills time management work and activities Anki English literature IB exams ISEE MD/PhD programs algebra algorithms art history artificial intelligence astrophysics athletics business business skills careers cold emails data science internships letters of recommendation poetry presentations resume science social sciences software engineering study abroad tech industry trigonometry 2L 3L Academic Interest DMD EMT FlexMed Fourier Series Greek Health Professional Shortage Area Italian Lagrange multipliers London MD vs PhD MMI Montessori National Health Service Corps Pythagorean Theorem Python STEM Sentence Correction Step 2 TMDSAS Zoom acids and bases amino acids analysis essay architecture argumentative writing art brain teaser campus visits cantonese capacitors capital markets cell biology central limit theorem chemical engineering chess chromatography class participation climate change clinical experience community service constitutional law consulting cover letters curriculum demonstrated interest dental school distance learning electricity and magnetism enrichment european history executive function finance first generation student freewriting fun facts functions gap year genomics harmonics health policy history of medicine history of science hybrid vehicles hydrophobic effect ideal gas law induction information sessions institutional actions integrated reasoning intern international students investing investment banking lab reports logic mandarin chinese mba mechanical engineering medical physics meiosis microeconomics mitosis music music theory neurology neuroscience office hours operating systems organization pedagogy phrase structure rules plagiarism pre-dental proofs pseudocode psych/soc quantum mechanics resistors resonance revising scholarships school selection simple linear regression slide decks sociology software stem cells stereochemistry study spots synthesis teaching technical interviews transfer typology units virtual interviews writer's block