Congratulations! Your primary application for medical school was received successfully. Unfortunately, although we wish you could relax and give yourself a pat on the back, your medical school secondary applications are currently being processed.
Your opportunity to explain to the medical schools of your choice why you want to enroll in their program in specific is through your secondary applications. This is your chance to impress the admissions committee, highlight your unique interest in their program, and emphasize how you will mainly benefit the incoming class.
The secondary application process can be more arduous than finishing your primary application.
But do not worry! This article will guide you through your secondary application to medical school.
What is a Secondary Application for Medical Schools?
The AAMC will send your application to your chosen medical schools on your behalf after your AMCAS application has been submitted, processed, and confirmed. At that point, you will start getting requests from colleges asking you to finish secondary applications.
Every applicant who submitted a primary application will likely receive a secondary application, regardless of their likelihood of being admitted.
However, a few student-friendly institutions will examine your GPA and MCAT results to ensure you satisfy their minimal admissions requirements before sending a secondary application.
Colleges frequently reveal the kind of student they seek when asking secondary questions. You may possess the qualities they are looking for in a candidate if you provide them with effective responses to their inquiries.
Unlike the AMCAS application, secondary applications are unique to each school and concentrate on their particular beliefs and interests. Therefore, so many queries regarding how to handle these secondary essays are not surprising.
How to Prepare for Your Secondary Application to Medical School?
Waiting for your secondary application could be nerve-wracking. While you will most likely receive one, you do not know when it will come.
Hence, it is a must that you should be prepared with your secondary application to medical school no matter what.
Here are a few reminders and guidelines as you prepare for your secondary application to medical school.
Be Ready to Receive Your Secondaries Right After Your Primary Application
Your intent to apply to a school is instantly communicated to that school by AMCAS. In addition, many medical schools automatically send secondaries to all applicants; some even do so when they get this notice from AMCAS.
This explains why some of you might get secondary applications from particular institutions even though your AMCAS application status says that it is still in the processing queue.
Send Your Secondary Application ONLY When You Are Asked
You should not send your secondary application until formally asked to. However, in an unwise effort to advance their application, some candidates discover links and questions listed on online forums and submit-secondary materials early.
Medical colleges disapprove of submitting a secondary application before an invitation because it is poor application etiquette. This is the same as arriving at a party without being asked. That is someone you do not want to be.
Keep Up With All of Your Communication, Including Email and Postal Mail
Large batches of emails that medical colleges frequently send to applicants may be seen as spam by email servers' filters. Although it may seem inconvenient, we advise developing the practice of routinely checking your spam folder while you are applying.
Watch out for your mailbox's size limit to prevent email message bouncebacks.
Read Ahead
Past essay questions are sometimes accessible on the websites of medical schools.
If they are offered, you can start by developing essay themes and deciding how you want to relate your experiences to their prompts.
The school's purpose, values, and other details are all available on its website, which you should also visit. Therefore, you should know all pertinent information regarding the school you intend to enroll in. Understanding this knowledge is essential for passing secondary exams and will be helpful during your interview for medical school.
Set Your Priorities
Secondary applications should be your top priority, even though they can be tedious and time-consuming. Therefore, you should order them following the importance you accord your potential programs.
It is doubtful that you will be invited for an interview if your secondary is not finished.
Therefore, you should prioritize the application for the school you are most interested in or a "safe" school where your chances of acceptance are greater.10 Tips for Medical School Secondary Applications
Secondary applications for medical school are meant to give medical schools more details about applicants than what is contained in the primary application. This can include transcripts, reference letters, and personal statements.
Medical schools use these extra details to assess applicants further and choose the ones who are the best fit for their program.
Completing secondary applications can be a challenging but crucial stage in the admissions process to medical school.
Using these suggestions, you can convince medical schools of your strengths and interests and raise your odds of acceptance.
Answer the Question Directly
Instead of primary applications, secondary applications ask particular questions about your objectives, experiences, and viewpoints on various subjects, such as your choice to attend medical school.
The admissions committee read your secondary essays to see how they add to the information in your main application.
Your secondary application is another test to see if you can adequately comprehend instructions (this time, specific instructions from the school), and concentrate on responding to the question posed.
Concentrate on New Content
Secondaries are a fantastic opportunity to elaborate on aspects that received less attention in your primary application. But, of course, you have to put in a little work.
You might want to mention some research expertise in your secondary applications if, for instance, your personal statement discusses a primary care experience.
Examining how research has deepened or broadened your interests would demonstrate that you are a more diverse applicant than your initial application indicated.
Cite Meaningful Experiences
One experience could help you develop teamwork abilities, allow you to exercise leadership, and better understand how to forge meaningful patient-caregiver relationships.
Additionally, they teach you to advocate for those who need your care and teach you how to deal with access and resource problems.
By highlighting the elements of your experience that best demonstrate your values, interests, and goals, you can help schools understand how you fit with the medical school's values.
Even simpler to customize are more all-encompassing inquiries, such as asking about a difficulty you have encountered. You continuously encounter problems, so choosing the approach that will help you express my viewpoint the best is simple.
Be Highly Organized
Create a spreadsheet or document to keep track of all the application links, essay questions, passwords, usernames, due dates, and other details related to supplementary applications.
You can quickly track all the data required to access your secondary applications in this manner.
You should also have a method in place for monitoring the progress of your secondary applications. You do not want to put in all that effort only to neglect to press the application's "submit" button.Be Ready With Set Answers for Common Questions
The most typical (and frequently most significant) questions for the secondary entry essay are:
"What distinguishes you as special? What different varieties will you bring to our school?"
"Explain a particular struggle you have faced and how you overcame it."
"What makes you want to enroll in X school?"
Before receiving secondaries from colleges, spend much time answering these two questions because you must do well.
Once satisfied with your responses, you can reuse them at different institutions.
If you are having trouble responding to the first question, consider asking yourself: "How can I meaningfully contribute to this medical school community regarding social, educational, and scientific endeavors?"
Customize Your Answers
It is crucial to customize your responses for each institution despite the temptation to copy and paste your answers from one application to the next.
Demonstrate your research and sincere interest in enrolling in that specific program.
Align and modify your answers depending on the school's mission and values. Remember that each medical school is different.
Do Not Hurry
While rushing to finish your secondary application can be a tension reliever, it may not be the best move for your chances of admission.
Do not succumb to the urge to complete your secondary as soon as possible. Instead, give yourself at least three to four days to complete a backup.
Even though you will have a lot of applications to complete, it would be terrific if you could create one of high quality sooner. However, do not sacrifice quality for expediency.
Rewrite and revise your secondary school work several times if it is for a school you really want to attend. Then, again, request the help of friends and advisers you trust to read your essays.
Work on Several Applications Simultaneously
Filling out and submitting the secondary application for each school separately is the precise and customary method. This is not the most excellent strategy, in my opinion. While we agree that you should focus on one secondary school at the moment, we do not believe you should submit the application immediately.
While you work on the applications for other institutions, save it and leave it sitting there.
Please return to the completed secondary and reread/edit it a day or two later. Between finishing an essay and submitting it, you might come up with fresh or improved concepts. Taking a break in between changes also lets you spot mistakes you might not have noticed previously.
Proofread
Do not allow careless writing errors to jeopardize your chances of getting to medical school.
Do not substitute a different school name if you recycle answers. This is a common mistake that most students commit. Do not be one of them.
Additionally, be mindful of your grammar and spelling mistakes. If you must hire an editor to proofread your essays, do so.
Submit Promptly
The bulk of medical schools accept students on a rolling basis. Therefore, sending your application as soon as possible would be in your best interest.
Think about all the other applicants who might be in front of you in the review queue if you file tomorrow rather than today.
Maintain your motivation, take the initiative, and finish those additional applications as quickly as possible without compromising quality.
Common Questions and Prompts on Secondary Applications for Medical Schools
Every medical school has a specific secondary application that differs from the main application and includes a few focused questions.
Admissions committees typically look for responses to these themes, though the particular questions and quantity will vary based on the school:
Additional FAQs – Secondary Application Medical Schools: Complete Guide
Will I Get a Secondary From Every School I Applied To?
Typically, a secondary is not deemed "complete" until the application has been submitted, so the application will not be reviewed until then.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that some schools review applicants before sending out secondary applications.
Still, you should anticipate receiving a secondary from most medical schools you apply to.
How Much is Secondary Application to Medical School?
For secondary applications, many medical colleges charge an additional fee. Most of these fees are around USD 100 per school, but based on the school's reputation, they could cost as much as USD 200.
Secondary application fees are paid directly to the schools instead of primary application fees, which are sent to AMCAS (or AACOMAS or TMDSAS, based on where you apply).
Is There a Deadline When Submitting Secondary Applications?
For instance, it might state that you have two weeks to submit the application after receiving it.
Be rigorous with yourself and work hard to complete the secondaries as soon as possible, even if the deadline is not for a while.
Getting your information in sooner is always preferable to later when applying to medical school, as with all other parts of the process.
Try making a spreadsheet with the essay subjects, the due dates, the relevant websites, and the login details for each site to aid in organization. These parts are straightforward to mix up, mainly if you receive many secondaries at once. The secret is organization.