Secondary Applications

This post is not just for students who are applying in this cycle and in the midst of the application process, but also for the pre-med students who will be applying in upcoming years. There’s no need to wait to be surprised when the time comes to get into secondary applications. Read this post today!

Once you’ve submitted your initial AMCAS application (the primary application), the fun is just beginning. There’s another big step before getting invited to interviews and receiving acceptances. That step is receiving, completing, and submitting the secondary applications. Unlike the primary application which is the same for each applicant regardless of where you’re applying, the secondary application is school-specific. Generally, the secondary application will include biographical data, your academic history (yes, even though you already put this in AMCAS) and short essays.

Getting a secondary application…

You must meet the school’s minimum requirements to get a secondary application. These include their minimum MCAT score and GPA, required courses, etc. When you’re applying to schools, you need to know their minimum requirements in advance and make smart decisions about where you’re applying to. Don’t just give away money! Can God make a way out of no way and put you in your dream medical school that you don’t meet the minimum requirements for? Yes. Does your AMCAS pool need to be full of these schools? NOPE. [In all caps for the people in the back]. I don’t believe God wants you wasting money either. It’s okay if you want to include one or two “long shots” but be wise about what you’re paying for and subjecting yourself to. The Medical School Admissions Requirement (MSAR) is $36. I think it is a good use of $36 to have these requirements all in one place. Or, for free, you can review the websites of the schools you apply to/plan to apply to and will likely find the same information there. Remember, the MSAR is FREE if you’re a part of the Fee Assistance Program. 

Just because you meet minimum requirements from your AMCAS application doesn’t necessarily mean you will automatically get a secondary application; but you likely will. After all the secondary application gives a more individualized view of the applicant and is usually required to make your application “complete” for screening.

Fees associated with secondary applications…

On the low end, secondary application fees are around $30; these are few and far between. On the high end, they’re around $250; this isn’t the case everywhere. On average, the secondary application is around $100. For each school that you’re submitting it to. So, realizing that this can really get expensive, we want to make sure you’re submitted the best secondary application possible!

The essays…

Some schools may only have 2 or 3 essay questions, others may have many more…it all depends. Usually you are limited to 500-750 characters for your response. They don’t want a book, just an answer to the prompt. The questions aren’t trivial and your responses to them shouldn’t be either. Your responses to these questions are what members of the admissions committees will take into consideration to determine whether or not you will be invited to an interview. In looking through some medical school websites while writing this, I realize that several schools actually post their secondary questions on their website! This is a great way to get a jump on answering them. Many of the questions will be generic and, in some form, seen from multiple schools. Some of the common questions I’ve seen are: 

—Why you’re attracted to that school or any ties you have to the school or geographic area

—How you would add diversity to the school. (and you better KILL that one!)

—Recounting a medical experience that you’ve had

—Something important that you’ve learned from a service experience

—A challenging situation you have overcome

—How COVID impacted your application (that one is coming on every. single. secondary. application. You can go ahead and start writing your response now.)

—Anything else you want the committee to know about you

Secondary applications also give you a chance to add anything that has come about since you submitted your AMCAS. So if you assumed a leadership position, got a job, had more shadowing experiences, or published research since you hit SEND on your AMCAS application, you can still let them know about it.

Re-using responses…

Because some of these questions will be similar, I think it’s okay to right out a response and re-purpose it for each school. I mean there are some things you can only say one way. One school won’t know how you responded to another. BUT if you do this, be sure that you aren’t just copying and pasting sentences to piece-meal something together. Proofread it several times to make sure it makes sense. And make sure that if you “reuse” your responses that you don’t have any school-specific information. That would NOT be a good look and would be a waste of your money.

Deadlines…

There will be a deadline to return the secondary application, likely sometime in December or January. Lord, please don’t wait until the deadline to submit your application! Just like the AMCAS application, you need to get these completed and submitted as soon as possible. Not so soon that you don’t have time to write good responses and get them proofread a few times. We’re not turning in trash here, but we’re not wasting time either.

Be organized!

You probably know by now that I believe that planning ahead and keeping things organized will benefit you significantly during your applications process. You don’t want to miss a deadline or add any extra stress trying to remember login info and what school wants what information, etc. You really need to stay on top of these secondary applications. Over in the Pre-Med Perks section of the website (and here) is a nice spreadsheet I created that you can use to keep everything in one place!

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Whether you’re applying this cycle or in future years, I hope this post helped answer some questions you may have about secondary applications. Remember, we’re not in the business of donating money to medical schools, so be sure to submit complete applications in a timely manner. 

Do you have any tips or thoughts to share with others regarding secondary applications? Or do you have any concerns or questions? If so, feel free to leave them in the comments section below or send me a private email!