Medical schools send out secondary applications to prospective students in the second step of the application process. They serve the purpose of identifying candidates best suited for admission to a particular medical school. Most secondary applications require an applicant to write one to five short essays on specific questions.

The majority of highly competitive medical schools use secondary applications. Some schools, such as University of Michigan Medical School and Harvard Medical School, send a secondary application to all their applicants. Other schools prefer to review the primary AMCAS application first, then send secondary applications to selected students.

Medical schools use secondary essays to learn more about the personal characteristics of applicants. The information collected from the secondary application is combined with the rest of the application, in order to present a complete and holistic view of the applicant. Ideally, a secondary essay should complement the other parts of the application seamlessly without any overlap. It is important for the secondary essays to thoroughly answer the supplied question; which will accomplish the goal of presenting the applicant as a highly capable future physician.

Candidates are advised to try as much as possible to submit their primary AMCAS applications as early as possible. AMCAS typically begins accepting applications in early June. Medical schools review applications on a rolling basis. For this reason, earlier applications have a higher likelihood of receiving a secondary application. Therefore, medical schools are more likely to admit early applicants.

Medical schools typically issue secondary applications from June to December. However, the majority medical school secondary essays occur between July and August. Candidates should aim to return their secondary applications within 2-3 weeks of receipt. Medical schools are most likely to grant interviews to applicants with timely and high quality medical school secondary essays. Therefore, you should work quickly and efficiently on your secondary applications.

Medical schools use secondary applications to learn more about a candidate. A well written secondary essay will increase the likelihood of being invited for a medical school interview. Therefore, it is very important to produce well-composed and effective secondary medical school essays. The editors at Code Blue Essays are very experienced with the medical school application process. We will help you write exemplary secondary essays so that you will achieve acceptance to the school of your choice.