After you submit your AMCAS application, you will begin to receive secondary essay prompts. Some schools send the prompts automatically, while others are the result of a pre-screening process. It may seem overwhelming at first, but many of the schools will use at least some of the same prompts and you can start preparing now for some of the most common question types.
But first, get yourself organized.
With many different schools, prompts, and a quick turnaround time, we cannot overemphasize the importance of setting up a system that will work for you. Pick what you like, a Word or Excel file, calendar reminders, file folders, a legal pad. But make sure you keep an overarching list that includes the name of each school you’ve applied to, secondary essay prompts, submission dates, and status.
You’ll also want a way to organize your essay responses so that you can efficiently retrieve and recycle content when possible. Once you have final drafts, we recommend that you keep copies organized in folders by school and by question type, e.g., a Harvard Medical School folder and a Diversity Essay folder. This way, if you receive a diversity prompt from another school, you will easily be able to access a final version you’ve used, make any necessary updates (e.g., wordcount, school name, etc.), and then save it again with updated names in both folders.
Check out our blog and/or follow us on Instagram for more application tips!
But first, get yourself organized.
With many different schools, prompts, and a quick turnaround time, we cannot overemphasize the importance of setting up a system that will work for you. Pick what you like, a Word or Excel file, calendar reminders, file folders, a legal pad. But make sure you keep an overarching list that includes the name of each school you’ve applied to, secondary essay prompts, submission dates, and status.
You’ll also want a way to organize your essay responses so that you can efficiently retrieve and recycle content when possible. Once you have final drafts, we recommend that you keep copies organized in folders by school and by question type, e.g., a Harvard Medical School folder and a Diversity Essay folder. This way, if you receive a diversity prompt from another school, you will easily be able to access a final version you’ve used, make any necessary updates (e.g., wordcount, school name, etc.), and then save it again with updated names in both folders.
Check out our blog and/or follow us on Instagram for more application tips!
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