Secondary Application

So I have finished drafting my responses to the secondary application essay prompts.  Need to have them reviewed and edited, polished and ready in a few days.  I also need to get a picture of myself and write a check for the secondary application fee. 

The application fee is quite controversial.  While some schools aggressively weed out applicants based on their primary application, and only request secondary applications from candidates they are likely to interview, many schools use the secondary application as an easy money-maker.  Since the schools charge anywhere from $50 to $100+ for the honor of sending them a picture and a few essays, and the typical school has thousands of applicants, an unscrupulous school can pull in an impressive chunk of change for minimal work.  Sure, there is effort involved in reviewing the applications, and they have every right to charge a fee to process the secondary application, but how often are the secondaries really necessary?

Schools should only request secondary applications from those they are likely to want to interview.  This doesn't mean they should base their first screening only on GPA and MCAT, but the primary application consists of MCAT score, GPA, full transcripts of all college-level work attempted, a listing of work experiences and extra curriculars including research and volunteering, family history and income, and the personal statement essay.  It is hard to justify charging an applicant a fee by saying "sure their GPA and MCAT are low, and they don't have any extraordinary life experiences to compensate, but you know, their essay in response to "how will you adapt to a changing medical landscape?" could really wow us and make us want to interview them."  It is virtual fraud to collect these fees when the chances of interviewing the candidate are in the sub-10% range.

The good part of the secondary application is the letter of recommendation system.  AMCAS has an applicant enter the information for letters of recommendation into the primary application when it is being filled out.  They do not, however, need to receive the letters before the primary application is made available to your schools.  You therefore have some extra time for your college to write a pre-medical committee letter, or your professors to write individual letters before they have to be in.  Medical schools review letters of recommendation as part of the secondary application, so their review is not delayed, and they can simply access the letters online when they receive your secondary application.

The important part, though, is having passed the first weeding-out of the application process.  I was fairly confident that I would not be chucked immediately this cycle, since my MCAT and GPA are slightly above average at the single school I am applying to, but receiving the secondary application request is comforting none-the-less.  Sure, I will probably not make it in this year, but at least I was not summarily rejected.  Now I get to wait and worry about whether I will be invited to interview.