Hidden Secrets

You have spent weeks, if not months, choosing exactly what you want Admissions Committees to know about you by selecting precise language and specific attributes to highlight in your AMCAS and Secondaries. You may have spent less time, however, contemplating what you don’t want Admissions Committees to know about you.

Now go ahead…Google yourself. According to careerbuilder.com, 35 percent of employment recruiters have come across compromising info that caused them not to hire a candidate. Like employment recruiters, Admissions Committees members are also likely to use Google and Facebook to dig up skeletons in your closet. Given that Admissions Committees frequently have medical student members, you are very likely to be searched for at some point during this process.

When you Google, look for text as well as images. Ask friends whose tagged images of you appear on Google to kindly detag you or remove the image; it will take weeks for a Google search to reflect this change. If you cannot bear the thought of deactivating your Facebook account completely (my recommendation for the duration of interview season), at least change your name or buff up your privacy settings.

Additional tips: Sign up for Google alerts, which informs you when your name comes up on a search. Socialmention.com and samepoint.com also allow you to search social networks, which Google may have missed.

Interview Bound

Once you’ve submitted your Secondaries, planning for interviews is the next step. For men and women alike, two items are essential: a professional suit and a leather binder. You have likely been brainstorming about your interview attire, but a leather binder may catch you by surprise.
 
A leather binder is perfect for carrying the essentials you will need on interview day. It is better than a briefcase, shoulder bag, or purse because it looks professional, is small and easily portable, and will allow you to keep important documents crisp and wrinkle free. Non-essential belongings can be left in the Admissions Office (the secretary will always be willing to store a suitcase and coat for the day), at your hotel’s front desk, or with the person with whom you stayed.
 
Here’s what belongs in your binder:

• Copies of your personal statement and application
• A curriculum vitae (CV) or resume that concisely reflects the information from your application
• A written application update, if applicable
• Materials from the Admissions office (maps, schedules, etc. distributed upon arrival)
• Cash, identification, boarding pass, metro card, etc.
• Blank Thank you notes
• Ink pen 

On the interview day, your binder will also be the place where you store the business cards you request from each interviewer.

I purchased my binder at my college’s bookstore for about $40, and it was one of the best investments I made during interview season. I recommend one with a zipper. Here’s an example from Amazon.

Forbidden Fruit

Among Secondary Application questions, the “ethical dilemma” is by far the most challenging. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by tackling this question, and many applicants struggle to choose a topic. My list of cautions is below.

1. Brevity is the soul of wit. Your response should not be long. Character or word limits are exactly that: limits. Do not interpret them as guidelines or suggestions about length. Admissions committees are simply assessing your ability to first identify an ethical dilemma and then behave appropriately in the face of it. The less you say, the less likely you are to dig a deep, deep hole.

2. Avoid “overshare.” Admissions committees do not want to know intimately personal details about you. This is a balancing act. If you depersonify the essay entirely, it becomes less interesting because it is no longer about you. That said, use care. Essay readers will be rightly skeptical if they find you positioning yourself smack-dab in the middle of a questionable situation. Similarly, avoid overtly controversial topics, particularly lifestyle decisions.

3. Do not be the hero. The essay does not need to be a story about your intervening in an unethical act. Enough said.

4. Do not attempt profundity. Your essay is not a philosophy dissertation. You do not need to be profound; you simply need to demonstrate good judgment.

5. Finally, do not choose academic dishonesty as your topic. This topic is so worn out that some schools will even forbid it in their instructions to the applicant. If they do not, assume they thought you would know better. Everyone has seen cheating, and studies show that most students themselves have probably done it at some time. If this is the only topic that comes to mind, it suggests to Admissions Committees that you may not be observant enough to identify the ethical dilemmas that occur daily in your life, and if you’re not observant, you won’t be a good physician. See Point 4. You do not need to be profound. It is better to choose a small, insignificant dilemma than to choose cheating, plagiarism, etc.

For inspiration, try reading a few entries from the collection of Ethicist columns from the New York Times Magazine. Times Magazine columnists also answer ethical questions on this free podcast: NYT: The Ethicist Podcast.

Then, re-read Point 5: do not plagiarize.

Go Forth and Excel

Although receiving and submitting Secondaries may seem stressful, interview season is likely to be even more hectic.  Now is the time to plan ahead to make interview season much easier: Create a spreadsheet.  

A well-made spreadsheet will streamline the process and help to make important details – like where you’ll be sleeping, and whether you’ve thanked your interviews – easily accessible and less forgettable.  You may prefer to put dates into the empty cells or simply check marks.  More on thanking your interviews in a future entry.