Most students (44.8%) who took gap years did so for one to two years, 15.2% did so for three to four years, and 8.5% did so for five or more years. Clearly, the takeaway from this study is that more medical students who were accepted for 2021 admission took gap years than those who did…
MEDICAL SCHOOL ADMISSIONS
Four Tips for Displaying Teamwork in Your Application Essays
Teamwork – and its close cousin leadership – are highly prized by graduate programs and universities. But if you haven’t worked in a team on any regular basis, don’t worry! You’ve probably got a number of examples of teamwork in your back pocket that you didn’t even realize were there. Consider the following four ideas…
Start Medical School in 2025: How to Get Accepted This Year [Episode 567]
Show Summary The 2024-25 medical school application cycle is looming. In fact, for many it’s already started. Would you like to learn how to craft a quality application to medical school, a compelling persuasive application? Well, that’s the topic of today’s episode, so tune in. Show Notes Welcome to the 567th episode of Admissions Straight…
It’s A Match 2024
Each year on Match Day, thousands of medical school students and graduates discover where they will receive their specialty training. The matching process, overseen by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), is determined by an algorithm that pairs eligible applicants with available residency training positions. With a record 50,413 applicants for 41,503 PGY-1 and PGY-2…
Admissions Tip: Be Yourself!
Psst! How would you like to know the one thing that admissions committee members really want from applicants? Here it is: they wish – sometimes they even dream – that applicants would stop writing what they imagine the adcom wants to hear. Instead, they want candidates to just be themselves, presented articulately, of course. We…
What to Expect During Medical School
You’re about to embark on four years of learning, working, socializing, and then learning and working some more. The best way to prepare for the long road ahead is to know what to expect. This post will walk you through the various avenues of medical school education, from reviewing what and how you’ll learn to…
Four Ways to Highlight Your Strengths in Your Application Essays
One of the most important pieces of advice you will ever learn regarding your personal statements and application essays is this: Show, don’t tell. It’s a classic writing lesson, and you’ve probably heard it before, perhaps many times. But how do you actually “show, not tell,” in your essays? Simply “telling” is ineffective, because it…
Writing an Essay Lead That Pops
How many times have you sampled the first few lines of a book and decided, “Nah, this isn’t for me”? Whether you picked the book up in a store or library, or downloaded free sample online, you probably made a pretty speedy decision about whether it would hold your interest. The human tendency to rush…
The Best Medical School Letter of Recommendation Advice for 2024
Based on the hundreds of letters of recommendation we’ve read, we’ve identified five key elements that make a recommendation stand out from the rest and help the applicant shine. If you’re writing a recommendation for someone, or you’re drafting your own recommendation for your recommender to edit, these elements will help you structure your letter…
Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis) Secondary Application Essay Tips [2022 – 2023]
Ranked fifth for research by U.S. News & World Report, Washington University (WashU) School of Medicine provides exciting opportunities for medical students to participate in research at the basic science or clinical levels. The school looks for students who have strong ties to their communities – along with excellent communication skills, a dedication to service,…
Writing Your Career Goals Essay
Check out all the blog posts in this series: Your career goals essay demands a laser-like focus. A personal statement, by contrast, allows for some flexibility in its content, though you can – and often should – discuss your career goals. But a career goals essay has a particular and packed agenda. In fact, the…
Finding a Theme for Your Statement of Purpose
Check out all the blog posts in this series: All effective essays have a distinctive theme, and it can take time and careful thought to identify what yours should be. If you go back to the essays we examined in the previous post in this series, you will see that the public health program applicant…
The Comprehensive Guide to Postbac Programs
You know you want to become a doctor, but you also realize that you’re not quite ready for medical school. Whether that’s because your profile isn’t as competitive as it could be, or because you simply just need more time to study basic sciences to determine whether this is truly the right path for you,…
New York University Grossman Medical School Secondary Application Essay Tips [2023-2024]
Located in the bustling heart of lower Manhattan, the New York University (NYU) Grossman School of Medicine is known for its strengths in patient care, medical education, and scientific research. The program is consistently ranked highly by physicians and researchers. In the 2023-2024 U.S. News & World Report ranking, it tied at #10 for research…
Starting Your Application Essay: Three Tips
If you haven’t yet read the other blog posts in this series, go ahead and check them out: Once you have reflected on the questions that helped you identify and develop your essay theme, you should have a clear path to writing an effective essay. Here are three essential steps to help you achieve that…
Revise and Polish Your Application Essays
Check out all the blog posts in this series: You’ve completed your first essay draft – this is a great milestone! Outstanding essays are not sprung into the world on the first try, however, so now it’s time to revise and edit. Here’s how to get the job done: 1. Let your essay rest for…
The Resilience Factor: How Flaws and Failures Can Strengthen Your Application
A speaker recently told a story about traveling in Asia, where he saw a stunning emerald. Enchanted by the stone’s beauty, he decided to buy it on the spot. He returned home and took the emerald to a jeweler for appraisal. The jeweler began examining the stone through his magnifier, and as he did so,…
Harvard Medical School Secondary Application Essay Tips and Deadlines [2023-2024]
The website of Harvard Medical School (HMS) is a treasure trove of information for applicants. Is HMS right for you? It could be if you are, as the school says, “self-motivated, visionary in …[your] ambition, and compassionate in …[your] approach to the art of healing.” HMS highlights the importance of diversity in its Mission Statement,…
The AAMC’s PREview: Everything You Need to Know
The PREview exam is a type of situational judgment test designed to help admissions committees assess applicants’ pre-professional competencies. Unlike quantitative measures, such as the MCAT and one’s GPA, the PREview exam attempts to evaluate the qualitative, or “soft,” skills believed to be just as important for future physicians. Thus, used in conjunction with other…
Proving Character Traits in Your Essays
When you write an application essay or statement of purpose, you’re trying to accomplish two equally vital goals at once. First, you need to establish your worthiness for acceptance at your target school. However, as part of that task, you need to show the adcom that you have the character traits that their program values….
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