Application Essay Tips for Medical School

Application essays are among the most important and challenging part of your medical school application. This can be as crucial as your other application requirements. If you do well with your application essay, there’s a good chance you’ll be invited for an interview. University of Arkansas shares some basic tips on writing a medical school application essay. Below are some tips that you have to keep in mind:

Content of medical school application essays

The content of your essay should be about things concerning your application, be it experience or passion.

According to the University of Arkansas:

The question, “WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE A DOCTOR?” begins with “WHY YOU ?” What personal qualities do you possess that are important in the practice of medicine and the treatment of patients? You should indicate that you understand the challenges and the dedication needed to practice medicine. Who has influenced you and why? What do you value? What are you passionate about?

Make sure that you give specific and honest response. Avoid cliches and trite reasoning that the admissions office has heard from thousands of applicants before. Be unique with your answers, and the best way to do this is by being honest on what inspired you to become a medical specialist. Be creative on how you weave your story.

Another tip says:

You should also answer the question, “WHY A DOCTOR?” There are many challenging professions where you can help people, especially in health-care so you need to specifically address why you want to be a physician. How did you come to this decision? What experiences have you had to confirm that this is a good decision for you? It is not meant to be list of what you have done rather what you learned about others and yourself from those experiences

Based on this question above, you also have to avoid answering with cliche such as “I want to be a doctor to change the world”. You can do better than that. Give fresh ideas and unique perspectives to becoming a doctor. This will earn you some points from application essay readers.

Length of the admissions essay for med school

The length of medical school application essays is limited. This is why you have to make sure that you choose the details that you plan to include. The AMCAS, for instance, limits its personal comments section to a one-page single spaced essay.

Here’s an excerpt from the same article:

The AMCAS Personal Comments section for allopathic medical (M.D. granting) schools gives you about one page, single-spaced (5300 characters). It will be construed as arrogant if you do not full advantage of space allowed and write a brief one to two paragraph personal statement. Members of the admissions committee may assume that you think the personal essay section is unimportant because you know the rest of your application is stellar, or may assume that you lack significant experiences in your life to write about or you have failed to learn anything from your experiences. Overall, this might indicate to them that you are unmotivated, you procrastinated, or that you just don’t care.

You have to keep in mind that your essay can make your application stand out. This is why you have to make it notable and as sensible as possible. It has to be persuasive enough to keep readers interested as you highlight your qualifications. This way, your application will be given due consideration for what it’s truly worth.

Here are some suggestions from Edu in Review on how to make your essay more outstanding:

Proofread and polish. Would you go to a job interview with a big stain on your shirt, or with dirt all over your face? Of course not. And typos and grammatical errors in your essay make an equally bad impression. To make sure your essay is flawless, get someone (or several someones) to look it over carefully – a parent, a guidance counselor, a brainy older sister, or anyone with a good sense of language. Don’t just rely on spell check – it’s a good start, but it isn’t enough.

When you write medical school application essays or statements of purpose, make sure the content is exemplary and also ensure that you adhere to the rules given by the school regarding then length of the essay. The admissions committee will waste no time reading an essay that failed to meet the standards. They can quickly move on to other application essays that deserve their time for further evaluation. So don’t blow any chance you’ve got. Take time to make it the best essay you can come up with.

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