Medical School Archives - Page 3 of 6

Ten Tips for Your “Why Medicine?” AMCAS Personal Statement

Cartoon of a young Asian female medical school applicant seated at a desk, pondering her AMCAS personal statement. Above her, thought bubbles depict her various experiences: conducting research in a lab, assisting in a clinical environment, and experiencing personal growth while reading under a tree. The scene conveys her contemplation on how these experiences answer the 'why medicine?' question for her application — How do you write the most important essay of your life?

As spring is upon us, a new crop of aspiring doctors begins their medical school application process! At the heart of your application is your AMCAS Personal Statement, which asks you a simple question: why medicine? During our 15 years of helping hundreds of medical school applicants earn admission to their dream schools, we have worked with clients to help them craft unique responses to this question that resonate with their experiences and come across as genuine, compelling, and personal. Here are some tips for you on how you should think about -and respond to- this question.

Start with your personal story: The best way to make your response original is to use moments, challenges, successes, and failures from your life. Your personal story is a unique and powerful tool for communicating why you are drawn to medicine. This can include experiences you’ve had with healthcare providers, exposure to medical challenges faced by loved ones or your community, or a moment when you first realized your passion for medicine.
Highlight your experiences: Discuss any relevant experiences you’ve had in the medical field, such as volunteering at a hospital, shadowing a healthcare provider, or participating in a healthcare-related research project. Discuss what you learned from these experiences and how they have shaped your perspective on medicine.
To avoid your essay being a cliché, strive from depth in your personal statement, not breadth. What this means is getting very specific about a particular experience -an EXACT moment or conversation- and how it shaped you. An exercise that I like to do with clients is to say, “if you have to take me to a precise moment in a time machine, where would you set the dial?” This forces you to have a specific entry point to a story that would help me understand it so that you might say, “on my third day at the clinic, I met Fred, whose leg infection had gone septic…” instead of saying, “my time volunteering at Detroit Mercy opened my eyes.” Specificity is the difference between a well-told story and a boring one.

Emphasize your understanding of the field: Show that you have a deep understanding of the field of medicine and the challenges that healthcare providers face. This can include discussing current issues in the healthcare system, such as access to care, the opioid epidemic, or the impact of social determinants of health. BUT, only do this if you in fact have the insight and experience to do so. Faking it will be easily detected, if not by the reader then certainly by a future interviewer who asks you about it!

Express your passion: Share your passion for medicine and what motivates you to pursue a career in this field. Explain why you believe that medicine is more than just a job, but a calling to help others and make a difference in the world. If there is a single idea that you want to convey, it is positive excitement. People are attracted to optimism and energy, so find a way to convey that.

Demonstrate your commitment: Show that you are committed to the field of medicine and that you understand the sacrifices and dedication required to succeed. Discuss your long-term goals and how they align with your passion for medicine. For every goal you seek to identify, first ask yourself, “what experiences have I had that prepared for pursuing this goal?” and “what about my past explains this goal?” and “what about my past justifies my belief that I can attain this goal?” Answering these three questions will help your aspirations come across as more believable and, importantly, allow you to SHOW your commitment to medicine by reference to things you’ve done.

Be specific: Instead of simply stating that you want to become a doctor, be specific about why you are interested in a particular specialty or aspect of medicine. Discuss what attracts you to this area of medicine and what you hope to achieve in this field.

Be honest: Be honest about your motivations for pursuing a career in medicine. Don’t try to sound like someone you’re not or exaggerate your experiences or achievements. Admissions committees can usually tell when someone is being insincere. This goes beyond lying, of course. Essays that are built purely around the idea of “tell the reader what they want to hear” usually feel hollow and insincere and, perhaps worst of all, come across as cliché.

Edit and revise: Make sure your response is well-written, free of typos and grammatical errors, and that it clearly communicates your passion for medicine. Ask someone you trust to review your response and provide feedback.

Address any weaknesses: If there are any red flags in your application, such as a low GPA or MCAT score, take the opportunity in your response to the “why medicine?” question to address these weaknesses and explain how you have overcome them. Remember, you can’t just avoid talking about bad moments and hope that the AdCom somehow misses it. They won’t. Thus, if it comes up in the meeting about your application, you’ll want to be sure that you frame it.
Here is a video that I did to help MBA applicants, and though the examples I use are business-related, the core ideas are the same. Or, if you want the “TLDR” version without the specifics, check this out!

Be yourself: Finally, be yourself in your response. Admissions committees are looking for applicants who are passionate, knowledgeable, and well-suited to the field of medicine. Your unique perspective and experiences are what make you a strong candidate, so be sure to let your personality shine through in your response.

All told, the “why medicine?” question is an opportunity to demonstrate your passion for the field, your understanding of the challenges and rewards of a career in medicine, and your commitment to pursuing a career in this field. By following these tips, you can craft a compelling response that will help you stand out in the medical school application process.

For more help with your personal statement, check us out at Gurufi.com. Our personal statement editors and consultants have decades of experience helping clients get into top medical schools. Our specialty is helping you craft compelling personal statements, Work & Activities sections, secondaries, and residency letters that move the needle in your admissions process! For questions, shoot us an email at service@gurufi.com. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Five Topics to Avoid in Your Medical School Personal Statement

Two cartoon medical school applicants in white coats cross a rickety wooden bridge over a river of lava, where playful monsters representing topics like alcohol use, religion, and politics emerge. The applicants hold their application papers and look anxiously towards a stylized medical school building in the distance. The scene is light-hearted and colorful, set in a fantastical landscape. — Steering Clear of Pitfalls: These Medical School Applicants Navigate the Perilous Path to Admission, Humorously Avoiding Topics Like Politics and Alcohol Use

We’re deep into April, and as medical school applicants begin thinking about their personal statements in earnest, we at Gurufi are putting the final touches on our medical school application video series. Every year, we help scores of applicants earn admission into top medical schools and residency programs.

In a recent post, I talked about the worst topic to use as your medical school personal statement introduction. Though I think that some topics are more complicated and fraught than others, I don’t usually give clients hard “no-go” topics. Rather, it’s about thinking about framing, context, and delivery. Another way to think about it is that these aren’t “banned” topics, per se; they’re just topics that have higher degrees of difficulty. Here are some topics to think twice about as you approach your personal statement.

Religion and politics. Don’t ever proselytize or make assumptions about what the reader’s politics are. Faith can be a vital part of many applicants’ lives, but to the extent that you bring it up, do it in a way that isn’t gratuitous, and make sure that you embrace a spirit of inclusivity. Similarly, it’s becoming increasingly common for people with backgrounds in politics, policy, or advocacy to transition into medical careers. As you talk about your political engagements, focus on what you hope to accomplish and avoid denigrating other political positions.

I have noticed that applicants with policy and politics backgrounds are becoming increasingly common in medical school applications, and they’re having a lot of success in their applications! Indeed, having helped many people write personal statements that emphasize the intersection of policy and medicine, I would note that the best essays focus on issues and policy, and don’t make sweeping statements about partisanship. What’s the difference? Well, advocating for, for example, better public health initiatives, protection of abortion rights, or better recognition of LGBTQ issues within healthcare spaces are all instances of health policy advocacy, whereas saying something like, “the Trump administration…” is a focus on partisanship.

Personal tragedy. Again, this is a topic that can be an important and effective part of a personal statement, if done properly. If done poorly, it can weigh the essay down in negativity. As a general rule, I urge clients to eventually bring their stories around to a forward-looking and optimistic vision. Tragedies either inspire you to become better, urged you to fight for a solution, or somehow teach you vital insights that will make you a better doctor. What you do NOT want is to include a sad story because you’re seeking emotionality for its own sake. Remember your purpose: to convince the reader that you’re a prepared, interesting, qualified, and mature candidate. Overcoming hardship can show that; a sad-sack story about life grinding you down that doesn’t end on an optimistic note will not.

Your personal setbacks. Everybody makes mistakes, and if the AdCom will know about your setback, you HAVE to talk about it. I’ve made several videos about how to do this. Heck, I even did a full-length detailed course for MBA applicants on how to do this (the same basic rules apply). So what are the basic rules?

 Be clear about what your setback was. Don’t be vague or use euphemism.

 Own it. Accept responsibility and state directly that you fell short of your standards.

 Explain what you learned AND how you’ve improved since.

 If you can point to subsequent examples of success, do so.

 Move on. Take an optimistic tone about the future and embrace the fact that you’ve learned and grown since.

Talking about your use of drugs or alcohol in a personal statement for medical school is typically not a smart idea. Discussions about past substance misuse may not be consistent with the admissions committee’s expectation of candidates who are responsible and dedicated to upholding a professional image. If, though, you have a conviction for some alcohol-related crime, you MUST address it at some point, so use the guidelines laid out above for how to address missteps thoughtfully.
In general, it’s not a good idea to mention that you want to become a doctor only for the money or the status. Admissions committees are searching for applicants who are passionate about medicine and truly want to assist others.

For more help with your personal statement, check us out at Gurufi.com. Our personal statement editors and consultants have decades of experience helping clients get into top medical schools. Our specialty is helping you craft compelling personal statements that move the needle in your admissions process! For questions, shoot us an email at service@gurufi.com. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Here are some additional resources for this topic:

“Medical School Personal Statement Dos and Don’ts.” Kaplan Test Prep, Kaplan, Inc., www.kaptest.com/medical/medical-school/medical-school-personal-statement-dos-and-donts.
“5 Things to Avoid in Your Personal Statement.” Association of American Medical Colleges, www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/personalstatement/5things.
“5 Things to Avoid in Your Personal Statement.” Association of American Medical Colleges, www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/personalstatement/5things.
“Medical School Personal Statement Dos and Don’ts.” Kaplan Test Prep, Kaplan, Inc., www.kaptest.com/medical/medical-school/medical-school-personal-statement-dos-and-donts.
“5 Things to Avoid in Your Personal Statement.” Association of American Medical Colleges, www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/personalstatement/5things.

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Ten Tips for Your Medical School Secondaries

With your MCAT, personal statement, Work & Activities, and letters of recommendation all lined up, it’s time to start on your secondary application essays. Here are eleven tips for getting the most from your secondary essays.

Get a head start. Your calendar is going to get pretty crowded, so begin as early as you can. Fortunately, most schools use the same essay from year to year, so even if you’ve not yet received the prompts, you can at least begin some light brainstorming, outlining, and rough-draft writing for the secondary essays you anticipate getting.
View your secondaries as complementary. Think of your application holistically. Your personal statement provides your core theme and depth on a few moments and accomplishments. Your Work & Activities provide breadth and some additional depth on a few “most significant” items. Then, your secondaries fill out the application while emphasizing how your strengths, interests, and background align with what the school offers and values. As such, don’t use these secondaries to repeat information at length that you’ve already covered well elsewhere. A good way to think about it is that your AMCAS personal statement is your best case for admission, but your secondaries should emphasize your next best arguments. For instance, if you feel your core argument is “clinical experience and extensive public health work,” then your AMCAS personal statement should focus on that in-depth. Then, in your secondaries, you might also highlight another strength or experience, such as your scientific research.
Carefully follow the directions. Be careful to follow the medical school’s word restrictions, formatting specifications, and any other instructions.
Create unique essays for every school. I know you’re going to write A TON of essays. And, you can repurpose some text where it makes sense. But, don’t shoehorn text into an essay that doesn’t quite fit just because you want to avoid some work. The main idea behind a secondary essay is to focus on aligning your strengths as an applicant with the school’s culture and values. This requires customization. Find out the aims and values of the medical schools to which you are applying, and then use your essays to show how you share those ideals.
Provide concrete instances to support your arguments. Use particular stories and examples to explain your experiences and accomplishments rather than making generalizations. Your essay will become more interesting and memorable as a result.
Steer clear of clichés and overused words. Avoid using overused words and clichés in your writings since they may make them look generic. Your essays should be distinctive and genuine.
Carefully proofread and edit. To guarantee that your writings are devoid of typos, grammatical errors, and other faults, be sure you proofread and edit them thoroughly. You should be just as fussy and meticulous about your secondary essays as you were about your primary AMCAS essay.
Show, don’t tell. To demonstrate your experiences and accomplishments rather than merely recounting them, use vivid language and specific facts. This can make your writing more compelling and interesting.
Be true to yourself. Write about subjects that are personal and significant to you since medical schools are seeking applicants who are real and authentic.
Write clearly and concisely. Be as plain and succinct as possible in your writing, and avoid using jargon or too complicated terminology. Be sure to end your essay by returning to your introduction.

BONUS!

Request input from others. Think about inviting dependable mentors, family members, or friends to read and comment on your essays. This might assist you in identifying areas for development and ensuring the strongest possible essays. BUT, make sure that you are thoughtful and assertive in weighing every piece of advice.

For more help with your personal statement, check us out at Gurufi.com. Our personal statement editors and consultants have decades of experience helping clients get into top medical schools. Our specialty is helping you craft compelling personal statements that move the needle in your admissions process! For questions, shoot us an email at service@gurufi.com. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

References:

Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). “Writing Your AMCAS Personal Comments Essay.” https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school/article/writing-your-amcas-personal-comments-essay/

Do NOT Write Your Medical School Personal Statement About This…

The death of a grandparent is the most overused cliche on personal statements

“As I looked into my grandma’s eyes, a single tear rolled down my cheek. I wished that I could save her life, but I felt so powerless. In that moment, I knew that I had to become a doctor so that I could save the lives of people like Grammy. I was only six years old, but that moment changed my life!”

Does your personal statement begin like this? In my 17 years of helping aspiring physicians earn admission into their dream medical school, I have seen some version of this essay hundreds of times. The dying grandma (or aunt, uncle, or grandpa…), the bedside revelation, the moment of irrevocable inspiration.

I don’t doubt that such moments occur nor that they are deeply meaningful, but I do worry that after reading the 25^th such story in a week, the Admissions Committee will find it hard to differentiate your application from the scores of other people whose essays feature a med school origin story that requires the sacrifice poor ol’Granny.

Of course, I’m being a bit facetious (okay, a LOT facetious), but depending on the year, I would guess that between 15% and 30% of medical school essays lean heavily on this trope. The personal statement is just too valuable to waste on a story that the AdCom has read hundreds of times before. Applicants have one opportunity to frame their experiences, accomplishments, and goals, and selecting a cliché subject for your personal statements instantly puts you in the JAG (“just another guy” / “just another gal”) pile. Although the applicant may consider these subjects to be significant, they are overused and do not help the candidate stand out.

Cliches are shallow and don’t give a complete picture of the applicant’s motives and objectives. An applicant’s experiences should be discussed in their personal statement, along with how those experiences affected their decision to pursue a career in medicine. It’s this second part that too often gets overlooked. Obviously, experiences and stories are central to your personal statement and application, BUT you need to build out these stories by linking them to bigger themes, making clear how and why they motivated you (as manifested in actions and decisions), and then projecting that motivation into a vision of the future you aspire to build. The superficial facts of an encounter are frequently highlighted in cliches, leaving out the applicant’s internal dialogue or feelings. The admissions committee could find it difficult to comprehend the applicant’s motivations for applying to medical school without this extra information.

Cliches can sometimes be deceptive and fail to accurately represent an applicant’s experiences. For instance, a candidate who writes about their time spent volunteering at a hospital can say that it confirmed their decision to pursue a career in medicine. The reader can’t know how profound an experience was, though, until the author describes it in detail and reflects on their feelings and ideas when they were having it. Cliches can thereby produce a fictitious narrative that is unrepresentative of the applicant’s experiences and motives. This is why I often urge applicants whose personal statements look flat or cliché to do a journaling or brainstorming exercise where they explore their feelings on the topic, how they worked through an experience or challenge, how it transformed them, and why it informs the kind of doctor they will become.

A useful tip for moving beyond cliché is to provide specifics and engage in deeper storytelling. For instance, many applicants will discuss their time doing volunteer work at a hospital. Does this mean you should avoid that experience altogether in your personal statement? NO! Instead, highlight specific instances and give depth, detail, and personality to that story. Describing your duties in a broad way won’t have nearly the impact that telling a single story of a meaningful interaction with a patient or a hard conversation with a doctor. Tell me about how you assisted a patient with navigating the healthcare system AND HOW THAT INFORMED YOUR VISION OF MEDICINE, or tell me why a particular medical procedure was exciting for you to witness.

You might also talk about how their experiences outside of medicine, such working in another industry or engaging in creative hobbies, have inspired their choice to become a doctor. These subjects offer a more thorough and distinctive perspective of the candidate, highlighting their personality and capacity for critical thought.

Candidates should also think back on their experiences, take into account the lessons they acquired from them, and assess how those experiences have affected their aspirations. Instead of just recounting an incident, candidates should discuss how it affected them academically and emotionally and motivated them to seek a career in medicine. A candidate who had a personal health crisis, for instance, may talk about how that event motivated them to support others or engage in relevant research.

When talking with a colleague a few years back, we joked that May, when applicants begin working on their personal statements, was the “grandma culling season.” Beyond this dark joke, there is a deeper bit of actionable advice for you: cliches lack depth and complexity, can be deceptive, and fail to exhibit an applicant’s originality and critical thinking abilities. Candidates can write a personal statement that highlights their abilities and potential as healthcare professionals by emphasizing their unique experiences and thinking back on the lessons gained and how they have affected their aspirations.

A personal statement gives you 5300 characters to make your case, and it’s often the biggest differentiator between acceptance and denial. Therefore, it’s imperative for candidates to approach this crucial part of the application process with imagination and consideration.

For more help with your personal statement, check us out at Gurufi.com. Our personal statement editors and consultants have decades of experience helping clients get into top medical schools. Our specialty is helping you craft compelling personal statements that move the needle in your admissions process! For questions, shoot us an email atservice@gurufi.com. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

A Non-Minority Student’s Guide to Diversity Essays

An animated image featuring a diverse group of medical school students in a classroom setting. The students, representing various ethnicities, genders, and backgrounds, are all wearing white lab coats and have stethoscopes around their necks. Some are engaged in conversation, holding medical textbooks, or examining medical charts. The classroom is equipped with essential medical tools, adorned with anatomy posters, and includes a skeleton model in one corner. Their expressions convey happiness and a shared enthusiasm for learning, illustrating an inclusive and collaborative educational environment — Embracing Diversity in Medical Education: Future healthcare professionals learning together in an inclusive environment

As a non-minority student, it’s important to approach the writing of a diversity essay with sensitivity and an open mind. Here are five tips to help you write an effective diversity essay:

Think of “diversity” expansively. When most people think of diversity in the context of admissions, they focus on racial, ethnic, national, gender, and sexual identity. But you should also think about experiential diversity. How has your life been different? Think about the kinds of people you’ve encountered, what they taught you, and how you grew. Reflect on the places you’ve lived, unique trials you’ve faced, jobs you’ve held, training you’ve received, or unusual insights you’ve gained. Then, take the additional step of asking yourself how these things would help you make School X a more dynamic, challenging, accepting, and comprehensive educational and life experience for your peers.

Acknowledge privilege: It is important to acknowledge any privilege you may have as a result of your race, ethnicity, gender, or socio-economic background. Reflect on how your experiences may have been shaped by these factors, and how they have impacted your understanding of diversity and inclusion. A frame that can be helpful is to complete this sentence, and then expand on it in a brainstorming writing session: “my privilege has allowed me to ______, and as a result, I feel compelled to _______ in order to _____.” For instance, “My privilege as an upper-middle class man raised in a healthy home has allowed me to have access to mentoring, networks, and advice that many of my peers never had, and as a result, I feel compelled to mentor others, build robust inclusive networks, and look for talent in unexpected places.” This sort of opening could provide the foundation for an insightful, frank self-assessment that gives the reader genuine insight into your values.”

Show empathy: Demonstrate your ability to understand and respect different perspectives and experiences by expressing empathy and a desire to learn from others. Describe how you plan to continue to learn about and engage with diverse communities in the future.

Highlight your commitment to diversity: Emphasize your commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion in your academic and professional pursuits. Explain how you plan to use your experiences and understanding of these issues to contribute to the graduate school community. Identifying and listing your values is good, but providing stories and examples is much better.

Seek feedback: Before submitting your diversity essay, consider seeking feedback from someone who has experience with these types of essays. This could be a mentor, a teacher, or someone else who has a good understanding of the graduate school application process. Their feedback can help you refine your essay and ensure that it effectively communicates your commitment to diversity.

Importantly, our editors and consultants at Gurufi have extensive experience helping people write diversity essays.

Lastly, we recognize that this form of essay can feel unusual or uncomfortable, especially for non-American applicants who aren’t conversant with the world of DEI, why universities value diversity, or even what this idea means. After all, many applicants come from places that are largely mono-racial.

So, while there can be a learning curve, your mindset should ultimately be that the diversity essay is an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding and commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion, whether or not you are a minority. By reflecting on their experiences, acknowledging privilege, showing empathy, highlighting their commitment, and seeking feedback, non-minority students can write effective diversity essays that showcase their ability to contribute to diverse and inclusive academic communities.

For more help with your personal statement, check us out at Gurufi.com. Our personal statement editors and consultants have decades of experience helping clients get into top MBA programs. Our specialty is helping you craft compelling personal statements that move the needle in your admissions process! For questions, shoot us an email at service@gurufi.com. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Ten Insider Tips for Your Medical School Personal Statement

A young adult appears stressed while sitting at a cluttered desk with medical textbooks, university application letters, and a laptop displaying an application page, symbolizing the challenging journey of medical school applications. — Embrace the journey, conquer the challenge. Your path to becoming a medical hero starts here. #MedSchoolDreams #FutureDoctor”

How do you summarize your life and aspirations in just 5300 characters? With spring around the corner, this is the challenge facing thousands of medical school applicants. The AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service) personal statement is the central pillar of your application, where you explain your achievements and contextualize your life, so you don’t want to get it wrong. To this end, we at Gurufi are producing a free video series that we’ll start rolling out next week detailing how you should approach your AMCAS personal statement. In the meantime, here are some tips you can use to craft a more powerful personal statement. In the meantime, if you’re feeling stuck, feel free to contact us atservice@gurufi.com for help, or visit our website at Gurufi.com!

Here are ten tips for making your personal statement pop!

Clearly state your motivation for pursuing medicine: The first thing that a good AMCAS personal statement does well is clearly state the applicant’s motivation for pursuing medicine. This is an opportunity to express why you are interested in becoming a physician and what drives your passion for the field. Be specific and concise, and make sure that your motivation is evident throughout the essay.

You don’t, though, have to state this in the opening paragraph. Use good storytelling to make your essay stand out, and part of this means that you should avoid overly rote openings like “I want to become a doctor because…:” I made these three videos for MBA applicants, but most of the core ideas are relevant to med school personal statements. Check them out here, here, and here!

Understand you can’t say everything. The horror of medical school applications is that there is just so much to do! The flip side, though, is that in addition to your primary personal statement, you also have the AMCAS Work & Activities Section, secondaries, and even letters of recommendation to highlight additional parts of your application. Because you have so many opportunities to talk about what you’ve done, do NOT try to overstuff your Personal Statement. Most good personal statements will have three beats: “origin story,” “relevant accomplishment,” and “why medicine?” This isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, but a useful rule of thumb. In other words, in your PS, look to cover a few things really well, and then use the Work & Activities and individual school secondaries to address additional themes and tell additional stories.

Highlight your unique experiences and skills: A good AMCAS personal statement should also highlight the applicant’s unique experiences and skills. This could include experiences in healthcare, volunteering, research, or leadership positions. Be specific about the experiences and explain how they have shaped your understanding of medicine and your goals for the future.

Show your personality: The AMCAS personal statement is a chance for you to show your personality and make a connection with the admissions committee. Use a clear and conversational tone to describe your experiences and motivations. Avoid using medical jargon and technical language, and instead, write in a way that is easily accessible by an intelligent reader who might not be familiar with your particular area that you’re talking about.

Emphasize your commitment to medicine: Good AMCAS personal statements also emphasize the applicant’s commitment to medicine. This could include a commitment to helping underserved communities, a desire to improve patient care, or a passion for medical research. Be specific about what drives your commitment and how you hope to contribute to the field of medicine.

Discuss any challenges or obstacles you have overcome: A good AMCAS personal statement should also discuss any challenges or obstacles the applicant has faced and overcome. This could include personal or academic challenges, and how you were able to overcome them. This is an opportunity to demonstrate your resilience and determination, and to show that you have the qualities necessary to succeed in the challenging field of medicine.

Highlight your long-term goals: A good AMCAS personal statement should also highlight the applicant’s long-term goals. This could include goals for their medical career, as well as personal goals that are relevant to medicine. Be specific and explain how these goals align with your motivations and experiences in medicine.

Showcase your knowledge of the medical profession: A good AMCAS personal statement should also showcase the applicant’s knowledge of the medical profession. This could include an understanding of the responsibilities of a physician, current healthcare issues, and a passion for ongoing medical education. Be specific and explain how you plan to continue learning and growing as a physician.

Provide a well-structured and organized essay: A good AMCAS personal statement should also be well-structured and organized. This includes having a clear introduction, body, and conclusion and using appropriate headings and subheadings to help the admissions committee easily follow your story. It should also be free of grammar and spelling errors and carefully proofread before submitting.

Keep it concise: This is an obvious one. The system simply won’t let you upload more than 5300 characters (including spaces) so be sure to plan, outline, and write with this hard cap in mind. Remember Point #2: you can’t say everything, so don’t try. Remember, two well-told stories (or even one!) is much better than five stories that are rushed and thin. As such, be selective about what you include and focus on the most important experiences, skills, and motivations that you want to showcase.

No pressure, but this could be the most important essay of your life, so plan, leave time for revision, and seek outside help if necessary. At Gurufi, we have 17+ years of experience helping people get into top medical schools. Last year, we placed candidates at top programs like Harvard Medical School, UCSF, Northwestern, Duke, UCLA, USC, OHSU, and Johns Hopkins. We also have an excellent track record with Canadian and UK medical schools. If you need help crafting a powerful personal statement, check us out!

For more help with your personal statement, check us out at Gurufi.com. Our personal statement editors and consultants have decades of experience helping clients get into top Medical Schools. Our specialty is helping you craft compelling personal statements that move the needle in your admissions process! For questions, shoot us an email atservice@gurufi.com. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Who Do You Ask for Personal Statement Help?

You’ve written your draft, you’ve revised it once… twice… three times. You’re now ready to get feedback to inform your last round of revisions. Unfortunately, far too many people take a haphazard approach to getting personal statement advice. As such, we at Gurufi provide you with these tips on getting great advice for your personal statement.

https://youtu.be/L3Hhl3CG2pc

First, the person you choose will play a pivotal role in helping you craft a personal statement that not only shines but truly captures the essence of who you are. You’ll want to find someone with a strong writing background. Content choices and big-picture strategy and positioning are obviously important, but if your prose isn’t clean, clear, and properly structured, you’re doomed from the start. As such, your readers should ALL be experts in grammar, syntax, and style, and know how to give feedback that’s as constructive as it is actionable. If they’ve had experience working with personal statements, even better – they’ll be in the perfect position to guide you through the twists and turns of this unique writing endeavor.

Second, it’s a great idea to seek out someone who’s got their finger on the pulse of your field or the program you’re applying to. You want your personal statement to reflect a deep understanding of what makes your industry tick and thus your editor needs to be able to speak the language of your future colleagues. Plus, they’ll have the know-how to help you showcase your one-of-a-kind strengths and experiences in a way that’ll make you stand out from the crowd.

Third, think about your relationship with that person. Is it based on respect, knowledge of one another, and bluntness balanced by empathy? The best editors know how to give tough love diplomatically, to tell you the difficult truth while also making you believe you have it in your to fix it. There are two poles to avoid. On the one hand, you don’t want somebody who is afraid to step on your toes, so they hold back on tough critiques. On the other hand, sometimes bluntness can go to far if it either undermines your confidence or provides you with clumsy criticisms that don’t have solutions attached. At Gurufi, we never raise a problem without providing paths for solutions because we believe that we can get our clients from wherever they are to a powerful personal statement.

By selecting a person with these outstanding qualities, you’ll be well on your way to receiving the advice and insights that’ll help you craft a personal statement that’s as exceptional as you are.

For more help with your personal statement, check us out at Gurufi.com. Our personal statement editors and consultants have decades of experience helping clients get into top Masters and Ph.D. programs in STEM, humanities, fine arts, and social sciences. Our specialty is helping you craft compelling personal statements that move the needle in your admissions process! For questions, shoot us an email at service@gurufi.com. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

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Handing the Stress of Medical School Applications

The journey to medical school is often fraught with high stakes, intense competition, and seemingly endless to-do lists. In the midst of this demanding process, it’s all too easy to neglect one crucial aspect: your wellness. As Brian from Gurufi would argue, prioritizing your well-being is not only essential for your personal health, but it also has a direct impact on the quality of your application. Let’s explore why caring for your wellness during the medical school application process is of paramount importance and how you can make it a priority.

The Importance of Wellness during the Medical School Application Process

Maintaining your mental health

The application process can take a toll on your mental well-being, with heightened stress levels, anxiety, and self-doubt lurking around every corner. Prioritizing your wellness is crucial for maintaining your mental health and ensuring that you can tackle the challenges of the application process with a clear, focused mind.

Sustaining peak performance

Neglecting your wellness can hinder your ability to perform at your best. When you’re sleep-deprived, malnourished, or emotionally drained, your capacity to think critically, solve problems, and produce high-quality work diminishes. By taking care of yourself, you’ll be better equipped to excel in every aspect of the application process, from writing persuasive personal statements to acing challenging interviews.

Building resilience

The medical profession demands resilience, as physicians frequently face adversity, high-stress situations, and the need to make life-altering decisions. Fostering your wellness during the application process helps you develop the emotional fortitude and resilience required for a successful medical career.

Setting the stage for future success

The habits you cultivate during the application process often carry over into medical school and beyond. By prioritizing your wellness now, you’ll establish a strong foundation for maintaining a healthy work-life balance throughout your medical education and career.

Tips for Prioritizing Wellness during the Medical School Application Process

Develop a self-care routine

Carve out time in your schedule for activities that help you relax and recharge, such as exercise, meditation, hobbies, or spending time with loved ones. By establishing a consistent self-care routine, you’ll create a supportive environment that fosters your well-being and productivity.

Set realistic goals and break tasks into manageable chunks

Creating achievable goals and breaking tasks into smaller, manageable steps can help you maintain a sense of control and prevent feelings of overwhelm. This approach will enable you to make steady progress while minimizing the risk of burnout.

Practice effective time management

Developing strong time management skills is essential for balancing the demands of the application process, work, and personal life. Create a schedule, set deadlines, and use productivity tools to stay organized and focused on your priorities.

Seek support from your network

Don’t hesitate to reach out to friends, family, or professional mentors for guidance and support during the application process. They can offer valuable insights, encouragement, and practical advice to help you navigate the challenges of applying to medical school.

Embrace mindfulness and stress reduction techniques

Incorporate mindfulness practices, such as meditation, deep breathing exercises, or progressive muscle relaxation, into your daily routine. These techniques can help you manage stress, maintain emotional balance, and foster a clear, focused mind.

In conclusion, caring for your wellness during the medical school application process is crucial for your personal health, as well as the success of your applications. By implementing these strategies and heeding the advice of Brian from Gurufi, you’ll be better equipped to navigate the challenges of the application process while laying the groundwork for a healthy, fulfilling medical career.

For more help with your personal statement, check us out at Gurufi.com. Our personal statement editors and consultants have decades of experience helping clients get into top medical school programs. Our specialty is helping you craft compelling personal statements that move the needle in your admissions process! For questions, shoot us an email at service@gurufi.com. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Basic Strategies for Your Medical School Application

frustrated medical school applicant — Make sure that you have a strategy for your medical school application

I don’t have to tell you that it’s hard as hell to get into medical school. To improve your chances of acceptance to medical school, it’s crucial to plan your application carefully. This means not trying to do too much in any particular portion of it. View your application holistically, and plan what you’ll emphasize in each part so that you cover maximum ground, and cover it well.

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The place to begin is your main personal statement. You have 5300 characters to frame your application, and that’s how you should view it: as an opening argument and something like an “elevator pitch” where you provide your best few arguments, most impactful experiences, or most compelling stories. Before you start, you may worry about filling up 5300 characters, but by the time you’re done, you’ll likely recognize just how precious that space is! In just 1.5 pages, you have the chance to introduce yourself to the admissions panel, share your background, and discuss your motivation for pursuing a career in medicine. Your approach to this essay must be strategic and viewed in conjunction with your broader application. You should demonstrate your enthusiasm for medicine while highlighting your most noteworthy accomplishments, experiences, and aspirations. Also, to keep the reader engaged, make sure your personal statement is well-written and interesting.

BUT, DO NOT TRY TO SAY EVERYTHING. There will be important stuff that you just can’t fit into your personal statement. Don’t try. Save some stuff for later. When people try to cover all the ground in their main personal statement, their stories will feel rushed or thin and they’ll struggle to convey a clear and coherent theme. That’s why you should use the Work & Activities section to go into depth about complementary or otherwise additional activities that are meaningful to you. Extracurricular activities, community service, research, and job experience are all included in this area. When it comes to selecting your “Most Meaningful” entries that allow you additional space, you should concentrate on experiences that have a direct bearing on medicine. You should also go into depth about your duties and the lessons you took away from them.

The secondary school-specific essays are a fantastic chance to demonstrate how well you would fit into particular medical schools you are applying to. Understanding the school’s mission, strengths, and core beliefs requires research, of course. You can then modify your writings to showcase your experiences and abilities that complement the objectives of the institution. By doing this, you show the school that you are a good fit for them and increase your chances of getting in.

Think of your medical school application as a package that covers lots of ground. Each part of the application should focus on a different job, and while it’s okay to have some overlap, they should never feel redundant. If you’re smart and plan beforehand, you can put together an application package that provides real depth of analysis and self-reflection on a few really important moments AND breadth regarding the various things that you’ve done.

For more help with your personal statement, check us out at Gurufi.com. Our personal statement editors and consultants have decades of experience helping clients get into top medical schools. Our specialty is helping you craft compelling personal statements that move the needle in your admissions process! For questions, shoot us an email at service@gurufi.com. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

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Choosing Between Multiple Schools

When I checked my email this morning, I remembered why this is my favorite time of year! Two of my favorite clients got into their dream schools, and my back-and-forth emails with a client who just found out that he got into Stanford brought a warm feeling to my heart that just about melted the huge pile of snow outside my house!

During the late fall and early winter, we’re incredibly busy at Gurufi, helping clients get into their dream schools. But now, our clients are starting to hear back from graduate and medical programs, and the good news we get is fantastic and justifies all the late nights working with them to perfect their personal statements and CVs. But now, many of our clients face a happy dilemma: how do you choose between two good schools?

Though technically speaking picking from among schools isn’t part of my job, I often give clients some advice about this question based on years of experience. Here are ten thoughts on how to pick between schools after you’ve been offered admission!

Ask yourself: do I want to live there? One of the biggest mistakes that I’ve seen people make is to view their graduate school experience as something that they should just endure or merely Not your preferred location? Well… it’s only a few years! That is the wrong approach. If you’re happy, you’re more likely to thrive, make connections, and get the most out of the experience. So, take the school’s location and size into account. Think about whether you want to attend a large or small school and if you want to live in a major city or a small town. Ask yourself, “is this somewhere I could live?” Don’t be afraid to try something new, but listen to what your gut says and ask yourself “could I thrivehere?”

Once again, look into the academics and how well they align with your goals. Especially if you’re trying to decide between comparable programs, take the time to do another “final check,” perhaps even more in-depth than when choosing whether to apply. Check out the instructors and available programs. Check the curriculum to see if it fits your professional objectives, and look into the professors to see if they have any relevant experience or publications. Contact current students and ask them what they love and what they wish they could change. Write down what you think your two years of coursework, training, resources, and extracurriculars would look like.

Okay, fine… take into account the school’s reputation and ranking. I am a HUGE believer in the idea that fit matters more than ranking, but ranking and reputation do matter. Rankings should not be the primary consideration, but they can help you determine the standing of the institution and the caliber of its curriculum.

Think about the alumni and current students you’ve met. By this point, you’ve likely talked to lots of current students and alumni. Once you’ve been admitted, use LinkedIn and other resources that the school provides to have more conversations about the school and its strengths. You’ll likely find that students are even more frank with students who’ve been admitted. Similarly, find out about how active alumni are and the kinds of things that they’re up to. After graduation, a robust alumni network may offer useful contacts and assistance.

Price compare. Usually, schools provide financial aid and cost information a few weeks after admission. Sometimes longer. As soon as you have this information, it’s time to get down to brass tacks. How much are you willing to spend? Importantly, you can also use this period to bargain. Contact the Admissions and Financial Aid offices if you’ve gotten a more generous package from another school, and ask them to close the gap. They won’t always be able to do so, but they often can, and it never hurts to ask! At any rate, once you have some solid numbers, a basic ROI assessment that includes everything from long-term trajectory to immediate salary bumps can help you figure out your next move.

Don’t forget to do a deep dive into local expenses! If you’re comparing, for instance, NYU and Ross, remember to account for the fact that Manhattan is a lot pricier than Ann Arbor.

Listen to your gut… but you don’t have to obey it! Churchill said that “intuition is reason in a hurry.” There’s real truth to this. In 99% of cases, people have a gut-level preference for one school. Begin by acknowledging what this is, and then ask why. Are you a little too enamored with rankings? Did the campus dazzle you? Whatever the reason, ask yourself a follow-up question: is the basis of my gut’s decision rational and good? If not, then be willing to deny your intuition and take a more thoughtful approach. If so, then you know what to do!

Consider the culture and ideals of the school. To learn more about the school’s culture and beliefs and determine whether they coincide with your own, visit the school’s website and go to informational sessions. If this hasn’t been made clear to you, ask somebody. Attending a school where your values align with theirs is vital, so don’t overlook it.

Dig into the data. Now is the time to get even fussier about all of the relevant data that schools keep. What’s their 1-year and 5-year employment data look like? Average salary? Long-term satisfaction rate (or its proxy: alumni giving percentage)? You probably looked at this information during the application process, but now is the time to do it again!

Take into account the school’s inclusion and diversity. A varied and inclusive school may offer a richer educational experience and can also be a positive reflection of the ideals of the institution. And if that touchy-feely stuff doesn’t move you, remember that you’re hoping to thrive within an increasingly global and diverse world, so be sure that you have the background and comfort level to do this!

I hope that you have the happy conundrum of trying to choose between great options! If you’d like to have this problem, then be sure to check us out Gurufi.com! For seventeen years, we’ve helped thousands of clients craft powerful personal statements and attractive CVs. Check us out at Gurufi.com. Our personal statement editors and consultants have decades of experience helping clients get into top medical, law, and graduate programs. We pride ourselves in guaranteeing the satisfaction of every client. Our specialty is helping you craft compelling personal statements that move the needle in your admissions process! For questions, shoot us an email at service@gurufi.com. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.