Tips on Writing Medical School Application Essays Using a Personal Approach

Although writing an admission essay does not requireof their choice are able to express in writing their
literary genius, it can be tough even for studentspassion for the field and determination to fulfill their
who have good writing skills.  Preparing a medicalgoals.
school application essay can be twice the challenge,What to write in your medical school application
because admission to any medical school is veryessay
selective.  Since healthcare is one thing that theBefore you start writing, think about a specific
market cannot easily dictate, more and more peopleexperience or person that influenced your decision to
want to study medicine, which makes thego into medicine.  Did you lose a loved one due to a
competition even tougher.  If you want to bechronic illness?  Have you been treated by a family
accepted to medical school, you need to exert extradoctor whom you have looked up to since you were
effort in writing your application essay, as it is youra child?  Do not worry about being mushy.  The
personal statement which sums up the reasons whymore personal your motivation is for wanting to
you want to become a doctor.become a doctor, the better.  Keep in mind that
Why focus on personality when writing your medical“personal” does not mean “selfish.”
school application essayEven if you think that medicine is a good career,
Medical school is a lot more difficult than college. because there will always be a need for doctors
Partying would be unlikely, and your years are goingdespite hard times, it may be best to leave that out
to be spent doing experiments, research, internships,of your essay.  If you know of any doctor who has
and studying even when there are no exams. been given awards or is well-loved by the
Students who make it to medical school sometimescommunity, try to find out about personal traits that
drop out not because they are not smart enough,you share.  For instance, good doctors are keen to
but simply because they cannot cope with the stressdetail, exercise professional courtesy, and are very
or they do not have that much passion to overcomeservice-oriented.  Patients say that the qualities that
the challenges.  These are only a few of the factorsthey consider very important when choosing their
that the Admissions Committee cannot assessdoctors can be summed up into how they treat their
through your GPA and MCAT score, so your bestpatients as human beings and not as
weapon is an outstanding application essay. “conditions.” When writing your essay, put in
Although it may seem true that the purpose of ayour strong points in interpersonal relations, such as
medical school’s admission requirements is tosensitivity to other people’s needs and being a
give you a hard time, the real reason is that thegood listener.  Support these with relevant
committee wants to determine how much of theextra-curricular activities, such as organizing outreach
pressure you can take.  Your application essayprograms or being a peer counselor.  Just make sure
should be able to address that.  As you read thisthat you write down only the qualities that you do
article, you may have browsed through samplehave.  Otherwise, the Admissions Committee will see
essays of successful applicants already.  One thingthrough inconsistencies during your interview and
that you might have observed is that students whomight even blacklist you for lying.
get accepted into programs and academic institutions