Secondary application
is also a requirement for admission into med school. Just like a personal statement, it must be formal and very informative about yourself. It should bring out your true color and help the admissions committee decipher you more. After your secondary application is completed, the admissions committee should see you now as a whole person, complete from head to toe, inside and out. After all, your primary requirements have been sent. It all depends on the school you?re applying to on how they process secondary applications.
Learn more about the school and its program
It is always a good practice to know the background of the schools you?re applying to. Almost all medical schools right now have a school website, which caters to what a student needs to know about their school. But all of it can?t be found there, you need to be more aggressive about information collection. You can go personally to that school and inquire or even ask the students themselves. Read from past news and articles about the school. You can use this information as an edge later on when interviews come or when you are asked why you chose their school.
Know what they’re looking for in their students
You should be aware of what the school looks for in their students. Make sure you?ve done enough research even before applying to any school. Look at past questions and interview recent students on what kind of students the school is looking for. Read the school?s mission and vision statements. This is where the school bases their programs and the kinds of students they admit.
Tell them how you fit into the school
Making a great impression is a must, but you must also ensure that the impression you make fits the profile they are looking for in a student. After all, you?ve researched about the school, so you should know by now how well you fit in their program. Show them how your traits and character fit their programs by citing examples of what you?ve done to care for others or prepare for a medical career. Be sure to be honest at all times, and don?t just fit your self in because you need to. Stand out from the other applicants, but fit in with their programs.
Related links:
Personal Statement Tips ? Tips on writing a med school personal statement
Foreign Med Students – Guide for foreign students in applying to US med schools
Specialization in Medicine – Discussions on why specializations in admission essays are important
Med School Preparation – Reflecting in preparation for med school
Secondary Applications ? Tips in writing secondary applications for med school
Writing unique content for your personal statement is not an easy task to do with all the other medical school essays to compete with. So think of a very unique experience that happened to you, which is related to why you to go to med school. Show how strong and unique of a person you are. Standing out from other personal statements is one way for you to get the admissions committee to read your essay carefully.
Add a unique insight into every experience
One experience you could share is your battle with a certain disease or one of your family’s. For instance, share how the cancer of your loved one has turned you into a caring and loving person. Tell them how you value life more with the experience you had and how it has influenced you to take up Medicine. Share what you have learned from your volunteer works and be specific to what this voluntary work of yours has done to your personality and outlook in life.
Don’t use the same lines found in other application essays
It?s okay to read other application essays out there since there are lot of them that could help you. However, these essays must only serve as guides and not a word-by-word basis. These lines you see in other application essays have been read by the selection committees hundreds of times and you don?t need to add on to the list. You can make your personal statement unique by sharing your very own experiences and by being honest about all of them.
Make an honest assessment of yourself
Always give some time for yourself to reflect on things in the past, things that have made you more mature and more ready to take on a bigger role in society. Don?t lie just so you can give the admissions committee what they want to hear. Instead, be true to them. They will always see the discrepancies in your personal statements if you lie about the information you share with them. Being honest will show them your character that can help them assess you as a better person for their program resulting in your admission to the school.
Related links:
Non-Science Major ? Tips for non-science majors in getting to med school
Specialization in Medicine – Discussing why specializations in admission essays are important
Med School Application – Tips on writing a med school personal statement
Personal Statements – Guide to writing a med school personal statement
Avoiding toxic essays – Admission essay writing tips
As the title suggests, College Online Guide is a site that aims to provide useful information for college students. The blog provides tips, opinions, and news about topics related to college. These include relevant and highly useful info on college life, sports, college loans, and updates on the education system.
The blog’s strong points
The choice for the title is good. The readers would have an idea what the site is all about with those three short words. One glance at the title and the readers would get an idea what to expect from the site. There is also a section for videos and news on the site. I really like this one, and I guess the audience find this part interesting as well. Another thing I like about it is its user-friendly interface. Although the options are not that many, I give the blog credit for the visibility and clarity of the options. One wouldn’t find it difficult to explore the site.
The areas that need to be improved
The site is professional-looking with its blue-grey and orange combination. But it isn’t very attractive. The design is a bit boring. Another area that needs improvement is the content. Some entries have problems with clarity. Some sentences are not constructed well that their meaning becomes a bit obscure. Typo errors also affect the clarity of the entries. In the article Tips for getting Through a Medical School Interview, for instance, the first sentence is not clear. I also find the sentences very long. I think writers for this blog have to invest on brevity. Remember that content is what every blog is all about. The blog’s credibility as a site dedicated to college issues rest upon the content. So people behind this blog really have to work on improving the structure of the articles. The writers also have to be careful in their choice of words.
There are a lot of med schools out there, but you can only choose one that best fits your interests. If you have chosen one, then it?s time to put all your efforts into getting admitted into that institution. The first thing to do is to complete your requirements. One of these requirements would include a personal statement. This can be the biggest chance you have in entering your chosen med school. This is your chance to show them how good of a physician you can be if you get admitted into their program. You should also consider scholarships and financial aids to support your education.
Say how you can be a good physician
You can have the highest MCAT out there, but you still need to prove to them how you can put that high MCAT to use by being a good physician. You can always count on your experiences to help you show the admissions committee how you can be a good doctor. You can?t tell them all your experiences though, you have to write down just relevant experiences. Choose from them the best that can describe you most and start putting down the details. The experience should show how dedicated you are to your profession. It can be your volunteer work or missions and how much you?ve sacrificed for the sake of helping others.
Explain why you want to be a doctor
This is the easiest part for you if being a doctor is what you want by heart. Just be straight to the point why you want to be one. Tell them a story that supports those reasons and all the “WHYs.” It could be humanitarian, a sick member of the family, the science involved in it, or it could be the love of your life. Don?t be too personal about your reason, just stick to the topic. You should be sincere about your reasons. Don?t just write some melodramatic story just to get their pity. You should be honest at all times and always make a point for saying such things. Discrepancies in your story can make the admissions committee doubt your credibility.
Share what you love to do and why
Be discrete and selective about the things you can share to your readers. There are lot of things you love to do that you?d love to share but it?s all about what you want them to know about you. Choose those that are related to your profession or specialty. Show them things that make you happy and whole. For instance, tell them doing volunteer work and how it makes you happy and fulfilled with your life.
Related links:
Specialization in Medicine – Discussion on why specializations in admission essays are important
Anecdotes in Essays – Using anecdotes in personal statements
Med School Essay – Tips on writing a med school personal statement
Medical School Application – Using a personal approach for med school admission essays
Admission Criteria ? How consultancy agencies can help in med school admission essays
Admissions Committees have the job of reading your personal statement and going over the rest of the requirements for your medical school application. It would only make sense to take advices from your admissions committee members to be sure that you are on the right track in your medical school personal statement writing.
Earning the nods of meticulous readers
Especially when it comes to things that are really intended to be evaluated like your application for med school, people become more meticulous as readers. They would notice every weakness in your personal statement. Not only would technical flaws such as grammar, spelling, punctuation and construction errors be more noticeable, their expectations become higher than usual. In writing your personal statement, you should keep those things in mind and work within those standards. How? Here are some tips:
1. Do not brag or show off.
2. Write about you and not about the school, the course or the field you?re trying to enter.
3. Do not bore your reader with highfaluting words and dull clich?s.
4. Write with sense.
5. Make your essay short but filled with worthwhile information about you.
“We look for some originality because nine out of ten essays leave you with a big yawn.” – Dr. Daniel R. Alonso Associate Dean for Admissions (Cornell University Medical College)
There is no single pattern for application essays and even if there were, imagine how boring that would be for the admissions committee having to read several uniform essays. No. Spare them that trouble. Just as you are a unique individual, you should also *make your essay unique and interesting* (http://www.medicalschoolapplicationessays.com/how-to-write-an-excellent-medical-school-application-essay/). For you to get into the school you want, you have to make the admissions committee remember you. One way is to pick something interesting about you as a topic?something unique and really attention catching.
“Medical school admissions committees carefully examine the motivation of applicants toward medicine.” – Thomas L. Lentz Chairman of the Admissions Committee (Yale School of Medicine)
Keep in mind that you are applying for medical school and are trying to convince the admissions committee that you should be taken in. One of the best ways is by expressing your genuine interest in medicine. You can write about how you?ve dreamed to be a doctor as a child or how your father inspired you to be a surgeon like him. You can also share your career goals and say how medical school would help you achieve them.
Related links:
Medical school personal statement guide – Medical school personal statement tips
Anecdotes in personal statements – Medical school personal statement tips
Medical school personal statement topic: your volunteer experience – Medical school personal statement topic tips
Professional goals in medical school essays – Medical school personal statement tips
Medical school personal statement topic: your journalism experiences – More medical school personal statement topic tips
Application essay: your personality – Application essay tips
How to write your medical school application essay – Medical school essay tips
Personal statement tips – Tips on writing your personal statement
Admission essay for different programs – Tips on writing your MBA essay
Top tips in writing personal statements – Tips on writing your personal statement
