Before he was Joshua Wienczkowski, MD, a prevention and addiction medicine specialist, he was a premed juggling coursework and extracurriculars and trying to make the right choices for his best shot at medical school. During his first year of medical school, he looked back on these choices with a critical eye. “When you burn through…
MEDICAL SCHOOL ADMISSIONS
Tips for Getting into Medical School When Your Parent Is a Doctor
There has been an interesting shift in medical school admissions for applicants whose parents are doctors. In 1989, these applicants were 15% more likely to get into medical school. Ten years ago, students who had a physician for a parent were still more likely to get accepted into medical school. Ten years later, the opposite…
Reserve Your Spot at Case Western Medical: An Interview with Christian Essman [Episode 571]
Show Summary In this episode, Linda Abraham interviews Christian Essman, Senior Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Case Western Reserve University Medical School. They discuss the unique aspects of Case Western’s three MD programs, the significance of research in the application process, and what makes an applicant stand out. Christian emphasizes the importance of…
What to Expect After Medical School
For this section of our Med School Admissions: What You Need to Know To Get Accepted series, I’ll provide a brief rundown of what happens after you graduate from medical school. As you have probably realized by now, medicine requires a commitment to lifelong learning. There will always be new procedures, new medications, and new…
How to Write a Compelling Postbac Admissions Essay
One of the most important parts of your application to postbac programs will be your personal statement. This piece of writing allows the admissions committee to get to know you and understand your path to medicine. Three attributes of a compelling postbac personal statement Three important elements can make your postbac personal statement resonate with your reader:…
Tulane Medical School: How to Get In [Episode 569]
Show Summary Would you like to apply to Tulane University School of Medicine, but are you concerned about the intense competition for seats? Its Director of Admissions, Dr. Mike Woodson, is our guest today, and he’ll tell you what it takes to get in. Dr. Woodson discusses the unique aspects of Tulane’s medical program, including…
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Secondary Application Essay Tips [2023-2024]
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Secondary Application Essay Tips [2023-2024] The Vanderbilt University School of Medicine places special emphasis on the relationships formed during medical school between classmates and faculty. Students join one of four colleges on campus to participate in small group learning activities. In their first two years of medical school, students create their own…
Should I Take a Gap Year Before Medical School?
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…
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,…
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