Personal Statement

The Most Overused Med School Essay Openings—And What to Write Instead

Why “I Knew I Wanted to Be a Doctor When…” is the Worst Way to Start Your Essay

Three Ways to Answer "How Are You Diverse?

Discover the key to acing the diversity question in your admissions essays and interviews with Passport Admissions. Explore three layers of diversity beyond race and ethnicity that can make your application shine.

Think Your Stories Aren't "Application Material?" Think Again.

Unlock the secrets to standing out in college applications with Passport Admissions. Join Ryan Kelly as he reveals how embracing your unconventional path can make all the difference. From quirky hobbies to bizarre life experiences, learn why being unique is your secret weapon.

The Golden Rule of Applications: Stay True to Yourself

In the quest for the perfect application, the golden rule is simple: be unapologetically you. Our latest Passport Admissions blog post delves into the power of authenticity and how it can transform your application from forgettable to front-and-center. Discover Ryan Kelly’s take on why impressing yourself is the first step to wowing admissions committees. Ready to shine in your true colors?

Tips for Amazing Experience Descriptions in Resumes/Applications

Unlock the power of every character in your resume’s experience descriptions with our insightful guide. Dive into the do’s and don’ts, templates, and expert strategies that will transform your application from ordinary to extraordinary. Don’t let limited space limit your impact—learn how to make your experiences shine with Passport Admissions.

How to Know If Your Personal Statement is Finished

Is your personal statement a masterpiece in the making or ready for the grand reveal? Discover the Michelangelo approach to essay writing with Passport Admissions. We’ll guide you through the questions that determine whether to add another stroke or to drop the brush. Your opus awaits—find out if it’s time to take a bow.

Master the Art of Storytelling in Your Personal Statement

Embark on a comedic journey of words with our latest Passport Admissions blog post, where we unravel the art of storytelling in personal statements. Like Jon Stewart’s masterful ‘long walk’ to a punchline, learn how to craft a narrative that captivates and convinces. Are you ready to make every word count and turn your personal statement into a standing ovation? Dive into our conversation with Janet Snoyer and discover how to leave your readers wanting an encore.

Dealing with Clichés in Your Personal Statement

Clichés—those well-worn phrases—are like old friends. But in the world of college admissions, they’ve become invisible. So, how can you make your story stand out? Discover how to transform clichés into captivating narratives that resonate with admissions committees.

Personal Statement Mistakes That Will Destroy Your Chances

Unlock the secrets to a standout personal statement! Discover the pitfalls to avoid when crafting your application. Dive into depth, connect childhood experiences, and reveal your unique journey. Don’t miss our expert tips—it’s not just what you say, but how you say it that matters.

Let’s Chat(GPT) About Admissions Committee Bots

Explore the innovative intersection of AI and medical school admissions in our enlightening blog post. Admissions specialists Rob Humbracht and Janet Snoyer delve into how AI could transform the way candidates tailor their applications to match a program’s unique criteria. Learn about the potential for AI to act as a simulated admissions committee, providing personalized feedback on your application materials.

3 Hacks for Answering “Why ___ Career?”

Diving into graduate school applications and getting stuck on the "Why this career?" question in your personal statement? Fear not! We've got you covered with three ingenious hacks to tackle this daunting question head-on. Whether you're dreaming of becoming a doctor, a lawyer, or any professional in between, our latest post will guide you through crafting compelling, personalized answers that stand out. Say goodbye to clichés and hello to authenticity with our practical tips, designed to transform your application from forgettable to unforgettable. Dive in and discover how to express your passion and purpose with confidence and flair!

Personal Statement Hooks That Don’t Suck

To write a great personal statement hook, you need to be counterintuitive, contrarian, and morally ambiguous. These qualities will make your hook stand out and captivate the admissions committees. In this article, we’ll teach you how to use these strategies with examples from medical school applicants. We’ll also give you tips on how to avoid mistakes and find your own voice. Writing a killer hook is hard, but rewarding. Keep reading to learn how.

Tips for Expert Idea Generation in Your Personal Statement

Do you struggle with finding the perfect opening line for your Personal Statement? Do you want to know how to avoid the most common mistakes that make your hook boring or cliché? In this article, we will share with you some tips and examples on how to generate expert ideas for your hook that will grab the reader’s attention and showcase your personality. Whether you have an unusual background, a meaningful impact, a strong passion, or something else, we will help you find the best way to connect your story to your future goals. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how to write a hook that will make your Personal Statement stand out from the crowd!

Should You Use AI to Write Your Personal Statement? Pt. 2

Writing a personal statement is a daunting task for many students, especially when it comes to crafting a catchy hook or introduction. In this article, Ryan Kelly explores how AI can assist students with this challenge, using ChatGPT as an example. The strengths and weaknesses of AI in generating hooks are evaluated, and tips and best practices are provided for using AI as a tool, not a replacement, for human creativity and editing. The article is part of a series that examines AI’s usefulness in different stages of the personal statement process. There’s even a ChatGPT prompt you can use for writing your own hook!

Should You Use AI to Write Your Personal Statement? Part 1

Writing a personal statement for medical school can be challenging, but can AI help? In this article series, Ryan Kelly, a professional admissions essay consultant, explores the potential of ChatGPT, an AI writing tool, to assist in the writing process. In Part 1, he reviews ChatGPT’s performance in organizing and generating ideas for a personal statement and provides some suggestions on how to make the most of AI.

Networking 101 – From Nerd to Networker: Reinventing Your Elevator Pitch

Your story shows your passion, your journey, and your connection with your audience. In this article, you’ll learn how to use your story to make a compelling pitch, how to adjust your story for different scenarios, and how to use a fun Mad Libs game to create your own elevator pitch. Your story is your secret weapon, whether you’re pitching to a startup, a job interview, or a mentor. Read on and discover how to turn your story into your strength.

Five Rules Every College Student Should Break

You’ve probably heard some unwritten rules about what college students should or shouldn’t do to be successful. But what if I told you that following these rules could actually hurt your chances of getting into your dream job or graduate school? In this blog post, I’ll reveal 5 rules that every college student should break, based on my 11+ years of experience helping people get into college and graduate school. These rules will help you create your own path, showcase your strengths, and have more fun along the way.

It's Okay to Be a VolunTourist - Trust Me

VolunTourism, or the combination of travel and charity, often gets criticized for being unethical, ineffective, or cliché. However, there are also some overlooked perks of VolunTourism, such as learning a foreign language, gaining practical skills, and meeting diverse people. You will also find out how to choose a trustworthy volunteer organization and how to write effectively about your VolunTourism experiences.

Newsletter: Why Mowing Lawns is Better than Your Summer Internship

Are you looking for a summer internship that will boost your resume and impress your future employers or admissions committees? Think again. In this blog post, you will learn why mowing lawns is better than your summer internship. You will discover how “crappy jobs” can give you real competencies, stories, and character that will make you stand out from the crowd. You will also see examples of how former students used their “crappy jobs” to showcase their skills and achievements. Don’t miss this opportunity to rethink your summer plans and find out why getting a “crappy job” is better for your soul and your future.

Expert Tips for Standing Out in Your Medical School Personal Statement

Standing out in your personal statement is no easy feat, but we have four brainstorming questions and examples that will inspire you to find your hook! This article will help you be memorable, set a positive tone, illustrate your impact, and convey your driving principles and core identities in your medical school personal statement.

Unlearning Your Bad Writing Habits from School (Part 1)

Our schooling–whether consciously or inadvertently–trains us to be crappy writers.‍ And that’s a big problem for anyone who needs to write in a real-world context, whether for an application, a cover letter, a journal submission, or just in everyday life. ‍So, if you want to be a successful writer, you’ll need to unlearn all your bad habits from school.‍ Let’s focus on one of the worst writing habits you developed in school and discuss how to give your writing a total makeover that will instantly make it more readable, original, and enjoyable for the reader!

Is It Okay to Be Political in Medical School Application Essays and Interviews?

“I don’t want to be political,” my students will say, “what if the wrong person reads my application and suddenly hates my guts?” I understand where my students are coming from. It can be scary to advertise one’s political views amid such contentious and polarized times, especially on the competitive chopping block of medical school admissions. So, what’s the answer? Is it ever okay to be political during the application process?

5 Tips for Writing About Coronavirus in Your Personal Statement

5 Tips for Writing About Coronavirus in Your Personal Statement

Do's and Don'ts for Writing About Coronavirus in Your Personal Statement

Do's and Don'ts for Writing About Coronavirus in Your Personal Statement

12 Steps to a Perfect Medical School Personal Statement (with before and after example)

I Applied to 151 Medical Schools and Lived to Tell the Tale

If you wanted to apply to 151 medical schools, what would you need to accomplish that?

The Best (and Worst) Hobbies to Include in Your Medical School Application

Running in charity 5Ks. Traveling around the globe. Playing the piano. These might sound like great hobbies to include in your medical school application, but the truth is that every pre-med does them.

How to Piss Off Your Medical School Admissions Reader: the 5 Most Troublesome Taboos

I decided to pursue medicine because of the enlightenment attained on my five-month backpacking yoga meditation in the Himalayas. While the idea of patient care is nice, the enlightenment of medicine is far more intriguing

What Separates the Typical from Stand-out Pre-Meds

One of our core philosophies is based on a question that most pre-meds aren’t asking before they apply to medical school.“Why should medical schools accept you? What makes you stand out?”

Every Question You Have About the AMCAS

The race begins! The AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service) opens tomorrow, and if you’re not one of the first few to fill it out in the hours that it opens, you will never fulfill your dreams of becoming a physician.

Don't Hurt Your Odds 05/07/18

My friend begins every trip to Vegas at the roulette table, throwing down a chunk of chips on black or red. “Let’s just see what happens,” he says.

Savvy Pre-med's Ultimate Guide to Writing Your Medical School Personal Statement

The personal statement is a cruel beast - but what kind of beast?

The Art of Writing A Most Meaningful Essay

In Ulysses, James Joyce uses 18 chapters to traverse the novel’s 24-hour timeframe. The story flashes back and forth, alludes to myths, includes cheeky puns, and fluctuates between prose and Leopold Bloom’s stream-of-consciousness. In the end, you’re left with a deep impression that resonates - a book that’s even more comprehensive than it seems.

Our First Facebook Live Event - February 2018

Our first Facebook Live event answered questions about applying to medical school, with a special emphasis on writing your personal statement. Do you have questions you want answered live? Email your medical school admissions questions to our Head Advisor, Rob Humbracht, for our next Facebook Live event. All questions welcome.

How to Know Your Personal Statement is Finished

“Voila! Magnifique! It’s perfect - my masterpiece, my opus - it’s finally complete!” I’ve never once heard these words come out of a pre-med’s mouth. Since the personal statement is challenging and the stakes are high, pre-meds usually struggle to know when their essays are finished.

3 Tricks to Getting Started on Your Personal Statement

Few things are as intimidating as a blank screen. What should I say? Where do I begin?That’s the reason I'm doing this 21-day writing challenge in the first place: to thwart the perfectionism, excuses, and other BS that prevent me from writing on a regular basis.

The Surprising Routines of Famous Writers

Sleeping in a coffin. Keeping rotten apples in the cupboards. Walking aimlessly through a garden of snails. Playing with your genitals.These are just a few of the odd habits documented in Daily Rituals: How Great Minds Make Time, Find Inspiration, and Get to Work.

Should You Write Your Personal Statement While Drunk?

“There was a kindliness about intoxication--that indescribable gloss and glamour, like the memories of ephemeral and faded evenings.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald

21-Day “Write Everyday” Challenge

You've heard us stress the importance of good writing in your medical school application, and being a good writer, just like staying in shape, takes training and practice.

Is It Okay to Use a Patient's Name in Your Medical School Admissions Essays?

“Cool Story, Bro”: How to Tell A Worthwhile Story in Your Personal Statement

“Cool story, bro.”Hang out with young people long enough, and you might just hear this phrase. As Urban Dictionary notes, it’s a sarcastic expression “used to indicate one's disgust or indifference towards a tl;dr story.” In case you’re wondering, “tl;dr” stands for “too long; didn’t read.”

Top 6 Reasons Reapplicants Didn't Get In And What to Do About It

Join the club. If you’ve been rejected from medical school, that makes you normal. 60% of applicants DON’T get in. The people who get in are the unusual ones.

Caution! Medical School Personal Statement Don’ts

Sometimes it’s more about what you don’t say than what you do.Google “Personal Statement Don’ts” and you’ll get a host of obvious advice: “Don’t have any typos” or “Don’t discuss political topics like abortion.”This article aims to go deeper. We’ll focus on specific mistakes that plague average personal statements. Steer clear of these pitfalls:

Volunteering, Research, Community Service: Great Ways to Get Rejected from Medical School

Do any of the following sound like you?You’re volunteering every week in the hospital to get enough hours to put on your medical school application.You’re pushing through your research internship even though you don’t like it much - because you know medical schools want students with research experience.You’re volunteering your time at a homeless shelter or attending blood drives to get your hours above the threshold most medical schools seek in their applicants (roughly 200 hours if you’re curious).

4 Foolproof Strategies to Make Your Personal Statement Memorable

The competition for medical school is fierce. With so many qualified candidates, it’s easy to fear being overlooked by admissions committees. Stellar grades and a laundry list of experiences aren’t enough on their own.

3 Techniques to Avoid Sounding Cliche in Your Medical School Personal Statement

The Secret to Telling a Great Story in Your Personal Statement

Most people know the writing adage, “show, don’t tell.” Whether you’re writing a novel or a medical school personal statement, this approach is a tried-and-true way of getting your message across.

10 Words to Avoid in Your Personal Statement to Medical School

Last week, we revealed the five most overused sentences in medical school personal statements. This week we’re going a little deeper, down to the level of individual words.In our experience, these 10 words and phrases are often beaten to death in pre-med essays. Use them sparingly, if at all.

The 5 Most Overused Sentences in Personal Statements

If you want to stand out from the pack, then you should avoid the common cliches of pre-med writers.They’re not necessarily bad ideas; in fact, most cliches make perfect sense. Of course you want to help people. Of course your time in the hospital inspired you. It’s precisely because they make perfect sense that they’re cliche: most pre-meds express the same exact thing. Over time, these sentiments have lost their power through overuse.

Highly Recommended: Punctuation Pet Peeves

Like grammar, punctuation helps to ensure clarity in your writing. It’s also a bit like dressing up for an interview--it’s part of your presentation and professionalism, a way to show the reader that you care about how your message is conveyed.

Seven Deadly Writing Sins That Will Sink Your Personal Statement

Many would call it a stretch to compare poor grammar to “envy,” “wrath,” “greed,” or any one of the seven deadly sins. It’s true that grammatical errors could result from a writer succumbing to “pride” or “sloth,” but more likely, it’s just ignorance.

Average vs Compelling Personal Statements

When pre-meds start writing their application essays, they often lack these intangible qualities that will make them stand out. Sure, you’ve gotten good grades in your science classes, amassed hundreds of volunteer hours, and earned a good MCAT score. But the act of making yourself come to life on paper, to write a personal essay, will feel as foreign to pre-meds as binge drinking and slacking off.

How to Sell Yourself Without Sounding Full of Yourself

You’re in competition with thousands of qualified medical school applicants for a limited number of spots, so you have to “sell yourself” to stand out. But you don’t want to come across as pompous, pretentious, or self-righteous. The dreaded “holier than thou” tone that will make admissions officers’ skin crawl.

Finding Your Angle in the Personal Statement (Part 2)

Most pre-meds struggling to write their personal statements are worried about two things: They feel like they don’t stand out and they feel like their essays are cliche

Finding Your Angle in the Personal Statement (Part 1)

Have you ever saved someone from drowning? What about rescuing a baby from a burning building? How about a cat stuck in a tree? Anything? Alright, so you didn’t save anyone. But surely you could, right? Especially with your tri-cultural background and fluency in six languages! No? Not even close? Not a problem. We’ll just fall back on your experience as a classically trained flautist? Or your brief stint as a circus acrobat? What’s that? I have the wrong file?

3 Foolproof Ways to Make Your Personal Statement Memorable

Since the dawn of time, there have been many different cultures and societies with various beliefs on medicine.

Highly Recommended: Training to Be a Good Writer

Many pre-meds have feelings of trepidation when they sit down at the keyboard. Some openly claim to be “bad writers,” while others simply struggle to meet their own high standards.

3 Tips for “Average” Pre-Meds to Stand Out in Their Medical School Admissions Essays

The dreaded “diversity question.”Each year, as students fill out their secondary applications, they’re bombarded with essay prompts about their “diverse qualities,” “unique insights,” or “unusual life experiences.” Schools will usually ask how these qualities, insights, or experiences will contribute to their campus or environment.

Highly Recommended: Every First Draft is Sh*t, Using the Hemingway App to Your Advantage

Ernest Hemingway once famously claimed, “the first draft of anything is sh*t.” And if you run your own first drafts through the Hemingway App, you’re bound to agree with him.According to its website, the Hemingway App is designed to “make your writing bold and clear.” But what does that mean?

The 10 Biggest Myths About Getting into Medical School (Part 2)

In our first installment, we broke down myths #1-5 in an attempt to decode the cryptic and overwhelming medical school admissions process.Now we’re back to complete the top ten and put an end to the rumors once and for all.

The 10 Biggest Myths About Getting into Medical School (Part 1)

In our work with pre-meds, we hear all kinds of crazy claims. About 95% of the time we hear one of the above phrases, what follows is false. No, you don’t need 400 hours of shadowing to get into medical school. No, it doesn’t help to finish college in three years. And when you get a rejection letter, you shouldn’t call the medical school and plead to be given a second chance.

5 Simple Steps to Turn Your AMCAS Essay into Your AACOMAS Essay

Let’s be honest. For most students applying to medical school, DO schools are a backup. From data collected by AACOM, of the students surveyed who got into both MD and DO schools, 86% chose an MD school.

5 Time-Saving Strategies for Writing Medical School Secondary Essays

BONUS: Every Secondary Essay Prompt For Your Medical Schools. Overachievement is clearly the norm for pre-meds. So it’s no surprise that they’re expected to complete something ‘secondary’ months in advance.

You Won’t Believe the Amount of Pages You’ll Need to Write for Medical School

7 Ways to Increase Your Chances of Acceptance Over the Holidays

How to Avoid Sounding Naive in Your Personal Statement

We must first acknowledge just how hard it is to be a doctor these days. Why is it so hard? Most doctors are burned out. Pressure is increasing to see more patients in less time (undermining the patient-physician relationship). Many doctors (and many pre-meds) are perfectionists who refuse to admit mistakes but inevitably make them anyway. Add to that a huge debt load from medical school and precious little time with family and friends, and it’s easy to see why doctors want out of their profession.

Powerful Personal Statements: Part 5 - How to Revise

our page isn’t blank any more, but you may not be very happy with what you’ve written. Basically, your room isn’t guest-ready just yet – it doesn’t look the way you really want it to and the way you may have imagined it in your head. Most likely, your essay is also too long (5300 characters goes by quickly). You’re going to have to move stuff around and probably get rid of some beloved knick knacks and potentially even an armchair or two.

Powerful Personal Statements: Part 4 - The Decor

The next step for your medical school personal statement is to decide what stories you want to tell and where. You may want to start by writing out some of your stories or at least make a quick sketch of your most memorable moments. What are the best stories for your Personal Statement? What would be good for your "Most Meaningfuls?" To me, this process is like purchasing furniture for an empty room. You know the types of chairs and lamps that you like and that represent your own style, but sometimes you don’t know exactly where you’re going to put them.

Powerful Personal Statements: Part 3 - Pre-writing exercises

Since you’re a pre-med and are most likely dying for some tangible steps for getting started on your personal statement for medical school, let’s move on to some pre-writing tips.

Powerful Personal Statements: Part 2 - The 5-Course Meal

The Resume Rehash. Admissions officers have read this type of essay all the time. It happens so often that it’s one of the biggest personal statement cliches. The way it goes is something like this: the applicant says why medicine but feels she needs to cram every single activity since she turned 18 into the 5300 characters. She touches upon so many experiences that she doesn’t take the time to elaborate well on any of them.

Powerful Personal Statements: Part 1 - Frame of Mind

Powerful Personal Statement Tips from a Mount Sinai Admissions Officer

A fantastic - and honest - talk by a Mount Sinai Admissions Officer at the UC Davis Pre-Health Conference in October aimed squarely at the personal statement and how to write it. Using an in-depth approach of looking at a successful applicant over all of the phases of the application process, the Mount Sinai admissions officer analyzed what applicants must do to get in.

Great Advice for your Personal Statement from College Admission Counselors

How to Generate Good Ideas for Your Personal Statement

5 Qualities of the Best Personal Statement Stories