“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.

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.

Making a good first impression at your medical school interview is vital, but it’s only half the battle! Just like physicians with their patients, you not only have to instill confidence and trust right away, but maintain those feelings throughout the conversation.

One year from today, your life will be over. When you start medical school, you will be consumed by academic and extracurricular responsibilities, and your free time will effectively end. And of course, while it's hard to think about that day when you haven't yet gotten in, it's important to plan for it nonetheless.

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.

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!

Why is it that some pre-meds can deal with bad grades while others seem doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past? A lot of it has to do with the tactic of re-framing - the ability to tame self-doubt and re-tell the stories of your past to better affect the present.

New year, new YOU, right? We all know that New Year’s resolutions are only as useful as one’s ability to actually follow through on them, but now is as good a time as ever to develop new habits and plans that will increase your chances of acceptance into medical school. Whether you’re five months or five years from applying, we believe this list will give you some valuable targets and inspiration to make the most of the new year.

Last month, we posted a quiz to help you figure out whether you're ready to apply to medical school. We've gotten dozens and dozens of responses, so we wanted to post the quiz results and share some key advice for those whose results indicated "Not Ready." You might be wondering how to improve your readiness or what your next steps should be. Fear not! We've got you covered!