Hanna Renaldi's Blog: Failure to Answer the Question: Med School Application Essay Flaw #2

Avoid med school application flaw #2: Failure to answer the question

Watch what you write! In this blog series, we’ll examine the 5 fatal flaws that you should avoid when writing your med school application essays. In this post, we’ll talk about how to make sure that you clearly answer the essay question.

Med school applicants often ask, “What does the admissions reader want?” They want you to answer their question. It sounds simple enough, but too frequently, applicants don’t fulfill this simple request.

If the question asks you to discuss a failure, somewhere in that essay you must discuss a time when you really blew it. Follow the moment you would prefer to forget with lessons learned, and if appropriate, add in a nice dose of how you successfully handled a similar subsequent situation. But the starting point must be an answer to the question posed.

If the question asks why you want to attend a specific med school, you need to provide specifics about how that program relates to your interests and goals. Don’t respond with an answer that could apply to all medical schools. That is a non-answer, non-starter, and probable ding. Don’t tell them why you are more qualified than anyone else to attend their program. Just answer the question.

What if it’s an open-ended question with general instructions? Simple – just follow the general instructions and enjoy the luxury of writing about what interests you and best presents your qualifications.

Avoid Fatal Flaw #2: Keep your application alive and answer the question.

Now you that you know what NOT to do, it’s time to focus on what you SHOULD do to submit the absolute best medical school applications possible. Work one-on-one with a pro to create an application that will get you ACCEPTED.