Medical School Application and AMCAS Tips

Author: Michelle Finkel, MD
In early June of each year (the date varies), you can submit your medical school application. In preparation for medical school interview and for that date, here are a few quick tips for writing your AMCAS activities:
1. Use full sentences. The medical school application is a formal process, and you want to respect that fact. Also, you want to make your written materials as readable as possible. Faculty may have tens or hundreds of these to read. Making their lives easier is to your advantage.

2. Avoid abbreviations. Again, you want to be formal, and abbreviations you think are common might not be familiar to the reader.

3. Make sure you spell out your accomplishments clearly. If your reader doesn’t understand an activity, you will not get “full credit” for what you’ve done.

4. Choose “most meaningful” activities that show a breadth of experience, e.g. one that is related to research, another that is clinical, and a final that is volunteer.

5. Write about yourself and your role – not an organization. For example, don’t use the space to discuss Habitat for Humanity. Use it to discuss the specifics of your role at Habitat for Humanity. Try to use “I” and “my position,” as opposed to “this organization does….”

6. Use numbers to be persuasive. Saying that the conference you organized had 300 participants says it all.

7. Get help. Do not submit your application without having it reviewed by a skilled and experienced reader. Don’t submit suboptimal materials for a process that is this important and competitive.

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