writing tips

A memoir requires more than a recounting of events from your life. Rather, you must show the reader that you’ve experienced transcendence. Marion Roach Smith calls it the “golden rule” of memoir. She writes, “Memoir is not about what you did. Memoir is about what you did with it.” The experience...

Writing can be daunting for all of us. “What do I write about?” is the most common question that comes to mind when contemplating medical school personal statements or secondary essays. When writing these essays, organization is crucial. The thought of writing an essay up to 5300 characters long...

Will that lonely typo doom your otherwise perfect application to the great round file in cyberspace, putting the kibosh on years of effort and nixing your attempt to walk through the hallowed halls of your favored institution? No. A single, minor typo will do nothing. So don’t sweat one minor...

How can you write a stand-out personal statement? [Show summery] Dr. Mary Mahoney, Associate Professor of English at Elmira College and Accepted consultant, draws from her expertise in the medical humanities to deliver advice for writing a compelling personal statement. Listen to the show! A...

Each year, Accepted consultants are witnessing a recurring epidemic. And it’s worse than you can imagine: Generic-itis. What generic-itis looks like Here is an example of a severe case of generic-–itis that I drafted based on several different examples I recently read, along with 25 years of...

When you write an application essay or statement of purpose, you’re trying to accomplish several goals at once: (a) You need to prove your worthiness to be accepted to your target school, while (b) also showing the adcom that you have desirable character traits that your program values. But how...

We see you out there – sitting in front of a blank screen, stressing over the character limit, worrying about your med school personal statement, and perhaps asking yourself, “How can I write about myself without sounding like I’m bragging? How can I stand out when I have similar experiences to...

Accepted Founder Linda Abraham Talks Med School Admissions [Show Summary] Are you planning to apply to medical school this year? Worried about the personal statement, most meaningful experiences, activity descriptions, and secondary essays? They can be challenging! Let’s learn about the who...

What is the diversity question in a school application, and more importantly, why does it matter when applying to leading programs and universities? Many applications now include a question – sometimes optional – that encourages applicants with minority backgrounds, unusual education...

You can argue about the devil, but certainly the substance, distinctiveness, and success of your essays depends on the details. Bringing Out Your Uniqueness in the Details Many applicants tend to bury their uniqueness and success under vague assertions. You don’t want to hide your achievements...

To get into medical school, you explained why you wanted to be a physician. Now that you’re an MD/DO, you need to show them you’ve got what it takes to be a valuable addition to a medical team. To that end, your personal statement should give the residency committee a taste of what you’re all...

If you have experienced any form of social, economic, or educational disadvantage at any time in your life, you can apply to medical school as a disadvantaged applicant. When you specify that you are applying as disadvantaged, you will have a new section to complete in your application. AMCAS...

Ready to write your personal statement? Then it’s time to conjure your inner storyteller. The best way to distinguish yourself from other applicants is to tell the admissions board a good story, a tale of your greatest achievements, dreams, and challenges. How do you tell a good story? It’s...

In this blog series, you’ll get succinct, practical tips on how you can optimize your AMCAS application for acceptance to top medical schools. So far in this series we’ve talked about the WHO, WHY, WHAT, and HOW of creating an exemplary AMCAS essay. Now we’re going to offer some bonus tips...

In this blog series, you’ll get succinct, practical tips on how you can optimize your AMCAS essay for acceptance to top medical schools. Who Should Write Your AMCAS Essay? The obvious answer here is that YOU should (and if anyone else does for you, then you can expect to be found out and...

Here's a list of the most common mistakes we see students make on their personal statement: Rewriting your “Experience List” Exaggerating adversity Save the diversity for the diverse candidates Leave high school in the past (i.e. don’t focus on it) You’re not a doctor yet – don’t act like you...

THE SHORT STORY: Amanda here. I'm a med student's wife with a near-awkward love for storytelling and editing. I've helped people get into MD, DO, master's, and undergraduate programs because of my personal statement writing and editing. I graduated with a writing degree, have a day job in...

Each year, Accepted consultants are witnessing a recurring epidemic. And it’s worse than you can imagine: Generic–itis. The symptoms: • Mind-blowing, meaningless, and grand generic declarative statements, related to why an applicant wants to attend a certain program. • Irritation to...

I like to read biographies and personal profiles (that’s one of the reasons I like my work so much). I recommend that you check out Tom Brokaw’s The Greatest Generation, in which he clearly demonstrates the journalist’s ability to engage — you can learn from these techniques when you sit down to...