AMCAS MSTP prompts and character limit

[akademix]

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Im sure its been addressed here before but Im having trouble browsing the forums. Can somebody please tell me the two essays, and their character limits. I've gathered from a post in a different thread that there is a 3000 character essay about Why MD/PhD, and a 10,000 character essay about your research experience. Can somebody elaborate, perhaps with the actual prompts and character limits? Thanks so much for the help

Akademix Esq.

 

[akademix]

Yikes nevermid, I did a google search and found something in an AAMC powerpoint from 2006. Im pretty sure this stuff hasn't changed--so for those of you who are wondering about the prompts, here they are.

•State your reasons for wishing to pursue the combined MD-PhD degree. (3,000 character limit)
•Please describe your significant research experiences. In your statement, please specify your researcher supervisor’s name and affiliation, the duration of the experience, the nature of the problem studied, and your contributions to the project. (10,000, character limit)

 

[britishmafia]

I'm sure the 2010 will remain the same, but the essays from 2009 were:

In the field below, please state your reasons for wishing to pursue the combined MD/PhD degree. The available space is 3,000 characters.

Please describe your significant research experiences. In your statement, please specify your research supervisor's name and affiliation, the duration of the experience, the nature of the problem studied, and your contributions to the project. The available space is 10,000 characters.


So yeah - it has not changed since 06.

 

[Alice Ma Li]

is it 3000 characters including spaces?

 

[MDPhDyeah]

yes, that is including spaces. further, each time you start a new paragraph that occupies a few characters as well.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

do people use up all the characters of the 10K prompt?

 

[URHere]

do people use up all the characters of the 10K prompt?

Most of the MD/PhD students I know only used a fraction of those characters - and I personally used only 2/3 of them if my memory is accurate.

Use what you need to describe your work in an interesting way. Certainly don't use more than you need just for the sake of filling space - boring your audience won't help you.

 

[achamess]

I used the full 10K, but I would have preferred not to. I worked in 4 labs during undergrad though and needed the full space to get through everything (and even then, I didn't elaborate that much).

As the others have said, don't do more than you need to. Definitely focus on highlighting your contributions, especially your intellectual contributions. Did you design the experiments? Were you primarily responsible for data analysis? Did you drive the direction of the project? These are the kinds of questions you want to address.