Did you have a theme to your application?

[starspells]

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Did you have a strong or compelling theme to your application and if so what was it? Interests, activities, experiences that tied in together, for example.

I have heard this helps students stand out. Some of my activities are related, some are not. I feel like my "story" is kind of boring... I have many good experiences that I have gained valuable lessons and skills from that perhaps show my suitability for medicine but it's not something that I think is super compelling like some others may have.

If anyone has any input on how they did or have any suggestions that would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

 

[ProspectiveKidd]

IMO, It should be cohesive and well thought out. Mine will have several groupings (themes) based on the activities and experiences I have had.

However, you shouldn't necessarily base your application around 'making' it a theme. Just do things you enjoy and learn from them; you will see the interconnectedness.

Not everyone is going to have a rags to riches story; work hard in other areas to make up for it. Also, learn how to speak and write persuasively about yourself. Trust me, you do have meaningful life experiences. Just need to look for it deeper.

 

[gyngyn]

The most interesting stories often come from people who think they are boring.
It's not so much what has happened in your life. It's what you took away from the experience and how you express it.

 

[kavorca]

Under the Sea

 

[starspells]

The most interesting stories often come from people who think they are boring.
It's not so much what has happened in your life. It's what you took away from the experience and how you express it.

And I certainly did take away many valuable lessons from my experiences! It's just that my experiences are pretty different from each other.

Some people will have had a grandparent affected by cancer and that motivated them to do cancer research and volunteer in the oncology dept of a hospital (LizzyM used this example in another thread recently). Which seems pretty compelling perhaps compared to someone whose experiences weren't connected if that makes sense?

 

[CowboyNiceguy]

My application had a cancer theme, I guess. I talked about it in my PS, shadowed in oncology, did cancer research, lost a grandparent to cancer the day before an interview. But I also had other types of clinical experience.

 

[cardzkp]

Empathy... everything revolved around empathy. A tad cliché... but it worked out pretty good 😛

 

[starspells]

Empathy... everything revolved around empathy. A tad cliché... but it worked out pretty good 😛

Nice! how'd you do that? as in what experiences or stories did you talk about (if you're comfortable sharing!)?

 

[cardzkp]

Nice! how'd you do that? as in what experiences or stories did you talk about (if you're comfortable sharing!)?

I will PM you!

 

[drechie]

I will PM you!

Would love to hear your story too.

 

[Cara Delevingne]

I am grateful to say that no family members of mine had serious health issues. My theme was based on my own odd path into academia and maturity. It did not have a strong medical theme at all. It focused on community outreach and contributing to my school. In retrospect, I should have had a more medically-relevant theme - no top-20 interviews despite my competitive stats.

 

[Mad Jack]

I used SDN Blue.

Really though, you don't have to go out of your way to make an app cohesive. It's the story of you and why you're doing what you want to do. That should be cohesive enough. If you've got a theme that sort of naturally comes into your app, go with it, but don't go out of your way to give your app a theme, as it can come of as disingenuous if done wrong or if your answers during your interview don't hold up to the theme presented in your app.

Basically, you do you.

 

[aalamruad]

Do you guys think working with kids is a good enough theme? I'm almost certain I wanna work in pediatrics so basically everything I've been doing has been with kids(tutoring young kids, volunteering in a pediatrics hospital)

My app definitely has a clear peds theme. Didn't plan it like that or anything, but I just sought out opportunities that I found meaningful and enjoyable, and those almost exclusively ended up being related to peds (research with peds trauma, research with T1DM/DKA in kids, volunteering at a children's hospital, tutoring at another children's hospital, coaching kids in a sport, volunteering at a peds clinic in an underserved area, running a chapter of a medical mission group that works with kids in central America, etc.). Themes just sort of fall into place if you stick with the things you care about.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

My app had a couple clear themes...stuff that linked research, major, ECs, shadowing, personal experiences, etc. It was helpful but probably not the end all be all of an app. One could certainly put together a perfectly good app without a super-cohesive theme.

I think the people who struggle are people with no theme and cookie cutter profiles. Bio major, shadowed family med doc for 40 hrs, volunteered in the ER, made sandwiches for the homeless, did a 1 week medical mission, 1 semester of basic science cancer research, etc. No theme and incredibly generic lol

 

[mcatjelly]

Mine had a very solid mental health theme, to the point where I think only one of my interviewers asked me which specialities I was considering. The rest were all, "So...psychiatry?"

 

[AvacadosAtLaw]

I think the theme of my application will be "I want to be a doctor". We'll see if that works for me.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[Moose A Moose]

Star Wars.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

I think the theme of my application will be "I want to be a doctor". We'll see if that works for me.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

You stole my idea!

 

[Avicenna]

Kavorka idk why but that was the best thing i've read on sdn ever

Edit: and everyone has to make that same joke. Dont be unoriginal

 

[MaxPlancker]

I would say the best applicants certainly have a strong theme to their application. Here are some examples of student profiles (notice each has a clear theme): https://hms.harvard.edu/departments/medical-education/hms-student-profiles

After you look at some examples, you will realise that the themes were there because of who the people were. These themes didn't come because they thought hey this would be nice to sell my app. Each pursuit added or detracted from their feelings for something and led to more or less of those experiences. It's okay if experiences tell you that something is not for you. Also, it's perfectly fine to have more than one theme (or even none if that's how it is). It would be plain weird and suspicious if every single thing related to each other or to medicine. Really.

Ironically, I think the biggest reason most premeds don't have a clear theme is because they get into the box-checking mentality. They start looking at how to volunteer at the local children's hospital, volunteer at the shelter, blah blah because everyone else does it and they think they have to as well. Instead of stocking shelves and doing something you dislike, you might as well volunteer in something that you actually enjoy whatever that may be. Instead of doing cancer research because it "might look better than plant research", maybe you should do plant research because it actually interests you based on your background! As cliche as it is, if you do what you love, you will most likely have a theme...