The 'What do you bring to us' question

[Haybrant]

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What do you guys make of the 'what will you bring to our med school' question. Is this more of what you bring in general, or what do you bring that will help as a med student? I dont see how the latter interpretation is defensible based on ones premonitions of what being a med student is about; how did you approach this type of question?

 

[constructor]

by thinking about how to answer it.

 

[indo]

by thinking about how to answer it.

or, just use some knee-jerk, ass hole, one line answer...whichever works

 

[sdnstud]

i think the question asks.."how can you contribute to our school"

i'd approach this question by focusing on my academic strength and how the school can benefit from my strength. Some people write about a personal trait..but i think writing about a personal trait is BS unless you have a solid experience to back it up.

What do you guys make of the 'what will you bring to our med school' question. Is this more of what you bring in general, or what do you bring that will help as a med student? I dont see how the latter interpretation is defensible based on ones premonitions of what being a med student is about; how did you approach this type of question?

 

[liverotcod]

It's the same question as "tell us about yourself."

It's your opportunity to summarize your strengths and to show how your strengths will contribute to the schools strategic vision. For example:

"I will bring to XYZ School of Medicine the academic skills of an honors student recognized for my superior abilities in higher mathematics, the patience and intellectual maturity that comes with successfully completing research as evidenced by my 3 published papers, the dedication to the patient as a entire human being that I have shown working at the free clinic, and a really nice pair of ta-tas."

Then, if it's a longer essay, you write a paragraph expanding on each of these points.

 

[Treg]

This is kind of a variation on the "tell us your unique experiences" question on some secondaries. Basically, they want to know what you will contribute to the class, such as life experience, cultural diversity, unique athletic/career/research endeavors, etc. Just remind them why you would be a wonderful component of the incoming class.

🙂Treg

 

[Haybrant]

thanks for the responses; do you guys feel this sort of question should be tailored to each school by reading up on their goals, curricula or will that get you into the grey area of predicting what something will be like before actually experiencing it...

 

[liverotcod]

thanks for the responses; do you guys feel this sort of question should be tailored to each school by reading up on their goals, curricula or will that get you into the grey area of predicting what something will be like before actually experiencing it...

I would say the question is 80% about you, 20% about the school. You should already know about the school's goals and curricula before applying to it, after all that's WHY you're applying to that school, at least in theory. So you want your answer to this question to reflect what the school is looking for. You wouldn't apply to University of Vermont saying that you're going to bring big-city chic and the strong desire to practice in an urban environment, when they're so clearly rural/small-town oriented. But don't just make **** up, either - IMHO adcoms can spot phoniness a mile away.

 

[Haybrant]

I would say the question is 80% about you, 20% about the school. You should already know about the school's goals and curricula before applying to it, after all that's WHY you're applying to that school, at least in theory. So you want your answer to this question to reflect what the school is looking for. You wouldn't apply to University of Vermont saying that you're going to bring big-city chic and the strong desire to practice in an urban environment, when they're so clearly rural/small-town oriented. But don't just make **** up, either - IMHO adcoms can spot phoniness a mile away.

great responses liverot; thanks for the help!