What do you actually look for in a "Why X" essay?

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Alright we are at the time of the year where people are starting to pre-write secondaries. I am one of those people and after plenty of research online and through my own personal conversations with other applicants and medical students, I still have some trouble figuring out exactly what an applicant should focus on in their Why X essays.

Very few medical schools are truly UNIQUE (curriculum is usually all the same or similar unless you are talking about a Duke or Yale System type difference). Comparing schools to others seems like a futile task unless you have certain personal connections to the area or the school itself.

I feel like most applicants are either going to talk about the same "unique" things about a school or just write about stuff that could fit with other medical schools.

What do admissions committees really look for in these essays from applicants? What should I try to focus on and make sure that I get across? Sorry if I sound all over the place but I have just recently started the pre-writing secondaries phase and I keep seeing all of these Why X essays.

 

[sillyxwabbit]

Great question, hopefully this gets attention.

 

[Med Ed]

Alright we are at the time of the year where people are starting to pre-write secondaries. I am one of those people and after plenty of research online and through my own personal conversations with other applicants and medical students, I still have some trouble figuring out exactly what an applicant should focus on in their Why X essays.

Very few medical schools are truly UNIQUE (curriculum is usually all the same or similar unless you are talking about a Duke or Yale System type difference). Comparing schools to others seems like a futile task unless you have certain personal connections to the area or the school itself.

I feel like most applicants are either going to talk about the same "unique" things about a school or just write about stuff that could fit with other medical schools.

What do admissions committees really look for in these essays from applicants? What should I try to focus on and make sure that I get across? Sorry if I sound all over the place but I have just recently started the pre-writing secondaries phase and I keep seeing all of these Why X essays.

I really just want to see that the applicant has done some homework on the school, and perhaps given serious consideration to whether or not the school is a good fit. It's not necessarily about finding a unique quality, but differentiating between lecture-heavy, lecture-light, TBL, PBL, CBL, clinical exposure, research requirements, Step 1 timing, clerkship structure, GME opportunities, etc. can give you some ideas.

Every year we figure out that some of our students would have been better off at other schools, and the fact that they matriculated here was a lose-lose proposition.

 

[sillyxwabbit]

I really just want to see that the applicant has done some homework on the school, and perhaps given serious consideration to whether or not the school is a good fit. It's not necessarily about finding a unique quality, but differentiating between lecture-heavy, lecture-light, TBL, PBL, CBL, clinical exposure, research requirements, Step 1 timing, clerkship structure, GME opportunities, etc. can give you some ideas.

Every year we figure out that some of our students would have been better off at other schools, and the fact that they matriculated here was a lose-lose proposition.

Thank you for that constructive answer!

 

[Med Ed]

How would you recommend I address a school's research if I don't have any experience, especially at research heavy schools? Should I just briefly mention it and/or indicate interest?

Either ignore it or just say that you really appreciate all the opportunities the school gives its students to shine, whatever their intended career paths.

 

[OneTwoThreeFour]

Could I say something like "The opportunity to conduct research in (X field that they're known for) would be a great introduction to medical research? Or does that come across as BS?

If you've done something else in that field I would say it would be valid. Otherwise it might feel like you chose the first name that popped up on the wikipedia page (which may/may not have been the truth...). You can mention location/patient population, school initiatives, curriculum differences, wellness programs, really any one of a hundred things. This is one of the reasons staying with a student the night before is so valuable if it is able/offered. I tell every pre-interviewee that the night on a couch is worth the info you get!

 

[Med Ed]

Could I say something like "The opportunity to conduct research in (X field that they're known for) would be a great introduction to medical research? Or does that come across as BS?

On the one hand it sounds a little presumptuous, on the other hand it's just one sentence in a galaxy of words.

 

[LizzyM]

How would you recommend I address a school's research if I don't have any experience, especially at research heavy schools? Should I just briefly mention it and/or indicate interest?

Why are you applying to research heavy schools if you don't have any research experience? Unless your application is otherwise perfect and you have an interesting hook, you aren't likely to be interviewed at those schools.

I suspect that these essays may be a way of helping students find schools that are a mutual good fit.

 

[Goro]

Every year we figure out that some of our students would have been better off at other schools, and the fact that they matriculated here was a lose-lose proposition.

This is an intriguing statement. Is it that these students would have been happier, say at a research heavy school, because they don't like touching patients? Or that they would do better in a different curriculum?

 

[Dr. Meliodas]

When I wrote my essays on this topic I focused on the mission of the school and how that related to my background. There were always certain programs that each school offered or scholarly concentration tracks. I related how those program would allow me to continue my interest in blah blah blah and how I have shown my interest by the things I did during undergrad.

Also some of the schools I applied to had clinical rotations at very strong well known hospitals. A good example is George Washington which has their students do their pediatric rotations at Children's National (one of the top pediatric hospitals in the country).

Those are the type of things I mentioned.

 

[LizzyM]

My stats are pretty high, so I applied to a few of the T20s as reaches. I didn't apply to very many, only 4 out of 25 schools total.

Good to hear! Good luck!

 

[Med Ed]

This is an intriguing statement. Is it that these students would have been happier, say at a research heavy school, because they don't like touching patients? Or that they would do better in a different curriculum?

It's almost always the curriculum.