Questions about this seminar? About the MCAT? About the Cutts MCAT Strategy Coaching?

Contact: Cutts Graduate Reviews, 31 B Kelly Lane, Los Lunas, NM 87031USA (505) 281-0684, 7 days, 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m., Mtn. Time.

I. GETTING STARTED

Welcome to the tutorial edition of our seminar for helping you succeed in getting into the medical school of your choice. By the end of this tutorial you will:

1. Learn and master strategies for standing out from the competition.

2. Create a plan and a time line for putting your strategies to work.

3. Create a budget for accomplishing your plan.

The strategies you are about to learn come from my over 30 years experience working with college students and returning students applying to graduate school, law school, medical school and business school. I teach this seminar around the country for people who want to learn how to beat the graduate school admission process.

Introducing Ourselves

A tutorial should be personal. I’d prefer to be sitting at a table with you, giving you a chance to ask questions and trying to adapt the strategies that I know are successful to your specific situation. True, we can’t sit down at the table together, but here are three ways that I hope to personalize this tutorial for you.

1. I’m going to tell you a little about my background, who I am and how I can help you.
2. I’ve built many personalized suggestions for you into the tutorial, drawing on what I have learned from helping hundreds of students from a wide range of backgrounds.
3. We do have the option of working together personally. If some live coaching would help you clarify your plans, you can register for phone consultation time with me. See the section, Our Other Services, at the end of the tutorial.

A Word About the MCAT

The Cutts Personal MCAT Strategy Coaching Program offers you a unique approach to the MCAT. Most of our MCAT students make all the point increase they need primarily through learning powerful MCAT strategies. This includes strategy for how to use your time most effectively, for understanding the hidden agendas of the CARS section and for organizing the complex science information so that you can do advanced problem solving.

These strategies alone often help students make a 10 point increase in their score. These strategies are so powerful that they can't be ignored. And yet most MCAT prep programs don't address them significantly. Often their instructors don't have a lot of years experience in test prep. To learn strategies well, it is also important that you can work one-on-one with someone who is experienced with them. The Cutts MCAT Strategy program is designed to back up your science review with expert and individual coaching. For details, visit our Web site at:

https://cuttshome.wordpress.com/mcat/

or contact us for more information. You may call me directly at (505) 281-0684, 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Mountain time, 7 days a week.

Who are You and What Do You Need?

You are considering applying to a med school, probably in the U.S. You may not be sure what the elements of an application are or when you need to complete them. The schools you are applying to may be very competitive and you may be concerned that although you can present a strong application, you may not stand out from other strong candidates. Or you may feel you cannot present as strong an application as you would like, but you are highly motivated to go to med school. You know you would do well. You want to find out how to prove this to the admissions committee.

The elements of a med school application. What do most schools require you to submit?

1. An application form

2. Letters of recommendation (a.k.a. letters of reference)

3. An official transcript showing your Grade Point Average (GPA)

4. A Personal Statement or Letter of Intent

5. An MCAT score is required by almost all schools.

If you are one of 100 or 500 or 1000 people sending these to a school, you can feel pretty helpless. "Ok, here are my scores and letters. How the heck am I supposed to stand out from everyone else doing the same thing?" In fact, there is a lot you can do. It will take some work, some planning and probably even some money (no, not bribes!). But the majority of the other applicants will not be doing these things and you will.

The 8 Areas in Which You Will Learn to Stand Out

Here are eight areas which you have control over and which you can take charge of.

1. The Personal Statement

2. A Supplemental Information Package

3. A Special Experience Project

4. Personal Contacts - Winning Faculty Support

5. Researching Programs

6. Letters of Recommendation

7. Interviews

8. Entrance Requirements - GPA and MCAT

This is what you will master in this tutorial. I will outline strategies, give you examples and exercises and discuss additional resources you can take advantage of.

At the end of the tutorial, you will identify the strategies you are going to use, and you will create a time line for implementing them. You will then create a budget for the resources you will need.

II. THE PERSONAL STATEMENT

Your big opportunity. The Personal Statement (PS), or Letter of Intent, is your best, and sometimes only, chance to present yourself as an individual to the admissions committee. As you master it, it will become a finely tuned piece of marketing.

Most of us think of the PS as a chance to tell the committee what we want them to know about us. That’s great, but it's only half the picture. You also need to tell them what they want to know about you. And in the way they want to hear it.

The Personal Statement outline. Below is an outline you can use to achieve an effective PS. I'm going to explain the framework of it. You will, of course, flesh it out with your own style and personality.

Ready to start? Ok, first consider who is going to read this thing and under what circumstances. Most likely it will be read by a member of the admissions committee (generally a faculty member or an admissions director) who just finished reading 30 other PS's. At 9 o'clock in the evening. After grading 100 midterms. Get the picture? You may not have their full attention. Your first few sentences are most likely to stick with the reader. Likewise, your last few sentences are most likely to leave an impression. For this reason you will make your first and last paragraph condensed, punchy presentations of all of your essential points.

PERSONAL STATEMENT OUTLINE

PARAGRAPH #1

Sentence 1 What you want to be or do.

Sentence 2 What you will do with this; who you will help.

Sentences 3 - 5 The educational, experiential and geographical background that prepares you for your goal.

Sentence 6 Why you want to attend this school.*

Conclude. Follow the format of Paragraph #1.
 
 

How to Write Paragraph 1.

Your opening paragraph is critical. I like to think that if a committee member were to spill coffee on the rest of my PS, the first paragraph would be enough to convince them to accept me. Well, what do you say to convince them? You tell them the four things they want to hear.

The Four Things They Want to Hear:

On the other hand, Keesha clearly indicates what she wants to be and do professionally. She also looks 5-10 years down the road and talks about what she will do with her training and whom she will help. These are the first two Things They Want to Hear, the first two punches of your four punch opening paragraph. Another left and right and you'll have them on the canvas.

The Four Things They Want to Hear:

Some of these bums barely made it through school. Or they took courses that were not as appropriate as yours. Some of your competitors have no actual experience in the field or their experience is sort of run of the mill. "I answered phones in a doctor's office." "I typed reports at the hospital." Or they did not present their experience strongly in their PS. You are going to pull ahead of these people by showing how much more qualified you are. You have the educational background and the experience to be successful in your graduate program and your subsequent career.

The Four Things They Want to Hear:

The boxing metaphor. You've now delivered three of your four punches. You have the admissions committee reeling. How do you finish them off?

The racing metaphor. After quickly leaving in the dust those who have not thought through their career plans, you now pull ahead of those without the educational, experiential and geographic qualifications. You still find yourself competing with a small number of highly qualified students. Why should the committee choose you? Because you are a perfect match for their school! Again, this information goes in your secondary application, not your primary app.

The Four Things They Want to Hear:

Analyze these examples. Before we talk about how to actually write this, take a look at the following excerpts from first paragraphs. For each one, list two flaws and two strong points. Then we'll discuss them.

1.

2.
 
 
 
 

Strengths:

1.
 
 
 
 
 
 

2.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

1.
 
 

2.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Strengths:

1.

2.
 
 
 
 

1.
 
 
 
 
 
 

2.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Strengths:

1.
 
 
 
 
 
 

2.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

1.
 
 

2.
 
 
 
 

Strengths:

1.
 
 
 
 
 
 

2.
 
 
 
 
 
 

What did you think of Martin's paragraph? There are several dangers in this kind of opening. I'm not saying Martin might not pull this off successfully, but it's very risky.

First of all, the flowery, literary style is not necessarily appropriate for a medical school application. The "creative" approach might easily backfire, being seen as out of touch with the normal writing style. The biggest problem, however, in my view, is that it is simply too rambling to create a strong first impression. There is a place in the PS for family background, inspirational stories and creative language. But it's not in the first paragraph. Sure, some committee members might be entertained, depending on their mood, but it is just as likely that they'll be thinking, "C'mon, Shakespeare. Get to the point already, if you have one." Fortunately, the line, "I want to study radiology at a major medschool. . . " gets back on track. This is where Martin should have started his PS.

How did you rate Claudia's paragraph? It starts out great - specific, positive, well thought out. The educational background starts strong, but then we get to the sentence "I went to another school first . . . " You can see where her train of thought came from, but how does it fit in? It doesn't. What does it add? Nothing. This is extraneous material. Maybe it is supposed to say something about decision making skills or emotional maturity. In reality, it detracts from the punch. Same with the line about being on the basketball team. If Claudia does want to convey physical fitness and decision making skills, she should put them in the body, not the opening paragraph.

Other than these two digressions, this is a pretty darn good essay, assuming that she does not need to address any geographic preferences. Do you agree?

Kim and Jason exemplify two common extremes. I have a suspicion you've spotted Kim's flaw. "I want to be a doctor." No duh. You're applying to a medical school. "I will practice medicine in various situations ..." Isn't that what a doctor does by definition? " . . . and will work with patients." That's who doctors work with, pal. Kim has put together a sophisticated sounding sentence, but in reality it says nothing. Why? Because most likely she has nothing to say. She hasn't thought about what she wants to specialize in or what she might do with it. Before she can even really attempt a PS, she needs to do some research, get some practical experience and consider what she wants to do. No use trying to fake it.

Jason goes to the opposite extreme. The "dermatologist" part is fine. However, Jason's long term goal is so specific that you really question his motives. If he can't get that one particular job, he won't have any options. He sounds obsessed. If you find yourself with a very specific job goal, broaden it a bit. What will you do if that particular job doesn't come through?

Try it yourself. Your turn. First, pick a particular school that you may apply to. Remember that your PS is aimed at this one school. You need to write at least a modified PS for each school. For the time being, you may not know if the school has geographic requirements, so wing that part. You may not know exactly why you want to go there, so do your best on that for now, too.

Sentence 1 (What you want to be or do)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sentence 2 (What you will do with this)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sentences 3-5 (Your educational, experiential and geographic background)
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sentence 6 (Why this school)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

You will still have some refinements to do on this first paragraph - more research on each school, showing it to various people for expert feedback, rereading it for certain pitfalls - but you are on your way to making a strong first impression. Come back to what you just wrote in two weeks and read it again.

Filling in the Body: Paragraphs 2 and 3, Your Goals.

This is your opportunity to expand on Sentences 1 and 2 of Paragraph 1 - what you want to be and what you are going to do with it. As you think through how to flesh out your career goals, you may find you need to revise or refine them. In fact, let’s take a quick look at your goals right now.

Your goals should be specific enough to show that you understand the field and have a sense of what you want to do. However, avoid being so specific that your options seem limited. If you feel you are being too general - "I want to be a doctor with a job in medicine" - you may need to do some career research. Remember that you are not committed to actually doing what you say. You can always change your mind later, so don't worry about it too much. The important thing is to show the committee that you have put some intelligent thought and research into your career plans. You might not have done much of that yet, so now is the time.

How to clarify your career options. To get an idea of your career options, talk to professors at the school (see Personal Contacts), people working in the field and current and recently graduated students. Keep your ears open. Make a list of potential areas of specialty within your field and mark which ones seem interesting and which ones don't. Jot down the reasons why.

Ask yourself what ties the areas that you like together. Also, what ties together the things that you didn't like. By finding a way to word yourinterest in general, you will be ready to crank out a first sentence.

Mastering the fine points of Paragraphs 2 and 3. Once you have a sense of what your career interests are, you can use Paragraphs 2 and 3 to show the committee the depth and commitment behind your goals. Talk about the kinds of work that interest you, the areas of the field you want to be competent in. Elaborate on what you would like to achieve in your career and whom you hope to help.

Remember what Paragraphs 4-6 are about? Experience, education and geography.

Lucinda has mixed the two together. Her last sentence refers to her experience and education. Keep them separate. This will help you organize your thoughts and keep the flow clear to the reader.

Filling in the Body: Paragraphs 4-6, Education, Experience and Geography.

These paragraphs tell the committee about your education, experience and background. A good approach is to weave these elements into a single narrative. This narrative presents your life as an inevitable and unstoppable movement toward your declared goal.

Start with your early life - your family background, the skills and motivations you developed, the role models who inspired you. You are trying to accomplish several things here. One, of course, is to get across your educational, experiential and geographic qualifications. The second and equally important goal is to paint a picture of your life as moving you ever closer to your goal, as though Fate itself were guiding you inexorably toward your finest hour. Ok, maybe I’m being slightly melodramatic, but I’m serious. Show the consistency, show the roots of your interests, show how you have stayed on track, like a bulldog tracking its quarry. (Actually, I don't know if bulldogs track their quarry. But if you were one, you would.) You don't need to show how you dropped out in Katmandu for five years selling oriental rugs. Nor how you really wanted to be a cellist but were no good at it. Leave out the extraneous. Choose only those elements that help paint your picture.

After talking about your early life, it is usually natural to talk about your education, since that comes next chronologically. In any case, just follow the actual order of events in your life, e.g. growing up, college, five years work, Masters degree. A chronological narrative gives the reader a stronger sense of the progress and continuity of your life.

Showing your personal qualities. One of the major between-the-lines goals of Paragraphs 4-6 is to convey to the committee that you have the personal qualities that they are looking for. While you can easily describe your education, course work and achievements, as well as the jobs you have held and career goals you have achieved, it just doesn't work to literally list your personal qualities.

Here's what you do not want to do:

Using something from your actual experience, try the right way. Relate one or two of your finest achievements using non-emotional, objective language without hesitating to give them the powerful details.

You have the idea now of showing, not telling, that you have the qualities that the committee is looking for. But what qualities are they looking for? To answer this question, try the following exercise:

Put yourself in the committee's place to figure out what they want to hear. Imagine that you are on the admissions committee. Now consider first, who are you? You are most likely a professor. What kind of interactions do you have with students? You have them in your classes. You talk to them in your office. You meet them in the halls, cafeteria, etc., and sometimes even have them over to your house.

You are in the position of deciding who next year's entering class will be. What are you looking for? True, the school or department is officially looking for good GPA's and MCAT's. That's fine. Keeps the ranking of the school up, which keeps your salary up. But you also have to live with these students much of your work day.

Keeping this in mind, make a list of the personal qualities you would be looking for in students. What would make your work easier, more enjoyable and more interesting? Try doing this exercise with a friend. It will help you expand your perspective. At the end of this section on Paragraphs 4-6, I will give you some of my ideas. Hold off on reading that until you have tried this for yourself.

Once you have developed a check list of the personal qualities a school might be looking for, identify the ones you can demonstrate to some extent. Find examples from the experience, education and geography of your life which show these qualities. You can then weave them into your narrative.

How to present your education, experience and geography. The real purpose of describing your education and experience (we’ll talk about geography in a few minutes) is to show, rather than tell, that you have certain skills. Your educational background shows that you have specific knowledge, namely that you have completed course work in certain areas. Academic awards and honors show that you have more knowledge than the average student. A high GPA shows the same. Your education can also show that you are knowledgeable in a variety of fields. It can show that you have overcome obstacles. For example, you may have had to work full time and support a family while doing your undergraduate work, or you may have been the first person in your family to go to college.

Use your educational background to show what you know, how your knowledge exceeds that of others, and how your educational achievements reflect the obstacles you have overcome. Present your education as an active movement toward your career goals. State how your education has prepared you to be successful in your graduate work.

Take an inventory of these things for yourself now. Think of as many as you can. You can add more or throw some out later.

What knowledge have I gained in my education?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

What shows my academic excellence - awards, honors, GPA, recognitions, publications, etc.?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

What obstacles have I overcome? How has my education built character, perseverance, discipline? Give examples.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

How can I describe my education as moving me in a direct path toward my goal? Summarize or sketch out.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

How has my education prepared me for being successful in medicine? Skills, knowledge, experience.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Many of these same questions apply to your real life experience as well. Experience is really just another kind of education but there are a couple important differences. First, everyone applying to med school has an education. Not everyone has the same amount of practical experience. This is an area where you can stand out. Second, you generally do and learn different things in a work setting than you do at school. Work may require you to cooperate with others, to do more advanced professional activities, or, on the other hand, to do hours of meaningless grunt work. It may require you to think more autonomously than you do in school or to be a total automaton. If you are lucky, practical experience has allowed you to prove yourself capable in your chosen field. It may have deepened your commitment to your goal. It may have kept you from starving for a couple months.

Take an inventory of your practical experience. Write down whatever comes to mind. Don't edit or censor anything right now. You can do that later.

What skills and knowledge have I gained in my practical experience? Include awards, recognitions, etc.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

What has my practical experience taught me beyond what I learned in my education?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

How has my practical experience moved me toward my goal and how will it help me be successful in med school?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Now let’s talk about geography. This may not apply to you at all. Do the research to find out if your school prefers people from a particular place or people who will work in a particular area. If you are a native of that particular place, be sure to say so. Describe your ties to that area.

There may be certain populations or certain topics or areas of work that are important in a geographic location. Describe your ties to these also. Usually you don't have to go into great detail on your geographic qualifications. Just do not forget to show that you have them. If geography is not an issue for your school, do not mention it.

In your research you may come across some other special qualifications which your school is looking for - having a parent who is an alumnus, coming from a certain ethnic background, etc. This is the section where you would address these.

What if your past does not seem too impressive? So far we have talked about how to make Paragraphs 4-6 into a chronological narrative showing your life moving ever forward toward your career goal. We have discussed how to use your education and experience to show, not tell, the personal qualities that the school is looking for. We've inventoried the knowledge and skills that you have accumulated and talked about how to present your geographic qualifications.

At this point you may find yourself thinking, "Ok, I've inventoried. I’ve passed some classes and I've had some jobs. Frankly, I'm not looking too impressive. What do I do now?" Several things.

First, adjust your perspective. Remember, this is a marketing project. Get a good night's sleep. Do some push-ups. Take a shower, eat a good breakfast and try again. '

You didn't "take some classes." You completed over 30 hours of upper level creative writing with a 3.9 average. You designed and successfully completed a graduate level independent research project in Pleistocene plant fossil records.

You didn't "have some jobs," nor were you "a clerk in an office twice." You updated and managed filing systems for a small, hometown medical clinic for two summers.

Get the idea? Focus on the particular skills and knowledge you gained, not just the job or course description. Even the most boring or mundane experiences include learning opportunities, such as working with a team, organizing time or materials, creative problem solving or conducting research. Leave out the meaningless. Emphasize the positive, even if it wasn't l/2 of 1 percent of the total experience.

Second, it's not over yet! If you are still in school, keep that GPA up even if you have to take basket weaving. A GPA of 3.9 can be a ticket to anywhere. It's very powerful. This may sound mercenary but if it's important to you to keep a high GPA, you might consider dropping courses in which you are not going to get an A. If your GPA is good but your list of courses is not too impressive, focus on taking one independent study or special course that you can highlight. If you are out of school and your GPA was not great, you can take some graduate level courses non-degree to prove you can do the work. Make sure to take something you will get an A in, or your plan to prove yourself will backfire.

The chance for experience is, of course, not over yet either. In fact, if you have enough time, you can actually arrange to do something that will just blow your competition out of the water. I'm going to devote a whole section to this under "Special Experience Project."

If you are weak in the geographic connection that your school is looking for, you will need to go out of your way to compensate. You may want to consider applying to other schools where you may have a better chance. However, you may not have that option. Typically, "geographic connection" means a state school which you are applying to gives a preference to students who plan to work in the state. Since anyone can say they plan to stay, the school looks primarily for native or long term residents. If you don't fall into those categories, you need to convince the committee that you have a strong commitment to the state. It is certainly good to say directly that your goal is to practice your profession in the state. Make sure to say this in your first sentence, "I want to be a pediatrician in the state of Vermont." You also need to demonstrate your commitment. The best strategy is to identify what your school considers to be the specific needs of the state and tie your goals to these needs.

This may not be easy to do. Here at the University of New Mexico there is an interest in serving the needs of rural populations, since much of the state is rural, and Hispanic and Native American populations. A person who speaks Spanish or has done work with rural populations, for example, would be demonstrating a tie to the interests of the state.

Once you identify what your school considers to be the needs and interests of their area, you may find that you don't have any particular involvement in those needs or interests. Get some. See the section, "Special Experience Project".

Turn your negatives into positives. Now that we have talked about what to do if your positive qualities don't seem as strong as you'd like, here's a related problem. What do you do about those embarrassing things in your background that look downright bad - your GPA of 1.7, the fact that it took eight years to finish your BA, that brief but painful stint in the state pen, your sub average performance on the MCAT?

Compare the following approaches:

Lucinda, on the other hand, has mastered the art of turning negatives into positives. First of all, she does not use any excuses or apologies. Obviously the committee would be very concerned about her abysmal GPA and she does have to address it. She does so by showing the obstacles she has overcome. No whining here. Everything is positive. Rather than complaining that she had to raise a family of 5 by herself, she first puts the fact out objectively and then lists her successes - raising the income, kids got academic awards.

Same with the car accident. Rather than saying, "Jeez, I was on crutches for a year. What do you want?", she presents the facts and points out her accomplishments. By now it's clear to the committee that she has had her hands full and she can proudly say that she was still able to maintain a 1.7.

Here are the steps for turning negatives into positives.

These emphasize the negative. It sets the committee up to think, "Ok, this better be good."

Step 3 Start by building up to what you learned or accomplished or overcame. Often it works best to leave mention of the negative situation till the end, as Lucinda did. When the committee starts reading the paragraph, all they see is the positive. Then at the end they can say, "Oh, so that's why her GPA is so low. She sure learned a lot though, and did pretty well, considering."

If your low GPA is due to many work and/or family responsibilities, you can learn from Lucinda's example. Even though these responsibilities may have felt like a burden to you and you would just like someone to say, "My goodness! You poor thing. And you still did so well!", this is not your best approach. Take it one step further and present the positive things that came out of these experiences, as Lucinda does.

Often a low GPA is just due to your having been drunk most of your freshman and sophomore years. Seriously, many people simply don't have the motivation or interest to kill themselves over grades until later, when their career goals are a little clearer. It is common for a GPA for the second two years to be higher.

As far as having a low MCAT score, my advice is "Don't get a low score." Easier said than done. Of course, I'm a little biased, but most schools weigh the MCAT heavily, so give yourself plenty of time to prepare and work with an expert. If you did not prepare well the first time you took the test, consider taking it again, this time with professional help. See the section on "Entrance Requirements" to get an idea of how learnable the test is.

Despite your best efforts, you may still get a score that is less competitive than you would like. Each person has a certain aptitude for the test. While a skilled professional can get you to the top of your aptitude, sometimes that's not as high as you would have liked. How to turn this into a positive? Many people with low scores will be trying to make excuses. You will take a different approach. Try to get a sense of why your MCAT score does not reflect your actual ability. Does time pressure decrease your performance? Do you historically score low on standardized tests, yet do well in school? Was there some temporary disturbance in your life that affected your score?

I believe it is best to say directly, "My MCAT score does not accurately reflect my academic ability." Give the committee a very brief, succinct explanation of why not, without whining. Then say, "My academic abilities are best reflected in ..." and then give them examples of how you excelled under the conditions that you claim are more representative - your grades, academic awards, etc.

Be careful. The conditions under which you function best had better be the ones that most programs expect from you. It is fine to say that you perform best by working carefully and methodically, so that the time constraints of the MCAT artificially deflate your performance. Most medical schools allow you time to work carefully. If, however, you say that you perform best when you have someone read the information to you, that may explain why your MCAT score does not reflect your ability, but it doesn't say much for your chances of succeeding in med school without special assistance.

What about disabilities? The above example raises the question of what to say about physical or learning disabilities that you might have. This is a tricky area. If your various credentials do not appear very competitive because you have had to overcome disabilities, it might be helpful to let the committee know. You do this in the same way that Lucinda does - emphasizing the obstacles you have overcome and the skills and strengths you have gained. BUT - I repeat BUT-schools realize that once they accept a student with a documented disability, they are required by law to provide adaptive services to that student. This can become very expensive for them. If you tell a school in advance that you have a disability, you risk being rejected.

In many cases it may be best to avoid revealing any disability. If your scores, grades or achievements are a little on the low side, try to find other areas, such as we are discussing in this tutorial, to make yourself look more attractive.

If you have a documented disability, you can take the MCAT under special conditions. However, at the time of this writing, MCAT scores taken under special conditions are marked as such, so the school will know that you have a disability, which they will be required to accommodate. If your disability is minor and will not require much accommodations, you should then explain it to them. But if you will require significant help, this can work against you and you may need to take the test under regular conditions. Check with AAMC to see if they are still marking tests taken under special conditions. The makers of the GRE exam were recently sued and are now required to NOT mark such tests, so the MCAT may be soon to follow suit.

Exercise: Turning Negatives into Positives

List up to three areas that you are concerned might appear negative in your background.

1.

2.

3.
 
 

Pick one of these for this exercise.

Analyze it. What are the factors that lead to the negative situation?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

What did you learn or accomplish? What obstacles did you overcome?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Now write this up in paragraph form. Start by describing what you learned. End up mentioning the situation which looks negative. Review Lucinda’s statement and the three steps for turning negatives into positives.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

My hints on the exercise "If you were on the admission committee" from the beginning of this section. If you remember, early in this section we discussed the importance of showing, not telling, the personal qualities that the admissions committee is looking for. I suggested an exercise in which you put yourself in the position of a professor teaching in the department, interacting with students in many ways. You then tried to see what qualities you would want in your students.

I promised to give you my perspective and here it is. If you have not yet done the exercise, hold off reading this. Try it first yourself.

The qualities I would look for in students would be based on the various ways in which I relate to them. The most obvious is in the classroom and through course assignments. I would want students who are dynamic. They have energy and enthusiasm. Lecturing to half-bored students who do not ask questions or offer input makes a professor’s work dull and frustrating.

• dynamic/energetic/enthusiastic

I would want students who get work done. They complete projects on time and do a good job.

• dynamic/energetic/enthusiastic
• gets work done

I would want students who are self-starters. They can set and accomplish their own goals without constant prodding. Professors don’t mind meeting with a student outside of class for extra help but the student who just doesn’t know what to do, how to get started or how to finish becomes a drain on the professor’s time.

• dynamic/energetic/enthusiastic self-starter
• gets work done accomplishes goals
   

I would want students who are resourceful. They can make the best of situations and can find imaginative ways to get things done. If one way does not work, they will try something else. Such students don’t need to constantly ask the professor how to get things done.

• dynamic/energetic/enthusiastic self-starter
• gets work done accomplishes goals
• resourceful

I would want students who are independent thinkers. They have something fresh to contribute to a discussion. They don’t just tell the professor what he/she wants to hear. On the other hand, I would not want a student who thought they already knew it all. If a student thinks they have it figured out, they don’t need me. I would want students who are independent thinkers but really want to hear what I have to say.

• dynamic/energetic/enthusiastic self-starter
• gets work done accomplishes goals
• resourceful independent thinker
• open to new ideas

All of these qualities would make my job easier and more rewarding as a professor in the classroom. But I would also be interacting with students after class, in the halls, in the cafeteria, at school events and even at parties. In such settings I would want students who are friendly, who are warm, who can carry on a conversation, have nice personalities and good social skills. It would be a bonus if these students had interesting hobbies or outside activities, were well rounded, interesting and even fun!

• dynamic/energetic/enthusiastic self-starter
• gets work done accomplishes goals
• resourceful independent thinker
• open to new ideas
• friendly, warm good social skills
• interesting, fun well rounded

Personality and social traits can be a little tricky to show. Cite activities or positions (e.g. homecoming king) that might show good social skills. Use warm, personal, friendly and fun language in one or two select spots in your PS.

Filling in the Body: Paragraphs 7 and 8. Why this school.

Remember that your primary application personal statement is sent to all the schools you apply to, so you should not address why you want to go to any particular school in that statement, unless you plan to apply to only one school. In your secondary applications to specific school, you expand on the reasons why this particular school is the perfect one for you. Of course, you must do this for each school that requests a primary. This is sort of like proposing marriage to five different people.

In order to claim that you are a perfect match for this school, you need to find out what kind of students the school is looking for, what special programs they offer and what the strengths of their faculty are. This will take some significant research. Remember that nothing says, "I don’t really care that much about your school" as loudly as getting the facts wrong.

One of the big problems in addressing "why this school" is that the real reason is often, "Well, it’s close and it’s cheap." If this is your situation, you’ll have to dig a little deeper. Talk about the programs they have that match you goals, the faculty who are doing the kind of work you want to learn about, the opportunity to learn what people are doing in your field in that geographic area. Be specific. A statement like "I am eager to learn from the school's practicum program" only tells them that you know there is a practicum program. That's better than nothing but is not nearly as strong as "I am eager to participate in the practicum program so that I can meet many of the practicing pediatricians in the state and find out specifically how they are addressing food inadequacy." This statement tells the school that you are actually a good match for the practicum program (as well as reemphasizing that you have a good sense of how you fit into the field).

How to Write Paragraph 9: The Conclusion

The conclusion gives the same info as the introduction. Follow the same structure but use different working. Do not add any substantial new information here. If you get a last minute thought, put it into its correct spot in the body. It is alright here to add a little personal touch, such as the Italian cook or cello player did.

Editing your PS.

Once you have a draft of your PS, you need to check it yourself and have it checked by several experts for:

1. Grammar and punctuation
2. Content
3. Language and style

Grammar and punctuation must be perfect. An error here shows the committee that you are not careful and hints that you may not be a competent writer. Have your PS checked by someone with excellent grammar skills. It’s not enough to do it yourself or run it through the spell checker. Don’t let your grammar expert give you advise on the content, though. They’ll want to, but that’s not their job. Because of the specialized nature of the PS, many conventions of other kinds of writing may not apply.

You do need to check your content and to have a skilled person check it too. It can be difficult to find a qualified person. Perhaps a good advisor can help you or a professor in your undergraduate program. You might even ask a marketing professional to review your PS.

You definitely need to have a med school professor or a physician review the PS. Every discipline has its own way of using language, its own vocabulary and style. This person can point out phrases or expressions that do not fit. They can suggest ways to make your wording sound more like how physicians write.

I do review PS’s for students. See Our Other Services at the end of the tutorial. You can send me a copy of your statement and I will give you a free estimate on what I think it needs and what it would cost.

III. SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION PACKAGE

Now you have an idea of how to start planning your Personal Statement. Only a limited amount of information will fit in the PS, however. In your secondary applications, you may have a chance to send along some additional information.

There may be certain items you would like the committee to see which do not fit in the PS. You can send along a supplemental package containing these items. There is no guarantee that they will look at them, but it can’t hurt. And it can help. You should refer to the supplemental items in your PS. For example, "Please refer to the videotape of my Nobel Prize acceptance speech enclosed under separate cover."

Supplemental items include examples of work you have done, for example the abstract of a published article or of a research paper you are particularly proud of. It is unlikely that they will read anything lengthy, so an abstract and possibly one or two pages is enough.

Anything that shows your outstanding qualities or is an example of your best efforts is a good candidate for the Supplemental Info Package. It does not need to be related to your field. Audio tapes of a musical performance, videos of dance or theatre, newspaper clippings and copies of awards can all go in the package. Be careful not to turn this into a huge scrapbook, though. Select the few most impressive items. Some people include a photo of themselves. To me this could go either way. If they don’t like my looks, I’m sunk. On the other hand, a friendly face can make a big impression.

If you decide to enclose a photo, consider having one specially done by a photographer who is experienced at doing head shots for actors. Call a talent agency for a recommendation. The photographer can help you create a look that is appropriate for the field you are applying to. Show the proofs to a professor or professional in your field to get feedback on which shot makes the best impression. Check with each school before compiling a package. Some schools specifically do not want certain items, such as photos.

Before you send a supplemental information package, check with the schools you want to send it to to see how to send it and to make sure that it's acceptable to do so.

Exercise: List items that you might include in a Supplemental Information Package. After each item, identify the skills or qualities that this item shows about you.

Item 1

Skill/Quality
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Item 2

Skill/Quality
 
 
 
 
 
 

Item 3

Skill/Quality
 
 
 
 
 
 

Item 4

Skill/Quality
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

IV. SPECIAL EXPERIENCE PROJECT

Think back to Paragraphs 4-6 of the PS. Here you had a chance to wow them with your in-depth practical experience. "Ahem," you say. "To tell you the truth, my practical experience would fit in the bottle cap of a flea’s Perrier with room left over." Or perhaps you say, "I’ve got lots of work experience but it’s pretty normal, unimpressive stuff."

I'm going to temporarily give you permission to include just one piece of experience that wasn’t actually true. In other words, you're going to make up a BIG LIE!. Actually try this right now. Trust me. What one bit of experience would be most impressive to your committee? What qualities and skills would it reflect? Remember, the sky is the limit here. Go for broke! (Uhmm, please also remember that you CANNOT do this on your actual PS. If you forget, please don't tell them that I said you could.)

Write a sentence describing your ultimate, impressive experience as though you had already done it:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I hope you wrote something on the order of:

Write a sentence describing this theoretical project as though you had already done it:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The fact is that even if you’ve got only limited time left, you can create a practical experience that is impressive. Many people make an effort to get some experience but it is usually something like volunteering in an office or clinic or doing some field or lab work. These are worthwhile activities but your goal now is to do something that stands out. Look at the sentence you just wrote. Would it stand out? Could it be bolder or more ambitious and still be doable?

The exercise you just tried - making up an impressive project - was actually harder than it needs to be. You had to work in a vacuum, making up a project from scratch. In real life, you will first identify a project that the school you are applying to considers to be important. Depending on your area of specialty, the project could be research, program development, legislation, a written document, a presentation, etc.

Talk to a professor at the schools you are applying to who has interests similar to yours. I’ll discuss how to do this in the section, "Personal Contacts". Let them know that, if possible, you would like to have the results of your work published or presented at a conference. The professor may be conducting a project that you can volunteer on. You will need to be firm about not getting roped into a grunt position. It is alright to let them know that you have limited time and want to tackle professional level work. You can be frank about your motives in a positive way, i.e. rather than saying, "I want to impress the heck out of the committee," say, "I want to demonstrate conclusively that I can conduct professional work."

If none of the professors can suggest any appropriate project, talk with professionals working in your area. Doing some work in conjunction with a known name in the field is impressive, so check out the famous and near famous. You might even contact a nationally known figure and offer to help them.

The main idea here is that you identify an issue that is considered to be important in your field, especially by professors at the schools you are applying to. You are looking for a concern or question that is at the cutting edge of your field and you will design a way to move that cutting edge just one bit further along. While you may find a professional doing a project that you can participate in, I find that it is usually allows you to present yourself in the strongest way if you design and conduct your own project.

In the exercise above you chose a topic for a project. In real life you will need to stick with projects that are available or can be created. Roll with it. The important thing is that it be impressive. Remember that everyone has an education but many people do not have really significant experience. This is your chance to do something that will really put you ahead of the pack.

V. PERSONAL CONTACTS - WINNING FACULTY SUPPORT

Career counselors like to say that most job hiring decisions are in the end based on personality and appearance more than on experience. Despite all of the objective criteria we have identified for what the committee is looking for, it really comes down to the intuitive evaluation, "I like this person" or "I don’t like this person so much". They say that in a job interview the evaluation is made in the first minute or two. The rest is simply playing out the role the Fates have already decreed.

The same undoubtedly holds true in getting accepted to med school, with the interview being the committee members chance to meet you in person. The interview is essential a live version of your personal statement. If you have prepared your personal statement well, you'll be prepared for the interview. This will be your chance to make a personal impression. However, it can also be helpful to make personal contacts in other ways, which might actually help you get that interview.

You can do this by meeting and establishing a relationship with professors in the school you are applying to. Some of them may actually be on the admissions committee. If not, they certainly know who is and can put in a good word for you at the right time. As it turns out, there are many benefits to making personal contacts on the faculty, so this is a strategy you should not miss out on.

Consider this possible scenario. After the committee has made their initial cuts, they are still left with three equally qualified candidates for one position. How do they decide? They might flip a coin. Or someone might say, "I don’t know these two, but I’ve met this applicant and she seems bright, interested and pleasant."

I suspect that all else being relatively equal, students who are personally known to the committee have an edge over those who are not. If you are applying to the school where you did your undergraduate work, you may already know some of the faculty. You should still pursue making further contacts with them. If you are applying to a different school, you will be competing with students from that school who the professors already know. So it is all the more important to make personal contacts there.

How do you get to meet a professor? First of all, find out which professors have interests similar to yours. These are the first contacts to make. Next you will need to ask for an appointment. What reason do you give them? Your real reason is that you hope they will like you and help you get in, but you can’t say, "I’d like an appointment with you to see if you like me."

The most natural approach is to tell them that you are interested in the work that they are doing. They are doing what you would like to do and you would like to find out more about it. Everyone likes to talk about themselves and this is what you re giving them an opportunity to do.

Actually getting in touch with a professor can be very difficult. They often have only a few office hours a week and are busy during those hours. If you cannot get them on the phone after a few tries, leave a message asking them to make an appointment for you. Give them some times you are available. If they don’t respond, call the departmental secretary and ask him/her to help you make an appointment. If they cannot help you, leave a message for the professor asking if it is alright to call them at home in the evening. Often they don’t mind. Do not take the lack of response as an indication that they are not interested. I say this from personal experience. Chances are when you do get them on the phone, they’ll apologize profusely for not returning your call. They just get busy. Don’t take it personally. Try not to leave messages like, "If you really don’t want me to call any more, I’ll stop" or "I hope I’m not bothering you." Stay positive and non-apologetic. If necessary, pick a time during their office hours, call and say, "I’d like to meet with you Tuesday at 1:30. Let me know if that doesn’t work for you."

The worst thing is when, after weeks of trying, you finally get them on the phone for a minute and they say, "Hey, I’ve gotta run, here. Can you give me a call later in the week?" There is no known remedy for this.

When you do arrange your appointment, it is good to have a half an hour if possible. During the appointment itself, you really don’t need to worry about making an impression. Your job is simple. Ask questions and listen. This makes all the impression you need, so sit back and relax.

There are a number of very valuable things you can get from the interview if you ask the right questions and keep your ears open. First, you can learn about your chosen career. Are there jobs in the field? What kind? Where? What are people in your field actually doing? What is the work like? This is a great opportunity for career research. If you have not done this already, it might give you some information for reevaluating your goals.

Second, you can learn about the school from the inside. What kind of students are they looking for? What geographic requirements? How competitive are the programs? What are the areas of specialty of the school? What professors are doing what? What special programs are offered? Where do graduates go? This gives you some fuel for writing the "Why this school" part of your PS.

Third, you can show the professor that you are qualified, determined and enthusiastic. And want to go to this school. And want to study with him/her. You may not get much time to talk about yourself, and you should keep your part brief in any case, so think in advance of the things you want to get across. When the professor is talking, which should be most of the time unless you are specifically invited to talk, show your interest through your body language. Make eye contact. Lean forward to listen. Respond with nods, smiles and "uh-huh"s.

Fourth, ask the professor about a special experience project. Mention that you would like to volunteer some time. Describe what you are looking for and ask for suggestions.

Fifth, ask for referrals to other professors at the school. "Who else do you think would be good for me to talk to?" You can also ask for referrals to other people who could give you a lead on the special experience project.

After the interview, be sure to send a thank you note. This is not just to be polite but also to reinforce your name and your interest. Get back in touch with this person from time to time. If you have developed a positive rapport, you can contact this person at the beginning of the decision process, just after the application deadline. You might say something like, "I’m very excited about the prospect of coming here next year but frankly I’m concerned that my application may not stand out from all the others. Is there anything that you can think of that I should be doing now?" This is your subtle cue to them that if they intend to speak up on your behalf, this is the time to do it.

VI. RESEARCHING PROGRAMS

We have talked about different kinds of research so far. You need to research which schools you will apply to. What are their specialties? How difficult are they to get into? What kind of students are they looking for? What is the atmosphere at the school?

It is very helpful to go visit your top school choices. Some students have told me that when they visited a school, it was clear that they did not want to go there. The school did not have the kind of "personality" they were looking for. They would not have discovered this without going there. Visiting also gives you a chance to meet with professors in person, as well as with some of the support staff you will be dealing with on the phone. Having your name and face known can make a big difference later on.

In addition to visiting a school, you can get information on it from books and from the Internet. You can (and should) call professors, advisors and admission directors. Call the school and ask to talk with current and past students. This can give you valuable insights into the school from a student’s perspective. Finally, contact ethnic, religious or other student organizations in the department or on campus. These can give you additional information, as well as support.

VII. LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

If you remember, in the discussion of Paragraphs 4-6 of the PS I mentioned that one of your goals is to show, rather than tell, the committee your personal qualities. These qualities are the very same qualities you listed in the exercise in which you imagined yourself to be a professor and envisioned what kinds of characteristics you would want in the students you spend time with day in and day out.

You may also remember that I mentioned that one of the best opportunities to show your qualities in an objective way is in the Letters of Recommendation, also called Letters of Reference, in which other people point out your personal strengths. So here we are now. The big question is, "Who should I ask to write these letters and what should they say?"

First of all, each school will set some guidelines as to who they want letters from. Follow the guidelines carefully. One admissions director told me she required three letters and that applications with only two were tossed out. Typically they may request a certain number of letters from past professors. The others may be from employers or may be unspecified. If you have been out of school for a long time or for some other reason cannot find professors who remember anything about you, ask the admissions director if you can get letters from other people. They may make a provision for this. In addition, AAMC may specify requirements for the letters.

The sole purpose of the Letters of Recommendation, as far as I can tell, is to provide an objective perspective on you. It does not do any good then to have a famous or influential person write a letter unless they can say something concrete about you from personal experience.

Who should write a letter for you then? The people who can say the right things about you. What are the right things? Ah, that’s where you should start. Review your list of the qualities you want to communicate. Think of things you have done that exhibit these qualities. Who do you know that can speak about them? Your best letter writers are the ones who can document the most important of these qualities. It is also important that each writer have at least one enthusiastic thing they can say about you. This shows the committee that other people "like" you.

Once you have picked the letter writer and they have agreed to write a letter for you, you are going to do something interesting. For each one, you are going to organize a list of which qualities you want them to illustrate, which experiences they can cite to illustrate those qualities and what they can say enthusiastically about you. Then you are going to write the letter for them.

"Whoa," you say. "Isn’t that cheating?" No. It’s not. Period. Most letter writers want some guidance. You can hand them your draft and say, "Could you write something like this? If you are comfortable with this letter, we can use it as it is." Some people like to add in their own personal comments or compliments. That’s fine.

The absolutely essential point here is that you make it clear to them at the outset that they will be giving the letter to you to review before it gets sent out and that you will be the one who puts it into the final envelope and seals and mails it. If they have a problem with that, GET A DIFFERENT LETTER WRITER! Perhaps they just have some ethical qualms about mailing it themselves, but chances are there is something in that letter they don’t want you to see. And you cannot take that chance. There is absolutely no reason in the world why your letter should include a few negative comments "just to be balanced." It should be completely positive.

I had a client who was applying to a psychology program. One of her letter writers wrote a very nice letter but in one short sentence referred to a low math grade and said, "This student probably would not do well in a quantitative program." Well, it WAS a quantitative program and this one little sentence was thoroughly damning. Was the letter writer trying to get at the student in some backhanded way or just trying to be objective? This letter was the third of three required letters, the letters were due in two days and the letter writer was out of town and unavailable. And it was during the Christmas holiday. My desperate client threw up her hands and said she would just have to send it. My opinion was "You can't!" She finally tracked down an old high school teacher who put together a quick letter. The lesson? It is absolutely essential that you know exactly what is in the letter. As long as you are honest about this up front, you can make sure you will not have a misunderstanding with a letter writer later on.

You may have signed a statement waiving the right to look at Letters of Recommendation in your file. It is vital to understand that this does NOT MEAN ANYTHING! Let me explain. The intent of such a waiver is that if a letter writer wants to keep a letter from your eyes, they can. They can send it right to the committee, who now does not have to show it to you. So there. The point of this seems to be so that the committee can trust that your letter writers will not be afraid to say "honest" bad things about you.

Go ahead and sign the waiver. It tells the committee that you trust your letter writers and have nothing to hide. Of course you trust them. You are going to see exactly what they say before it gets sent in. If it’s no good, it doesn’t go. You always have the right to choose your letter writers and to see what they have written before you send it.

Another side benefit of seeing the letter before it goes is to make sure there are no grammatical errors or content inaccuracies. Patch it up if necessary, get it signed again and send it off.

Signing a waiver does not mean that you cannot see the contents of the letters. It only means you can’t go get them out of the school’s file. If the writer wants to show it to you, that’s ok. If the writer doesn’t want to, you get a new writer. This is not negotiable. No matter how much they swear the letter will be good, simply tell them you cannot afford to have a letter sent in without your reviewing it. If they are concerned about following an ethical procedure, have them call the department to get an ok. If you sense that the person is even slightly antagonistic, drop them.

VIII. INTERVIEWS

If you do have an opportunity for an interview, you need to go in knowing what they ask and what they are looking for. The best way to get this info is to talk with lots of current students. Get names and numbers from the department secretary. (Aren’t you glad you were nice to him/her when you visited the school?)

After talking to a number of students, you should have a variety of perspectives on what happens in the interviews. Each interviewer may have a different style. Some may be aggressive and test you. Others may be warm and friendly. You may have one interviewer or several.

One of the main pressures in the interview is the fear that they may ask you something that you don’t really understand. You get nervous, defensive, try to second guess what they mean and ramble for a while hoping that you accidentally hit on what they were looking for. A simpler strategy is to just ask for clarification. Any decent committee will recognize the honesty, humility and intelligence that this demonstrates. Some good ways to ask for clarification include:

IX. ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS

There are two numbers that graduate schools generally look at that can determine whether you go in the "maybe" pile or the trash can. They are your GPA and your MCAT score.

How much can you do about these numbers? Usually by this stage there is not too much you can do about your GPA. Earlier on I mentioned that if you are out of school and your GPA was low, you might take some graduate level course work to prove you can get A’s. However, make sure you take courses you can get A’s in. I also mentioned that if you are still in school and have a few semesters left, you could consider dropping courses that you will not get an A in. This is kind of extreme but on the other hand, a 3.8 or 3.9 GPA is very impressive.

How to Beat the MCAT

Figuring out what score you need. The number that you have the most control over is the MCAT score. Almost all med schools require the MCAT. How well do you need to score to get accepted?

Probably the lowest score at which schools will consider you is around 150, or 45-50 %ile. Below that your chances at most schools is low. A 60 %ile score, about 504, is fairly strong and average-ranking schools will probably consider you competitive. Above the 90th %ile, about 515 or above, is a very strong score. So how do you start working on the MCAT?

A good first step is to take a practice actual MCAT right away. (Remember, you may need all the prep time you can get, so best to take that first step now.) Use only actual MCAT's published by AAMC. There are many older format tests that you might be able to track down and those can give you a good idea of how you are scoring. Don't use simulated tests. Many commercial books have MCAT-type questions that look like real MCAT's but aren't. Check with AAMC for some free tests. Take the test with the actual time limits.

It isn't necessary to take the entire test in one sitting. It is fine to break it up into two or three sessions. Remember to put an answer down for questions that you don't have time for. Count how many correct answers you have. There will be a scoring key to calculate a score. If you are scoring high enough to have a 90% chance of getting into your top choice, you'll probably only need to spend a couple months practicing on your own to do well on the actual test. Otherwise, you'll need to do some serious work.

So what is the MCAT about?

What is on the test? The MCAT covers many topics in general chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, biology, physics, psychology and sociology, as well as having a reading comprehension section called CARS.

In earlier years the MCAT aimed at testing memorization of many science facts. The current MCAT is testing scientific problem solving more than it is testing facts. You are expected to know certain foundational facts in all the science areas. However, most MCAT questions require sophisticated problem-solving skills. When people first start working on the MCAT, close to three quarters of their errors are due to lack of strategy. In other words, if a person gets 24 questions wrong, only six of those errors are due to lack of knowledge.

This means that the most important thing you can do to improve on the MCAT is to learn effective problem-solving strategy and effective timing strategy for the sciences, along with specific verbal and logical problem solving strategies for CARS.

Timing strategy is extremely important for the MCAT. Most people tend to use the same strategies on the MCAT that they would use on a test in a class. They attempt all the questions and don't spend more than about a minute on any question. On the MCAT this is fatal. A good timing strategy instantly increases and stabilizes your score and at the same time relieves a lot of test anxiety. I've studied timing strategy carefully for over 30 years. Most prep books that I've seen don't teach an effective timing strategy. In addition, even if you read my thorough description of timing strategy in the Barron's book, you will probably still have a little trouble applying it because it goes against many ingrained habits that you've developed over the years. It's helpful to have a coach who can work with you personally on timing. I've had many students who, once they mastered timing, were already scoring where they needed to be.

What is scientific problem-solving strategy? You are already familiar with some basic testing strategies that you can also use on the MCAT - strategies like process of elimination and estimation. There are other testing strategies that will also help you. However, beyond testing strategy, the MCAT is challenging you to do logical and scientific problem solving and you will benefit from specific tools for organizing complex information, extracting information from graphs, charts, and tables, and using conceptual logic. The MCAT science questions sometimes test even basic reading comprehension and common sense.

The ideal way to master these strategies is:

1. first study them in the Barron's book

2. practice the strategies with as many actual past MCAT as you can find. (It's important to work only with actual MCATs, not simulated materials. The patterns in simulated materials often don't match the MCAT.)

3. get coaching with a highly experienced MCAT professional who is skilled in strategy

Learning strategy does work best and go most quickly if you work with a coach who truly understands strategy. Admittedly, such coaches are rare. Most tutors who work for the big prep companies have only a year or two coaching experience and even those who have more experience are more focused on science review than on strategy.

The CARS section has its own hidden patterns and agendas. On the surface it looks like ordinary reading comprehension. And most people find that it's not too hard to get down to two possible answers but they are then baffled as to which answer is correct. It almost seems like the test writers just happen to like one good answer better than another. This is NOT the case. One of those answers actually has a fatal flaw. It is dead wrong. And the other answer can be defended - in court if necessary - by something that you could point to in the passage. In order to make on answer right and the other answers dead wrong, the MCAT writers have to use certain logical strategies in creating passages and in designing questions. They don't tell you what those strategies are! The Barron's book does.

One test expert, after reading our approach to CARS, said that it was the most comprehensive approach to reading comp that she had seen and it actually increased her performance. It's true that once you understand what they're looking for, how they design passages and how they create answer choices, you'll be able to sovle questions that before were mysterious.

We've discussed strategy above - timing, testing strategy, problem-solving strategy, and CARS. About 50-75% of your efforts should be aimed at strategy. The other 25-50% can be spent on science review. How should you do science content review? Do you need a prep class?

Science review is not that hard to do on your own. Most prep books, including Barron's, provide comprehensive review of all of the science that could appear on the test. There are also websites that provide video reviews of science content for free. At the most, you may need to hire a tutor for a few hours to go over some concepts that you aren't able to understand from your review materials. If you have trouble organizing your studying and your time, you may need to have a friend help you with that or even possibly hire a tutor who can also provide you with more of a study structure.

Most commercial prep course don't do much more than you can do on your own or with a little outside help. It may be better to save your money for a little science tutoring and for expert coaching on strategy.

What science should you review? There are more topics than anyone could actually review. As you practice with actual MCAT materials (not simulated materials!), whenever you find a topic that you are a little shaky on, add that to a list of topics that you plan to review. The material that you find on past MCAT's is more likely to show up again. This includes the current AAMC practice tests and the question packs. Many of the questions in the question packs come from previous MCATs.

When you do review science content, be sure to focus on understanding concepts, NOT just memorizing formulas or facts. If you can understand the concepts, you will remember that and will be able to problem solve.

Planning Your MCAT Prep

First of all, make sure you are on our free MedTrack list so that you can continue to get free reminders and helpful hints about your plans. If you are not on MedTrack, go to:

https://www.cuttsreviews.com/db/national/mcatsignup/mcat_form_add.php

Now that you have an idea of what is on the test, find out what scores you are aiming for, as we discussed earlier. Using actual MCAT materials, take a timed test. You don’t have to do it all at once, but do follow the time limits for each section. Score the test and see where you stand. You should score consistently at about 10 percent above the score you are looking for in order to feel safe.

If you are scoring at least 5 or 10 points above your performance goal:

If you are just at your goal or 5 scaled score points below:

If you are more than 5 scaled score points below your goal:

If you want to get help on the MCAT but are not sure what kind of program would be best for you, I’ll be happy to listen to your concerns and suggest some options. Call me at (505) 281-0684 day or evening.

XI. THE TIMELINE

Congratulations. You have made it almost all the way through the tutorial. The last step is to make a tentative timeline for all the things you are going to do to get accepted. Below is a calendar covering three years and a list of target activities. I will go over how to place these on the calendar. When you have finished, you will put an estimated cost under each activity. This will help you budget for the money you might need. You have permission to make several copies of the calendar page so that you can try different scenarios. Fill it out in pencil so you can adjust later.

Instructions

Item 1 is the date you hope to begin your program. Enter it on the bottom calendar line and label that line with the correct year. The line above is the year before that, etc.

Item 2 is the deadline for getting you application in to the committee. Enter that on the calendar. Earlier applications often have an advantage.

Item 3. When will you start working on the application? Since this includes Letters of Recommendation, PS, et al., leave plenty of time. A few months is a minimum.

Item 4. When you will take your MCAT. Most applicants plan to take the test in late August or September to give themselves maximum study time. The critical thing is to make sure you have enough time to prepare, which can mean 4 to 8months or more.

Item 5. When will you start preparing for the MCAT? Ideally you will have 6 months to work little by little on the test. This is the most effective and least painful way to master it. If you need to make maximum improvement, you might do well to start 8-10 months before.

Item 6. Set a date for starting to make personal contacts at all the schools you are applying to. It would be good to do this at least three or four months before you start working on your application. It will take some time.

Item 7. Set a date to begin researching programs at different schools.

Item 8. Set a date for starting to research and solidify your career goals.

Item 9. Set a date for accomplishing a special experience project.

 I realize that you may have run out of time five items ago. Prioritize the time you do have left. Under each entry write an estimate for how much money you might need to accomplish it. That includes traveling to other schools, application fees, phone calls, a new suit, etc.

XII. CONTACTING CUTTS GRADUATE REVIEWS

Cutts Graduate Reviews

31 B Kelly Lane

Los Lunas, NM 87031 USA

(505) 281-0684 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m., 7 days, Mountain time

https://cuttshome.wordpress.com/mcat/

XIII. OUR OTHER SERVICES FOR YOUR APPLICATION PROCESS

Mr. Cutts is available to work with you on any of the areas discussed in this tutorial. Please call him at (505) 281-0684 to go over your situation free of charge. In depth help is available at an hourly rate.

Cutts Personal MCAT Strategy Tutorial

A unique opportunity to work closely with one of the nation’s top test prep experts in a self-paced, personalized tutorial program. Get the test insights and individual help not available in other courses at an affordable price. Mr. Cutts works with you individually to help you master the strategies, to guide your science review, and to make sure you have a strong study structure.

To get the registration form for the the Cutts Personal MCAT Tutorial, please go to https://cuttshome.wordpress.com/mcat/

For questions about how the tutorial works, please call (505) 281-0684.

Free Review of Your Personal Statement

As a graduate of this tutorial, you are entitled to send a copy of your Personal Statement to Jay Cutts. He will give you a free appraisal of its merits. If you would like, he will also describe what areas he could help you with and an estimate of what it would cost to consult with him.