Name: Joseph McElwee
Hometown: Worcester, MA School: UMass Medical School Year: MS1 |
What made you interested in joining GAB as a mentor?
I remembered how difficult it was to obtain first-hand, high-quality, trustworthy information about the medical school admissions process. Undergrad-provided pre-medical advisors are super variable in their knowledge of the process, unfortunately, and online resources often say conflicting things. I personally had an excellent pre-medical advisor, but even he was unsure of how to approach many components of the application. Depending on how far out from undergrad you are, this may be even more complicated as a nontraditional student. Being able to provide applicants with vetted information and specialized guidance, especially given I was an applicant just a year prior, has been an extremely rewarding experience. What's one thing you wish you knew before applying to medical school? Oof, two things: (1) medical school applications are both time-consuming and financially draining, and while I was lucky enough to have saved up over the preceding months/years, it can be a huge barrier to others; and (2) your stats and scores, hours of activities, and number of publications don’t actually exactly determine your worth as an applicant, and oftentimes, it’s hard to understand which specific factors result in a successful or unsuccessful application cycle; don’t be too hard on yourself—applying to medical school is challenging enough. What helped you most during the application process? I think the thing that helped me the most was starting early—earlier than you might think depending on what other obligations you have (work, school, etc). I started crafting my personal statement and activity descriptions in January, and I already had a bit of a structure for my PS in December, so I had the time to go through several cycles of revision. Having a few (emphasis on “few”) pairs of trusted eyes on your material (current medical student, writer, etc) broadens your perspective and sharpens the language you are using, but not so many reviewers as to lose your own voice or overwhelm you. Additionally, keeping a spreadsheet that lists which schools you’re applying to, what secondary applications you need to complete, interview dates, and other pertinent information is key to staying organizing later in the application cycle when it feels like there are deadlines every other day. What's a tip you'd like to share with applicants? Treat every open response-type question as an opportunity to tell more of your story, including the work and activities sections and disadvantaged status essay (if applicable). This all becomes even more important in secondary applications. Be judicious with what you write; write about specific actions or stories that demonstrate your attributes as a person, rather than simply delineate a series of job responsibilities—everyone knows what an RA does. Anecdotes are your best friend. Good storytelling and engaging with your readers is the name of the game when it comes to the narrative portions of the application, so don’t be afraid to incorporate a little bit of descriptive language from time to time. Any additional words of wisdom? I found continuous self-reflection about where I was, what I wanted, and where I was going to be important. Note that this is very different from self-doubt; consciously asking yourself if applying to medical school continues to align with your goals and values does keep you from spending quite a bit of time, money, and sanity to ultimately be unhappy. But more importantly, it also allows you to reflect critically about why you want to be a doctor, which allows you to write an excellent application that reads more authentically. Reflection can help invigorate you to edit and revise that last sentence, or finish one more secondary application. Feeling unmotivated or stressed during this process is (unfortunately) normal, but reminding yourself why you’re doing this (along with a lot of self-care and self-forgiveness!) can help keep you going on your path to medicine. You’ve got this!! |