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Writing Compelling Activity Descriptions to Boost Your Med School Application

Writing Compelling Activity Descriptions to Boost Your Med School Application

Having worked in admissions for more than two decades, I have read thousands of experience and activity descriptions from applicants to medical schools and schools in healthcare-related fields. Some candidates seem to view this element of their application as less important than their personal statement, writing only cursory descriptions of their tasks. This “job description” …

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Best Clinical Shadowing Tips for AMCAS and AACOMAS Applications

When looking for activities to include on your American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) or American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service (AACOMAS) application, shadowing/clinical observation is a powerful way to demonstrate your interest in and realistic knowledge of the medical field. Shadowing a breadth of different specialties in as much depth as …

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Should I Take a Gap Year Before Medical School?

Predictably, the rate at which aspiring medical school students are taking a gap year is rising. According to the AAMC’s 2024 student questionnaire, 74.3% of M1s took at least one gap year between their undergraduate education and starting medical school. That rate was 60% in 2017. Clearly, the takeaway from this data is that the …

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2025-2026 AMCAS Work and Activities Section: What to Include (with Examples)

The AMCAS Work and Activities section is where you will share all your research, clinical experiences, paid employment, publications, leadership, extracurricular activities, awards, memberships, volunteer work, and advocacy and social justice efforts.  The types of activities that you include, the length of time you participated in them, and your description of these events all have …

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How to Prepare for Medical School: Four Important Things to Know Before Applying

Before he was Joshua Wienczkowski, MD, a prevention and addiction medicine specialist, he was a premed juggling coursework and extracurriculars and trying to make the right choices for his best shot at medical school. During his first year of medical school, he looked back on these choices with a critical eye. “When you burn through …

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Teamwork in Medical School Admissions: How to Show You’ve Got It

Teamwork in Medical School Admissions: How to Show Your Skills

In this post: Why do medical schools value teamwork? When the Institute of Medicine Committee on Quality of Health Care in America published its 2000 report “To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System,” the authors attributed most medical errors to two key deficits: (1) a lack of communication and (2) dysfunctional teamwork. It …

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Applying to Medical School: Selecting Extracurricular Activities

Applying to Medical School Selecting Extracurricular Activities

When considering your goal of attending medical school, you need to choose extracurricular activities that you will enjoy and that will also help you highlight the characteristics that med schools are seeking. 3 strategies for choosing the right extracurriculars Below we will provide you with strategies for finding and selecting activities that will set your …

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How to Write Essays That Will Get You Into Medical School: An Expert’s Take [Episode 472]

Madison Searle May 2022

[powerpress] All you need to know about med school admissions [Show Summary] Madison Searle, a published writer, graduate application advisor, and former director of an undergraduate Honors Center at a leading Public Ivy, shares his tips and strategies for medical school applications that lead to acceptance.  Madison Searle, Accepted medical school consultant, talks about how …

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Five Ways to Stand Out in the AACOMAS Experience and Achievements Sections

aacomas experience achievements sections

The Experiences section in the AACOMAS application asks you to list your non-academic work, including healthcare-related work, non-healthcare work, volunteer work, and extracurricular activities. The Achievements section is the space for you to include academic honors, awards and scholarships. Below are five tips for completing this section of the AACOMAS. Categorize your activity by type.The …

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How to Improve Your Experiences for Your Med School Reapplication

Reapp Med 4 Experiences

In this section of our Medical School Reapplicant Advice: 6 Tips for Success series, we’ll discuss how reapplicants can improve their service experiences. Another factor that can seriously hurt your chances is a lack of substantive, ongoing service experiences, both clinical and non-clinical. Medical schools want students who are passionate and committed – to the …

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5 Tips for Writing About Extracurricular Activities You Started at the Last Minute

5 tips for writing about extracurricular activities you started at the last minute

You are this close to finishing your application, but in the section that asks you about your extracurricular activities, you freeze up. I don’t really have any extracurricular activities, you think. What should I do now? How will I be able to stand out from the competition? We’re glad you asked. Team Accepted has worked …

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