The “Why our school?” essay response is the place to align yourself with the program and make the perfect match. You can mention courses you’re excited to take, potential mentors you’d connect with, clubs you’d join, and hospital affiliations and research opportunities you’re interested in—the list goes on.
You also want to share how your past experiences and/or passions are relevant to the program offerings. If you’ve spent the last two years volunteering at a free clinic and doing community health outreach and the school has a brand-new mobile clinic serving the unhoused, you want to be working on it. Expressing that you want to continue your current medical interests shows authenticity while demonstrating to the university that you and their medical program just make sense as a pair.
Finally, two other key areas that you want to address:
1. Mission Alignment: Show that you are aligned with a school by reflecting their mission statement in your response. Give an example of how you have exemplified some of their values.
2. Public Medical Schools & Location Importance: State schools love applicants who are committed to practicing in that state post-residency. If this applies to you, mention a local hospital you'd like to work at or community ties you have.
Check out our blog and/or follow us on Instagram for more application tips!
You also want to share how your past experiences and/or passions are relevant to the program offerings. If you’ve spent the last two years volunteering at a free clinic and doing community health outreach and the school has a brand-new mobile clinic serving the unhoused, you want to be working on it. Expressing that you want to continue your current medical interests shows authenticity while demonstrating to the university that you and their medical program just make sense as a pair.
Finally, two other key areas that you want to address:
1. Mission Alignment: Show that you are aligned with a school by reflecting their mission statement in your response. Give an example of how you have exemplified some of their values.
2. Public Medical Schools & Location Importance: State schools love applicants who are committed to practicing in that state post-residency. If this applies to you, mention a local hospital you'd like to work at or community ties you have.
Check out our blog and/or follow us on Instagram for more application tips!
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