Blog Archives

How to Use the MSAR to Your Advantage

The Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) is an online database that allows users to search, sort, and compare information about U.S. and Canadian medical schools. The 2021 MSAR is out, and if you are applying to medical school, I’d recommend purchasing it ($28 for one year and $36 for two) because it provides so much information about schools and their admissions statistics. The MSAR allows you to sort and compare schools by median MCAT scores, AMCAS GPAs, and other criteria.

You should use the MSAR to help determine which schools are in your range and which are “reach” schools. While it’s fine to have a lot of reach schools  (if you can afford it), it’s critical to ensure you are applying wisely to schools that match your numbers; in other words, do not apply to reach schools at the expense of those in your range. The advantage of the MSAR is that you can make evidence-based decisions. I’ve found some applicants have eye-opening experiences when they thoroughly review schools’ statistics and either realize that their numbers are low and that they should apply accordingly or, happily, that they have numbers that match with top schools. Either way, reviewing the data is critical to good decision making.

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The New York Times Ethicist

I field questions from clients about how to identify themselves racially and ethnically on their applications, and as diversity becomes a more prominent priority for many academic institutions, this issue will come up more often. The New York Times Ethicist answers an interesting moral dilemma posed by a medical school applicant in a recent column. Enjoy. 

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You Can Lead the Witness: Letters of Recommendation Part 2

This is my second blog entry regarding actions you can take immediately to help you obtain strong letters of recommendation (LORs). The first entry describes two initial strategies for improving your medical school letter of recommendation process.

As a Harvard Assistant Residency Director, I bore witness to how weak – or even mediocre – LORs had the potential to bomb an otherwise competitive candidacy. Once you’ve followed directions and asked the right people (see my previous entry), it’s time to influence the content of your letters by making the job of letter writing easy:
medical school application and residency application

Influencing the Content

When pre-meds, residents, nurses, and physician colleagues asked me to write them LORs when I was Assistant Residency Director, the first thing I requested was that they send me background information to make my letter robust…and my job easier. Accordingly, I strongly recommend you create a “LOR packet,” which can include the following:

1. A brief, well-written cover letter defining all of your important accomplishments
2. Your curriculum vitae (CV)
3. Your personal statement in its final form
4. Your transcripts.

With regard to the cover letter, keep it streamlined. No one will skip the beach or her two-year old’s birthday party to read your exhaustive biography, so you want to thank the writer and highlight your pre-professional achievements in one page. The point of the cover letter is to supplement a letter writer’s knowledge of your candidacy and offer flattering content for inclusion. A professor may know that you made the only A in an organic chemistry class, but her LOR will be more complete, and she will demonstrate a more intimate familiarity with you if she knows enough to write that you volunteer regularly at a homeless shelter.

With regard to the CV and personal statement, these make useful supplements to the LOR packet only if they are in professional and final form. Don’t include rough drafts, as poorly organized background information leaves your writer the impression that you are a disorganized person. Also, only include the transcript if it bolsters your candidacy, demonstrating academic achievement. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot if you have some bad grades or an incomplete you’d rather not showcase.

Bottom line: An applicant who offered me a list of her accomplishments in a tidy, accessible package was more likely to get a strong, comprehensive letter that was submitted promptly. She also distinguished herself from the majority of candidates who requested letters without demonstrating a comparably sophisticated understanding of the demands this process made on my time. If you can make a letter writer’s job easier, your forethought is likely to pay dividends in the letter you receive. This is not a court of law, so the savvy applicant can take subtle advantage of her ability to “lead the witness.”

 

 

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Thank You Notes

Clients ask me what’s the best way to send post-interview thank you notes – email versus snail mail. I advise the latter, sending hand-written notes. Email can be viewed as less labor-intensive or thoughtful.

You can still get the notes in quickly: Put them in the mail the morning after you’ve completed your interview. Some applicants even bring blank thank you notes to the interview day, complete the cards after their interviews, and leave them with the program coordinator.

Your thank you notes should be written on plain cards and sent to every faculty member you conversed with one-on-one. If the residency coordinator helped you with a difficult scheduling issue, for example, writing to him/her would be wise too. Within reason and if written cordially, a thank you note cannot hurt you (unless you have been expressly asked not to communicate after the interview day).

Consider them low-hanging fruit.

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Letters of Recommendation

It’s time to start securing your residency letters of recommendation (LOR) if you haven’t already. Remember that your letters have a big impact on your application, and even a mediocre letter can bomb your candidacy.

Don’t be afraid to ask a potential letter-writer if she will write you “a very strong” LOR. It may seem awkward at the time you ask but getting a wimpy letter will be much thornier. If the faculty member says no, hesitates, or tells you in May that she has to plan her Thanksgiving get-together, politely thank her and move on. Although disappointing, acknowledge that she has done you a huge favor. You now have the advantage of substituting a stronger LOR written by someone who likes your clinical work.

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About Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Finkel is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. On completing her residency at Harvard, she was asked to
stay on as faculty at Harvard Medical School and spent five years teaching at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital.
She was appointed to the Assistant Residency Director position for the Harvard Affiliated
Emergency Medicine Residency where she reviewed countless applications, personal statements and resumes. Read more

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