She Got 6 Interviews While Going Against Much of What I Teach | Mission: Accepted S1 E4
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ธ.ค. 2020
- Today we talk with a student who got 6 med school interviews this year, despite going against many of my typical recommendations. Her personal statement in particular breaks strongly from what I teach-but it worked out! Let's dig in and see what there is to learn here.
Mission: Accepted features successful med school applicants. We dive into their full applications, looking at specifically what worked well, along with what they could've done even better.
To apply to be featured on Mission: Accepted, fill out the application at MissionAccepted.tv/apply.
So today we're chatting with a student who applied for the first time in 2020 and has gotten 6 interviews. Looking at her stats, she had a few classes with a C+ or similar grades, with a 3.63 total cumulative GPA and a 505 MCAT score.
We discuss:
• Why she believes she was successful with her application cycle.
• What I would've considered weaknesses in her application.
• How her application created intrigue.
• Why she included institutional actions on her application that weren't on her official record.
• How she wrote about her institutional actions, given that she honestly wasn't at fault.
• How she got 6 retroactive withdrawals in freshman year due to a death in her family.
• Why she stopped all of her extracurricular activities a few months before applying to med school.
• A potential trap when you're too selective and strategic about what you include or exclude from your med school application.
• Why her shadowing hours would concern me a bit.
• How her activity descriptions differ from my typical recommendation.
• How her application put together a picture of who she is and what she wants to do.
• Why her personal statement went against almost everything I typically recommend.
• How her unique personal statement actually falls into many of the same patterns of what most premeds do.
• Her advice for mistakes that other premeds should avoid.
If you like Mission: Accepted, be sure to check out my other series Application Renovation, in which I give feedback to students who got rejected from medical school. We follow a similar format with full, detailed application breakdowns: applicationrenovation.com/ - บันเทิง
Also, this proves that each individual's story is unique. She was correct in not making her personal statement solely about medicine, but how her experiences led her there. You don't necessarily need a book to tell you how to do that. Perfect example of making things work for you, based on your life. That's exactly why she's accepted into medical school.
Well spoken, personable and driven! Which is probably what was displayed on her interviews and therefore led to her acceptances.
Accepted is accepted! Congrats girl!
Love the honesty from Dr. Gray and the different perspectives 😎
Wow, I’ve watched a couple mission accepted videos, and nearly all of application renovation, and she’s been the absolute best at taking and responding to criticism out of all the students, ever. I want to be her friend!
Thanks for info. about retroactive withdrawals. Totally needed it! 🙂
These comments are so enraging. As soon as students see color on medical students' skin all of a sudden all of our hard work is discredited. This is our biggest fear- that some of our future colleagues will continue to carry these biased and racist ideals into medicine, and we fear most for our patients of color. These biases hold us back, and even worse, are fatal to the patients who look like us. This is why we fight so hard to overcome these comments thrown at us every day- for our future patients who fear the healthcare system because of this. You use MCAT scores, which are biased against students of color in multiple ways (do your own research), to discredit us regardless of our passions and life experiences. If you understand that Black people average lower MCAT scores, and don't seek to understand the institutional reasons why, you are racist and have an internal belief that Black people are less smart and less adequate, so you should work on yourself before trying to heal someone else. And lastly, these comments are not going to get you or your friend into med school so try again.
Ignore them.
It’s not “all her hard work” that’s being discredited - it’s just the unfair advantage she had in med school admissions that’s being discredited. She could still be a good doctor, as many commenters said.
These aren’t “biased and racist ideals” - it’s criticism of affirmative action. In this case, an applicant was let in simply because she’s a black girl who writes. How is that good for her future or fair to the person who demonstrated he really wants to be a doctor and was rejected?
I agree - I think some minority cultures may need help to let go of their silly fears of healthcare/white people. We should focus on helping them, not just creating racial concordance between patients and doctors.
I think the institutional reason why black people average lower MCAT scores is because 70 percent of them are raised in single parent households. Is this what you mean? (I’m not entirely blaming black people for this, I’m just curious)
The MCAT’s not biased - *"All items [MCAT questions] undergo bias and sensitivity review by experts with diverse backgrounds to identify and eliminate any features of the items that are construct-irrelevant. Items that survive the bias and sensitivity review are tried out on the MCAT exam.” ......“Our findings are consistent with past studies on the differential prediction of the MCAT exam and other standardized tests used for college and graduate school admissions, which have shown no statistically significant predictive bias against minority students.”*
@@TheMrplayitsafe Recognize your deep-rooted belief that because she is Black, they must not have found her impressive- it must have been solely because she was Black.. That's scary that you automatically thought that. The AAMC reported that in the 2020-2021 first-year classes across medical schools, only 7% of students enrolled were Black. Does 7% sound like an unfair advantage? 50% of students enrolled were white. How can you say Black people are taking your seats with these statistics? Or perhaps you wished it were 0%? Yeah, people with your ideals are my biggest fear in a career in medicine.
@@maameamoako3017 It's unfair when they're being given the spots unfairly, if somebody else worked harder for them. I don't think she is that impressive on paper. People with your ideals are my biggest fear in society - because you only see skin color.
@@TheMrplayitsafe are you on the admissions teams that she received acceptances to conclude that she isn’t qualified for the schools she was accepted to? Also, you were the one who made the assumption that she was accepted only because of her skin color, so your comment about me only seeing skin color seems like you are projecting your own flawed perceptions.
Jeez these comments are ruthless. If this how yall talk I wouldn't see an acceptance headed your way. Collaboration not Competition.
haha - I try to avoid YT comments. They sting!
I completely agree. I love Dr. Gray’s motto, “Collaboration not Competition.” Yet, we still have people doing that, thinking their spots are being “stolen.” Sadly, some of them are still putting the facade, just enough to get in, continuing the vicious cycles of biases, prejudices, & discrimination that can lead to hate/racism, or worse, affect patients’ health & well being. 🤒😷
I love her story!
Yes! Another URM PSU alumni! WE ARE and congratulations!
That personal statement was FIRE! Not going to lie i had to pause and read. That was great.
Girl yes! I did the same. It had me saying, "ok, I can do that, it ain't that complicated!" 😅
For a retroactive withdrawal, is this restricted to before graduation, or is it possible even after graduation? Maybe is this school specific?
Also wanted to comment this. The more I read these personal statements, the less personal they seem. These well written personal statements read like short stories, and when I’m reading something that reads like a dramatic telling of events, my eyes tend to role and I find what I’m reading less believable. That’s not to say that her personal statement isn’t true, or that she doesn’t deserve acceptance into medical school. And quite frankly, it’s very hard to write a personal statement that walks the thin line between believable and entertaining. But the more I read these things, they just start to seem so fake :/ . Like, who actually talk like “my mind runs twenty times over the painting, analyzing every ounce and curvature of the human body. Her inferno hair glows amid the pale background.” No one talk like that in real life. But in order to stand out to these jerkoff acceptance committee members you have to talk like a highfalutin, Shakespearean orator with a stick up his ass. With advancements in modern day technology, I wound appreciate the replacement of the personal statement with a 5 minute video of you orally presenting your personal statement, so committee members can truly see if you’re speaking from the heart, or just reciting bullshit you wrote down to sound smart.
Yeah I felt the same. She was trying to show herself as being cultured, and the admission committee liked that. Good luck to her though.
@@leel8071 cultured...? what?
@@emmacayen4218 yea not sure what buddy over theres talking about, as if she was tryna say that liking painting made her cultured (which she clearly wasn't, just telling her story in a creative way)
Exactly the whole med school admissions process is a sham and requires everyone to put up a fake act. I'm sure people do find things they enjoyed doing along the way (research, etc. ) but it's all to complete a never ending checklist
Who HURTYOU?!
First Great Job and Contrats!
To those of you you HAD to show your bias, get over yourselves. It's not all numbers and race. Tell your story and stop being so hateful and maybe you'll have a shot. Maybe if you spent more time actually wanting to get in than thinking you own the medical school spots, you would be in her and other accepted students position
I wonder how many of you think these "low stat" NON URMs took YOUR spot?
1. This guy became a plastic surgeon with a 2.6 GPA- th-cam.com/video/LpjdL24Hnj4/w-d-xo.html
2. White male- 3.2 Ugrad, 504 MCAT, multiple C's high post bacc GPA- th-cam.com/video/CrI0TyDsR3g/w-d-xo.html
3. Asian Female- 3.5 GPA, 499, 506 MCAT- th-cam.com/video/YW2m2Re082A/w-d-xo.html
4. White male 2.7 science GPA th-cam.com/video/fEF30jwL2T4/w-d-xo.html
5 Asian Male - 3.4 Ugrad GPA 502, MCAT -th-cam.com/video/j2zj_mtScAM/w-d-xo.html
PS. I'm happy for each any every one of these applicants and future docs.
Feel free to share with all those who say URMs are unfairly getting in with low stats.
Why are you mentioning race? Do people like you ever stop looking at skin color and simply see intelligent human beings?
@@Michelle-pn9xt read the other comments michelle.
I wonder why anytime there’s a black applicant, there are always negative comments about their acceptance?
If you couldn’t get into med school, just say that. If you’re racist, just say that. If you’re jealous, just say that. If it pains you so much in your soul to see a black applicant get into med school, just say that.
IDGAF if she didn’t even take the MCAT, she’s going to be a black doctor that her black patients will actually look forward to seeing. All the racists in this comment section don’t understand that we need doctors like her because of the way you all see black people. Your comments literally justify why it was important for her to get a seat. 😂 Its about the patients at the end of the day right? Last time I checked, an MCAT score and GPA doesn’t treat patients.
If you are mad that she got a seat, I PROMISE YOU HER MINORITY PATIENTS WON’T.
I know why. Cause people are racist, haters, and jealous that she was able to get into medical school. Imagine if people put the same amount of energy into their applications as they do into tearing down URM students on the internet all day long. Bunch of freakin lame a** people.
You make a great point on your third paragraph. One physician will be no different than another when treating a particular disease or performing a surgery because they got a C in organic chemistry when they were a sophomore in college.
Medical school admissions is hypercompetitive and too stat-focused, but black people aren't the problem. We need more black doctors.
> she’s going to be a black doctor that her black patients will actually look forward to seeing
YES! So much this! The Black community has been traumatized by the medical world (helloooooo unethical human subject experiments) and continues to be, judging from the racist and hateful comments I'm seeing. If this is how y'all treat a future fellow Black doctor, I hate to see how you treat your Black patients who aren't in that same position of power to effectively advocate for themselves against racist doctors.
Her minority patients? Really? All of her patients will not be minorities. No doctors has patients that are all of the same race.
Well put. I would prefer if the racists were more transparent. Give me a break. Say it with your chest! I want her as my doctor!
Now everyone has the same educational opportunities in America and I’m glad medical schools acknowledge that fact.
Just gonna go ahead and say we need more appropriate representation of our country’s diversity in healthcare. 13.4% of Americans are black, so 13.4% of physicians should be black. 73% of Americans are white, so 73% of physicians should be white. 5.6% of physicians Asian, 16.7% of physicians Hispanic, etc. Equal, appropriate representation with qualified individuals makes the most sense to me.
I mean the problem is that it's difficult to get folks to work where the need is. Regardless of race it's difficult to get doctors to work in hospitals and clinics that are underfunded and under-equipped to deal with patients. Sadly predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhoods don't have the best hospitals and clinics. I agree that there needs to be more representation, but that's not going to be the end of it. We need to programs to get that diversity and just generally good doctors into the areas that need it.
At the end of the day it's all about providing care in a way that makes the patients feel comfortable.
That's absolute bullshit for us Asians. There are a ton of Asian applicants. Artificially changing the matriculant pool just so you can virtue signal is not fair for the tens of thousands of applicants. The fact of the matter is that different racial groups pursue different careers, on average. By your logic, we should also make the NBA 73% White, since that would be "equal representation," right? Just ignore the fact that the majority of NBA try-out players are Black
@@matthewlee4834 you should see UCIs class and UCSD... Majority of matriculants there identify as some kind of Asian, not White. It's also not about "representation". It's about providing people care that their comfortable with.
@@tybera1114 I don't think you comprehended any part of my comment
@@matthewlee4834 I comprehended it just fine. Regardless there are more factors to getting in medical school than race. Just because people apply doesn't mean they're applying for the right reasons either. If you're applying for prestige or family pressure it's not going to happen that's a fast track to burnout.
You're also trying to apply something academic to something physical, which is just ridiculous false equivalence. Genetics play a bigger role in who goes to the NBA than who goes to medical school. If you want to do an equal comparison look at engineering jobs vs being a physician or something.