How not to write an MD/PhD application, or any other graduate/professional school application for that matter
Taken somewhere in Hawaii during AAI 2025
A great privilege that I have in my career as a professor is the duty of training future scientists. And the surreal part for me is the task of evaluating applicants for advanced biomedical training. Here are the candidates, the top students and rising stars, who have demonstrated a strong potential to achieve great things in life. Here I am, part of a small army of PhDs/MDs who must rank these promising young minds and defend our choices to the death (almost). Last year, I was part of the applications committee for the immunology track of the graduate program, where I read and scored around 30 applications. While I thought that was a significant task, given that I still have all my other research and administrative duties, it paled in comparison to my participation this year with the medical school. I read the complete application packages for about five potential physician-scientists each week for 10 weeks. It took a tremendous amount of time, energy, and focus–things not always in plentiful supply among academics. We are now in the interview period, but I wanted to jot down some thoughts I had about one written item that was tremendously important to me: the personal statements.
All the candidates are stellar, high-achieving individuals who have also gone the extra mile to compile an impressive resume of research and community activities. An administrator with a Master’s degree in Education has already pre-screened the applicants; nearly everyone hits all these notes. It is no longer the GPA or MCAT/GRE score that is important. So, who gets the best reviews, and whom do I find less enthusiastic about? Just as in grant writing, the applicant must be able to sell themselves effectively. I need to get the sense that not only was this person an intellectual superstar who will undoubtedly succeed in the rigors of advanced degree studies, but they will also be someone I want to have in our training environment. In short, I have to like you and want to get to know you, based on just a couple of paragraphs. A few dozen words that you wrote with little guidance while you were busy with everything else in your high-achieving life. To your detriment, I can be a little cranky from being overworked by all the extra things I have taken on (foolishly, and totally my fault). I hesitated to write this because I worry that I can sound like a jerk. I hope this can help you consider how your personal statement will appear to a caring but somewhat tired reviewer like me. Here are some things to consider:
Things that get old really fast:
Whimsical motivation. The motivation statement needs to answer the question, ‘Why do you want to be a scientist?’ I often read about a certain romanticization of one’s childhood along the lines of, “as a child, I was so captivated by the wonder of nature / how the human body works / how machines operate, so I was always taking things apart.” Having read this sentiment dozens of times now, and likely hundreds more in the future, it often comes across as unoriginal and a little immature when delivered generically. I do not care if your doting parents proclaimed you a little Einstein or Mozart as a kid–does anyone really like that kid? At best, now I am bored. Perhaps even a little offended that you think you are going to come in here and do my career like it’s your playtime. There are always exceptions, though. I did find myself appreciating some stories of childhood learning, so I know you can do this. The distinction here is that one needs to deliver a genuine and unique story that tells me about yourself, not some airy platitude about how wonderful you were as a kid. Only do this if you can write an original and memorable story about yourself, especially if it is humorous and humble.
Pollyanna syndrome. Broad-sweeping and saccharine statements describing your motivation resting solely in personal fulfillment in caring for patients, or making discoveries in the laboratory, or love of medicine/science/people/learning. I was worried that I was getting too jaded when I scored some applications low. After further reflection and consultation with my husband in the medical field (who also assists in hiring candidates), we agree that these statements often reek of being a Pollyanna. When these statements are combined with a superficial clinical or research background, they appear naive, rather than idealistic. I get the impression that you are either going to get burned out when life gets real or that you are full of hot air and think that this overwhelming enthusiasm will get you into medical school. Everyone starts a career with enthusiasm; this is a given. Of course, I appreciate a certain amount of positivity, rather than a sourpuss hanging around my school. Still, you are spending my precious attention on your application, describing how much joy the most trivial tasks bring you. In that case, I just can’t take you seriously as a future professional. Based on discussions within our committee, I have found that other professionals can also read these poorly.
Overstated Clinical Experiences. A universal theme in biomedical research is the desire for our efforts to better human life. For some biomedical professionals, this will include patient interaction, and so future physician-scientists better have some clinical exposure on their resume. Oftentimes, applicants get too sentimental about the experiences they have had as volunteers, to the point where their role in the experience is overblown. This is a fine line to walk, and my feelings are similar to that in points #1 and 2: It feels a little naive or silly to tell me how your volunteer role, for example, folding blankets in the ER, is somehow equivalent to those of the actual healthcare professionals in your setting. I feel terribly elitist writing that, but I want to know you can speak realistically about your experience, but gushing about all the lives you touched is a little much. Also, for many patients, being in the hospital is due to some terrible circumstance and likely some of the worst days in their recent memory, so I am suspicious when I am given a narrative about all the shiny happy patients you met and how you can’t wait to be their shiny happy doctor. Tell me what you liked about the experience, how you got to observe the doctors and nurses, and that you learned so much from them, but not about how putting a smile on someone’s face is your ultimate goal. They already made that movie.
Scarce Technical Detail. A PhD and an MD-PhD is a SCIENTIST. At the same time, I hate catalog lists of the techniques you learned. Just like your personal statement, your research statement should tell me a story of you as a scientist. Be sure to get some serious feedback from the mentors in your life on this, because Principal Investigators have been trained in this art–don’t wing it. Specifically, your research statement should ideally create a whole narrative of:
what you were doing in the lab and how it fit iinto the overall research scope of the lab
the gap in knowledge that your work was addressing
why your project was important
what techniques did you use and why were they appropriate
the overall findings of your work and how they address the knowledge gap
what the experience taught you about your professional goals
Do not merely write a laundry list of biomedical techniques used (I did PCR, in situ hybridization, Western blot, biostatistics with R…) or just give the general sense of “so-and-so told me to do this experiment so I did.” Indeed, much of your work was likely a minor contribution to the lab’s research direction and was planned and overseen by someone with significantly more experience, but I hope that you took a genuine interest in why the research was needed. We want to know whether you can connect your small project to the broader scientific literature. A student with a sense of self-discipline, responsibility, and intellectual curiosity is the jackpot we are looking for.
Now that I have complained like a jerk and made you feel self-conscious about writing the personal statement, let me end with some things that I love to see in applications:
Do the hard work. Please put as much thought and time into writing your personal statement as you can; I have honestly read some of the most beautiful and compelling essays and know that they were effective. Some people have had interesting life experiences or faced hardships that provide a context for their resilience, making their personal statement more compelling. However, this is not necessary, as I have read statements from candidates who grew up with relative privilege, but they were able to demonstrate that they had made the most of the opportunities available to them. The most compelling packages have a mature and sincere tone, and would make me want to meet this person. To achieve this, I would like to pose the following prompt: Write a personal statement to yourself as you were 3-5 years ago, explaining who you are and why you aspire to be a doctor or scientist. Be thoughtful and genuine, and don’t bull**** yourself.
Share your unique and original story. Most of us are drawn to biomedical research for some reason so don’t give me that “I was fascinated by human health” generic story. I want the superhero origin story: whether it's an experience firsthand or secondhand with disease, fascination sparked by a real-world event, or with an inspiring teacher or mentor. In fact, this is something I often ask during the interview phase, and I want a good storyteller to pull me into their life story.
What’s next? Provide me with insight regarding what you will do with your advanced degree. Obtaining an MD, PhD, or both is a time-consuming process, during which the financial rewards are significantly delayed. Sure, there is a certain amount of social prestige in the achievement of these degrees, but other than that, it is not going to make you rich, famous, or happy, necessarily. Not only is there the time to get through school itself, but the big surprise is that once you complete the degree, there is still more training to do in the form of fellowships and internships. Hopefully, your path to the application process was accompanied by a great deal of introspection regarding this commitment and what your career will entail. Explain to me what your future career will look like and why you need this training to do so. This is especially pertinent for non-traditional students, who may have already started careers. Explain why this pivot is something you genuinely want to do.
Don’t get cute. Please use a proper essay writing format; this is not the time to be experimental with rhetoric. Have introductory sentences, supporting sentences, and concluding sentences in paragraphs that form an essay with an introduction, middle, and end. Check for grammar and spelling errors, and avoid run-on sentences. Avoid passive voice when you can and avoid using too many qualifiers (“I did it” instead of “I believe that I did it”). I take writing seriously as a skill and have found that good communication is one of the most important aspects of my job. I keep Turabian’s manual as a desk reference
Hopefully, none of these points came as a big surprise to you. However, now I have the benefit of experience, and I genuinely did not consider my audience when I was writing personal statements myself. I had to learn many of these points the hard way, so I hope you can benefit from my experience. Following these points will make my job much more enjoyable when I review your personal statement.