Lesson One: Medical School Essay Question Help

What "They" Look For?   The Why Doctor? Theme   The Why Exceptional? Theme   The Why Qualified? Theme     Editing Checklist

EditingChecklist

SUBSTANCE

Substance refers to thecontent of the essay and the message you send out. Here are some questions toask yourself regarding content:

       Have I answered the question asked?

       Do I back upeach point that I make with an example? Have I used concrete and personalexamples?

       Have I beenspecific? (Go on a generalities hunt. Turn the generalities into specifics.)

       Could anyoneelse have written this essay?

       What does it sayabout me? After making a list of all the words you have used within the essay --directly and indirectly -- to describe yourself, ask: Does this list accuratelyrepresent me?

       Does the writingsound like me? Is it personal and informal rather than uptight or stiff?

       Regarding theintroduction, is it personal? Is it too general? Can the essay get along withoutit?

       What about theessay makes it memorable?

STRUCTURE

Themeaning of an essay can be obscured by not properly ordering your ideas. Youressay should be a roadmap leading the reader to an inevitable conclusion.

       To check theoverall structure of your essay, conduct a first-sentence check. Write down thefirst sentence of every paragraph in order. Read through them one after anotherand ask the following:

o       Would someonewho was reading only these sentences still understand exactly what I am tryingto say?

o       Do the firstsentences express all of my main points?

o       Do the thoughtsflow naturally, or do they seem to skip around or come out of left field?

       Now go back toyour essay as a whole and ask these questions:

o       Does eachparagraph stick to the thought that was introduced in the first sentence?

o       Does a piece ofevidence support each point? How well does the evidence support the point?

       Is eachparagraph roughly the same length? Stepping back and squinting at the essay, dothe paragraphs look balanced on the page? (If one is significantly longer thanthe rest, you are probably trying to squeeze more than one thought into it.)

       Does myconclusion draw naturally from the previous paragraphs?

       Have I variedthe length and structure of my sentences?

INTEREST

Manypeople think only of mechanics when they revise and rewrite their compositions.As we know, though, the interest factor is crucial in keeping the admissionsofficers reading and remembering your essay. Look at your essay with theinterest equation in mind: personal + specific = interesting. Answer thefollowing:

       Is the openingparagraph personal?

       Do I start withaction or an image?

       Does the essayshow rather than tell?

       Did I use anywords that are not usually a part of my vocabulary? (If so, get rid of them.)

       Have I used theactive voice whenever possible?

       Have I overusedadjectives and adverbs?

       Have Ieliminated clichÉs?

       Have I deletedredundancies?

       Does the essaysound interesting to me? (If it bores you, imagine what it will do to others.)

       Will the endinggive the reader a sense of completeness? Does the last sentence sound like thelast sentence?

PROOFREADING

Whenyou are satisfied with the structure and content of your essay, it is time tocheck for grammar, spelling, typos, and the like. You can fix obvious thingsright away: a misspelled or misused word, a seemingly endless sentence, orimproper punctuation. Keep rewriting until your words say what you want them tosay. Ask yourself these questions:

       Did I punctuatecorrectly?

       Did I eliminateexclamation points (except in dialogue)?

       Did I usecapitalization clearly and consistently?

       Do the subjectsagree in number with the verbs?

       Did I place theperiods and commas inside the quotation marks?

       Did I keepcontractions to a minimum? Do apostrophes appear in the right places?

       Did I replacethe name of the proper school for each new application?

       Have I caughtevery single typo? (You can use your spell-checker but make sure that you checkand re-check every change it makes. It is a computer after all.)

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For tips on answering general application questions, click here.

Move on to Lesson Two: Brainstorming a Topic