I feel bad for this girl, because her advisors obviously didn’t pay enough attention to her application because of her intellect.

Is anyone else overwhelmed by the amount of activities some applicants ( like this young girl) has? The fact that this girl has completed all these extra circular activities, maintained a 3.9 GPA, and graduated early is very impressive, but also very discouraging. The imposter syndrome is real lol.

This girl is super smart and obviously a hard worker. She should have got into at least one school. I think this video shows that it's becoming harder and harder to apply without a gap year. The clinical experience and research coupled with the coursework is just too much.

I'm a 27 years old that never went to college and works in banking... Why did I watch this 35 min video about getting into medical school? lol it was very interesting though

I have no idea how I’m supposed to get all these experiences within 3 years and still get above 3.7 GPA and 80th percentile on the MCAT. The best I can figure out is to take 1 or 2 gap years and that’s still stressful.

Props to her for agreeing to put this on the internet

To the applicant in this video: This was brutally tough feedback, and wow you are so lucky to have received it! Now you can take a totally new approach to your application next year and nail it!

Students tend to describe more about what their extracurricular activities rather than describe who they are.

Sounds like she unfortunately made all of the classic mistakes. Primarily, she didn’t have enough clinical experience and her activities were “fluffy” or incorrectly categorized. Her personal statement didn’t answer *why* she wants to be a doctor but tried to sell why she would be a good one. Plus her school list included a lot of public out of state schools. She sounds like a great applicant, I hope next cycle goes better for her!

These videos always stress me out

Honestly, it's kind of discouraging to hear her talk about her frustrations with volunteering at the clinic. She didn't ask it straight up, but you could hear her screaming in her head, "BUT HOW TF WOULD I GET THAT CLINICAL EXPERIENCE?!" As an undergraduate student, there are very few opportunities for true clinical experience without shelling out for certifications (EMT, CNA, MA, etc.) or living on scraps as a scribe (here in my Texas metro, scribing pays $9/hr... I'm a nontrad with a job, I can't be quitting it for $9/hr...)

Ah this is so interesting. My GPA was terrible after undergrad so I opted for a non-thesis masters and started working at an ER. When I applied last cycle, my cumulative GPA was still bad but the most recent 30 credit hours was a 4.0. I also had solid volunteering/community service, shadowing and thousands of hours working in the ER. Against all odds I got accepted into medical school on my first try despite that. Suppose this shows what really matters to ad coms now

I wonder how many people actually want to go to med school, and the amount that feel pressured by their parents or peers.

I have a pretty shit GPA but the main reason I've been able to get into different internships and programs is because I'm really good at selling myself/telling people about myself.

I’m a high schooler who’s just gotten accepted into my undergrad school and this is already making me stress out about applying to medical school.

Watching your videos stress me the fuck out but i cant stop watching

Lesson learned... write a story... stay humble

This video is golden 👌🏼 Thanks to the young lady for subjecting herself to such constructive criticism.

The hoops they make med school applicants jump through are ridiculous and they are only getting worse.

This channel is not just useful for medical school applicants but also college applicants in general.

Just want to point this out, I saw a video where they presented 3 personal statements from Harvard medical school graduates. One of those statements told an amazing story about how his love for poetry and the humanities helped him connect with patients while providing treatment on a trip in South America. I’m not saying her statement was as flushed out as the Harvard graduate, but there are examples outside of hers where connecting hobbies to medicine (IF DONE WITH CAREFUL STORYTELLING) could possibly work. Just if anyone was curious, not saying our doctor is wrong, but just an interesting point to bring up.

This sounds devastating wow

You guys are really gaining traction now, been a subscriber since the first video. Keep up the good work guys!

As someone who has gotten into medical school this cycle, I still would love for Dr. Gray to look at my application and critique it. He always just has such great advice and insight

unfortunately, the situation is that you have to evoke an emotional response from the reader. The problem is that the hiring manager wants a piece of literature from a student of science. It is an unfair expectation. But this is how the world is now. So you just have to roll with it.

Still props to her for having the chance to apply to med schools at such a young age.

She was accepted to a great school in the next cycle. Just wanted to put that out there.

props to her for sitting and taking all of the feedback so well. Intense but constructive

This applicant is very strong academically and is very young. I think this experience of rejection is going to either make her or break her with the development of her emotional intelligence and ability to accept critical feedback, as she will require that skill in medical school and in practice.

This is the first video of yours that I found and I have your book halfway done on my desk. Small world!

I have no interest in being a doctor, but these breakdowns are fascinating.

I’d be willing to bet I’d she applied early decision program at her home state university she’d be accepted. Sometimes people get rejected by middle of the road schools because they want to focus on applicants who will actually accept the offer.

I don’t have any clinical experience, why because the doctors in my area doesn’t allow it. Sometimes it’s hard to get someone to let you shadow them

Man those are top schools she applied to. I went the osteopathic route. I had similar GPA, extracurriculars, volunteered in hospitals, research, officer in several clubs. I did my years, complete residency, went to an allopathic cardiology fellowship program and passed ACGME cardiology and internal medicine boards. I work now with colleges from Yale, Brown, and even John Hopkins in a private group. Now I'm board certified in Gen Cards, IM, Echocardiography, Nuclear, and Vascular imaging. The application process is discouraging but it isn't the end of it.

I didn't even know this channel existed!! This was so helpful, I don't have any mentors or people in my life who have gone through the process or anything similar. My uni's pre-med advisor is not the best and has given me questionable advice (like telling me to do a post-bacc when my GPA is fine and I took all the required classes).

And blah blah blah....lol. I don't know why any of these videos get thumbs down because they are extremely helpful! Thank you so much Dr. Gray for offering all these resources. Good luck to her!

It's comforting to know that my loved ones and I are putting our lives in the hands of people who, while they may not be as smart, competent, and hard-working as this student is, can at least tell us wonderful stories about themselves and how they see the world.

aww man her activities and personal statement were atrocious. If she just works for 1-2 years in a medical setting, and tells a story, she'll do great. Hopefully her MCAT won't expire this next year

I didn't make it in my first time around for medical school applications either. Went to a Caribbean medical school where I proceeded to fail. Then came back to the states, retook my MCAT and got a higher score but not stellar. My college GPA was average but I still eventually got into medical school. It's definitely possible to get into school despite not having a top application.

Welcome to PG! I saw you at Costco today, just hesitated to greet you 😊 I'm a fan and i always watch your videos.

Lord Varys reviewing med school applications like the king that he is 😤🤞👌👌👌

My only struggle with the story thing u tell these students is that students willl then just work on making a story by adding fluff or drama to it. Also let’s face it some people are better story tellers than others, doesn’t mean jack on how good of a doctor your gonna be to be honest. Most physicians I work with couldn’t tell their own story to save their lives, although plenty of stories of their patients. I don’t know even years out of this process I don’t really know how these things are judged fairly. Because I know there are people who are great story tellers but honestly suck as physicians.

I was already accepted but I still watch these videos because Dr. Gray is just so knowledgeable! I recommend to all premeds!

such a fan watching these vids, whenever I have a break and eat breakfast/lunch I just pull up one of these bad boys and enjoy

I’m a med student. I can assure that most of the advice in this video is unrealistic and even ludicrous. You can’t frame every lame thing you did during your journey to medicine as some interesting, eye opening novel story. And you definitely cannot do it while avoiding saying things as simple as “it taught me” or “I learned”, all while staying humble, avoiding sounding “technical”, being expressive, and sticking to the character limit.

I think Dr. Gray exposes a fact that she wants to be a doctor but really doesn't know why. I'm sure her parents have pushed her and maybe she needs to look within to be sure this is something she wants to pursue. People want to be a doctor because they think that is the ultimate achievement. Either way I think she'll be successful in whatever she does, maybe even photography.

As someone who recently made the decision to switch from medicine into computer science, seeing how difficult it is to go to medical school is unbelievable factoring in the years it takes to become a doctor plus the hundreds of thousands of dollars medical school costs and the opportunity costs. I have so much respect for those who make the decision for the right reasons, but if it’s for money or respect, it’s simply not worth it. You have to spend thousands of hours and dollars to find opportunities to beef up your application so that you even get an interview, only for you to ultimately have to take one or two gap years to even get enough clinical experience to land a school. You’re already probably in debt from college and now that you’ve majored in biology (which has practically no opportunity outside the medical field), you have to see it through. That’s not even considering how difficult medical school is in and of itself. Most of the opportunities you land to get into medical school barely pay you and residency doesn’t either. The MCAT is a 7 and a half hour exam that you have to spend hundreds if not thousands of hours preparing for plus the money for prep and tutors. I know people taking it for the third of fourth time. Medical school also focuses on brute memorization over critical thinking from what I’ve seen which is hardly appealing. I saw this study done where they factored in all of the costs and debts as well as opportunity costs of becoming a doctor compared with become a teacher at the median salary and they both averaged out to roughly 30 an hour. Landing a residency and fellowship is almost just as hard as medical school. All those years you spend trying to become a doctor, you will never get back. Again, I’m stressing the fact that becoming a doctor is a great career for those who have a passion to help people, but I don’t think this is at all worth it for basically everyone else. I hope we see changes to the process sometime in the near future. This isn’t meant to discourage anyone. If anything, I’m using it as a medium to express my concerns so I can refer back to it if I ever have doubts of my decision. If you find any inaccuracies in this, please let me know. Thanks.

I am struggling to understand this. Why, WHY do you need so SOOO much stuff just to LEARN about medicine? wtf? this makes 0 sense to me.

I just wanted to comment (as a swimmer myself) that swimming is a "club" centered sport. Club teams before the collegiate level are often more competitive than teams associated with schools, and club teams during college usually have a similar amount of rigor to the actual college team.

I feel lucky I got accepted in 2020. My app was trash according to everything Dr. Gray is saying. I thought when you applied you were supposed to make it like a resume, try to get the readers to understand what you were doing in each role. I was told to avoid making the app excessively narrative and avoid trying to stand out in your writing because it can backfire.

I am in love with Dr Gray, lots of young people think grades and their academic life will get them at the door. I am a non-traditional, mama, healthcare worker for many years, good grades but I am still scared to death.

Do you have any videos about examples of great personal statements? After watching a few videos on application renovation, I feel that most applications struggle with the personal statement

This has definitely made me feel better, there needs to be a story, not just some narcissistic pre-med

What actually counts as clinical experience? Cuz ngl, even when we apply to volunteer at a hospital or a free clinic, they end up giving us administrative work to do, unless we are a trained EMT, and it gets quite frustrating.

On TMDSAS application activities list, where you get only 300 characters (compared to AMCAS 750), is the priority to still tell a story, or should I just get to the chase and list what I got from the experience?

Aaaaaand more reasons I stay away from everything premed, even tho I am one myself. Shit like this is so discouraging and it’s always depressing af.

she's the ideal medical school candidate. Her stats speak for themselves. She should have got an interview and given a chance to tell her story through an interview rather than having to write her life story in 2500 characters or less. The application process shouldn't be a writing competition. Not for an education in medicine.

I sat on the committee at a major nyc private med school with a torch. I rarely read much of a personal statement once my BS meter went off. Honesty is the best policy, don’t try to fluff up bs hobbies as medically relevant, it doesn’t work. Just work as an orderly in a hospital, not a volunteer candy cane observer. I put a lot more into that than the other crap. Remember, all the other applicants have a hi gpa and good mcat, you have to be different and real.

These videos with the high stat applicants are so sad to see damn

730 hours over a two month period I think her math may be a tiny bit off there.

Coming from a tech background, it does seem kinda weird to tell a story in the application itself cuz we try to list our accomplishments and job duties in the resume and application, and that's how HR knows that we are qualified for the job. Then they invite us for an interview to know more about our soft skills and stories. But here it seems like they want to know you as a person in the application itself which is different.

What it sounds like from people applying is that they don't understand what the admission people want. Sounds like there needs to be a information guide produced that gives clear information which could take one page, as these videos explain simply what is needed.

This video was very informative. I definitely saw myself in this student and appreciate the advice given.

I’m a surgeon almost everyone in my family is a doctor she never answered the question why does she want to do this this job is not for everybody people die you have to really understand what you’re getting into this is about way more than money and prestige

Do you look at applications of current applicants ( not reapplicant)?

If making crafts with patients isn’t considered clinical, how does hospice volunteering count?... (asking because I do crafts with hospice patients and now I’m concerned it wouldn’t be considered clinical)

You got to have a great story/reason for wanting to become a physician. Her application seemingly lacked the "why".

29:20...ouch! Who am I without any achievements?

TLDR: story. story story story. story story. i think i’m glad now that i was a journalist for five years. writing is a major asset.

how do we avoid "taught me" statements?

Is there a way to get them to review your medschool application? Does he look into or talk about Canadian med schools?

I love how frank he is

This guy is ruthless geez

She got Dr. Gray this year, next year she good

Wow this was a thorough critic. It was needed but i really feel sorry for her, imagine spending all these time thinking your doing great just to find out nothing you wrote was even worth it. Ryan do you review non-med SOP, watching this got me nervous and now second-guessing everything. Would you be able to view mine and recommend adjustment before I submit an application?

When I watch this, it feels to me like he flips between telling her she needs to get more personal and show who she is, and then explaining why the few times in the app where she did try to inject some personal interests was bad. There seems to be this line that is clear in his head that I couldnt get a clear picture of from the video. This coupled with the previously described lack of ability to gain meaningful experience seems to me like an insurmountable obstacle in some ways. Luckily for her it seems she has begun getting more experience. Maybe someone can help me rationalize that first part?

When I review dental applicants i get the same exact problems with personal statements and interviews. They tell me a resume instead of telling me a personal story and the impact it had on them and others telling me a little more about themselves!

I had a 3.7 which was heavily padded by my Spanish major and a 516, I only applied to one MD school and got in

Is low GPA ( less than 3 out 5 ) in med school affect the residency match or the USMLE step 1 and 2 marks and research, LOR will be more important to match in competitive specialty? I hope someone will answer 😊

How is 100 hours of shadowing not enough? I thought around 100 is average for matriculants.

I'm currently setting up a medical school admissions consultancy firm designed to help amazing applicants like yourself. There are so many amazing applicants with great gpas, test scores, and experience that are getting rejected for ridiculous reasons. You already have enough on your plate working for those grades and research/clinic experience. Let a team of professionals do the work of studying the game of medical school applications that will impress every med school you apply to while you keep getting those awesome stats.

Is there a platform where I can ask him direct questions?

Hey you said she was early to apply in June but she didn’t take her mcat till July and those scores don’t get back till August. So her full application was not complete till August?

What's the procedure for outsource doctors that work in usa? Is it like engineering & nurses where you just get H-1B visa? Because it seems like going to the American system is harder to get into and pay for school?

Psych/Soc section of the MCAT is moving towards CARS V2 becoming more subjective and less definitions/theory based. Sucks for this girl and many others who have taken it in the past year or two. I hate that the exclusionary criteria here is that she lacked anecdotes and her style of writing for a personal statement wasn't good. Would easily be able to see her personality and passion for medicine in an interview as I saw here in this 35 minute segment. Seems to me like she would make a great medical student. IF there is any non-subjective critique here it's lack of clinical experience. Re-write personal statement, get more clinical experiences, apply to better schools (maybe include DO??) and hope for the best next time.

SO I screwed around my early years of school, was dealing with surviving cancer, and ended up wanting to live it up... do things I wasn't allowed to do. OF Course that negatively impacted my academics and ended either getting a few W's here and there (A LONG TIME AGO) and some not-so-stellar grades. I left school to figure out what I really wanted in life .... do I become a DVM or MD. I worked and obtained a TON OF EXPERIENCE and did some serious growing up. Back in school now finishing Undergrad and looking to apply to grad school shortly..... Grades are great!! I remember coming back to school terrified thinking "What if I can't get good grades.... what then of my life"?! A's 1 B so far What if any impact does my past have on acceptance? How do I navigate that? All opinions welcomed .... if there is a video on this already - I'd love the link to it. THANKS in Advance!

Hello Dr. Grey! In the beginning of the video you say that you see "no big issues in terms of demographics". What would these issues be? Age? Citizenship status? I believe permanent residents can apply, but would it lower their chances? Thanks so much for your content!

I’m here super randomly haha this was recommended, I’m only 18min in, I don’t get what you mean by story then? For ex when the student talks about that consent thing, some little story is mentioned but you say that’s not a story... but then what is exactly? Genuinely curious

TMDSAS application next please!

She used a lot of "our mission" was x "we did" x. And not focusing on what she did, what her mission is, etc.

Is it okay to include multiple hobbies in your application? I have a few hobbies, but I would't want the admissions committee to think I'm too artsy or anything like that(I have a lot of artistic hobbies).

Wait can someone help me answer this please. So how can I get clinical experience? I’m about to go into my first year of Undergraduate here in NJ and I have a 3.9 going into Biology. What are examples of clinical experience because it is true, when you usually ask doctors you sit in the information desk like they were discussing at 32:38

TMDSAS video would be very helpful!

Its been a while since I took a break from this channel. While most of the details are correct on why her application went wrong, Dr. Gray is inconsistent with his criticism of her. He claims she suffers from 2 things: 1. I dont know who she is as an applicant (too much stats) 2. PS: Don't tie in hobbies with medicine. Additionally, I do want to note it seems like she applied during the pandemic, and Gray totally overlooked that (Adcoms are pretty holistic, but this is also why the pandemic cycle was hell). Through the whole video he says I have no clue about who you are personally, which is absolutely true from her experiences. Then she tries to write a hobby essay, which is her attempt (yes it was a pretty poor attempt) of showing more of herself and he writes off the whole PS as a "hobby essay." PS tying in hobbies with medicine have worked in the past (another comment highlighting HMS PS). The problem here is there is no cohesive narrative that explains why it relates to her wanting to be a physician. (Not saying I am any better at all) The biggest problem is when you take a step back and look at the personal statement, its just 5 disparate paragraphs, the essence of her being a photographer is nothing more than a bookend. Again, this was the only big thing I thought Gray missed, but everything else was on point.

What I've seen a lot with my own life are people my age who just don't have the passion for what they do. They choose careers clearly based on moral values and then have no clear plan for what they're going to do with it or what inspired them to do it in the first place. Honestly, if you're smart and passionless, go get an MBA, yet, even those guys are passionate about money.

idk how i got here but im a nursing student and I wish I could get him to read my personal statement for nursing job applications >.

"look at schools mission, curriculum blah blah". The reality is that we are all surviving on a vibe and a prayer through this process and just want to get accepted to ONE school. Their mission could be "take all their money" and I would say thank you see you at orientation.

Don't really agree with the whole "don't tie in your hobbies into medicine in your personal statement" part (at 24:58)... This is exactly what I did (because art DID actually lead me to my interest in anatomy/medicine) and I think it can be very effective when used well. As long as you don't get too metaphorical with it and focus on how it impacted your decision or path to becoming a physician.

Can we get some "knocked out of the park" good applications maybe ones with less amazing stats? what are examples of good stories? good examples of why I wanna be a doctor.

The Personal statement is what really shot her in the foot