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MEDICAL SCHOOL PERSONAL STATEMENT TRENDS IN 2025

Just as trends in fashion change, so do trends in medical school admissions. At MedEdits, we track what remains “evergreen” in medical school personal statement writing and what’s evolving. Knowing these trends can give you an edge in the highly competitive admissions process.  

First, let’s discuss the tried and true. These aspects of the personal statement have remained a constant for as long as I have been working in medical school admissions which is a long time!

  1. Readers want to know why you want to be a doctor.

Ultimately, your reader wants to understand WHY you want to be a doctor. Ancient history, I know, but I even wrote about my motivations to become a physician when I composed my own medical school personal statement! Just like a string of pearls, some things about medical school admissions will never go out of style! In writing about your premedical extracurricular experiences, your reader wants to know that you possess the skills, characteristics, and qualities that medical school admissions committees are seeking (more on that below!)

2. Highlight Your Motivation and Fit with the Medical School Community.

Admissions officers want every student to be a valuable contributor to the medical school class and want to be sure you are a good fit for their medical school. This means ensuring your values, ideals, and personal mission are aligned with that of the medical school’s. They also want to feel confident that you will offer compassionate care to their patient population and community. Medical school admissions committees are obligated to admit competent future providers for their patients. This is a huge responsibility that they take seriously.

3. Holistic Admissions: Your Personal Statement is Just One Part of the Puzzle.

Holistic admissions, an initiative that started in 2007, means considering every aspect of a student’s candidacy when deciding whom to interview and admit. This includes academic metrics, experiences, attributes, and potential to contribute to the program’s goals. To offer a 360 degree evaluation, medical schools must consider every piece of the application portfolio. This means, when writing your personal statement, you must think of it as one piece of your application within the context of your entire application. You must be cognizant that every part of your written application fits together in a cohesive and fluid way.

Now that we have discussed the tried and true, let’s now talk about some trends and new considerations when it comes to the medical school personal statement.

  1. ChatGPT: Helpful Tool or Pitfall?

     

    Oh how AI has turned our world upside down! If you are writing your medical school personal statement the right way, discussing your unique experiences, observations, and insights, using an AI chatbot like ChatGPT to help write your essay will ultimately make your essay generic, and one that sounds like everyone else’s. The brainstorming, writing, reflecting, and revision process is very helpful for students to really understand their motivations which also helps prepare them for the medical school interview process. Generally speaking, those students who take the time to write thoughtful application materials are also better prepared for medical school interviews. Completing our PERSONAL INVENTORY exercise will help students be less reliant on ChatGPT.

    It is only when two things happen that I will recommend students stay away from AI chatbots: 1) Medical schools do away with interviews 2) AI can literally get into your own head and help you think and reflect and read those thoughts.

  2. The importance of social justice and advocacy. 

As a physician, I can tell you that advocacy and understanding the social determinants of health have always been important to practice medicine well. But, it was only in the 2024 application that this officially became an essential part of the medical school application evaluation process. Because the medical community considers social justice and advocacy a core value for anyone wanting to practice medicine, you must show evidence of addressing societal systemic inequities. Social justice and advocacy opportunities can take many forms, but a couple of examples include: volunteering with underserved communities, engaging in health equity initiatives, or working to alleviate food deserts.

3. Updated premed competencies that medical schools are seeking.

Updated for the 2024-2025 cycle, the AAMC’s premedical competencies (e.g., critical thinking, cultural competence) serve as a valuable roadmap. Aim to embody these competencies naturally through your experiences and reflections. Avoid a checklist mentality; instead, let your story reveal these qualities organically. Successful medical students must possess a broad range of skills and attributes to be successful. Students should use the premed competencies as a general road map when deciding what experiences to become involved with and when writing your medical school personal statement. We find, however, that most premed applicants naturally demonstrate these competencies when pursuing extracurricular and scholarly endeavors.

Now that you are informed, let’s dive into three personal statement tips!

  1. Start with a story that exemplifies who you are and what is important to you!

Many of you have probably heard about the importance of starting any essay with a “hook” that grabs your reader and the medical school personal statement is no exception. This story can be from any time in your life and can be about a personal or extracurricular endeavor. This story can be about the first time you shadowed a physician, a challenging volunteer experience, or a transformative moment in a non-medical setting, as long as it captures your unique perspective. The anecdote you choose doesn’t matter, but you want it to be something that will awaken as many of your reader’s sense as possible and also illustrates your qualities, values, and/or skills. Some students might also include a story that highlights what is important with regards to their identity or background. The MedEdits’ Personal Inventory Exercise will help you identify those experiences that can lead to meaningful stories. Your opening story can, for example, be about the first time you comforted a patient as an EMT, or the first time you tutored an incarcerated person.

2. What is your niche or what are you an authority on (or on your way to?)

Remember that medical school admissions committees want to compose diverse classes with diverse interests. Therefore, as part of MedEdits’ Personal Inventory and Mentor Exercises you want to think deeply about what your current “specialty” is or in what areas you have the most knowledge, experience, and skills. Your specialization at this point could be based on a research interest, an extracurricular focus, or a skill that sets you apart (e.g., fluency in another language that aids patient care). This allows admissions committees to envision the unique value you’ll bring to the incoming class. Your specializations at this point in your life (don’t worry, no one expects you to be a true expert or to commit to a lie path at this stage), should ideally be communicated in your personal statement. This will allow the reader to envision you as a contributing member of the incoming medical school class.

3. Where are you going?

Not only is it important to know where you have been and how your experiences have led you to this point in your life, but you want to think about your future goals and aspirations. Again, your ultimate goals are likely to change, but medical schools want students who are directed and motivated. The MedEdits Mentor Exercise is likely to help you figure out where you’d like to go in your education and career. This part of your personal statement shouldn’t dominate, but is important and usually will manifest in your penultimate paragraph or conclusion. Your future goals don’t have to be groundbreaking, but instead should be realistic for your stage and what you have accomplished thus far in your lift. For example, “I aim to address community health disparities as a primary care physician, though I am open to learning about specialties that align with this mission.”

Above all, remember that authenticity and self-awareness are key. Use your medical school personal statement as a chance to reflect deeply on your journey to medicine—and start crafting a statement that’s true to who you are.

JESSICA FREEDMAN, M.D., a former medical school and residency admissions officer at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, is the founder and chair of MedEdits Medical Admissions and author of three top-selling books about the medical admissions process that you can find on Amazon.

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