Overview of the Series

In this series of articles, I will be sharing excerpts of case studies on several of my former students (with their permission, of course). Names and other identifying information have been changed, but the material facts — MCAT score, GPA, etc. — are unchanged. The full case studies are published in my book, Pre-Med Success Stories.

I’ll present each case study in three parts — an introduction of the student, followed by an in-depth assessment of the student’s profile and chances for admission to medical school, and then finally I’ll explain what happened to the student once s/he applied.

In this article, I’ll finish up this three-part series on a student of mine named Paul.

Part III — What Happened to Paul?

Paul quickly received acceptances to his two top-choice schools: Creighton University School of Medicine and The Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.

What made him stand out? Paul had plenty of professional experience. He had his foot in positions of authority, and also in clinical trials — he was designing some of the devices used for medical help and administering them which gave him insight which is rare for a 24 year-old. Paul also had an unstoppable belief in wanting to be a doctor. After two rounds of rejections, he did some serious soul-searching and realized what he was doing wrong.

He also joined the local Toastmasters club and improved on his speaking abilities. I saw real difference in how he conducted himself as the months went on. He learned to relax during interviews and not see them as threatening. This was a major development. After a long wait, Paul was finally rewarded for all his hard work. He now possessed new communication tools and more — he was now actively seeking out opportunities and had developed self-respect. It was clear to me that he had changed for the better.

Are you interested in reading more about Paul’s story? My book Pre-Med Success Stories goes into more detail — including Paul’s personal statement, our strategies, and his letters of recommendation. Be sure to consider checking it out.