Describe how your background or experiences will enhance the diversity of the Penn Carey Law community (e.g., based on your culture, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, ideology, age, socioeconomic status, academic background, employment, or personal experience).
These are the core strengths that make Penn Carey Law the best place to receive a rigorous and engaging legal education: genuine integration with associated disciplines; transformative, forward-looking faculty scholarship; highly-regarded experiential learning through urban clinics and our pro bono pledge; innovative, hands-on global engagement; and a manifest commitment to professional development and collegiality. These qualities define Penn Carey Law. What defines you? How do your goals and values match Penn Carey Law’s core strengths?
Describe a time when, as a member of a team, you particularly excelled or were especially frustrated. What was your role within that team? What was the outcome?
If you do not think that your academic record or standardized test scores accurately reflect your ability to succeed in law school, please tell us why.
Are these essays optional? Well, of course they are, it is right there in the name. That said, the application is a very one-dimensional process and you are a 3-dimensional human being with at least two decades worth of experiences. The personal statement was your opportunity to let the committee know why you want to go to law school. After that, applicants often run out of steam (or ideas) and skip the essays hoping that the word “optional” means “opt out.” It doesn’t. If you want to get into a school, you should take every opportunity to tell the admissions committee something more about yourself. After all, failure to respond to the essays sounds like you are saying that you have nothing interesting to offer to the law school community. Below are a few tips for making optional essays less painful and more impactful:
Most optional essays are short, about 1 page double-spaced. Don’t exceed the limit. Your optional essay should not rival the length of your personal statement.
Show, Don’t Tell. Add color to the application! The biggest mistake applicants make is responding to these questions without illustrating what they mean. In other words, give the reader some detail about what happened so that he or she can picture it. Remember, you are making yourself a 3-dimensional person – it is harder to say no to a person!
Don’t Repeat. Don’t write about the same things you did for the personal essay or diversity statement. This is your opportunity to continue your narrative not repeat it. Examples can be from your own personal or professional experience.
A good way to approach optional essays like these is to brainstorm all possible ideas and situations – think about your college career, volunteer work, employment, family and personal life. Which events, experiences, and achievements would you like the school to know about you that aren’t discussed in another essay and that will address the question? Then, decide what makes the most sense for each essay.
Looking for guidance on how to write an optional essay that will boost your chances of acceptance? Check out our Law School Admissions Services and work one-on-one with an expert advisor to perfect your optional essay, or any other element of your law school application.
Christine Carr is a Harvard graduate with over 15 years of admissions experience, including nine years as Associate Director of Admissions at Boston University School of Law. She has read over 10,000 personal statements and counseled thousands of prospective applicants through the application process Want Christine to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!
Build a better accomplishments essay by following this recipe.
Accomplishments are the bread and butter of personal statements and application essays. That may sound straightforward, however, a fascinating brainstorming session of Accepted admissions consultants reveals that applicants don’t always know what an accomplishment is. What goes into this application staple? And how can you analyze your own profile to find compelling accomplishments to write about in an academic or personal achievements essay?
In this blog post, we’re providing the recipe for an enticing “accomplishments sandwich.” Here are the simple ingredients:
Let’s start with the bread. Your accomplishment must show you as a contributor who has had a significant impact on a person, organization, or entity. What are some examples? You took the initiative to increase membership, lead a team to victory, build a coalition in student government, increase sales, cut costs, or find a solution to a problem that enabled a critical deal to go forward.
Impact and initiative are the two critical qualities to keep in mind when you assess whether your achievements belong in a greatest accomplishment essay.
How about if you won an award? Does that count? It depends. If you are asked to write about a personal achievement, then if you won an award for a published story, an athletic competition, or some other “personal best,” those would be excellent choices. More often, however, you will be asked to write about a significant achievement with impact beyond your own personal growth. In these situations, an award might result from an achievement, either academic or professional, and that endeavor is likely to be more important than the award itself and form the basis of an effective essay. By now, you probably see the difference between an achievement that is primarily personal versus one that is career-related. You may already recognize which among your achievements is notable enough to write about. But let’s say you don’t have much that feels important or clear cut enough. Let’s look at how you can identify potential experiences for your accomplishments essay.
A good place to start is by reviewing your resume. Ideally, it will be loaded with as many quantifiable achievements as possible, from both your professional and extracurricular roles. If you work in marketing, and clinched four new accounts in a single year, leading to a promotion, that’s an achievement. If you work in a social service agency and developed a new intake system for clients that the agency adopted, leading to a much more organized and streamlined process, that’s an achievement. In college, you may have become involved in a student organization that fosters career development and leadership among minority students. Your success in getting speakers that drew big crowds led to you becoming the president of that campus organization. That’s an achievement.
Which experiences on your resume stand out to you now? No doubt you’ll start to see things popping out at you.
Small achievements can be big
Significant accomplishments can also be quieter and smaller. This essay offers a great example where the impact starts with one person but radiates outward:
From the first day, my task to mentor a new-hire, Thomas, was a challenge. He had strong work experience in product development at his previous job, but he was soft-spoken and reserved, and had a strong stutter. While I felt pain for him as he struggled to complete a word or a sentence, it was also awkward for both of us as I waited for him to finish his point. During a department meeting, someone actually rolled her eyes as Thomas was answering a question. I just glared at her for being so cold. At our weekly department lunches, which were meant to be a relaxed social time for everyone, Thomas hung back quietly, seeming like he was a million miles away.
I still didn’t understand why Thomas seemed a little slow to catch on to the ways of our department. He was clearly very intelligent. It was taking me longer to complete my own work because of the extra time I was spending with him on his own assignments. One afternoon, on a whim, I invited him to join me for dinner at a popular burger place. He looked surprised but agreed.
That night broke the ice. Thomas relaxed, enjoyed his dinner, and I noticed his speech was more fluid as well. We discovered a mutual love of soccer and political thriller novels. I really enjoyed his company and told him so. We went out again the following week to an Italian place that he chose. On our third “date,” Thomas opened up about a broken engagement that happened just before he started his new job. He knew that his grief was distracting him, clouding his thinking, and making his stutter worse.
“I know I’ve not been easy to train,” he told me, “but I’m starting to come out of it now.” After that night, Thomas’s work improved rapidly. He risked speaking up more at the weekly lunches and at meetings, and everyone was patient when he struggled to say something, although those occasions were less frequent.
I consider this mentoring experience one of my greatest accomplishments because in trying to befriend a coworker, I not only gained a true friend for myself, but helped him gain confidence and perform to his capacity at work. It was the first time in my life when I felt I had such a strong and positive impact on another person. It showed me the power of small gestures of friendship and understanding.
As we can see, this writer’s decision to offer a listening ear to a coworker who seemed in some sort of distress became an achievement that was both personal and professional. His actions had impact that flowed outward beyond Thomas himself and to the entire department and organization.
The butter = Obstacles overcome.
Overcoming obstacles, such as lack of resources – like time, money, innate talent, or people – magnifies your accomplishment manifold. Since we rarely have enough of everything for plans to go smoothly, make sure you tell the story of the difficulties you faced. By the way, the obstacle can also be a failure that you experienced and chose to learn from, emerging wiser and more capable at the end. It’s important that when discussing either obstacles or failures that you don’t point fingers, blame other people or circumstances, or complain about the unfairness of it all. State the facts simply and the situation will speak for itself.
Here’s an example of how one applicant dealt with a significant obstacle:
My book launch had been planned for nearly one year. This was my first book, a biography about my great-grandmother, a trailblazing homeopathic physician who lived at a time when even regular women M.D.’s were a rarity. I wanted to publish independently, but knew there was a huge amount of work involved that I didn’t feel suited for. There was editing, design, layout, marketing, getting the book accepted into the book distribution system, and more. Most published books are quickly forgotten and sell few copies. I didn’t want that to happen to mine.
My solution was to sign an agreement with my friend Haley to publish my book. She was a talented graphic artist who had set up her own publishing company to publish her husband’s book. Our agreement spelled out our individual financial obligations and responsibilities, but I had a nagging worry. Her marriage was tumultuous, and she could make impulsive decisions.
Six weeks before the publishing date, a popular book blogger promised a 5-star review on her blog. I also sold an excerpt to my college alumni magazine. I was still doing my “happy dance” when Haley called to tell me that our deal was off. She was leaving her husband and driving to stay with her mother, who lived in another state. She said she’d be in touch to work something out. She didn’t say when.
I was furious and anguished at the same time. My biggest problem was that the book’s ISBN (identification) number was assigned to Haley’s company, and it could not be reassigned to anyone else. Haley also had the distribution and payment agreements in her name. I could have kicked myself for not listening to my intuition, which warned me against working with someone whose life was so upside down.
While waiting for Haley to call, I researched my options. The ISBN could not be transferred to me, but if I bought her publishing company, I would also own her ISBNs. I had no idea if Haley would agree to this, and I had no idea how we’d work out terms, but the only way to save my book was to do the very thing I had tried to avoid: become a publisher myself.
The following week, Haley agreed to sell me her publishing company for a token amount. It had no assets, and I had already paid for all book-related costs, except for Haley’s time. She also promised to help me with the transition of all the accounts. I decided not to look too far ahead, and just focus on giving my book the best send-off into the world that I could with its new publishing company, which I named after my great-grandmother.
This story about a close call with a publishing disaster revealed the writer’s ability to stay level-headed in an extremely stressful situation. Her achievement was stretching beyond what she thought she could do, and moving forward because she had to. Dealing with life’s curve balls this way was certainly an achievement worth sharing.
Let’s review where we are so far with our “recipe.”
The bread = impact and initiative
The butter = obstacles overcome
Now, let’s sweeten the dish with some jam.
The jam = Leadership.
Leadership accomplishments that are appropriate for application essays usually involve your ability to influence, motivate, persuade, cajole, direct, and work effectively with others. This turns your humble bread and butter into a delectable delicacy.
Think about how you have worked with other people – how you led a team, what you learned, and so on. How did you demonstrate leadership skills? What did you learn about leadership, and how have you grown as a leader through this experience?
In this next example, accomplishment through leadership seemed almost accidental:
My job teaching in a private school began uneventfully. I had a class of bright 4th graders, with only a handful expected to be “challenging.” I loved my supervisor, Monica, who was a gifted teacher but new to her role as a team lead overseeing the 3rd and 4th grades.In addition to having one class of her own, Monica was supposed to create interventions for struggling students, incentivize specific behavior or achievements, plan events or trips, and offer guidance to teachers.
Monica quickly proved that her skill set was really in the classroom and not in administration. She let requests from teachers for interventions or advice pile up, and when I repeated my requests, she got testy. I wanted to work with her and not against her, so I offered to help. I suggested we meet twice a week after school to review her in-box, and I discovered that just by having me sit with her and discuss the situations, she was able to focus much better. Although I only had two years’ experience as a teacher, Monica still seemed to value my opinion on handling thorny situations, such as when a wealthy parent who was on the school’s board of directors refused to face the reality of her daughter’s chronicallyaggressive behavior in class. This case was bigger than the both of us, and we agreed that Monica needed to bring it to the headmistress of the school for her intervention.
About halfway through the year, Monica and I were still meeting regularly. It was an unexpected partnership, and it was clear to both of us that she wanted to return to full-time teaching the following year. I realized that the administrative tasks and decision-making came more naturally to me than to her, and that after a few more years of teaching experience and a master’s degree in education, I might enjoy having a job like hers.
I was fortunate that it played out this way. Another person in her situation might have simply become angry or resentful at my trying to play a role in her job. I could have been completely shut out. But Monica and I became friends, and I learned a lot from watching her dynamism in the classroom. Additionally, she courageously told the headmistress about our arrangement and asked if the school could pay me for my extra hours–which they did.
This was a totally unexpected situation that helped me realize that I wanted to take a fork in the road of my career in education.
Finding the experiences in your life where you have shown initiative and impact, overcome obstacles, and demonstrated leadership, will help you write a home-run of an essay.
Are you thinking about what you’ve got to include in a winning accomplishments essay? Team up with Accepted’s consultants to help you pinpoint your best material. As your partner and guide in this process, we will make sure your selections will make you stand out for all the right reasons!
By Judy Gruen, former Accepted admissions consultant. Judy holds a Master’s in Journalism from Northwestern University. She is the co-author of Accepted’s first full-length book, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools. Want an admissions expert help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!
Learn how real students navigate their way through the graduate school admissions process and grad school itself with ourWhat Is Medical School Really Like?series.
Kristina, a dental student at NYU College of Dentistry, shares how planning and determination helped her reach her goals!
Kristina, thank you for sharing your story with us!
We’d like to get to know you. Can you please share three surprising things about yourself?
Kristina:
I am very into spirituality, I love astrology, numerology, and crystals.
I was in an episode of Impractical Jokers.
I was born in Moscow, Russia and immigrated to America when I was 3.
I understand you hold an M.A. in biochemistry and molecular biology. Why did you decide to pursue a master’s degree before beginning dental school?
Kristina: There are many routes people can take when applying to dental school. After graduating college my GPA was not at the level that it should have been in order to be considered a competitive applicant. However, I was determined to be admitted so I did my research and spoke to others who had been accepted to dental school and were previously in the same situation as me. A master’s was a great choice to show that you are capable of taking upper-level courses and excelling in them. The master’s program that I attended was two years long, but I doubled up on the coursework and finished in one. After my master’s I retook my DAT, applied, and got accepted! Doing a master’s is a great way to show schools how serious you are about attending.
How did you study for the DAT?
Kristina: I attended Dr. Romano’s Orgoman courses in Staten Island. His courses involved going through different sections of the DAT and learning the information, followed by doing practice problems with the class in order to put the information into context. I found this course to be very helpful and I definitely recommend it to anyone who is applying. However, because the courses are group-based you do not get the one-on-one help that you would get if you were studying with a private tutor. I have always struggled in math, and because of that I took private classes with a tutor just for that section, on top of taking the group courses. For the perceptual analysis section of the DAT, I found that Orgoman’s DAT bootcamp was very useful. I made sure that I practiced at least an hour a day, seven days a week using the online simulator. I found that it was very similar to the actual exam and it was very helpful. DAT bootcamp was also good for familiarizing you or refreshing your knowledge of topics you are not 100% comfortable with. Studying for the DAT is very different from studying for an exam in school. You have to absorb years’ worth of information in various subjects, so your previous ways of studying may not be successful. You have to have patience and use trial and error to find what works best for you.
At the time you applied to dental school, had you had dental-related work experience? Is it typical for dental school applicants to work in the field prior to applying to dental school?
Kristina: I worked in an orthodontic office for two years as a dental assistant prior to applying to dental school. It is definitely typical for dental school applicants to have worked or at least shadowed in the field before applying. Working in the field allows you to understand what being a dentist is all about and whether this career is right for you. My work experience is the reason why I was set on becoming a dentist.
What do you wish you’d known in the past about the dental school application process, that you know now?
Kristina: I wish that I had known how proactive you have to be with your application after applying. After finishing my application, I waited for acceptances without bothering to check in with the schools and see whether or not they had received my applications. I believed that they would reach out to me and all I had to do was wait. I ended up waiting a month with no acceptances and I finally decided to check in with the schools only to find out none of them had received my application! I called ASDA and they told me they were waiting for my “Brooklyn College” undergraduate transcript and they had not sent out my application due to that. I had not attended Brooklyn College; I was a student at Pace University. It turned out to have been a computer error on their part and due to that my applications ended up being sent out late. I also missed the deadline for multiple schools because I had to wait a few weeks for them to sort out what had happened, and by the time they did it was too late to send it to some of the schools I had chosen. My biggest recommendation when applying is to stay on top of your application. Call the schools and call ASDA regularly to make sure your process is going smoothly!
Your Instagram page has some great advice for managing time efficiently. What’s your best trick for time management as a dental student?
Kristina: My best advice for time management has to be to keep track of all your assignment deadlines, practicals, and exam schedules. Often in dental school you have an exam every week and sometimes more than one exam a week followed by a practical. It is very important to make sure you prioritize which exams require more study time and which require less. I would say keeping a planner with a calendar is very important because that way you can write down all of your exam dates and due dates. You should also make sure to write in time to practice your hand skills before practicals. It is really easy to become overwhelmed in dental school but if you have a sense of organization, you won’t fall behind. It takes a little time to figure out what kind of study schedule correlates best with your life but, with time, you begin to learn what works best for you.
Can you share your top study tips? What strategies do you use to learn large amounts of information quickly?
Kristina: When studying large amounts of information, I love making stories with the information I am learning, as well as making my own notes with pictures for visuals. When you have a huge amount of information to learn it is good to organize the information in a way that makes sense to you. Then using that order you can create a fun story which would help you remember the information. It is easier to think back on a story rather than trying to draw facts from your brain. I used this method a lot during head and neck anatomy when we had to learn neural pathways and it really helped me to excel. Also, I would recommend making your own notes and using pictures and diagrams to make sense of the information you are being taught. During an exam I often think back to my notes and, even if I did not remember the specific fact that the question is asking, I would remember where in my notes I had written that out and it would help me answer the question. I also believe using a lot of color in your notes and correlating images to the information you are learning helps a lot in memory retention.
How has COVID affected your year?
Kristina: COVID has been both a blessing and a curse in terms of my school year. I’ve had a lot more time to focus on my didactic courses because I was no longer taking time to commute to school and practicing for practicals. My grades have definitely improved because time management has become a lot easier; however, the drawback has been the limited lab time we have been able to have. My school has 380 students in my year alone, so scheduling students for labs has been very difficult for the school due to limited space. When COVID began we completely stopped having lab and did not have a chance to finish our practicals. Now that vaccines have come out the school has allowed us to go back to lab, but our lab time is very minimal. We have lab once or twice every other week. Compared to the four days a week, every week, that we used to have, it is not a lot of time at all. The school supplied us with electronic handpieces that we can use at home to practice our crown preps, but it is not the same as the in-school lab experience. You no longer have somebody standing there and telling you what you did right or what you did wrong; you have to use your notes and YouTube for reference. With the current circumstances, although it has been difficult, I am very grateful for the handpieces we have been given because at least we are able to have some sort of practice since our lab time is so minimal.
Looking ahead, what options exist for new dental grads? Do all dentists complete residencies?
Kristina: Dental residencies vary by state. Some states do not require a dental school graduate to complete a residency and they can begin practicing as soon as they graduate. New York is one of the states that requires students to complete a one-year GPR (general practice residency), post-graduation. There are also specialty programs students can apply to during their D4 year. Students can choose to apply for oral surgery residency, pediatric residency, prosthodontic residency, periodontal residency, endodontic residency, orthodontic residency, and many others. These residencies range from two to six years and they give a student the opportunity to become a specialist in these fields. Some of these specialty programs, such as oral surgery and orthodontics, require you to take an exam prior to applying. The programs are very competitive and if you are interested in pursuing a specialty you have to make sure you form good relationships with your clinic faculty, and also maintain a competitive GPA.
Do you have questions for Kristina? Questions for us? Do you want to be featured in our next “What Is Medical School Really Like?” post? Know someone else who you’d love to see featured? Are there questions you’d like us to ask our students in this series?LET US KNOW!
Looking forward to your own dental school journey? We can help you reach the finish line! Check out our Dental School Admissions Consulting Services to team up with an admissions expert who will guide you on your way to joining the ranks of thousands of Accepted clients who already got ACCEPTED!
For 25 years, Accepted has helped applicants gain acceptance to their dream healthcare programs. Our outstanding team of admissions consultants features former admissions directors, admissions committee members, pre-health advisors, postbac program directors, and doctors. Our staff has guided applicants to acceptance at allopathic (MD) and osteopathic (DO) medical schools, residencies and fellowships, dental school, veterinarian school, and physician assistant programs at top schools such as Harvard, Stanford, Penn, UCSF, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, and many more. Want an admissions expert to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!
A year can feel like a long time. However, with the demands on your time as numerous as they are, we promise that time will fly by faster than you can imagine. Don’t wait until deadlines are looming to make your game plan for applying to b-school.
Join us on Wednesday, March 3 at 10 am PT/1 pm ET for our free, information-packed masterclass, 7 Steps to MBA Acceptance in 2022. This engaging presentation will provide a practical, time-proven approach to crafting a successful MBA application.
In this session, Accepted founder and CEO Linda Abraham will fill you in on:
Steps to take in the 5–8 months preceding your application submission
A no-pressure approach to writing your application essays
How to cultivate a purpose-driven and goal-centered attitude towards your application
Tips for creating a stellar resume
Guidelines for securing compelling recommendations
This session is free, but seats are filling up fast. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to do some intentional and effective planning for your MBA application.
Register for the masterclass:
For 25 years, Accepted has helped business school applicants gain acceptance to top programs. Our outstanding team of MBA admissions consultants features former business school admissions directors and professional writers who have guided our clients to admission at top MBA, EMBA, and other graduate business programs worldwide including Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth, INSEAD, London Business School, and many more. Want an MBA admissions expert to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!
According to a 2019 study conducted by the American Medical Association, sixty-five percent of first-year medical students surveyed took gap years. Most students who took gap years did so for 1-2 years (44%), followed by those who did so for 3-4 years (13%), followed by those who did so for 5 plus years (8%). Clearly, the take-away from this study is that more medical students took gap years in 2019 than those who did not, and most gap years were brief, 1-2 years.
Reasons to take a gap year before medical school
Rather than fret whether to take a gap year, determine what will turn a gap year into a growth year – and plan accordingly. Many premed students use the gap year to make up for what they see as their weakest application credential. A gap year can afford the opportunity to retake the MCAT, enroll in a postbac program to improve your GPA, volunteer, or gain clinical exposure. During a gap year, some premed students become EMTs. Others work to save money, in an attempt to decrease their future medical school debt, while still volunteering or performing community service. Others research or engage in medical mission opportunities abroad to bolster their experience with diverse populations and global health.
Should I take a gap year before medical school?
Clearly, the admission committees do not look down upon gap years. As I said above, in 2019 most accepted students took them. Here is the catch: whatever you do during your gap year needs to make sense for you – as a future doctor. What you do during the gap year should seem organically right. For some that means staying practical – what do I need to do? For others that means being inspirational – what else do I feel intuitively to do that facilitates my growth as a person and/or a future doctor? Take care of an ailing family member? Get a certification in Acupuncture? Study Latin? For others that means being aspirational – what else can I do to achieve my goal of becoming a doctor, something that in the end serves humanity and grows one’s humility? Should I go on an international trip to service the health needs of people in a country/culture/language other than mine?
Addressing the gap year in your med school application
Medical school applications ask applicants to explain what they did during their gap year. So, it is a good idea to take notes about your experiences, and take the time to write-up these experiences mindfully, making connections between challenges and growth. In the end, you will need to articulate these experiences, in writing or in person. Practice writing about these experiences. Show how the gap year was time well-spent and full of growth. Explain how these experiences changed you and have made you a great medical school applicant and future physician.
Also, if you have any ambivalence about becoming a doctor, a gap year or two makes perfect sense. Medical students who suffer a change of heart professionally find themselves unhappy and stressed. Research shows they demonstrate a progressive decline in empathy, which is a red flag. Should they drop out of medical school, often they do so with sizeable debt. So do your personal inventory. Examine your reasons why you want to be a doctor. Should you need time to figure out whether being a doctor is truly the right path ahead, take the time to figure this out before applying. Take the gap year or two or whatever to explore your commitment to medicine, patient care, leadership, motivation, dedication, and compassion to the profession.
Need help with your medical school application? It’s never too early to start working on your admissions strategy. Check out our Medical School Admissions Services and work one-on-one with our expert advisor who will help get you ACCEPTED!
For 25 years, Accepted has helped applicants gain acceptance to their dream healthcare programs. Our outstanding team of admissions consultants features former admissions directors, admissions committee members, pre-health advisors, postbac program directors, and doctors. Our staff has guided applicants to acceptance at allopathic (MD) and osteopathic (DO) medical schools, residencies and fellowships, dental school, veterinarian school, and physician assistant programs at top schools such as Harvard, Stanford, Penn, UCSF, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, and many more. Want an admissions expert to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!
A year can feel like a long time. However, with the demands on your time as numerous as they are, we promise that time will fly by faster than you can imagine. Don’t wait until deadlines are looming to make your game plan for applying to b-school.
Join us on Wednesday, March 3 at 10 am PT/1 pm ET for our free, information-packed masterclass, 7 Steps to MBA Acceptance in 2022. This engaging presentation will provide a practical, time-proven approach to crafting a successful MBA application.
In this session, Accepted founder and CEO Linda Abraham will fill you in on:
Steps to take in the 5–8 months preceding your application submission
A no-pressure approach to writing your application essays
How to cultivate a purpose-driven and goal-centered attitude towards your application
Tips for creating a stellar resume
Guidelines for securing compelling recommendations
This session is free, but seats are filling up fast. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to do some intentional and effective planning for your MBA application.
Register for the masterclass:
For 25 years, Accepted has helped business school applicants gain acceptance to top programs. Our outstanding team of MBA admissions consultants features former business school admissions directors and professional writers who have guided our clients to admission at top MBA, EMBA, and other graduate business programs worldwide including Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth, INSEAD, London Business School, and many more. Want an MBA admissions expert to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!
According to a 2019 study conducted by the American Medical Association, sixty-five percent of first-year medical students surveyed took gap years. Most students who took gap years did so for 1-2 years (44%), followed by those who did so for 3-4 years (13%), followed by those who did so for 5 plus years (8%). Clearly, the take-away from this study is that more medical students took gap years in 2019 than those who did not, and most gap years were brief, 1-2 years.
Reasons to take a gap year before medical school
Rather than fret whether to take a gap year, determine what will turn a gap year into a growth year – and plan accordingly. Many premed students use the gap year to make up for what they see as their weakest application credential. A gap year can afford the opportunity to retake the MCAT, enroll in a postbac program to improve your GPA, volunteer, or gain clinical exposure. During a gap year, some premed students become EMTs. Others work to save money, in an attempt to decrease their future medical school debt, while still volunteering or performing community service. Others research or engage in medical mission opportunities abroad to bolster their experience with diverse populations and global health.
Should I take a gap year before medical school?
Clearly, the admission committees do not look down upon gap years. As I said above, in 2019 most accepted students took them. Here is the catch: whatever you do during your gap year needs to make sense for you – as a future doctor. What you do during the gap year should seem organically right. For some that means staying practical – what do I need to do? For others that means being inspirational – what else do I feel intuitively to do that facilitates my growth as a person and/or a future doctor? Take care of an ailing family member? Get a certification in Acupuncture? Study Latin? For others that means being aspirational – what else can I do to achieve my goal of becoming a doctor, something that in the end serves humanity and grows one’s humility? Should I go on an international trip to service the health needs of people in a country/culture/language other than mine?
Addressing the gap year in your med school application
Medical school applications ask applicants to explain what they did during their gap year. So, it is a good idea to take notes about your experiences, and take the time to write-up these experiences mindfully, making connections between challenges and growth. In the end, you will need to articulate these experiences, in writing or in person. Practice writing about these experiences. Show how the gap year was time well-spent and full of growth. Explain how these experiences changed you and have made you a great medical school applicant and future physician.
Also, if you have any ambivalence about becoming a doctor, a gap year or two makes perfect sense. Medical students who suffer a change of heart professionally find themselves unhappy and stressed. Research shows they demonstrate a progressive decline in empathy, which is a red flag. Should they drop out of medical school, often they do so with sizeable debt. So do your personal inventory. Examine your reasons why you want to be a doctor. Should you need time to figure out whether being a doctor is truly the right path ahead, take the time to figure this out before applying. Take the gap year or two or whatever to explore your commitment to medicine, patient care, leadership, motivation, dedication, and compassion to the profession.
Need help with your medical school application? It’s never too early to start working on your admissions strategy. Check out our Medical School Admissions Services and work one-on-one with our expert advisor who will help get you ACCEPTED!
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How Blueprint Prep can help YOU crush the LSAT [Show summary]
Blueprint Prep’s Sena Maruflu, who aced the LSAT and now coaches aspiring law students, shares why and how the LSAT can be a learnable test for dedicated students of any background.
A stellar LSAT score can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection at top law schools. Learn how YOU can achieve the score of your dreams! [Show notes]
Sena has a very unusual background. She speaks eight languages and is truly a citizen of the world. She moved to New York City to pursue a career in the arts, but somewhere along the way, she launched a career in international business as a sustainable coffee entrepreneur. She also considered law school, got bit by the LSAT bug (she earned a 178), and began to teach LSAT prep. She considers the LSAT like another language: completely teachable and completely learnable.
How do you get involved with LSAT prep? [1:33]
I come from a career in the arts, primarily in dance. I moved to New York City at 17 to pursue that career, and I ended up getting injured and being unable to dance. I was looking to do pretty much anything else, and I explored quite a lot of things. The LSAT was that “anything else” and I ended up falling in love with it.
What do you think is the most important thing for prospective law school applicants to keep in mind when prepping for the LSAT? [2:07]
People frequently ask me this question because I don’t really have the most robust academic experience. I never really went to elite, impressive institutions or anything. People always ask me how I earned such a high score, and I really think it’s because I had such a positive and excited attitude throughout the whole thing. I think I always kept the end goal in mind. For me, the end goal wasn’t earning a perfect score. It was because I genuinely wanted to go to law school, and I really wanted to take that next step in my academic career. For some people, it’s being a certain kind of lawyer or solving a specific kind of issue that they really want to go to law school to solve. Keep that at the forefront of your mind as you’re studying, not really worrying much about the little mishaps along the way, just acknowledging that they’re going to happen. Lucky for me, I failed many times in my life, so it was nothing that was a shock to me. It never really brought me down too much. I always kept the end goal in mind.
What if an applicant knows that the schools they are applying to are accepting both the GRE and the LSAT? When should applicants take the LSAT, and when should they take the GRE? [4:36]
That’s a really great question because accepting the GRE is a relatively new thing in law school admissions, and shockingly, there actually are cases where taking the GRE is an appropriate step. A couple of things on that: The first is acknowledging that if you want to apply to law school, you most likely are going to have to take the LSAT. This is different from business school or medical school, or most higher education programs, because people applying to law school have very diverse majors. People can be dance majors and apply to law school, or they could be science majors and apply to law school. The LSAT really is the one and only standardized thing that everyone has. It is very important, and schools view it as very, very important because of that reason. It’s the only standardized thing.
However, I think when the first batch of schools set the precedent of accepting the GRE, and Harvard was one them, there came the question of, when is it appropriate? To answer that, looking at past trends of applicants that got accepted to elite schools with the GRE shows that there’s one thing that most of these applicants have in common, and that’s having a really, really high GPA. If you have a very, very high GPA and a compelling story otherwise, taking the GRE is appropriate. If applicants are deciding between these, first make sure you have a high GPA, because that’s the only other number involved in this calculation.
Second, take practice LSATs. There are 90 practice LSATs available. Getting a good idea of how you’re going to score on the LSAT, and at least trying to improve on it, I think is appropriate. But if you’ve taken a lot of LSATs and you just aren’t getting it (which is pretty rare because the LSATs are a very learnable test) and you already have a very, very elite GRE score, then I would say perhaps it’s appropriate.
One other thing is that students that we see getting accepted with the GRE are typically students that major in the hard sciences. Students that major in engineering and hard science degrees, who maybe on a whim decided to take the LSAT when perhaps it was too late to study. Also, dual degree programs I’ve seen becoming more common. If I eventually go to law school, I hope to do an MBA program as well. I think in those cases that is appropriate, but again, with the high GPA in mind. If you’re an astronaut that’s been to the moon, all you need is, “I’ve been to the moon,” and they’ll say, “Okay, so you’d do well on the LSAT.”
How has the switch first to digital LSAT and then to the Flex LSAT (which is remotely proctored and was created in response to COVID) changed test prep? [8:01]
It’s changed a lot. Maybe the LSAT had some data that we don’t have and knew the pandemic was coming because they released the digital LSATs in the fall of 2019! Blueprint actually has been the pioneer in the digital prep industry. We started offering classes about 15 years ago that were completely online with an online interface. Then, when the LSAT switched to being digital, people really, really freaked out. Primarily students that have been out of school for awhile that freaked out about it because the younger kids are like, “Of course, I’ve been on my iPad since I was 10.” The older and more experienced applicants were like, “Oh my gosh, what do I do?”
It really revolutionized the LSAT because in addition to learning the content, you also had to learn strategies to be able to take it. It’s on a platform, and it’s really, really important to practice with that online platform so that you aren’t surprised on test day. For making the switch for test prep companies, a lot of prep companies had to think about how to integrate our classic LSAT classes, where you have an instructor teaching the content with students that are also navigating a new digital, ever-changing platform.
What really happens is a more interactive experience where both the instructor and the students are doing a lot of back and forth talking. I know when I teach my classes, I’m a huge fan of utilizing chats and bringing students on mic to have a dialogue going, because especially with the digital LSAT, different things are confusing for different people, so you don’t know what the most challenging aspect is for a certain student. It revolutionized test prep because of the additional element of the learning curve of also being able to practice in a digital format as opposed to the super accessible paper format.
What are some of the strategies that you employ? What are some strategies that applicants should be using in a test prep? [10:26]
I took the exam on paper. It’s strange because I’m now considered, I guess, a dinosaur in the LSAT world. When digital LSAT came out, I had to take a lot of practice LSATs online so that I felt confident giving my students the proper strategies. The one thing that I learned from taking a bunch of tests is that being able to navigate the platform truly is a personal experience. It’s my suggestion to everyone to look up resources. If you’ve Googled digital LSAT tips, so many things show up. Make sure that you’re practicing the LSAT online and that you’re trying out different things. But then, once you find a method that you think works, sticking with it and practicing enough. I can’t stress practicing enough. You don’t want to do anything new on test day.
It’s strange because you have to get used to it, and there’s this whole other layer with the digital LSATs of how you can get disqualified during the digital LSAT. On the normal test, it was like, “Don’t cheat. Don’t bring a resource,” but on the digital LSAT, there are things that could be considered cheating, such as accidentally having somebody in your home walk past it. I live in New York City, and many people live in very small apartments, sometimes studios. That’s very impossible, and apparently, your pet can walk into the room, but another person can’t. So, if your dog is good at logic games, keep them around!
The LSAT has three sections: reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, and logical reasoning. What are your top tips for each of those sections? [12:43]
Lucky for everyone, I started out terrible on most of these sections. I had over 30 point jumps, so I have tons of tips. Most students, when they take their first diagnostic LSAT, one of the first sections that they feel confident about is the reading comprehension. It’s very similar to reading comprehension on an SAT or an ACT format, where you’re being given a passage and asked questions about it. My number one tip for this is to read it differently than you read most passages, which is very difficult for people to learn. I’m an avid reader myself. I love reading, but the reading comprehension on the LSAT for some reason was the most difficult section for me to learn. And it’s because I had to relearn how I read. Most of the time, when you’re reading something for pleasure, you kind of try to focus in on the drama of it all or you try to focus in on what the big story is. With the reading comprehension on the LSAT, you have to care a little bit more about the logic. You have to start caring about words such as “and” or “or,” words such as “only,” really paying attention to how strongly or weakly worded it is. My number one tip is to read the passages for the logic rather than for the content, which is sometimes difficult because some of the passages are shockingly interesting. But read it more for the logic behind it rather than the content.
For the logical reasoning, you’re given a mini-paragraph and then asked to either infer something (like something that has to be true from that paragraph) or change the argument in some way: strengthen it, weaken it, resolve a paradox, or describe the argument in some way. You’re doing one of three things to an argument. My number one tip for all of those question types on logical reasoning is to be very argumentative. Be very skeptical. I think this was my best section to start because I love fighting with people. I think that that is my number one tip. Be very skeptical and look to tear apart arguments, even if you’re not trying to weaken it or something, because it really helps you notice gaps in arguments. The gaps in the logic and the gaps in the arguments end up being pretty much the most material part of the question and can help you find whatever answer you’re looking for most of the time.
Then, for the analytical reasoning, this section is everybody’s least favorite. This really is a true new language. It’s a test section that makes you recognize patterns and build scenarios and build onto patterns. My number one tip for this section is practice, practice, practice. It is the most learnable section on the test. Like I said, there are 90 tests available. There are four games on every test, so there are 360 logic games out there. Set a goal to do them all. If you do them all, then you will not be surprised on test day, and you should get the section down perfect.
How long have you been teaching the LSAT at this point? And could you give us an example of a student that you’re particularly proud of? [16:04]
I’ve been teaching the LSAT for about a year and a half now. I’m going to choose one of my students who was in an in-person class of mine, and she later did tutoring with me. In the in-person class, I noticed that she was struggling in class and was really comparing herself to the people that were, I don’t want to say the stars of the class, but the people that were speaking the most in the class, and I could tell that she was struggling. She wasn’t finishing the sections on time. I think it was really a confidence issue, and she really beat herself down. And then she told me that she decided to not apply to law school. She didn’t think she was going to get the test, etc.
She reached out to me a little bit later, maybe a few months later when the pandemic hit and we did a couple sessions of advising. We really talked through the test and she ended up improving so much. She went from the 130s in her school to a high 160 score. She went from not getting in places to getting in places with major scholarships. She’s a much more confident person. I’ve noticed when she speaks, she’s more sure of herself. And when she took the test, she just felt more sure. I noticed her attitude about the test was different. She’s probably the student I’m most proud of, and I’ve so far heard that she got into one of the top 15 schools so far. It’s a great success story.
Test takers on their own, without pandemics, are stressed individuals. How do you advise test takers to manage nerves leading up to and during test day? [18:12]
I, myself, get very anxious when things that are important are coming up. My number one tip is to really take time for yourself. Part of your study routine should include time that you set aside, and you tell yourself, “This is my time that I’m going to do something good for myself.” Whenever one of my classes ends, I send students “10 things you should do other than studying.” Really do things that you like. For me, I really love reading a new book. I’ll make it an effort to find a new book of a new genre or something and read a book. Some students love getting their nails done, or doing their own nails, because pandemic, or picking up a new hobby or something. That’s like my number one tip.
The other thing is setting small goals along the way for the LSAT. Most people’s goal is the end score. And if they don’t reach that, they just beat themselves up, and it just adds to the nerves because you haven’t reached that. So, one thing that I always tell my students to do is set really small goals. For example, start with, “I’m just going to finish the first 10 questions in the section and I’m going to get those ones right.” Or, “I’m going to get nine out of 10 right.” Small goals along the way. “I’m not going to miss the word “only” if the word “only” appears.” Small goals like that.
Then, rewarding yourself when you accomplish those things. You don’t have to go crazy with the rewards. But if it’s just even telling yourself like, “Wow, I did really, really well,” and keeping track of those goals that you accomplished I think is really, really great. Then, it’s not just that you didn’t reach that score. It’s that you had so many accomplishments along the way. And maybe the score you came close to at the end, but maybe you surpassed it. My original goal score was a 160 and I got a 178, so you never know.
Do you see waivers in law schools applicants’ future, as there are increasingly for business schools and (to a limited extent) for medical schools? [20:43]
This year with the pandemic, some law schools (not very many, but some of them) did waive the LSAT requirements. I personally do not see the LSAT going away anytime soon or getting a waiver similar to medical school or business school, just because of the thing that I mentioned before, which is that law school, unlike other grad schools, has students from such diverse backgrounds. The LSAT truly is the one and only standardized thing. I don’t see it really going away anytime soon. In fact, with the pandemic, the LSAT has been administered online remotely from people’s own computers, and the scores have actually been a little bit higher than scores normally are. I think that makes applicants and schools both really, really happy because schools see applicants with higher LSATs, applicants are happy that they got higher LSATs. So I do not believe that the LSAT is going away anytime soon, simply because there’ll be no way to compare applicants against each other. I do really sympathize with people who are just outstanding applicants and can’t seem to crack the LSAT.
It’s strange: Applicants seem to be loving the LSAT more than even the schools do. In January of 2020, there were 16,000 people that registered for the LSAT. Now, for January, 2021, there are 41,000 currently registered. That’s huge.
There are a lot of LSAT prep companies out there. What makes Blueprint different? [23:45]
I think what makes Blueprint different is our philosophy core teaching. We really want the teaching experience to be fun so that you can set small goals along the way, and it isn’t this horrible thing that you associate terrible thoughts with and something that you need to do. We have instructors that really approach it as edutainment, a fun kind of education. And what’s great is that no one instructor is the same. Many prep companies have a standard script that the instructors have to follow. But for our classes, every single instructor can customize their classes in their own way. I teach classes very differently than some of my other colleagues. Our methods work, and we all teach our methods, but how we teach them and how we conduct our classes is very, very different. I think that makes it a more personal experience, and it really allows the instructors to customize their approach to fit each specific class. Classes can be very different, so it really, really helps.
The other thing that really sets us apart is we understand that people learn very differently, so we have three different formats of classes. We have the online anytime course, which is really good for students that have a very, very busy schedule, so they can watch videos whenever they want. They have access to our online platforms, our review sessions, which are live, etc. The next kind of class we have is live online, where you still get access to videos at any time. However, you have an instructor teaching you live who’s able to answer your questions live, and you get that customized approach. The last one is private tutoring, where you have a tutor that customizes your schedule for you the entire way, and you’re able to contact that tutor more one-on-one and have a discussion of what’s working or not working for you personally, which I think really works.
The other thing is that most people that take our classes, I think, can attest to the fact that our online platform is great. I remember when I was becoming an instructor, I was just blown away by how customized it is. We have an AI program that customizes the questions that you get according to the trends and how you’re studying, and it really doesn’t let you get away with things. If you’ve been neglecting a question type, they throw it in your face. When you accomplish things, you still get that positive feedback, and it really helps you identify your strengths and your areas for improvement.
The next thing is the score increases. I’ve seen so far for my private tutoring students an increase of 17 points, and most classes increase 11, but everybody’s different. I improved over 30 points. I’ve had a couple of students improve over 30 points. I think the personalized approach and the fact that we can see what’s working for each student really does lead to these gigantic points score increases over a limited time.
What is a typical amount of time that a student engages with Blueprint? [26:46]
Our courses, currently, have a couple of different course models. We have an accelerated program, which is a month and a half. We have a standard program, which is two to three months. That’s a very typical time. And then we have an extended class, which is upwards of four or five months. This is brand new. I’m teaching the first one right now. Sometimes, I’ve had tutoring students for six months. I think it just depends. I personally studied for four months.
If I’m a student of Blueprint using the first option (video-only) or even the second (some video, some independent study), and I’m struggling with a particular question or problem, is there a way to ask a question and get help? [27:22]
For the second option, which is the live online, you’re assigned a specific instructor, which is your instructor, and students are able to email me whenever. I love getting student emails. My students that email me the most are the ones that I see end up improving the most. Funny how that works! In addition to that, both kinds of students, so both live online and online anytime students, can do one of three things to get a personalized approach. The first is to attend what’s known as a review session. We have review sessions six days a week, where an instructor is teaching you live. It’s like free LSAT prep, honestly. And they frequently do Q&A’s at the end, so you’re able to ask any questions that way.
The second way is there’s a little chat box that you can chat into, and it’s actually real people. I remember when I was perusing the website before I became an instructor, and I saw the chat box, and then when I visited Blueprint for my instructor training, I saw that person’s desk. I was like, “You’re real!” I thought it was really funny.
The third way is we have two email accounts. One of them is a study buddy, and one of them is a LSAT questions email address. You can get personalized answers to any LSAT question or any kind of conceptual concern. In addition to those things, on our website, we have an explanation for every single released LSAT question ever, if you just have a specific question. But for more general concerns, we have real people that will make sure that you get an answer, and there’ll be in your face about it and follow up to make sure that you got it. I’m required to get back to my students within 24 hours. I get back generally a little bit sooner.
You alluded to the spike in law school application volume this year, in applicants as well as applications, according to LSAC. Do you think it makes any sense for law school applicants, especially younger law school applicants, to wait a year to apply in the hope that application volume declines? [29:33]
The hard thing to face is that when there’s a bigger applicant pool, it’s going to be more competitive. Even if not every single applicant is competitive, there will be a more competitive applicant pool. What we’ve noticed from the LSAT Flex is that people are just scoring higher, whether that’s from being in your own home… As reference, I took my LSAT in the middle of Times Square when there was a model UN Conference going on and people were walking in and out of the room, which is not ideal. Now, people can take it at home, which is a much more pleasant experience, I imagine. And it’s offered more times, so people can study more and retake it more.
The end of the day thing is that there’s a more competitive applicant pool and better applicants. If you have the means to take another year off, I always suggest doing it. In that year off, especially for younger students, if you can improve your LSAT score, even by two points, it just makes such a difference. More than that, especially for younger applicants, getting experience in anything is just going to make you a better candidate. I obviously chose not to go because I’m here right now. I had applied to law school straight out of college, and I was very young. I was 20, 21 at the time I applied. And I noticed that even though I had a high LSAT score, I genuinely believe I’m a stronger candidate now because I have so much work experience and so much more maturity, which are both qualities that law schools can tell from your resume, from your writing. They make you a better asset to their class.
One thing for law applicants to remember and why taking time off is so important is that law schools generally aren’t picking a class of future lawyers. They’re not like, “This is going to be our next DA.” They’re picking a class of law students that are going to function together and work together. And in order to have the best graduating law school class, you want people that have experience working with other people or gaining new skills. So, especially if you think that you can improve your competitiveness as an applicant, and if you can improve what you’re going to get out of law school, which law schools can see, I always recommend taking some more time off. There’s absolutely nothing you can lose, because even if next year is also competitive, this year was too, and now you’re just more competitive. You’re adding to what a great applicant pool it is.
What would you have liked me to ask you that I haven’t asked? [32:59]
What kinds of students do I see improve the most? A lot of people, especially my students that attended more elite institutions, maybe they went to an Ivy or something for their undergrad, just expect to get a great score on the LSAT because they’ve been an achiever their whole lives. Moreso when I had my classroom courses, I’d have students from Columbia and students from the local community college, and sometimes the ones from the community college would improve more. The students that were from Columbia were like, “Why is this happening? I’ve been an achiever my whole life. Why can’t I take the LSAT?” And I think it just comes down to how focused they are on, not just the LSAT, but on improving themselves to be prepared for law school. It’s not that you can sit down and study for the LSAT for eight hours a day. Those aren’t the students that improve the most. It’s the students that set aside their time to study. They do study, but then focus on also bettering themselves, so they have this more positive attitude towards the test.
The students that I see improve the most, again, aren’t the students that study the most. It’s not that they don’t study at all, but they’re the students with the best attitude towards it. The students that really utilize talking to their peers the most, the students that create study groups and make it a collaborative experience, much like law school and the career of law, right? No case has one attorney assigned to it. Treating it like a step that is exciting and that’s leading you to the next chapter, and they’ll talk to me, and they’ll be focused on other aspects of their application. Having a positive attitude and really knowing that you can do this, and then being proud of yourself along the way. The students that beat themselves up throughout the entire process, I don’t think end up reaching their potential.
Where can Accepted listeners learn more about Blueprint’s LSAT test prep, and if they want to work specifically with you, where they can contact you? [35:06]
If you want to reach Blueprint, you can go to BlueprintPrep.com, and you can check out all of our different class resources. And if you have a specific law school in mind and want to know what score you want us to help you achieve, you can check out what’s known as our Law School Compass on our website, where you can put in your grades and find what score you want us to help you reach. If you want to work with me directly, which would be super exciting, you can peruse our live courses and see if I happen to be teaching one, or you can request me as a tutor, or if you would like to email me directly, I always give out my email: sena.maruflu@blueprintprep.com. I would be delighted to answer your email.
