 Your help with personal statement was probably one of the main components that got me all my interviews. What's up, YouTube? Thank you for joining me. This is Write Your Acceptance. I'm Dr. Josie. Usually we talk about all things personal statements and secondaries, but today we're going to have a former student, Pablo, join us and talk all about his journey to medical school. Hopefully his insight will help you as you navigate these waters. Make sure to hit subscribe so you don't miss a video and let's get into it. So I am here with Pablo, a former student, very soon to be a first year medical student. And so thank you, Pablo, for joining me. So why don't you kind of give us some context? So like your major, how many schools did you apply to, you know, gap year, all that good stuff. Yeah, of course. And I just want to start off by saying, you know, thank you, Dr. Josie. You know, as we were talking a little bit before we started recording, you know, it's really important for me to pay it forward. This has been a journey I've been on for a long time. So having an opportunity to be able to share, you know, my story and hope that it resonates with people and help others out in their journey. That's really important to me. So you know, thank you for having me on and you know, thank you for all you've done because as you guys will, as I will say, you know, as we continue this interview, you know, I think your help with the personal statement was probably one of the main components that got me all my interviews as a lot of my interviewers did say that they resonated strongly with my story and they were able to see me through my story. So thank you. And yeah, so a little bit context about myself. So my I went to University of Nevada in Reno. I graduated 2015 with a bachelor's of science and neuroscience. So I did take several gap years off. That was never part of the plan. However, life happens. And I had a few health complications and that pushed back kind of the timeline that I had in mind in applying for medical school. But nonetheless, you know, I had the effort and the heart to continue on this path. And now I know, gratefully, I'm in a position where I'll be matriculating to my dream medical school. So it just goes if your heart is in it and you do work hard, it would things will fall into place. I applied to 44 schools total. So it's quite a bit. But I really did not want to apply again. I just kind of wanted to do it once and hopefully, you know, if I if I cast it a big enough net, I would catch something out of those four to four schools. I received 16 interview interview invitations when out of those 16, I attended 10 interviews. And out of those 10 interviews, I got eight acceptances and I got two wait lists and now I'll be matriculating to my dream medical school, which is the Mayo Clinic, LA School of Medicine. Yeah, back up a little bit. Yeah, of course. I do remember the day that you turned in the primary application. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so I turned it a little like a month late. So I turned it in the fourth of July, actually. And the reason for that was just I just kind of really was going over my activities, my personal statement. That was just a little hesitant. I was I think a lot of pre-meds and a lot of people that I've spoken to that I kind of feel how that feeling, you know, where you kind of get ready, but you don't want to submit yet. So I just wanted to make sure everything was, you know, as best as possible. And I think the extra time that I took to make sure everything was good did help out and, you know, I mean, the wait time for it to get verified was about six weeks, 67 weeks. So it was a little longer. But because of COVID and them kind of delaying when they transmitted the applications to the medical schools, that did help me a little bit. And to for everyone out there, I mean, yeah, apply as soon as possible. That's no one can really say that, you know, that that's not the way to do it. Like they will benefit you if you apply as soon as possible. Yeah. And so, I mean, you cast a really wide net with, yeah, I would say most of the students I work with are like at 20, 125. Did you have like a method to the school list that you had? Did you kind of think about fit at all or what kind of factored into it? Yeah. So, yeah, it was pretty big net. I casted and the reason for that, too, is because I was able to because I got the, you know, the FAP, the fee assistance program. And out of those 44, I did have a method. I would say 10 schools that were, I believed a good fit for me. So I guess a fourth to a third of the schools, I kind of looked into their mission, I made sure that these are places I think I would resonate with that they would be able to resonate with me. And for the remainder of the schools, I kind of just, you know, looked at my stats made sure that some school, like public out of state schools had a what is an out of state acceptance rate of like over 20 percent. Of course, after the ones that were within my state. So all the California schools I applied to, aside from like two or three. So how did you pick your volunteering, clinical exposure and kind of like, you know, research that you engage with to kind of make it be intentional for you and mean something for you, but then also kind of that looks good, right? And yeah, yeah. And that's a great point. I I believe that it's more important to have a few, you know, activities, clinical activities, volunteer activities that mean something to you and just kind of start them early as possible and accumulate those hours rather than having, you know, five, ten or a dozen of activities where you just have, you know, 10 plus hours, 20 hours, 30 hours. So what I did is I kind of knew my interest. So coming out of college, I was really interested in Alzheimer's disease, neurology. So I began to look around the area and opportunities that, you know, we're in that realm. There's a nursing home in town that specialized in memory care. And so I, you know, sent submitted an application there and they accepted it. And I began working there as a program assistant. Kind of as an activities assistant. And that was great clinical activity. I'm coming clinical experience. And I began to see I really loved working with the elders. I really enjoyed working with people who, you know, I had trouble with me, like Alzheimer's disease and all that. It was an area that really enjoyed. So because I knew I enjoyed that, you know, I thought, oh, maybe I could apply to hospice. You know, that's another good opportunity. That's kind of similar. So I began volunteering for hospice. So that was another thing I was doing on the side. And from after working at the memory home for memory care home, about I think six months or a little less, they had a guest speaker. So he was a neurologist that specialized in Alzheimer's disease and was running clinical trials on some drugs for Alzheimer's disease. And I approached him, you know, I approached him and I bugged him for a little bit, just saying, you know, pre-med, I'm one of the medical school. I'm really interested in what you're doing. If there's any opportunity at all for me just to even observe or, you know, for me to be on your team and help out in any way, please let me know. And after a couple of months, you know, he reached out and I began doing research with him. And that was another really great experience. So what I began to see in terms of my application is that it was kind of focused in this area that I was interested in. And I think that's a way to go because when I interviewed and those schools that did ask me about those activities, the passion was noticeable. Like it was clear that I was interested in and let's see. And I also did have some mentoring experience. So another thing I'm really passionate about is mentoring, you know, first other first generation students who want to go to college and who have similar aspirations as I do. So I began volunteering as a mentor for a organization that I was actually an alumni of. It's called Ten Thousand Degrees. It's here in the Bay Area and, you know, they help first generation and underrepresented students get to college and succeed in college. So I jumped on board and began mentoring with them right off the bat after college. And that accumulated hours, you know, over the five years. So as I, you know, went through the five years, like, yeah, I wasn't applying to medical school. I hadn't applied yet. But I was accumulating these hours and I was creating the story this really, really clear story that like, OK, you know, these are things that are important to this individual. And I think that really helped the admissions committee just kind of see who I am just based on my activities. And I love it because from my perspective, right, which we'll jump in now to personal statement, but like from my perspective, you can definitely tell like I get to know students very, very well when we're working on personal statements. Like it's such a personal, personal kind of artifact. Right? Yeah. But tell the students that know who they are within a medical context and who are still kind of vying for any opportunity and not really sure where they fit in just yet. And so like you can tell how intentional your experiences were, like one built upon the other. Yeah, that's great. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. And that's OK. But if you are kind of really mindful of the kind of opportunities that you seek versus just get anything and sign up anything to just kind of check the box, you can tap and it pays dividends for kind of that that story that builds as you kind of navigate those years. Yeah, no, and you you really can tell. And I guess my advice for students who feel like, no, you know what? I don't know how these opportunities that I'm really interested in or, you know, then still do what you have to do. Obviously, you want to build a clinical experience, but be just like you said, be mindful of opportunities. Know kind of where your interest at, even if it's not something you're super, super passionate about, but you're somewhat interested in and then you see an opportunity. You don't jump on it because from my experience, you know, that that experience will evolve. You know, you'll start interacting with other people. Like, I mean, that's exactly what happened to me. You know, like a neurologist just jumped in and gave it a speech, you know, gave it a talk and presentation to the families at the memory care home and that evolved into my research. So it was this kind of really progression of my experience. And like I said before, it was obvious to the people who interviewed me, you know, that I was really interested and passionate about these things. So I think it really is important and it will help your story. It will help the nation's committee just see you for who you are. Yeah, nice. Nice to say, yeah. And so how do you think the personal statement helped you kind of like carve out your identity in the application? Yeah, yeah, I think the personal statement, honestly, was the main thing. Like I really, I'm a believer that your story is the most important thing, your intentions, because I mean, a lot of, I mean, as applicants, as medical school applicants, a lot of us, you know, have a good grades, you know, and a lot of us, you know, have competitive MCATs. And even for those that don't, like we're still academically OK, you know, and the story is really what sets us apart in my mind. Your story is what kind of brought you to the field of medicine and made you want to, you know, to make your life to that. So the personal statement to me was everything. And I think it was the opportunity for me to really build this image of who I am, my intentions, why I want to do what I want to do. And and that's why, you know, I reached out to you, Dr. Jose, because I before even applying, I knew that I had a feeling it was really important and I wanted some guidance, you know, and be able to just present the best personal statement that I could possibly present. And like I said to you when we first spoke, like my main thing is just I wanted them to hear my voice, you know, when they read the paper, I wanted them to feel like they could see me, you know, a few feet in front of them. Like that was my whole goal with this, just my personal statement to give me a voice, to give my application of voice. And that's why I think it's really, really important. I love that. Yeah. And so let's go to MCAT. How did you prepare? Did you take a course? Did you, you know, were you happy with your score? How was that experience? Yeah, the MCAT was the kind of the experience that I struggled with the most was a little traumatizing, to be honest. Like I hated that test. And the reason why is as I alluded to it earlier, I had some health complications after college. So when I first took the MCAT, I began studying for it, you know, I had a plan and that's kind of when my health complications arose. But I still believe I was able to, at that time, I believed I was still going to be able to do it, you know, test well. So I still sat through the test, but I just realized that I was not ready. So I avoided that exam and I was really hard on myself for a while, you know, because that meant that I wasn't going to be able to apply that application cycle, which was back in 2016. And after a few months after the MCAT, I just realized that my health wasn't in the place where I could really focus on this beast of a test. So it just kind of pushed things by, pushed things, it delayed things a little bit. So it was it's a hard experience for me. And when I finally did, you know, feel better and everything was good, and I was in a good place, which was 2020. And I began to prepare for the MCAT again and COVID happened. And now that pushed back my MCAT like three times, I think, from the original day I scheduled it. So all in all, just a terrible experience. Like I just hated the MCAT experience. But yeah, I tested it in July, in July of 2020, and how I prepared for that was I just went over content for the first few months. But obviously I kept going over content because it kept being pushed back. And then I gave myself two months to just drill in practice tests. And I ended up receiving a 511, which is great. You know, I'm really happy about it now. But the MCAT, in my opinion, is just going to get you through the door and get you seen and then your story, your activities, your personal statement or interview, that's really where you shine. You get seen first and they care about you second. Yeah, yeah. And so how did you so you apply, you get all these interviews, which is amazing. How did you prepare for the interviews? For the interviews. So for my first two interviews, it was an MMI format. So for that, for those who were prepared to just I went on Reddit and went online on Google and just found practice questions and just went through the situations, practice them with, you know, some family members, practice them with a few mentors that I had. And for in terms of the actual interview, I had a few main things that I did rehearse. I didn't rehearse them too much because I noticed that when I was rehearsing way too much, I began to stress myself out at kind of these bullet points in mind about the main questions, you know, like, tell me about yourself on why medicine. I just practice articulating my story, you know, because one of the best advice I received was that, you know, when you receive an interview and you're actually sitting there with your interviewer, they already like you. Like they're on your team. And that's one thing I really realized through this application process. And a couple of interviewers actually told me like, like you realize we're advocate, right? Like we're on your team. We want to get you accepted. You know, we just this interview is just for us to be able to work with you, get more information to build a story so we can represent, I mean, present the best version of yourself to the admissions committee. Nice. And so final question. What tips do you have for a pre-med applying this cycle or in the next cycle or two? Yeah. So I think I think my biggest tip is if you feel biggest tip, actually, I'll give you a few tips, I guess. One tip I have is that if this is something you really want, you know, this is something that's truly in your heart and your intention is to become a doctor, you know, you know, you want to do this, things will fall into place and work hard, you know, have patience, prepare yourself as best as possible in terms of activities. If you're still in college, get the best grades you can get. But once you get to the point where you're interviewing just remind yourself like, you know what, like this is what I want to do and go in and be yourself, you know, but try not to stress out so much. Like it's, I could have saved my health many ways but I didn't stress out so much. Like a few reasons for a few health complications I had was because I was just being so hard on myself and stressing out way, way too much. So if you can change your perspective as seeing this, you know, kind of as a journey, as part of your journey, like, you know, to kind of get to medical school and kind of try to enjoy the experience of, you know, because it is exciting sending out your applications, you know, when you start hearing back from schools, it's exciting. And another big, big tip, obviously, coming back to the personal statement is talk to Dr. Josie. A quick plug there, but like I really, really think that the main component that contributed to my success was my story. And it helps to have someone in your corner helping you refine that story as best as possible. Because if I didn't have Dr. Josie's help, like I probably could have come up with, you know, a good personal statement and a good story, but it wouldn't have been as refined as a bunch of little things that you don't really think of, even a sentence here to get this certain point across or how to, like one thing I struggled with is how to bridge an experience to another experience, like all these little things that would just help your story flow. If you can do that, you know, create a good story that supports your support for activities and is able to really resonate with whatever person that comes onto their desk. Yeah, like that would help dramatically. And one quick last tip, and don't take it personally, you know, like if whatever rejections or wait lists or whatever you get, do not take it personal. There are schools that I got into that I didn't think in a million years I would get into. And then schools, I thought I was for sure gonna get into that I didn't get an interview, you know. So don't take it personal, you know. That's awesome. Thank you so much, Paulo. This was amazing. I really, really appreciate your time. Thanks again for watching. I hope you found the information useful. Please make sure to hit that like button and subscribe. And if you are working on your personal statement, make sure you get my free personal statement guide in the description below. And if you want to book a call with me to chat about how I work with students, you can find that there too. Talk soon. Bye.