Show, Don’t Tell jordanmarsh6, October 28, 2022April 5, 2023 I was on the admissions committee at my medical school for one year. I read many personal statements, many volunteering experiences, and many research experiences. I remember giving extremely high recommendations for some candidates, and not-so-high recommendations for others. It wasn’t because those that didn’t get great recommendations didn’t deserve it, I just didn’t have a good idea of who they were from their application. What’s the secret sauce when applying? SHOW, DON’T TELL. Let me demonstrate. One girl put an experience she had in an eye clinic as a medical scribe down. She said there was one little boy that came in who was terrified of seeing the doctor and was in tears over it. This applicant said that she told this scared boy about how she felt the exact same way about going to the doctor when she was a little girl, and that he was really brave for coming in. She said the boy was willing to see the doctor, only if he could hold her hand through the whole thing, which she gladly chose to do. She crushed it. If I am an admissions member, and I am looking for evidence of compassion in the applicant, what is better: hearing this story, or hearing someone say, “I feel so much compassion for each of the patients that come into our clinic”. There’s just no comparison. The first applicant SHOWED me compassion, the second applicant TOLD me about compassion. The moral of the story is, when writing your personal statement or anything for your medical school application (or anything in life!), show who you are; don’t tell who you are. You will probably catch yourself trying to “tell” things multiple times. Take a step back, rethink what you’re trying to say, and let your experiences and actions speak for themselves. Self Improvement