If you're applying to medical school, get ready for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). Many applicants to medical school find the MCAT daunting, but with adequate preparation, you'll complete the MCAT with minimal stress. The writing sample of the MCAT tests your analytical and reasoning ability. Learn how to prepare an MCAT essay and get into the medical school of your choice.
Among the skills needed by any good doctor (or medical student, for that matter) are the ability to think analytically and communicate clearly. The Writing Sample section of the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) is designed to test this aspect of your “physician fitness,” requiring you to develop your ideas in two coherent and well-organized essays. While many medical school applicants dismiss the Writing Sample as largely superfluous—and indeed your score on this section will probably not be the deciding factor in your admission into medical school—a respectable showing will reflect well on your capacity to organize your thoughts and express yourself.
In the Writing Sample section, you will be asked to develop essays based on two broad statements, or “prompts,” in areas such as political science, history, art and ethics. Little outside knowledge of the topic at hand will be needed, as the goal is to gauge your capacity for critical thinking and intellectual organization, not your familiarity with 19th century art or modern philosophy. Thus, to a certain extent, the key to performing well on the Writing Sample is to follow the standard rules for crafting any good essay: clearly state your purpose; offer detailed supporting evidence for your main point; and unify your ideas throughout in a coherent manner.
Beyond these general guidelines, however, your essays will need to satisfy the specific dictates of the exam. The instructions for this section require that you complete three important tasks for each essay:
- explain fully the meaning of the given statement
- describe a situation that contradicts the statement
- determine a resolution to this inherent conflict.
In other words, you will examine a thesis, the antithesis, and attempt to create a synthesis between the two.
