How to write your medical school application to a portfolio school in Australia

I have applied for both Wooloongong and Notre Dame Medical school programs for all of the 7 years I applied for medical school. I have interviewed at both of these schools.

I interviewed at Woolongong in 2016 and then I interviewed at Note Dame in Sydney (NDS) in 2017.

In 2016 my preference in medical schools was: 1. Deakin 2. NDS 3. Woolongong .... and I forget the rest. My GAMSAT was 61 and my GPA was 6.8

In 2017 my preference order was 1. Deakin 2. Woolongong 3. NDS... and then the others. My GAMSAT was 63 and my GPA was 6.8

(And then due to a mistake by GEMSAS 10 of us were actually supposed to have been interviewed at Deakin but were not sent the correct interview offer so I was called the day before my interview at ND in 2017, and was told that I was doing my interview for Deakin at NDS... which is why I am now at Deakin)

My experiences through the 7 years of applications honestly didn't change too much, but HOW I WROTE ABOUT THEM DID!

SO how did I go from years of no interviews and very similar GAMSAT scores to interviewing at BOTH of the portfolio schools?

I improved my portfolio writing skills!

I flew to Sydney on more than one occasion to attend Woolongong and NDS open days and medical school information nights to try to understand what the school was looking for and it I was a good fit for their program and their school.

I met with staff and students from each school and asked them a MILLION questions about the program and student life and what they were after and what they thought made a good medical student, which really helped me work out if I wanted to go there and if I had a shot of making that goal a reality.

SO after years of trial and error with my applications here's what I did wrong and here's what I found worked:

What not to worry about:

The type of experience you had - you don't have to have been an rocket scientist or volunteered at 10 different organisations across your life. You just have to talk about things that have changed you as a person. Maybe looking after a sick loved one, or winning an award back in high school - these thing somehow put you on the trajectory you're on now to becoming an amazing doctor - then thats all that matters!

What not to do:

Don't ever write your application trying to be somebody else. Do not try to tick boxes you assume the school has for their ideal students. Do not try to show them an altered version of yourself to "fit in" or "stand out" because they read literally thousands of these things every year.. they know a fake from a mile away and they don't want that!

This is NOT a case of "fake it till you make it". Medical schools want to know YOU for who you really are - which is a so much more interesting to read than the same generic trash every single applicant writes year after year trying to tick imaginary boxes!!

And dont lie! they have stations at each school interview where someone knows your application back to front and they will test you on it and tease things out to see what youre real experience you listed was really all about. You also need to have all of your experiences verified to go towards your final score and YES they do call your references!

What to do:

Be 100% your authentic self.

The year I got my interview at ND I though "stuff bloody ND I have them second on my preference list every single year and they obviously just throw my application int he trash before even looking at it?" So I wrote the bluntest application letter ever, under the serious assumption nobody was ever going to read it.

Instead of trying to fluff out things they might want from me like "I look forward to the religious aspects of you're program" which for me aren't totally genuine having never had any kind of religious upbringing the thought of a religious school was a little intimidating and made me question if I belong or was allowed to be there.

Instead I told them that this was my 7th application to medical school and if they decided to throw my application into the trash again this year then they had better be prepared to receive it again next year, and the year after, and the year after that because I was meant to be a medical student and I don't care how many years it takes one day you will accept me.

And who knew - it worked?

In fact, at ND they have an extra interview after the MMI where they "randomly select" around 50% of the applicants who just interviewed for a second one-on-one interview with the dean of medical school herself. some say that extra interview is because you've scored borderline in you're interview and the dean has the final yes or no say. So for those who went straight home you don't know if you were a solid yes or no, but for those with the extra chance had a last opportunity to save themselves. Although the school says its more of a random selection to make sure their interview process works properly and gives a chance for students to give some feedback etc.

I was sitting in the room of the "randomly selected" applicants waiting to my one-on-one interview however and based on the conversations these people were having (which were kind of racists and sexist?) I knew I was in the room of the duds and I started freaking out I had screwed up my chances of getting in. I tried to drown out the crap conversation around me chanting in my head "this is just RANDOM, you were selected RANDOMLY" trying to calm myself.

The moment I stepped into the deans office after chanting this for nearly an hour she says "Hello Emma, you weren't selected randomly today at all, I wanted to meet the girl who had applied for our program for the past 7 years in a row" and she knew my entire application back to front and began asking me about everything on it and every station in my interview. I was so thrown by her saying it was not random I couldn't even think properly. I walked out feeling horrible like I didn't impress her at all. My poor partner came to pick me up confused why everyone else had left and I was in there an hour and a half later. and then I was so depressed about how my interview with the dean had gone I couldn't even speak. We just sat on the beach and I cried quietly for ours staring at the water so sure I ruined another interview somehow and was going to have to start the process all over again next year.

BUT she must have liked me because she gave me a yes and thats how I got my acceptance letter to Deakin!!!

How to write your application:

Each section of the portfolio will receive a score. this score is used to decide if you will be interviewed AND if you get a place in a medical school program - so you need to make every word count!

You do not have to fill every section to get an interview! I met a person at my Woolongong interview who lived in the blue mountains (very rural) who had a GAMSAT of 55 and a GPA of 6 his only entry on his application was "Father and Husband" (or so he claimed anyway) and he was given an interview.

This is likely because rural students are of the highest priority at Wollongong, unfortunately if you are not rural at all and you are still lucky to interview there, the odds are still heavily stacked against you for an acceptance letter. But really awesome for a rural medical students!!

THE PART EVERYBODY GETS WRONG - the game changer:

When you fill a box with one of your experiences do not put:

"Fighter pilot in the army from 2000-2019" and thats it.

Yes the application team might know exactly what that role entails and how long you served and how much effort and work and dedication all of that experience was for you - but if you don't have the time and dedication to write more about it in your application you can bet the markers will return the same favour.

Instead you need to write:

"Fighter pilot: this experience taught me skills in teamwork and communication as it is critically important when flying an aircraft to listen to your team and be able to communicate about your conditions effectively. the long hours and hard training program taught me resilience and commitment by pushing me to my limits and enduring through for my team. I feel these traits will be referred well as a medical student and into my medical career int he future.

Can you see the difference?

Please always remember how many applications you are up against. literally 4000 applications might go through that need to be read through and scored - markers have been reading the same thing all day every day and trying to scrape through what ever marks they can for student who have written the applications poorly. SO you MUST spell out every single point so that marker does not even have to think about it! Make this as easy to mark as humanly possible so you get the highest score you can

This application is not to show off "look at me I've done things and I'm great" is not what they bother asking you to fill this out? Is it? They honestly don't care what you've done - they just want to know WHY ITS GOING TO MAKE YOU A GOOD MEDICAL STUDENT AND A GOOD DOCTOR!

SO TELL THEM!

Every single section you have filled in, every single experience you have put down - do not send it in unless every single one points out what you learned from that experience, why it made you who you are today, and why that person and all these experience is going to make you the incredible doctor you know you will be!

For example: in my application I spoke abou: volunteering at Eating Disorders Victoria. I told them "this experience brings me closer to becoming the kind of doctor I needed when I was younger and tried seeking unanswered help for my eating disorder in the medical system. This has taught me how to have difficult conversations around mental health and why this is so important in our community"

This gives them a HUGE picture of who I am as a person. it tells them a story about me. it lets them figure out if I'm a good fit for their program.

In previous years when I wrote about this same experience I wrote something like: "Helpline volunteer, Support Group Facilitator and Stories Of Recovery Volunteer - 3 shifts per month, working with those with eating disorders and their family, have been volunteering for 6 years, thoroughly enjoy this opportunity"

Can you see the difference?

The first tells them who I am as a person - the second does not.

I encourage you to look at your application before you send it in and make sure:

1. does every single opportunity tell them who I am as a person and show them the kind of doctor I am going to become?

2. does this application scream 100% authentic ME

I guarantee you this makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE!

I hope this helps you with your application!

If you have any questions at all please add them on the blog or on my insta!

Wishing you SO MUCH LUCK!!!!

Em x