Although a 3.85 grade-point average and an MCAT score of 40 will hide a multitude of sins, what you write and say about yourself in your AMCAS and secondary essays will usually be key factors in your chances of being accepted to medical school. The words that succeed with admissions committees are usually the ones that show the most honesty, self-knowledge, creativity, and hard work. Remember this as you consult this and other admissions guidebooks. Admissions officers read books like these too, and they have an uncanny ability (honed on the job) to recall passages they've encountered before. More importantly, they have an uncanny ability to detect when an applicant's essay rings false. For these reasons alone, do yourself a favor and use this book's "ready-to-use" phrases only as models to study, inspirations to emulate, or even first-draft crutches on your way to your own voice. Because in the end, the only perfect phrase is your own.