What the Michigan Med School admissions team looks for on applications (Hint: more than grades and test scores)

Medical school applicants need a rigorous academic transcript, strong personal recommendations and real-world experience to satisfy admissions counselors. That’s a given.

Just as important: personality and passion.

Those qualities make for curious, considerate doctors — and they help top individuals withstand an in-depth, highly competitive review, says Steven Gay, M.D., M.S., assistant dean for admissions at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Contenders, then, must strive to present themselves as a complete package.

“We want to know not only what you’ve done,” says Gay, “but also why you’ve done it and what you had to go through to do it.”