MCAT Writing Sample
Strategies and Tips
for Writing Sample Preparation
What are medical schools looking for with your
writing sample?
An indication of strong reasoning/critical thinking skills. Evidence of excellent written communication skills.
What do graders expect from your writing?
Reasonable/logical, thorough, and well-written responses
to a three-task prompt.
The sample is one of the first things an admissions
official will see.
The essay is often read by most schools.
The essay is often used to make final decisions about
admission.
Strategies and Tips
for Writing Sample Preparation
How will graders evaluate the writing sample?
Holistic scoring.
Scale of 1 to 6 converted to an alphabetical rating ranging from J to T.
Graders, however, do realize writers are under time
constraints and that effective writing is typically the product of careful attention and thoughtful, persistent revision work.
Therefore, there is allowance for a certain number of mistakes.
Graders usually spend around a minute or so evaluating
Strategies and Tips
for Writing Sample Preparation
What skills are rewarded in the writing sample?
Developing a central idea.
Generating a controlling idea or thesis statement
unifying the essay by stating it at the beginning of the paragraph when you first address the 3rd writing task.
Considering a claim from an opposing perspective.
Offering a counter-point and relevant counter-example.
Synthesizing ideas.
Combining thoughts and ideas, especially seemingly
Strategies and Tips
for Writing Sample Preparation
What skills are rewarded in the writing sample?
Presenting ideas cohesively and logically.
Making sure ideas are clear and concrete along with
smooth paragraph transitions (effective topic sentences).
Writing clearly, concisely, and accurately.
Providing a sample with a minimum of errors.
Drafting efficiently with speed and control.
Learning how to manage your time effectively so
How to Prepare for
the Writing Sample
Do not underestimate this portion of the test.
Do not assume applying everyday writing skills will suffice. Practice test -specific strategies and tips frequently.
Realize the close connection between VR and the writing
sample.
Apply critical thinking skills to both sections.
Realize the VR often asks you to analyze arguments and the
writing sample requires you to both analyze claims and craft your own.
Establish and adhere to a practice schedule.
Work to internalize writing sample methods, tips, and
strategies.
Revisit notes frequently. Practice, practice, practice.
How to Prepare for
the Writing Sample
Practice writing essays.
Practice under test conditions as much as
possible.
Learn to evaluate your own writing.
Four self-evaluation criteria for the writing
sample.
Did you address the prompt and tasks accurately?
Have you carefully structured/organized your essay
coherently?
Have you developed your ideas carefully and revealed
excellent critical thinking capability?
Have you exhibited polished writing skills?
Take the time to meta-reflect on your writing
process.
Read over past writing samples and think about their
How to Prepare for
the Writing Sample
Make it a habit to engage in outside
reading.
Find journal articles from various disciplines
and respond to the following questions:
How would this have sounded ten years
ago? 50 years ago?
What groups or people would disagree, and
why?
What philosophy underlies this?
What would be an even more extreme
The Kaplan Method for
the Writing Sample
What you can do to:
Quickly come up with content.
Develop key details.
The Kaplan Method for
The Writing Sample
Ultimately produce a unified, balanced and
thoughtful essay.
Realize the WS statement is extreme and thus difficult to address. Determine your “first task.”
Which one is easier? Task I (original statement) or Task
II(counter-statement)? Note: this applies only to pre-writing. You do NOT want to write out the counter-statement first in the final draft of your writing sample.
Recognize the critical importance of pre-writing.
Develop a habit and a procedure for sketching out ideas before you write
for real.
Begin by determining reliable criteria upon which to base your
reasoning.
Reliable criteria to consider:
Survival/safety. Time.
Size/demographics. Education.
Can you think of any other criteria that might work?
Moral convictions might work but be very careful here. Avoid the trap of strong, emotional convictions.
Establishing criteria can improve your pre-writing.
Helps stimulate more ideas.
Applying the Kaplan Method
1
ststep is to read and annotate—30 seconds or
so.
How, precisely, does Task II vary from Task I?
Are you carefully adhering to the basic instructions?
What words need to be defined and highlighted?
Consider words that are abstract, subjective or
ambiguous.
Define/explain these concepts how you see fit.
Use words and terms as broadly as possible.
The WS does not test specific knowledge.
Plan on exploring one or two terms in the statement
Applying the Kaplan Method
2nd step is to pre-write your 1st task—One minute or so.
If you begin with Task II, you will need to:
Describe a specific counter-example.
Explain the relevance of your counter-example. Use regular transitions to keep the essay unified.
Begin by deciding which reliable criteria leads most naturally
to a concrete example.
Imagine someone annoying makes the claim and you want to disagree.
Don’t worry about complete sentences—just word and
phrases.
Don’t begin writing essay until you’ve done all the pre-writing.
Jot down a vivid, relevant example for your counter-point.
Can be real or imagined.
Jot down the relevance of this example to your counter-point. Jot down brief notes of precise detail you will use.
You can skip around during your pre-writing.
Applying the Kaplan Method
3rd step is to pre-write your 2nd task—One minute or so.
If your 2nd task is Task I, you will need to:
Explain what the statement means to you.
How do you interpret the statement’s meaning?
Jot down a brief interpretation along with explanations of terms/concepts.
Describe an example to provide depth.
Jot down a real or imaginary example.
Use an effective “hook” to get the reader’s attention.
Anecdote, question, provocative statement, personal anecdote, etc. Come back to this if necessary.
Don’t get bogged down here.
Jot down transitional keywords you will use to bridge
paragraphs.
For additional detail to provide depth:
Answer one or two of the following:
What is the history of either side?
What assumptions underlie either side? What is the relevance of an example?
Applying the Kaplan Method
4
thstep is to pre-write your 3
rdtask—One
minute or so.
For Task III, you will need to:
Discuss the criteria for Tasks I and II.
Jot down your criteria and a brief rationale for it.
Resolve the apparent contradiction.
Jot down a reasonable synthesis of the
information.
What reconciles two apparently opposing claims?
End with a memorable conclusion.
Applying the Kaplan Method
5
thstep is to clarify main idea and plan—One minute
or so.
Before writing the essay, make some decisions:
Do you tend to agree with the statement or counter-statement? Will you take a position in-between?
Will you remain neutral?
Answering will help determine tone and transitional words. Don’t agonize--just present points logically.
Where will you discuss any terms in the statement
requiring explanation?
Occurs usually in the 1st paragraph.
Make sure your discussion is relevant to the overall flow of your ideas.
What ideas will you reject/cross out as irrelevant? How will you number your ideas for strong essay
organization?
What transitional keywords will you use?
Use keywords from the VR section to help you.
Avoid clichéd keywords.
Applying the Kaplan Method
6
thstep is to write the essay—23 minutes or
so.
Use one paragraph per task but you can provide
additional paragraphs if you have time and more
examples or analysis.
Consider these topic sentences to help you stay
focused:
The statement means…
One example of when the statement is wrong is…
The factors that determine whether the statement is
applicable are…
Only use the above in your mind.
Substitute less obvious more interesting language to say
basically the same thing.
Applying the Kaplan Method
7
thstep is to proofread/edit—Two minutes or so.
Some common problems:
Avoid using “I” unless you have a relevant, personal
anecdote.
Avoid clichés, slang, and unnecessary repetition. Avoid repetitive sentence patterns and lengths.
Avoid sloppy handwriting if you’re not word processing.
Some English concepts to study:
Sentence fragments. Misplaced modifiers.
Pronoun agreement and consistency errors.
Misused words—homonyms and malapropisms. Spelling mistakes.
Don’t be afraid to make edits on your paper.
Keep edit marks neat.
Collaborative Activity—Practice the Kaplan
Approach with other Test Takers.
Organize yourselves into groups of three.
Look over and discuss the activity handout with the
guidelines and then go for it.
The purpose of this activity is to have you practice
putting together a model writing sample so you can:
See how the process works. Practice learning the seven steps to a solid writing
sample.
See how the essays are evaluated.
Become more aware of the grading approach to the
