Prompt
Why should we accept you over the other applicants?
Practice this question
Try answering it yourself first. The answer guide is below.
After you practice: what this question tests and how to approach it
What this question tests
- Self-reflection and growth
- Communication
How to approach this question
This question tests whether you can make a confident, honest case for yourself without putting other applicants down. Pick two or three qualities or experiences that set you apart, and back each one with a specific example the panel can remember. Connect them to what the school values and to what you'd bring to your classmates and future patients. You don't know the other applicants, so speak only about yourself and avoid claiming to be better than anyone. Stay calm and direct. Close with a short sentence that sums up why you're ready for medical school now.
Answer guide
Answer "why should we accept you" with a short case built on evidence. Name two or three qualities you bring, back each with an example, and say what they'll mean for your class and your future patients.
What the interviewer is assessing
This question asks you to advocate for yourself, which many applicants find uncomfortable. The interviewer is checking whether you can do it with self-awareness and without arrogance. They also want to see whether you understand what makes a good medical student beyond grades and test scores. Every applicant in the room is qualified, so the panel is listening for what is distinctive about you and whether you can say it clearly. In a medical school interview, "why should we accept you" rewards specifics over comparisons with other applicants.
How to structure your answer
- Open with a sentence that names what you bring, so the interviewer hears your argument first.
- Give your first quality or experience with a specific example.
- Add a second, and a third only if time allows.
- Explain how these would help you contribute to the class, the school's community or the care of patients.
- Close with one sentence on why you're ready now.
Think about what your classmates would gain from you as well as what you'd gain from the school. Medical students learn a great deal from each other. A perspective from an unusual job, a different field of study or a particular community can be a real contribution.
Common mistakes
- Saying you're better than other applicants is impossible to support and sounds arrogant.
- Being so modest that you say every applicant deserves a place avoids the question.
- Relying on grades and test scores repeats what the panel already knows.
- Listing many qualities without examples sounds like a cover letter.
- Telling the panel you want this more than anyone can't be proven and rarely persuades.
Example answer
Here is an example answer from a fictional applicant who worked for three years as a logistics analyst before applying.
I'd point to two qualities I'd bring: experience working under real accountability, and a habit of learning from the people closest to a problem.
For three years I scheduled deliveries for a regional grocery distributor. When my plan was wrong, stores ran out of food, and I heard about it from store managers by seven in the morning. That job taught me to own my decisions, to fix them quickly and to explain what had gone wrong without making excuses. I expect that to matter in medical school, where I'll be accountable to supervisors and eventually to patients.
The second is the way I learned that job. My best ideas came from riding along with drivers, who knew which loading docks were impossible after noon and which routes flooded in spring. I'd sit in the cab, ask questions and write everything down. I want to bring that habit to medicine, because I think patients and the staff around them know a great deal that never reaches a chart.
I also think my classmates would gain from a perspective outside science. I've spent years thinking about how systems fail, and I'm ready to bring that thinking to a field where people's health depends on the systems working.
How real applicants answered it
“I think my unique experiences would shape my medical school experience by making me excited to meet new people, seek out mentors and a strong support system, and recognize that every patient has their own story that shapes who they are.”
Read how five applicants prepared for their medical school interviews
More on personal qualities
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