1- Don’t act. Instead be your ‘professional’ self. Interviewers have tremendous experience, and they can tell if you are being honest or not during the interview. 2- Don’t lose eye contact! Losing eye contact can be a sign of insecurity and inexperience. This is one of the mistakes that applicants often make, especially when they get anxious. Make sure you practice enough before the interview with your mentors. 3- Don’t simply brag about your accomplishments. Rather, mention your contributions and specific roles in your projects. You should present your life story in a humble and authentic way, instead of sounding like you're boasting. If the presentation of your life story focuses only on your successes and accomplishments, it can sound arrogant and may not due justice to everything you have to offer as a residency applicant. 4- Don’t be inconsistent in your story. Interviewers almost always have a meeting at the end of the each interview day. Always be careful and make sure you work with a professional mentor so that your story is solid and consistent. 5- Don’t just memorize answers. Rather, practice your answers with an experienced mentor. Many applicants start memorizing while preparing for interviews. However, during the interview they forget what they have memorized and stumble, or they can sound too scripted and robotic. Working with a mentor allows you to become confident and adapt to the conversation with different interviewers.

1) Personal Statement can boost your application: Most applicants try to use generic statements or copy and paste from a friend's or colleague's statement. Let me tell you this is a crucial mistake. You need an expert to help you with your personal statement. An experienced mentor can give you the best advise. 2) Start early and Collect your thoughts: A good personal statement can take up to a month to perfect. Starting early will give you a head start. Try your best to organize your thoughts and start writing. 3) Brainstorming with your colleagues and your mentors: This is a great start but remember you will need someone who is professional reviewing your statement and providing feedback. Someone who can take their time to help you produce the highest quality statement which would make your application look great. 4) The odds of you matching: Residency application has so many components, one of them is a personal statement. This can make your weak application look strong or make your strong application look weak. It all comes down to your skills and ability to present your life story. This is your opportunity!