How can we help?

Working with us is designed to be flexible and easy to navigate, even during busy application timelines.

• Choose a service or package
• Submit requests through our online portal
• Receive feedback from medical students and physicians
• Revise and continue building your application

You can continue submitting work and receiving support throughout your entire application cycle.

In most cases, you do not need to schedule a call.

This page answers common questions about services, pricing, and timelines. Many applicants are able to get started without speaking to someone first.

A call can be helpful if you have a unique situation or want personalized guidance before moving forward.

Our team includes current U.S. medical students and physicians representing more than 95 medical schools across the country. Many of our team members, including both medical students and physicians, have admissions committee experience and have participated in their school's admissions process.

When submitting a request, you can select specific team members or provide more general preferences, such as:

• Admissions committee experience
• MD student/physician
• DO student/physician
• A specific specialty, for residency applicants

You are never locked into working with one person. Many applicants choose to work with multiple team members throughout their application cycle to gain different perspectives.

If you request specific team members, they will have 12 hours to accept your request. If none of your requested team members claim the request during that window, it will automatically open to a wider pool of qualified team members. This helps prevent unnecessary delays while still giving your preferred team members the opportunity to work with you first.

While preferences are not guaranteed, we do our best to match applicants with their requested team members whenever possible.

Advising helps you take a more strategic approach to your application.

It is designed for anything outside of essay editing and interview preparation.

• School list guidance
• Application positioning
• Timeline planning
• General strategy and decision-making throughout your application cycle

Advising does not include:

• Editing or reviewing essays
• Brainstorming or developing essay content
• Interview practice or mock interviews

If you’re looking for help with essays or interviews, those are covered under our editing and interview prep services.

Advising sessions are personalized based on your background, goals, and where you are in the process.

Each session includes:

• A full mock interview (traditional or MMI)
• Program-specific and common questions
• Detailed coaching and feedback

Your session is recorded so you can review your performance afterward.

Our editing process is designed to be collaborative, not just a one-way review.

Editing is not conducted live on a call. Instead, you submit your draft through the portal, your editor completes a full review independently, and the edited document is returned with detailed feedback and suggestions. From there, you can ask questions, request clarification, or schedule a follow-up call if needed.

Step 1: Submit your draft
You submit your essay through the portal when you’re ready.

Step 2: In-depth first edit
Your editor will complete a full, detailed review of your draft. This goes beyond surface-level edits and focuses on your content, including:

• Clarity of your story
• Depth of reflection
• Structure and flow
• Targeted suggestions and examples
• Probing questions to help you strengthen your ideas

Step 3: Review and revise
You’ll receive your edited document along with feedback and suggestions for improvement.

Step 4: Ongoing collaboration
This is a key part of our process. You can:

• Ask questions directly through the portal
• Request clarification on feedback
• Schedule a follow-up call to discuss feedback if needed

From there, you can revise and resubmit your work for additional rounds of feedback depending on your package.

Standard essay edits are typically returned within 2 to 3 days, including weekends.

During peak application season, especially June through August, turnaround times may be closer to the full 2 to 3 day window due to increased submission volume.

If you have a tighter deadline, expedited editing is available with a guaranteed 24-hour turnaround for an additional fee of $100 per submission.

Instructions for purchasing expedited editing will be provided during the submission process. To ensure your expedited request is applied correctly, please use the same email address associated with your Motivate MD account when completing your purchase.

We prioritize thoughtful, high-quality feedback over rushed comments, so turnaround times are designed to allow editors to provide meaningful guidance on content, structure, clarity, and strategy.

No. We do not rewrite essays for you.

Instead, we provide detailed feedback, suggestions, and guidance to help you strengthen your writing while keeping your voice authentic.

This approach helps you improve not just one essay, but your overall ability to communicate your story effectively.

We provide detailed feedback on all major application components, including:

• Personal statements
• Activities / Work & Experiences sections
• Secondary essays
• CV and Resumes
• Optional essays
• Update Letters and Letters of Intent

Our feedback focuses on clarity, structure, and helping you communicate your story effectively.

Yes. Many applicants work on multiple essays at the same time, especially during secondary season or while preparing multiple application materials.

You may have multiple submissions in progress at once, provided they are different essays or different services.

However, the same draft cannot be submitted to multiple editors simultaneously. Each draft may only have one active editing request at a time to ensure feedback remains consistent and easy to track.

For example, you could have a personal statement edit and an activities section edit in progress at the same time. However, you cannot submit the exact same personal statement draft to multiple editors simultaneously.

We offer both individual services and more comprehensive packages.

• Individual essay reviews
• Smaller edit bundles
• One-time advising sessions
• Interview prep sessions
• All-in-one packages for broader application support

Medical school applicants:
You can view all package options here: med school application packages.

Residency applicants:
You can view all package options here: residency packages.

If you are looking for full-cycle support, you can review our All-in-One options:
Med School All-in-One
Residency All-in-One

Yes. Many applicants begin with a single service, such as one essay review or one advising session, and upgrade later as their needs become clearer.

You can start by reviewing your options here:

Medical school:
View med school packages

Residency:
View residency packages

This is one of the most common questions we get, especially from medical school applicants.

While every situation is different, a helpful way to think about this is whether you have most of the core pieces of a strong application in place and are in a position to apply early and confidently.

Here are some general benchmarks and checkpoints to consider:

• Academics: Many competitive applicants are around a 3.6+ GPA and 510+ MCAT for MD programs, though this can vary. DO programs may have slightly lower averages.
• MCAT timing: Ideally, your MCAT is completed (or scores are available soon) before you submit your primary application.
• Clinical experience: Consistent, meaningful exposure to patient care (often 100+ hours) that shows you understand what working in healthcare is actually like.
• Shadowing: Many applicants aim for ~50–75 hours to demonstrate a clear understanding of the day-to-day role of a physician.
• Service/volunteering: Ongoing non-clinical service that shows commitment to helping others.
• Letters of recommendation: Typically 2–3 strong letters from professors or mentors who know you well.
• Writing readiness: A solid personal statement draft and clear ability to reflect on your experiences.
• Timing: Being ready to submit early (ideally early June for AMCAS) can make a meaningful difference.

MD vs DO: MD programs are generally more competitive from a GPA and MCAT standpoint, while DO programs may be more forgiving academically but still expect strong clinical experience, clear motivation for medicine, and thoughtful writing.

Beyond metrics, there are a few important factors applicants often overlook:

• School list strategy: Applying to a balanced list of schools that fit your profile is just as important as your stats.
• Application timing: Applying late (mid-summer or later) can significantly impact your chances, even with strong stats.
• Red flags or gaps: Academic dips, limited experiences, or unclear direction may be worth addressing before applying.
• Narrative clarity: Being able to clearly explain why medicine and what you’ve learned from your experiences is critical.
• Burnout or rushing: If you feel like you’re forcing your application together quickly, it’s often a sign that waiting could lead to a stronger outcome.

In practice, most applicants fall into one of three categories:

• Ready to apply, with some refinement: You have most of these pieces in place and mainly need to strengthen your writing, strategy, and positioning.
• Borderline: You’re missing one or two areas (often MCAT timing, clinical exposure, or writing readiness) that could impact your results.
• Better positioned to wait: You’re missing several core pieces or would benefit from strengthening your foundation before applying.

A simple way to think about it: if you’re checking off most of these areas and feel prepared to submit early, applying this cycle likely makes sense. If multiple areas still feel rushed or incomplete, taking additional time is often the better long-term decision.

If you’re unsure after reviewing this, a call can help you think through your situation more specifically.

Standard essay editing is typically completed within 2 to 3 days, including weekends.

During peak season, especially June through August, edits may be closer to the full turnaround window.

If you have a tighter deadline, expedited editing is available with a guaranteed 24-hour turnaround for an additional fee of $100 per submission.

Instructions for purchasing expedited editing will be provided during the submission process. To ensure your expedited request is applied correctly, please use the same email address associated with your Motivate MD account when completing your purchase.

Advising and interview prep sessions usually take about 2 to 3 days to align with team availability.

We recommend submitting your request as early as possible, especially during busy application months.

It depends on how many schools you are applying to and how much support you want during secondary season.

• If you are applying to a smaller number of schools, you can choose a package that covers a set number of schools (for example, one school or 5 schools).
• If you are applying more broadly or receiving a high volume of secondaries at once, larger packages or unlimited options can help you stay organized and maintain quality across all your applications.

Secondary season moves quickly, so many applicants find it helpful to have a structured editing plan in place before essays start arriving.

Most common options:

1. Secondary-specific packages
View secondary editing packages

2. Secondary + Interview Prep bundle (most popular during busy season)
View Unlimited Secondary + Interview Prep bundle

3. Full-cycle support
Med School All-in-One

This structure allows you to choose the level of support that matches your timeline, number of schools, and overall application needs.

Secondary edits are typically returned within 2 to 3 days, including weekends.

Because many applicants submit secondaries at the same time during peak season, we recommend submitting essays for editing as early as possible rather than waiting until a school's deadline approaches.

If you have a tighter deadline, expedited editing is available with a guaranteed 24-hour turnaround for an additional fee of $100 per submission.

Instructions for purchasing expedited editing will be provided during the submission process. To ensure your expedited request is applied correctly, please use the same email address associated with your Motivate MD account when completing your purchase.

If you've already submitted a request and need to add expedited editing afterward, please contact us as soon as possible.

Starting early and pre-writing secondaries is the best way to avoid unnecessary time pressure during secondary season.

In general, it is best to complete secondaries within 2 weeks of receiving them.

This helps you stay competitive while still giving yourself enough time to submit thoughtful, polished responses.

Secondary editing is structured by school.

For each secondary application, you may submit all prompts for that school together and receive detailed feedback from an editor. Each secondary application includes up to three rounds of editing for that school.

We encourage applicants to begin pre-writing secondary essays using prompts from prior cycles. Many prompts remain the same or very similar from year to year. However, we recommend saving at least one editing round for after you officially receive the secondary application in case prompts, word counts, or instructions have changed.

Need help finding a school's secondary prompts? Watch this quick walkthrough video.

This approach allows you to receive feedback early while still preserving support for final revisions before submission.

Yes. We strongly encourage applicants to begin pre-writing secondary essays before receiving official secondary invitations.

Within the portal, each school’s page contains the most recent prompts available, typically from the previous application cycle. Our team continuously updates prompts as schools release their current-cycle secondaries.

Pre-writing can significantly reduce stress during secondary season and help you submit stronger applications more quickly once invitations begin arriving.

Because schools occasionally update prompts or requirements, we recommend using one or two editing rounds during the pre-writing stage and saving at least one round for after you receive the official secondary application.

Need help finding a school's secondary prompts? Watch this quick walkthrough video.

You’re not alone. Secondary applications often arrive in waves and can feel overwhelming, especially if multiple schools send invitations around the same time.

The best way to reduce stress is to begin pre-writing early using the prompts available in the portal. Many applicants complete a significant portion of their secondary essays before receiving official invitations.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, focus on your most urgent schools first rather than trying to complete every secondary at once. Our team can also help you prioritize schools, develop a submission strategy, and make the process more manageable.

No. Secondary editing is structured per school.

If you do not use all available rounds for one school, those rounds cannot be transferred to another school. This helps keep each school’s feedback focused and organized.

Yes. We offer tutoring for both MCAT and USMLE.

Tutoring is flexible and designed to support your existing study plan, not replace it completely.

Our tutors are high-performing medical students, residents, and physicians who have successfully gone through these exams themselves.

For MCAT tutoring, most of our tutors scored in the top percentiles (typically 515+) and have strong experience helping students improve their approach and strategy.

For USMLE tutoring, our tutors are selected based on strong performance on Step exams, with many scoring around 255+ on Step 2 CK, along with demonstrated teaching ability.

Beyond scores, we prioritize tutors who can clearly explain concepts, identify gaps in your approach, and help you improve over time, not just those who performed well on the exam.

You can also request preferences when submitting, such as score range, teaching style, or specialty (for USMLE), and we’ll do our best to match you with the most relevant tutor available.

Tutoring is structured like guided office hours.

Sessions can focus on content review, practice questions, test-taking strategy, or reviewing full-length exams. Your tutor will adjust based on your goals, timeline, and current study plan.

Yes. You can share preferences when requesting tutoring, such as MCAT performance, Step scores, specialty background, or focus area.

Preferences are not guaranteed, but we do our best to match you with the most relevant tutor available.

It’s flexible and based on your goals and timeline.

Some students book a single session for targeted help, while others meet regularly for more consistent support.

A common approach is meeting 1–2 times per week during active studying, especially leading up to your exam.

You can adjust the frequency over time depending on what you need, whether that’s more structured support or occasional check-ins.

Most of your work happens inside a few main areas:

• Application Plan: your main workspace for goals, notes, and next steps
• My Submissions: where you submit and track edits or sessions
• Messages: where you communicate with your team
• Calls: where you join scheduled sessions

If you are unsure where to start, check your Application Plan or My Submissions first.

When submitting a request, you can select specific team members or provide more general preferences, such as admissions committee experience, MD student/physician, DO student/physician, or a specific specialty for residency services.

If you request specific team members, they will have 12 hours to accept your request. If none of your requested team members claim the request during that window, it will automatically open to a wider pool of qualified team members. This helps prevent unnecessary delays while still giving your preferred team members the opportunity to work with you first.

Once your request is claimed, you'll be able to see who is working with you within the portal.

While preferences are not guaranteed, we do our best to match members with their requested team members whenever possible. For residency applicants, if your requested specialty is unavailable, we'll do our best to match you with someone from the closest relevant specialty.

Your feedback will be inside your completed submission.

• Go to My Submissions
• Click the completed item
• Review the edited document, written feedback, notes, or next steps

If your request is still marked “In Progress,” your feedback is not ready yet.

All services are submitted through the portal.

• Click New Submission
• Select the correct service type
• Complete the form and submit

This helps us track your request and make sure it is completed properly.

Yes. You can list preferred team members when submitting.

• You may select up to 3 team members
• One person will claim your request based on availability
• Preferences are not guaranteed

For residency applicants, you may also list specialty preferences. We do our best to match you with someone in your specialty or the closest relevant specialty when possible.

Yes. You can submit additional drafts as you revise your work.

Each new version should be submitted as a new request so it can be tracked properly.

Important: you can only have one active request per draft at a time. This means the same draft cannot be sent to multiple editors simultaneously.

For secondary applications, members may submit up to five schools within any rolling 12-hour period. This limit is based on the number of schools submitted, not the number of individual essay prompts.

Yes. Select that editor as your preference when submitting your next draft.

If they are available, they may claim your request again. If not, we will match you with another qualified team member.

Yes. We strongly encourage applicants to begin pre-writing secondary essays before receiving official secondary invitations.

Within the portal, each school’s page contains the most recent prompts available, typically from the previous application cycle. Our team continuously updates prompts as schools release their current-cycle secondaries.

Need help finding a school's secondary prompts? Watch this quick walkthrough video.

Because schools occasionally update prompts or requirements, we recommend using one or two editing rounds during the pre-writing stage and saving at least one round for after you receive the official secondary application.

Secondary editing is structured by school.

For each secondary application, submit all prompts for that school together so your editor can review the full application holistically.

Depending on your package, each secondary application includes up to three rounds of editing for that school.

We recommend saving at least one round for after you officially receive the secondary in case prompts, word counts, or instructions have changed.

As part of our secondary-season workflow, members may submit up to five secondary schools for editing within any rolling 12-hour period.

This helps us maintain high-quality, school-specific feedback and reliable turnaround times for all applicants during the busiest part of the application cycle.

In most cases, there is no strategic advantage to submitting a large number of schools at the exact same time. Applicants who spread submissions out and begin pre-writing early typically experience the smoothest secondary season.

If you have more than five schools ready, we recommend prioritizing the most urgent schools first and submitting the next group after the 12-hour window has passed.

A school submission refers to one school’s complete secondary application, regardless of how many essay prompts that school includes.

• A school with one essay prompt counts as one school submission.
• A school with six essay prompts still counts as one school submission.

The submission limit is based on the number of schools submitted, not the number of individual essay prompts.

No. Secondary editing rounds are tied to each individual school application.

If you do not use all three rounds for one school, those unused rounds cannot be transferred to another school.

This keeps feedback focused and consistent for each school’s specific prompts and strategy.

You’re not alone. Secondary applications often arrive in waves and can feel overwhelming, especially if multiple schools send invitations around the same time.

The best way to reduce stress is to begin pre-writing early using the prompts available in the portal.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, focus on your most urgent schools first rather than trying to complete every secondary at once.

Our team can also help you prioritize schools, develop a submission strategy, and make the process more manageable.

If a school changes its prompts, word counts, or instructions, use your saved editing round to revise the essay after you receive the official secondary.

This is why we recommend saving at least one round for after the official secondary arrives.

In most cases, nothing is wrong.

Essay edits are typically completed within 2 to 3 days. Your request may be waiting to be claimed or actively being worked on.

• If it has been less than 48 hours, no action is usually needed
• If it has been more than 72 hours, you can message support

Standard turnaround is 2 to 3 days, including weekends.

During peak season, especially June through August, edits may be closer to the full window.

We prioritize thoughtful feedback, clear guidance, and high-quality edits over rushed comments.

If your deadline is tight, select the expedited edit option when submitting.

• Standard editing: 2 to 3 days
• Expedited editing: within 24 hours
• Expedited fee: $100 per submission

Instructions for purchasing expedited editing will be provided during the submission process within the portal.

To ensure your expedited request is applied correctly, please use the same email address associated with your Motivate MD account when completing your purchase.

If you've already submitted a request and need to add expedited editing afterward, please message support as soon as possible.

If your deadline is less than 24 hours away, submit as soon as possible and select expedited. We will do our best to help, but completion before your deadline may not always be possible.

Messaging your team is helpful if you need to clarify something, but it does not guarantee faster turnaround.

If timing is urgent, the fastest available option is to select expedited editing when submitting your request.

Calls are requested through the portal.

• Submit a new request
• Select the appropriate session type
• Enter your availability

Once a team member claims your request, they will schedule the call and you will receive a calendar invite.

All calls happen inside the portal.

• Go to the Calls tab
• Click your scheduled session
• Click Join Call

We recommend joining a few minutes early.

Yes, if the portal prompts you to confirm.

Some sessions require confirmation before they can proceed. If a session is not confirmed, it may not take place.

You can request tutoring through the portal.

• Click New Submission
• Select Tutoring
• Share your goals, timeline, and focus areas
• List any tutor preferences, if applicable

Tutoring sessions are flexible and tailored to your needs.

Sessions may focus on content review, practice questions, test-taking strategy, or reviewing full-length exams.

Tutoring is designed to support your existing study plan.

Your tutor may suggest adjustments, help you prioritize topics, and recommend strategies, but tutoring is not a rigid pre-built schedule.

Yes. You can request the same tutor for future sessions.

Availability may vary, but if your preferred tutor is not available, we will do our best to match you with a similar tutor.

This depends on your goals and timeline.

Many students meet 1 to 2 times per week during active studying, while others schedule sessions as needed for targeted help.

If you feel stuck, let us know early.

We can help adjust your approach, clarify your goals, or match you with a different tutor if needed.

You should message support if:

• It has been more than 72 hours without an update
• You have a deadline within 24 hours
• You are unsure how to proceed after feedback
• You are experiencing a technical issue in the portal

Inside the portal, go to the Help Center and select Message Support.

When reaching out, include:

• What you need help with
• Your deadline, if relevant
• The request or submission you are referring to