Search common questions or choose the option below that best describes you. We’ll show the most relevant FAQs based on where you are in the process.
Quick answers to the questions prospective applicants and parents ask most often.
For medical school application services, you'll work with current U.S. medical students and physicians representing more than 95 medical schools. Many of our team members, including both medical students and physicians, have admissions committee experience and have participated in reviewing applications at their institutions.
For residency application services, you'll work exclusively with U.S. physicians representing more than 20 specialties.
You may request specific team members or provide general preferences, though preferences are not guaranteed.
Standard editing is returned within 2 to 3 days, including weekends. Expedited editing is available with a guaranteed 24-hour turnaround for an additional $100 per submission. During peak season, especially June through August, turnaround times may be closer to the 3 day window due to increased submission volume.
If you request specific team members, they have 12 hours to accept your request. If they do not claim it, the request opens to a wider pool of qualified team members to prevent delays.
You can get started immediately after purchasing. You’ll have access to the portal right away and can begin submitting requests the same day.
Essay edits are typically returned within 2 to 3 days, including weekends. If you need faster turnaround, expedited editing is available with a guaranteed 24-hour turnaround.
For advising sessions, brainstorming sessions, interview prep, and other call-based services, it typically takes 2 to 3 days to coordinate availability and schedule your session.
Applicants often tell us three things stand out: accessibility, our team, and affordability. Our goal is to provide personalized, high-quality support without making cost a barrier.
Working with us is designed to be flexible and easy to navigate, even during busy application timelines.
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:
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.
Advising does not include:
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:
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:
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:
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:
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.
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:
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:
In practice, most applicants fall into one of three categories:
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.
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
Residency 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:
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.
If your request is still marked “In Progress,” your feedback is not ready yet.
All services are submitted through the portal.
This helps us track your request and make sure it is completed properly.
Yes. You can list preferred team members when submitting.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
Inside the portal, go to the Help Center and select Message Support.
When reaching out, include:
Current member? Message support inside the portal.
Exploring services? Start with the FAQs above or text us with any quick questions: 917-994-0765. Call availability is limited, so text is typically the fastest way to get help.
