‘Tis the season, not of holidays, but of personal statements, secondaries and soul-searching. With May fast approaching, the Association of American Medical Colleges is once again opening the gates to the daunting medical school admissions cycle. Each year brings its share of anxiety, as only about 40% of applicants receive that coveted acceptance letter. With application numbers rising while class sizes stay the same, the odds feel more unbalanced than ever. As one of those hopeful applicants, I’ve spent the past few months reaching out to medical students across the country, hoping to gain insight. I asked each of them the same question: What aspects of your journey do you believe helped make you successful as a medical school applicant? Here’s what they had to say:

After asking students from 11 different schools, I was struck the most by the recurring theme of storytelling. Almost every one of them emphasized the importance of having a solid narrative reflecting who you are as a person. From a random -stranger-trying-to-piece-you-together-from-a-stack-of-papers-in-a-manila-folder perspective, this makes perfect sense.

Let me take you back a bit—”The Three Little Pigs” and “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” Stories shaped our childhood, teaching us life lessons in ways that a lesson taught by our first-grade teachers couldn’t. With every house the wolf blew down, we learned the importance of doing things right the first time. If we cut corners, we may have our houses destroyed by the neighborhood wolf. With Goldilocks, we learned to respect people’s boundaries so that you’ll have a bowl of just-right porridge waiting for you. Beyond childhood anecdotes, storytelling becomes a vehicle for empathy. It doesn’t just show what you’ve done: It shows who you are. In a process as impersonal as medical school admissions, that kind of connection is gold.

This bond is why it’s important to consider your “why medicine?” early on in your college career. A University of Cincinnati College of Medicine student told me, “I think hands down the most important factor in getting into medical school is having some sort of narrative that brought you into medicine. It doesn’t need to be a crazy world-changing story, but anything that conveys your interests and how that translates into medicine is extremely helpful.” I think he is right because grounding yourself in the reasons that drew you to medicine will allow you to better build on your past experiences to design a path catered to your unique interests. Going through your pre-med life thinking about that “why” rather than the “pre-med checklist” will help you tell your story better, as you will have more evidence to support your so-called “argument” to the admissions committee.

Though I can hear you saying “duh,” crafting your narrative this way is not as easy as it seems. Many of us come to college to figure out what we want to do with our lives, which is completely fine. If you’re pre-med and still unsure about medicine but decide “this is right,” the world of organic chemistry and physics may cause you to lose sight of your fragile “why.” With the average accepted grade point average being 3.77, you need exceptional grades to get into medical school. Most people know this. When you’re trying to figure out what you want while also spending a substantial amount of time studying, it can be hard to thread a comprehensive story. After all, a good story comes from self-reflection and growth. When you’re drowning in reaction schemes, this can be challenging.

Outside of academics, other stresses, such as scary pre-health advising meetings, can instill this sense of “not doing enough.” This feeling may cause you to spiral and start agreeing to activities that don’t make sense for you. A Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine student suggested asking yourself, “What do you see your niche to be as of now, and how do your extracurriculars and life story show you are committed to that?” This is an important question to ask yourself when seeing other people publishing articles or earning awards. Doing so will hopefully help keep you afloat as you remember that they probably are thinking similarly about your achievements.

Despite the challenges in discovering and retaining your “why,” the rewards are magical. It’s not that $200,000 worth of debt is anything to be over the moon about, but the benefits of a career dedicated to service and community-building are enough to keep many of us moving forward. When your story is rooted in genuine curiosity and compassion, it resonates. It speaks louder than a GPA or a Medical College Admission Test score ever could. If you’re somewhere in the middle of figuring it all out, that’s okay. Just keep asking yourself the hard questions. Keep living the story you want to tell. When the time comes to write it down, trust that who you are will be enough.