Personal Statement-Anyone needing help?

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Need help with your personal statement? A critique of your essay is a PM away!

A ps should be about:
1. who you are
2. how you became interested in dentistry and what you have done academically and shadowing to reach your goal.
3. brief future plans.

I need help with my personal statement...but what's a PM?
I'm new to this.

click on the user's name and press send personal message (PM) also if you need a second critique pm me if u like

HEy guys,

If you would be willing to take a look at mine and tell me what you think that would be awesome! I am a reapplicant so I am trying to make this essay stand out. I will hopefully finish it by tomorrow, and I will PM it ur way. Thanks again!

My personal statement is currently 766 words.
Characters (no spaces) is 3,511 and 4,282 with spaces.

What is the limit? Is mine too long?

AADSAS limits the statement by characters....and it's 4500 characters (including spaces) max

Originally Posted by sonylarkhi

AADSAS limits the statement by characters....and it's 4500 characters (including spaces) max

if your essay is too long but perfect...take out the extra spaces.

Especially. If. You. do. two. spaces. after. periods.
Especially. If. You. do. two. spaces. after. periods.

see the diff?

Edit: the difference does not show up here...spaces are automatically made the same. test it in word first...

I'd be willing to give 'em a look too. I personally LOVED writing mine and thought it was the most fun part of the process.
And FYI, I am already accepted and have picked a school and thus will gain no benefit from reading any of your essays. If you'd like to read mine I'd be glad to share, as I'm sure NONE of you would have an at-all-similar PS as me. And forget about us goons on SDN, have some profs read it too. I had most of my LOR profs read it and give me input which was probably the most helpful of all.
Two words of advice tho. BE ORIGINAL!! The PS should be the part of your app that makes you recognizable. The adcom sees 1000's of #'s (GPA + DAT) but a great PS can really get lodged in their head and really give you an edge, as will a stellar interview. I got this right out of the mouth of the chairs of three stellar d-schools that loved my PS, so don't think I'm making this up.
Anyways, good luck with the apps and take my advice, APPLY EARLY. I'd have saved some gray hairs and big cash in deposits had I done that.

Is it OK to mention regarding a business aspect in your personal statement that shows you have had experience in business administation, management that can later help you when you open a practice?

Originally Posted by Tejv24

Is it OK to mention regarding a business aspect in your personal statement that shows you have had experience in business administation, management that can later help you when you open a practice?

Personally, I would leave it out all together. Dental schools are more focused on creating good practitioners as well as finding students that they feel will fit well with their student body than they are with practical business abilities. The personal statement isn't a resume but rather a space for you to communicate aspects of yourself, such as your personality, disposition, goals, and the like. If you feel that your business skills are a personal highlight, I think turning them into a talking point in an interview is a better option than including them in your statement.

[quote=AdidasPete;5147986]I'd be willing to give 'em a look too. I personally LOVED writing mine and thought it was the most fun part of the process.
And FYI, I am already accepted and have picked a school and thus will gain no benefit from reading any of your essays. If you'd like to read mine I'd be glad to share, as I'm sure NONE of you would have an at-all-similar PS as me. And forget about us goons on SDN, have some profs read it too. I had most of my LOR profs read it and give me input which was probably the most helpful of all.
Two words of advice tho. BE ORIGINAL!! The PS should be the part of your app that makes you recognizable. The adcom sees 1000's of #'s (GPA + DAT) but a great PS can really get lodged in their head and really give you an edge, as will a stellar interview. I got this right out of the mouth of the chairs of three stellar d-schools that loved my PS, so don't think I'm making this up.
Anyways, good luck with the apps and take my advice, APPLY EARLY. I'd have saved some gray hairs and big cash in deposits had I done that.[/quote

I would love it if you would take the time to read my PS, and I'd always like to read another essay if you want to let me read yours! I'm new to all this so i dont know how to send it to you, so if you oculd let me know how to do that it would be great!!

Originally Posted by Tejv24

Is it OK to mention regarding a business aspect in your personal statement that shows you have had experience in business administation, management that can later help you when you open a practice?

I didn't leave my business experience out of mine. I don't think having it in there hurts. I wouldn't tie that experience in to opening up a practice later... tie it in to what you've learned from doing that and maybe how it relates to patient management or something along the lines of how it gave you certain skills that can be helpful in dentistry. everyone knows you're going to be opening a practice one day... so let the adcoms know how that experience made you different than other applicants who havne't done that. just my 2 cents

Can anyone who got in let me read their personal statement so I get an idea how to write mine, because im reapplying and I really want this to be good.

Originally Posted by xDent09

Can anyone who got in let me read their personal statement so I get an idea how to write mine, because im reapplying and I really want this to be good.

It is best to rewrite your own. However, if you want to look at some, a few were posted on www.DMDstudent.com (templestudent@hotmail).

I'd be willing to critique anyone's if they want to PM it to me. I was told at all (4) of my interviews that I had a great personal statement, and I also have mad writing skills and an excellent knowledge of grammar and word usage(hence my scrabble police club jacket) as well as an extensive vocabulary. Also, I minored in journalism, so I think I know a thing or two about writing. Finally, I will probably have nothing to do this weekend and would love to help.

Originally Posted by USU24

I'd be willing to critique anyone's if they want to PM it to me. I was told at all (4) of my interviews that I had a great personal statement, and I also have mad writing skills and an excellent knowledge of grammar and word usage(hence my scrabble police club jacket) as well as an extensive vocabulary. Also, I minored in journalism, so I think I know a thing or two about writing. Finally, I will probably have nothing to do this weekend and would love to help.

Wow...you're awesome. Although I am already accepted , can you still proofread my essay?

Anybody needing help with their personal comments is free to PM it to me as well...

...BTW, I wouldn't be sending your PCs to someone who hasn't gotten accepted yet (this goes without saying) as they may very well butcher it and use excerps of YOUR life in THIER own PCs. Who may do this?, you ask...well...let me tell you who "may".

1) Those who plan to apply this year and 2) Those who applied but didn't get in and are going to reapply.

Don't mean to sound dogmatic, just trying to look out for the naive newcomber to the SDN universe. That said, be careful who you trust.

bump

anyone these days still willing to read a personal statement and offer critique?

I can proof-read if anyone needs help, just PM me.
I will mostly fix grammar/word choice.

would really appreciate reading your PS - thanks for offering it up!

is anyone still willing to do this..? pretty please...

Originally Posted by doc toothache

Need help with your personal statement? A critique of your essay is a PM away!

Check you PM

although most of the folks are really good samaritans and mean well, be careful you are not sharing your statements with people that have intentions of "stealing" your work since they don't want to/can't write themselves. Just be careful, since competition paired up with desperation can create monsters even out of some well-meaning people. You'd be amazed at what you will see once you actually get into dental school too!

Originally Posted by SFortho

although most of the folks are really good samaritans and mean well, be careful you are not sharing your statements with people that have intentions of "stealing" your work since they don't want to/can't write themselves. Just be careful, since competition paired up with desperation can create monsters even out of some well-meaning people. You'd be amazed at what you will see once you actually get into dental school too!

Perhaps you can enlighten us how to be selective.

doc discontinued the service

Originally Posted by supraman

doc discontinued the service

Really?

Originally Posted by doc toothache

Really?

By that I'm assuming you are still are doing it. If so, I would appreciate a critique of mine. However, I am still working on it and I should be done within a week or two. Hopefully...

Originally Posted by yuppers

By that I'm assuming you are still are doing it. If so, I would appreciate a critique of mine. However, I am still working on it and I should be done within a week or two. Hopefully...

Soon the rush will be on.

Originally Posted by doc toothache

Soon the rush will be on.

I am trying to finish but I had so many things going on with school this past week and the first few days of next.
Do you have a limit to how many you do if you get tons of them?

Originally Posted by yuppers

I am trying to finish but I had so many things going on with school this past week and the first few days of next.
Do you have a limit to how many you do if you get tons of them?

No limit as yet, but who knows?

Sounds good, I'll make myself finish it next week and if you get to it awesome. If not.... I'll think of something.

I am sending you my PS! I never got it corrected or edited before submitting it and since English is my 3rd language, I probably have typos that I am unaware of.

Does anyone here still proofread PS? Thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by USU24

I'd be willing to critique anyone's if they want to PM it to me. I was told at all (4) of my interviews that I had a great personal statement, and I also have mad writing skills and an excellent knowledge of grammar and word usage(hence my scrabble police club jacket) as well as an extensive vocabulary. Also, I minored in journalism, so I think I know a thing or two about writing. Finally, I will probably have nothing to do this weekend and would love to help.

Heyy,

I appreciate your help.I'd be applying this yr and have no idea about statement of purpose.It wud really be a gr8 help if you cud send me yours.
My id is bhattanita@ymail.com

Regards,
Anita

Originally Posted by USU24

I'd be willing to critique anyone's if they want to PM it to me. I was told at all (4) of my interviews that I had a great personal statement, and I also have mad writing skills and an excellent knowledge of grammar and word usage(hence my scrabble police club jacket) as well as an extensive vocabulary. Also, I minored in journalism, so I think I know a thing or two about writing. Finally, I will probably have nothing to do this weekend and would love to help.

Do you still critique personal statements?

Originally Posted by gjekd87

Do you still critique personal statements?

Yeah, kind of. I put together a booklet of my experience from editing plus some examples (link in signature) but if you want me to actually look at yours I will. PM me.

.

hey doc,
well it was more than the week or two that I said it would be, but I went to career services for advice on it and then family. So now I'm back to see if you can read through my PS.

Originally Posted by yuppers

hey doc,
well it was more than the week or two that I said it would be, but I went to career services for advice on it and then family. So now I'm back to see if you can read through my PS.

See the pm.

Anyone care to guide me with my Personal statement? I feel i have a solid foundation in 3000 characters but need to change the direction of it in what i have left. Thanks

Originally Posted by gatorPredent

Anyone care to guide me with my Personal statement? I feel i have a solid foundation in 3000 characters but need to change the direction of it in what i have left. Thanks

See your pm.

Can anyone read over my personal statement. I will be a 3rd time applicant and only had 1 interview. I also totally changed my PS. Any help would be appreciated.

would anyone care to review my personal statement for me? i'm not sure if it's focused enough and i might have crossed the line between mild humor and 'you're clearly not serious about this, are you?'

Hi Marmaduke,

I can critique your personal statement. Just pm me.

can anyone review my personal statement as well? I wrote a rough draft which is about 5000 characters..and not sure if this is how it should be.
any help would be appreciated!

I too could really use the help of someone in the know to glance over my personal statement, I've found friends and colleagues can only help with grammar and not tying the content together.

I am a new poster here but have been lurking for quite some time now. I am a reapplicant (applied to start in 2007), in the process of defending a cancer genetics-related research thesis from a M.S. program in a few weeks. My application is ready to go with the exception of my statement, which i hope to complete and submit by monday.

if anyone has any time to look this over, it would be greatly appreciated.
sorry for being the new guy...

thanks,
J

I need help on my PS, this is my second time applying!!!!..... I REALLY need help, please helppp!!... i'll send you my old PS..and let me know what you think and i'll start changing from there.
=D

Thanks. K.

be careful who you send your ps to. obviously doc has thousands of posts and is trustworthy, however, it wouldn't be a good idea to send your essay to someone with 10 or 15 posts. just be smart.

Can the personal statement include descriptive, creative language or is it supposed to be concrete and straight to the point? I start my opening paragraph with a story so i try to use descriptive language and then I begin being more concrete.

Also, mine's just about 4500 characters with spaces but that seems long for a PS. Do they prefer shorter ones?

I have no idea what admissions staff are looking for so any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hi

I am actually applying to DO or MD schools, but I haven't been able to find people that are willing to read other's ps. I was wondering if any of the readers in this thread are interested? I will try my best to make it interesting and fun