***Official Personal Statement Proofreading Thread***

It is that time again! The beginning of the 2011 application cycle is here and I know many of you are anxiously awaiting some assistance in proofreading your personal statements.

This sticky will list the SDN members who have volunteered to be personal statement proofreaders for the 2011-2012 cycle. If you would like to volunteer or have any comments, please PM owlegrad with the type of proofreading you are willing to do (grammar, content, style, all of the above, etc). Only pharmacists, pharmacy students, and accepted pharmacy students can be proofreaders and post history will be investigated to make sure the volunteer is an established member and is in any one of these categories. Again, NO PRE-PHARM STUDENTS CAN BE VOLUNTEER PROOFREADERS. As people volunteer, we will add their name to the list as well as any specific areas the volunteer feels they will especially help with (grammar, content, style, etc.)

To those interested in having your Personal Statement proofread - Please note the following:

- Use caution when deciding to whom you should send your PS - on an anonymous forum, information can easily be plagiarized.
- Utilize the following list for those willing to proofread personal statements. We can at least tell that they are pharmacy students/accepted pharmacy students/pharmacists based on their posting history.

*DISCLAIMER*: Although we can look at post history to see how well a given user behaves themselves on the forums, there really is no guarantee that any user is not a shady character. Bear this in mind when considering sending your PS to a user for proofreading.

Active Proofreaders:




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Guidelines:
1. PLEASE DO NOT POST YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.
2. This is NOT a place to ask for someone to send you a PS, or write your PS for you. We are here to help with suggestions, and proofreading.
3. If you want to help others with personal statements, please PM owlegrad indicating your interest.
4. If you want help with your personal statement, PM (private message) someone on the list. The top right hand side of the website contains the link to private message immediately below your username.
5. Please don't post your personal statement in this thread.
6. FOR OUR VOLUNTEERS: Please understand that you are giving your time free of charge. You should not expect to be paid for proofreading, and please do not attempt to solicit SDN members for monetary compensation for proofreading their personal statements. If you would like to proofread for a fee, please use the "Classifieds" section.

Good luck and happy writing!!

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A useful guide to writing a PS can be found here:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=375844

DedicationNSU11 said:

Hello all,

I was wondering which essay should I place more importance on? The 'personal essay' on the PharmCAS application, or the essay that I assume is required for the school I am applying to on the supplemental(Nova Southeastern)? If anyone has any insight I'd aprreciate as soon I'll be finished with my essays in hope of getting them proofread. Thanks!

Click to expand...

They are equally important. IMO, your personal statement should express your interest in pharmacy (how you became interested, why you like it, experiences that contributed to your desire to pursue it, etc.) Additionally, you can briefly address any difficulties you have encountered (issues with grades, any disadvantages you faced, etc). However, usually the supplemental essays give you an opportunity to address you academic difficulties and maybe even some diversity topics. The important thing is to make the personal statement not specific to any school. If you are applying to multiple schools, it needs to be general enough. I found that the character limit made it difficult to include everything I wanted to say. You might have to pick and choose.

shimme said:

hi,

I was wondering if some of you guys could me some pointers for the intro

1. i have no pharmacy experience, so for my intro, does it have to be pharmacy related?

^a health advisor told me that the intro should be health related at least?

2. should it be more creative/interesting/sets you apart rather than serious (since your body paragraphs would be more on the serious side..)

thanks!!

Click to expand...

Starting with a story of your personal experience either working/volunteering in pharmacy or being a patient (or family member of a patient) is an easy way to get your "flow" going. It doesn't have to end up that way but you need a starting point for a personal essay. Don't worry about making your first draft perfect. Just write out your story and then write about the associated emotions/desire for pursuing this field. There is no real template because everyone's story will be different but it is important that your voice come through- you don't want to sound cookie cutter. However, you must also remember that this is a professional essay. I would steer clear of colloquialisms or writing as if you are talking to your friends. You want to sound confident and sincere. You need to think about why YOU like pharmacy. Write out some general statements and then incorporate them into your experiences/story and use that as a springboard to write about your strengths or why pharmacy is a good fit for you. And, while I am here, I want to say to everyone: pleasepleaseplease don't overuse a thesaurus (or use synonyms incorrectly). It is a myth that adcoms want you sounding all smart with big "fancy" words. For some people, their style of writing permits use of such words. But, by inserting random synonyms to sound "smarter" you only do yourself a disservice. If you do not understand the nuances of the word, don't use it because it could just sound silly.