How personal should a personal statement be?

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I know that the personal statement is the same way for DO or MD school but the thread that is going on for the MD is pretty inactive. I thought I'd make a thread her since DO school is my first choice anyways.

how personal should your personal statement be? For instance, instead of stating what the issue is or going into the detail, should I shroud it under "family issues" "health problems" or something of that nature?

I very briefly (1 sentence) mentioned three deaths in my family and dealing with depression. The important thing isn't what went wrong, but how you overcame it, which is what I discussed for the rest of the paragraph. This whole portion of my statement was less than 100 words.

Originally Posted by vhle

I know that the personal statement is the same way for DO or MD school but the thread that is going on for the MD is pretty inactive. I thought I'd make a thread her since DO school is my first choice anyways.

how personal should your personal statement be? For instance, instead of stating what the issue is or going into the detail, should I shroud it under "family issues" "health problems" or something of that nature?

I was pretty personal about financial and health issues in mine. Remember, these are the men and women who will help mold you into the physician you'll become. There's no reason to be ashamed of anything.

If you'd like to see my PS just shoot me a PM and I'll reply back to you with a copy of it.

It should include whatever experiences and values have molded you into the person you are/hope to be. So if you grew up financially deprived, or if you experienced a death in the family/friend circle, or if your spouse is severely ill, all these are personal things to shed light on in your PS.

One thing I suggest is you don't suck up to adcoms by squeezing in what you THINK they want to hear. Don't be all "My best friend died, and this made me really focused on the holistic approach of osteopathic medicine". It makes no sense.

Originally Posted by Iliketoytles

It should include whatever experiences and values have molded you into the person you are/hope to be. So if you grew up financially deprived, or if you experienced a death in the family/friend circle, or if your spouse is severely ill, all these are personal things to shed light on in your PS.

One thing I suggest is you don't suck up to adcoms by squeezing in what you THINK they want to hear. Don't be all "My best friend died, and this made me really focused on the holistic approach of osteopathic medicine". It makes no sense.