Internship applications - autobiographical essay - advice?

[bluegirl]

For those of you who have already applied for internship or
just know a lot about applying, can you offer advice on the
autobiographical statement?

The open-ended nature of it is not helping. I purchased a
book about internship applications that includes essay pointers,
but I would much prefer hearing from people who have gone
through the process.

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[Cosmo75]

That essay is a beast because it's so open-ended and there's so much you can say. The best advice I got was that the essay should tell an interesting story that stands out from what the traditional essay is (e.g. "I want to be a psychologist to help people.") What's also tough about the essay is making sure not to cross the TMI boundary.

Another piece of advice I got that was really helpful was to email my friends/family/people who know me well and ask them to describe me in a few sentences. I had several people read the essay which resulted in an entire re-write from my first draft. But in the end it was really helpful.

When I was on internship I got to read a lot of applications and I went to the personal statement essay first. One trend I noticed was people referencing a specific client experience - "when I was working with client X with diagnosis Y..." This wasn't something I had in my own essay. I was curious if this is something that programs generally recommend. I'd say 75% of the essays had this in them.

Hope that helps. Good luck with the applications!

 

[psychmama]

When I was on internship I got to read a lot of applications and I went to the personal statement essay first. One trend I noticed was people referencing a specific client experience - "when I was working with client X with diagnosis Y..." This wasn't something I had in my own essay. I was curious if this is something that programs generally recommend. I'd say 75% of the essays had this in them.

Cosmo, that's interesting. I personally didn't include that sort of stuff in my essay. At least not ESSAY 1 -- ESSAYS 2 & 3 were chock-full of this sort of clinical material.

FWIW to the OP -- Not crossing the TMI boundary is important. If you choose to include personal details in your autobiographical statement (which I did) touch upon them lightly and always weave them into a larger picture of how they're relevant to your clinical or research interests. That said, it IS a personal statement, and I think including a bit about your personal reasons for choosing the field makes you more memorable. Just do it carefully and be true to your own personality. Some of us are more comfortable with personal disclosure than others. Best of luck!

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

The best advice....START EARLY! Not only will go you through multiple iterations of the essay, but it can change greatly when you solicit the feedback from friends/colleagues, professors/mentor(s), and even family. I knew I nailed my essay when one of my professors read my essay and said that it captured who I was as a person.

The DCTs have your CV, transcripts, and a host of other things.....so Essay #1 is your chance to show them who you are away from those things. I'd caution against a lot of self disclosure, but it is important to see where you are coming from. Most of my interviews asked about my prior career (which I highlighted in my essay) as well as a bunch of other random things I included.

 

[bluegirl]

Thank you everyone, this is helpful.

It is a tough assignment... there are just too many different ways
you can go with it. I am starting early though, thanks T4C,
like this week, and they're due in November.

So what I'm gathering is that it should capture me as a person,
apart from the CV and LORs, without too much self-disclosure...
I'm not sure what I will write yet (obviously) that would be
relevant, interesting, revealing, etc.....

The lack of structure is the worst part.

 

[bluegirl]

Small update: I got the APAGS book on internship applications
and the essay examples they have - maybe not surprisingly -
are incredibly dry and boring. I will certainly not be writing
in that manner, so I think I have that in my favor.

So for Cosmo75 and anyone else who has read intern apps
or just knows these things, to what extent should each of
the non-autobiographical essays be telling a story?

Also about writing in a less dry, boring manner, I'm wondering
how much such applicants (who are otherwise strong) stand out
simply because their writing is a pleasure to read?

 

[Cosmo75]

So for Cosmo75 and anyone else who has read intern apps
or just knows these things, to what extent should each of
the non-autobiographical essays be telling a story?

Also about writing in a less dry, boring manner, I'm wondering
how much such applicants (who are otherwise strong) stand out
simply because their writing is a pleasure to read?

I think if you can come up with an interesting story it will stand out over the "standard" essay. Even though the sites divvy up the applications, reviewers still end up reading quite a few essays. So anything you can do to be somewhat different (without being scary or crossing that TMI line that is) will be helpful to stand out. On the flip side, going the safer route probably won't be a bad thing. I think what you want to avoid is standing out because of a negative reaction.

Personally, I wrote a story about how I returned to psych after a hiatus outside the field. I had 2 DCTs ask me about my personal statement and comment that it stood out. So I took that as positive feedback