Personal Statement examples?

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langiyo

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Hi guys!

I'm applying to vet school this summer and was wondering if any of you lovely beautiful people who have been accepted would be willing to show me your personal statement with me? I could only find like one sample personal statement online and I just want to see a sample of what the vet schools are looking for. If you don't want to post it here you could email it to me at: [email protected]

Thank you so much, I really appreciate it, I have been drowning in application mania and have literally no idea what vet schools are looking for in the PS! All I gathered from online articles is that you aren't supposed to focus on how much you have loved animals since you were a kid and that you shouldn't mention James Herriot or Steve Irwin :unsure:

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For future reference... how do you watch a thread without posting in it? I can't seem to find the button and I'd like to watch this one.
There should be a button under and to the right of the thread title, next to the previous and next thread buttons.
 
Probably not the best PS ever, but this was mine. There are actually some things I would do differently now - would focus more on how my earlier experiences affected me and what I learned about the profession as opposed to what my specific duties were. But it helped me get a couple interviews and an acceptance so I figure it must be decent.

When I was eleven, my neighbors owned two kittens, Cindy and Tiger. They lived outside, often visiting my family’s garage. My siblings and I played with them and grew attached. One day Cindy got into our garage without us knowing. When we opened the garage door we saw her being crushed at the top, just before she fell down. The neighbors did not pursue veterinary care, but allowed us to adopt her. Following our veterinarian’s recommendations she slowly regained the ability to feed herself, walk, and use her litter box. Ten years later, she is practically normal, with few quirks from neurological damage. It amazes me that we could help her return to functional life.

Two years ago I capitalized on my first chance to work with a vet. I shadowed at the , and observed and assisted during clinic hours. Soon I moved to the surgery area, where I assisted with surgery prep and monitoring. I learned the basics of how surgical procedures are performed, and about the particulars of doing these procedures in a shelter, given financial constraints and high volumes of surgeries every day.

Next, I volunteered at the as a surgery assistant in the community hospital. This was the most hands on experience I had in a medical setting. My main position was at the recovery table, where we would glue spay and neuter incisions, clip toenails, clean ears, give vaccines and reversal injections, microchip, and exubate patients. Occasionally we gave subcutaneous fluids. I learned to work in a fast-paced environment, balancing the care of multiple animals in various stages of recovery, feeding animals, making surgery packs, and keeping the hospital clean.

At this point I decided to expand my experiences. I had spent a couple of days at the and decided that I wanted to learn more about other species. Thus I volunteered at the Zoo last summer. I visited the hospital and witnessed an examination of a bonobo, and I observed and assisted with the husbandry care of several species. I also learned about some of the regular medical care from the keepers.

My experience interning at the hospital was one of the most influential. My main job was husbandry for the hospitalized birds, but I had opportunities to observe the veterinarians perform treatments and sometimes assist. I learned about birds, avian medicine, and zoo medicine and developed my interest in exotics. Further, I learned about avian anatomy and the intricacies of treating birds. I also came to appreciate the relationships between the hospital staff and patients. I realized that with a career in zoo medicine, I could see the same animals each day and get to know them as individuals, which I did during the time I worked at .

The desire to work with exotics led me to , where I worked as a full-time veterinary assistant over the summer. In addition to cats and dogs, has many exotics patients and is a drop-off location for injured and orphaned wildlife that are later released to local wildlife centers. My perception of private practice medicine was changed by my time working at . I thought it was boring - just a stream of wellness exams and vaccines every day. I found that we also had a lot of interesting cases and the dull days were few and far between. During the time I worked there I got more hands on experience and responsibility for the care of patients than I had previously. Many of the cases stick with me—the severely anemic puppy with hookworms that needed a blood transfusion, the cat that was bitten by a snake, the orphaned wildlife that we had to tube feed. And one case in particular, the sick stray kitten that came in at eight weeks of age with an open abscess, who I adopted four weeks later.

Today my passion is for zoo medicine, and my goals would lead me to pursue a residency in zoological medicine after graduation. Working with a variety of different species appeals to me and I am excited by the prospect of having an impact on Species Survival Plans. Dr. , who I worked with at the , has become a role model for me in terms of the direction I could see my future career going. She oversees the medical care of the aviary's residents, and developed protocols to decrease the spread of disease between the animals, and from the animals to the staff. Some academic experiences have enhanced my interest in epidemiology, an applicable concept to zoo medicine—my Ecology, Animal Behavior, and Cell Biology classes have touched on these concepts at different levels, and I look forward to learning more about them. Epidemiology acts as a chance for me to integrate my passion for writing with my career goals. A significant portion of my undergraduate career has been dedicated to honing my writing skills, and I hope to apply these skills in creating the same kinds of written protocols that Dr. creates.
 
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Not many people probably would want to share their personal statements, because most of them don't want someone to succeed using their skills and striving. In fact, it has a point and it's fair. But if you need good tips on writing personal statement you can read some articles of experienced bloggers. For example, this article contains useful advices - https://papersmaster.com/our-services/personal-statement-writing.html. You should improve your writing not using someone else's work, but learning using theoretical knowledges.

That definitely doesn't work for everyone. Some people learn by watching or through examples to see what the general idea is in how to do something. By showing someone else my personal statement, they wouldn't be succeeding using my skills since they wouldn't be submitting my personal statement. They would see how I formatted it, how I built the narrative, and so on. It also depends on how good a writer someone is. If someone is a better writer, they'll write a better personal statement (in theory); if someone is a worse writer, they probably won't write a better personal statement (in theory).
 
I'll give the same advice that a friend of mine gave to me... Write your own PS first. Revise it. Sleep on it. Then bounce your style, included content, key points, etc off of another PS. These things are meant to be personal and need to contain your own flair. That said, it's definitely worth while to see how others shaped their PS for it to flow properly. There are a lot of other threads/posts on this same thing though. Dig around and I'm sure you'll find plenty. Good luck.
 
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Probably not the best PS ever, but this was mine. There are actually some things I would do differently now - would focus more on how my earlier experiences affected me and what I learned about the profession as opposed to what my specific duties were. But it helped me get a couple interviews and an acceptance so I figure it must be decent.

I think it's great, mostly because it's a lot like mine was and is very chronological! I started with a childhood pet and worked my way up!!
 
Really, if you just do a quick search of "vet school" personal statements, you will find a lot. I had 6 people read mine and had to rewrite it completely at a few points. It's hard work, something you should not put off, and it's a chance to have something speak for you other than stats. Make it your baby!
 
I'll just repost here as I've had a few people ask me for it.


"Possible parvo pups arriving soon," Dr. ______ announced. Goosebumps ran up my arms due to the stinging tension pervading the usually chipper shelter clinic. Six beautiful puppies came in a crate, excitedly squirming on top of each other. To minimize contact, only one was tested - positive. Within 20 minutes, I assisted in the euthanasia of all 6 pups. The bodies were quickly disposed of, anything they touched went straight to the dumpster, the room was bleached, and it was over. I grasped the gravity of the situation and remained calm, but it was a lot for me to process as a teen. I had the utmost respect for my mentor veterinarians and knew they were truly compassionate, but I could not help but wonder why we couldn't give those puppies a chance.

Four years later, I learned firsthand why it is unfeasible to treat and contain deadly infections in a crowded facility. I interned for 2 baby seasons with wildlife, and parvo hit our native mammals both times. Having never seen animals treated for the virus, I was intrigued when told that euthanasia was a last resort. Despite our efforts, it spread like wildfire. Within weeks, 67 of our 70 raccoons had died. I will never forget how the usually rambunctious juveniles grimaced in a fetal position with their paws grasping their heads. This confirmed for me that vet care was complex and not always about treating every animal. While family pets who contract parvovirus and panleukopenia often survive with proper care, it's a different story in high volume facilities with limited resources – prevention is everything.

Though it stung initially, I internalized the meaning of "herd health" in shelters. Seeing the agony in affected animals made euthanasia easier in parvo cases, but euthanizing seemingly healthy animals with terminal conditions was difficult at first. I was holding an FIV+ cat for euthanasia one day, and she surprisingly began purring during the IP injection. For the next few minutes until she went limp in my arms, she was the happiest cat in the world! I realized then that animals only see the present and not "what could be." For the first time, I walked out from that euthanasia room with a smile and looked up at the blue California sky.

My experience with disease control helped greatly when I was appointed the Facility Director of _________, a new animal rescue organization in _________. As the one responsible for the animals' well-being and daily operations, I stressed the importance of prevention. At one point, however, the founder decided that the need for emergency intake superseded the risk of disease exposure, and brought several cats into the facility without first seeking veterinary care. Our game of Russian roulette came to an end with a ringworm outbreak. Though overwhelmed by the challenges ahead, especially with my full-time job as a research technician, I executed a treatment plan with the guidance of a local veterinarian. We quarantined and treated the affected kittens 4 times with lime sulfur over the next 2 weeks. The 11 remaining cats were also treated, and the entire facility was bleached. I knew that communication with volunteers was the key to success, since they were the daily animal caretakers, and maintained almost daily contact to provide information, progress updates, and procedural changes. Due to the collaborative effort of our dedicated volunteers, fungal cultures have confirmed that ringworm is now history!

Though I initially went into research simply to test out a PhD career path, my job has broadened my horizons in ways I didn't expect. When trusted to design a reliable method for determining the transgene copy number for our new transgenic mice using real-time qPCR, I became enthralled with the practical problem-solving aspect of lab science. While rejoicing in my success on this project, I realized that molecular biology and the scientific method have broad applications beyond cancer research. Since then, I began to wonder how my knowledge from the laboratory can be integrated with veterinary training so that I can make practical advances in shelter medicine.

I am excited to embark on the path towards answering this question. Not only is shelter medicine a discipline that is close to my heart, it is a multifaceted field with challenges in ethics, public health, epidemiology, public relations, and small animal medicine. The greatest appeal for me is that progress in this field directly impacts the number of animals that are saved from euthanasia. Given my considerable training in scientific research, I feel I have a lot to offer. Whether through clinical data collection, the development of vaccines and diagnostic tools, or simply through the re-evaluation of standard protocols, I look forward to making innovative changes in shelter medicine given realistic constraints. My hope is that within my lifetime, shelters will not need to euthanize animals for treatable conditions such as kennel cough and ringworm.
 
Not many people probably would want to share their personal statements, because most of them don't want someone to succeed using their skills and striving. In fact, it has a point and it's fair. But if you need good tips on writing personal statement you can read some articles of experienced bloggers. For example, this article contains useful advices - https://papersmaster.com/our-services/personal-statement-writing.html. You should improve your writing not using someone else's work, but learning using theoretical knowledges.

I see your point, but we all know that there is a certain amount of people, who won't just learn how to write using someone else's personal statement, but decide to copy-past that work. Maybe not all the paper, but some parts of it are in risk to be stolen from original writer. And don't say that there's no such tendency, because there will always be people, who want to cheat. I'm just saying that it's understandable why some people don't like sharing their works in the web.

But you didn't say people would cheat in your first statement and no where did I say that it wasn't understandable that some people would not share their personal statements. No where in that first statement is cheating even brought up. Your point in your first statement was that people should learn how to write off of theory rather than looking at examples, which has nothing to do with cheating in my book.

More over, I highly, highly doubt a large portion of the 6,000-7,000 vet school applicants "cheat" on their application, particularly in regards to personal statements. Now, was I going to say, "No one cheats"? No (and thank you for assuming that I was going to say no one cheats).

It does make me wonder if the schools put the personal statements/essays through any sort of essay checker for plagiarism or anything like that.
 
I see your point, but we all know that there is a certain amount of people, who won't just learn how to write using someone else's personal statement, but decide to copy-past that work. Maybe not all the paper, but some parts of it are in risk to be stolen from original writer. And don't say that there's no such tendency, because there will always be people, who want to cheat. I'm just saying that it's understandable why some people don't like sharing their works in the web.
For my, the reason I don't share my PS is because it's just that-personal. I've only shown it to one person (besides my proofreaders on here and IRL), and that's because she was struggling with her med school essay. There isn't anything particularly revealing in my paper, I just am uncomfortable with writing about myself.
 
I haven't been accepted to a vet school (yet! *fingers crossed*) but I am interviewing this year, and I got feedback on my personal statements from a couple schools during my last round of applications. In general I was told that being specific about future goals was important (i.e. not just wishy-washy "there's so many interesting choices in veterinary medicine!"), to avoid rehashing my experiences (i.e. writing about what important lessons I learned, not a laundry list of my responsibilities that they can read elsewhere), emphasize any important traits I gained (leadership, compassion, creative thinking), and try not to start with "I've always loved animals.../always wanted to be a vet." For me, I tried to talk about the specific instances that really inspired me to become a vet, and what traits some of my mentors had that I really try to emulate. I hope that helps--Purdue also has a helpful section on writing personal statements (here). Try to have a narrative--"My interest started here with this, expanded with this, learned this and this, and now I hope to accomplish this." And don't be afraid to be honest--my last personal statement was pretty peppy but dry, this year I wrote a lot more honestly about how affected I've been by some events, professional and personal, and how that led me to veterinary medicine. Nothing graphic, but overcoming challenges and finding meaning in tough spots...that kind of stuff. ;) and of course, edit edit edit! Write a draft, put it aside for a week until you can read it with a critical eye. Get any professor/admisions person/vet student/medical student to read it, since they've read tons/written tons. Hope that helps! Good luck!
 
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Probably not the best PS ever, but this was mine. There are actually some things I would do differently now - would focus more on how my earlier experiences affected me and what I learned about the profession as opposed to what my specific duties were. But it helped me get a couple interviews and an acceptance so I figure it must be decent.

I was entertained by it so you musta done something right ;)

Good luck on zoo med! Maybe you'll be one of the special "chosen ones" that actually get to do it :D
 
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