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In lieu to some emails that I have received asking for revisions of personal statements, I have decided to state some general suggestions for those in the process of writing their personal statement and/or secondary essays....
1. It's a personal statement, and not a Resume. If you read your draft, and you see that you are listing experiences, recognitions, and ideas without getting personal, you are on the wrong track. From my experience revising personal statements, this is the hardest of all, and where all students have trouble.
2. Try to discuss any aspects of your life not evident elsewhere in your application. try to think back to your childhood, adulthood, etc, to explore circumstances that have taken you to where you are. this will help you make it personal!
3. you need to develop a strong outline. make sure that each paragraph has one message. if you list more than one activity/experience/idea, you must tie them all together, otherwise it will not flow.
4. remember that your personal statement serves as your opportunity to get a secondary. if you discuss all your experiences/accomplishments/etc, then you won't have anything else to talk about in your secondaries. so pick the MOST meaningful ones, and go in detail.
For your information, this is an excerpt of a communication I had with a Dean at a Top 10 Medical school....
"I will tell you that it is important that [your personal statement] it be personal (only describes you and not others), honest and reflecting well who you are, and address the skill set, attitudes and attributes that you have that makes you uniquely qualified for medicine, using example from your track record to help document what you have to say. If you have had challenges getting to where you are then tell people about them."
If you want some help with proofreading your statement, I would be glad to read it over. I charge $10.00 per draft.
Feel free to contact me! For any questions or inquiry about my qualifications.
my email is
[email protected]
Best of luck!
1. It's a personal statement, and not a Resume. If you read your draft, and you see that you are listing experiences, recognitions, and ideas without getting personal, you are on the wrong track. From my experience revising personal statements, this is the hardest of all, and where all students have trouble.
2. Try to discuss any aspects of your life not evident elsewhere in your application. try to think back to your childhood, adulthood, etc, to explore circumstances that have taken you to where you are. this will help you make it personal!
3. you need to develop a strong outline. make sure that each paragraph has one message. if you list more than one activity/experience/idea, you must tie them all together, otherwise it will not flow.
4. remember that your personal statement serves as your opportunity to get a secondary. if you discuss all your experiences/accomplishments/etc, then you won't have anything else to talk about in your secondaries. so pick the MOST meaningful ones, and go in detail.
For your information, this is an excerpt of a communication I had with a Dean at a Top 10 Medical school....
"I will tell you that it is important that [your personal statement] it be personal (only describes you and not others), honest and reflecting well who you are, and address the skill set, attitudes and attributes that you have that makes you uniquely qualified for medicine, using example from your track record to help document what you have to say. If you have had challenges getting to where you are then tell people about them."
If you want some help with proofreading your statement, I would be glad to read it over. I charge $10.00 per draft.
Feel free to contact me! For any questions or inquiry about my qualifications.
my email is
[email protected]
Best of luck!
