When did you feel content about your Personal Statement?

[texan2414]

Time and time again people ask what's the best way for me to write my Personal Statement, what should I include and what should I leave out in my PS, how should I write my PS so that its unique, stands out, etc etc.

I've had some thoughts about what I want to put in my PS for sometime now and I started writing a draft of it in preparation for EY2016 app cycle. Sometimes I find myself going through a ton of emotions while writing my PS, only to find it lacking and vague. I have asked several of my med school friends for advice but their suggestions didn't really "click" for me. I am trying my best to at least compose a draft of it so I can share it with some of my professors and letter writers in Spring before making a final draft for submission to the advisory committee prior to apps.

So I want to ask you about YOUR experience with writing personal statement for med school. When did you feel content about it? (or did you feel satisfied at all...) How did you resolve issues with your PS constructively? At my undergrad, part of the premed committee LOR requires you to consult with the Writing Dept for your PS- if you did this, did you find it helpful?

Gahh too many questions - I'll let you guys respond to me now

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[Promethean]

When a school accepted me, I was finally happy with my PS.

 

[Person0715]

After I got sick of reading it.

I gave myself a hard deadline of one month because in all honesty, you will never ever be content with your PS. Same goes for secondaries.

As for getting feedback, I asked some friends, professors, and people on SDN to read it. I probably went through 7 or 8 drafts total.

 

[Spinach Dip]

Never.

 

[Marine to MD]

Never. One day I just said screw it and submitted.

 

[Iceandmedicine]

The day I got my first II was the day I stopped believing my PS was crap

 

[partypantss]

Time and time again people ask what's the best way for me to write my Personal Statement, what should I include and what should I leave out in my PS, how should I write my PS so that its unique, stands out, etc etc.

I've had some thoughts about what I want to put in my PS for sometime now and I started writing a draft of it in preparation for EY2016 app cycle. Sometimes I find myself going through a ton of emotions while writing my PS, only to find it lacking and vague. I have asked several of my med school friends for advice but their suggestions didn't really "click" for me. I am trying my best to at least compose a draft of it so I can share it with some of my professors and letter writers in Spring before making a final draft for submission to the advisory committee prior to apps.

So I want to ask you about YOUR experience with writing personal statement for med school. When did you feel content about it? (or did you feel satisfied at all...) How did you resolve issues with your PS constructively? At my undergrad, part of the premed committee LOR requires you to consult with the Writing Dept for your PS- if you did this, did you find it helpful?

Gahh too many questions - I'll let you guys respond to me now

I'm with what everyone else has said, I never really felt "done" with it, but after reading the SAME short essay so many times over and over, each time making tweaks here and there, I just couldn't read it anymore. I started to lose perspective since I had read it so many times so I finally just had to let it be. The hard thing with mine was that I wanted to show my passion for medicine, but at first I think I was being too emotional. It's best to keep things professional. Even if it may look dry and boring to you, it's better than making it filled with emotion.. it's all about balance, and chances are it will never feel just right.

 

[Blue Blood]

Never. I had a pretty risky PS so I knew I never would be comfortable with it. Worked at quite a few places though!

 

[Eppur Si Muove]

I was fortunate to have a physician advisor that was a previous adcom member to help proofread and critique my statement so I was confident going in that it was strong. We also have a premed committee that requires the personal statement to be attached during the process and they critique it also.

 

[Low Flow]

It's one of those things that can certainly hurt you if poorly written, but other than that, I didn't think it would carry too much weight. I agree with everyone else: I'm sure there are plenty of things everyone would change/improve about their PS given the time. I don't think it's high enough yield to linger on and agonize over. I also have a girlfriend in journalism who is the editor of a newspaper, so that certainly helped with the structure of it Definitely take it to a Writing Center! They're good at what they do.

 

[funkymonkey0987]

I worked on mine for months, from around last November up until late June. I was finally ready to submit in June. I had other experiences over the summer I really wanted to incorporate into my personal statement because the experiences had a lot to do with what I want to do in medicine, so even though I submitted "late" compared to some others, that is when I was comfortable with it.

I also had a few people look over it and scrutinize it. If you don't have enough eyes looking at it, definitely take it to a writing center like Hrdrock suggested! It really can't hurt.

 

[masaraksh]

I was never particularly happy with mine.

I'm sure there are services that will write one for you. That's one option

 

[TooMuchResearch]

I'm a resident, and I still think my med school PS is crap (or I would if I still had a copy).

 

[Person0715]

It's one of those things that can certainly hurt you if poorly written, but other than that, I didn't think it would carry too much weight. I agree with everyone else: I'm sure there are plenty of things everyone would change/improve about their PS given the time. I don't think it's high enough yield to linger on and agonize over. I also have a girlfriend in journalism who is the editor of a newspaper, so that certainly helped with the structure of it Definitely take it to a Writing Center! They're good at what they do.

Agree with the bolded. I doubt a PS could be so outstanding that it can make up for severe deficits in other parts of the admissions package. Just submit it and forever hold your peace!

 

[jsquared91]

When a school accepted me, I was finally happy with my PS.

This.

 

[kthxbai]

I had a good story, so the essay wrote itself to a large extent. I also passed it around my lawyer friends who tore it into a million little pieces until they felt it was perfect. The key here is to find fantastic writers with a sadistic streak who crucify bad essays for fun.

I happen to be one of those people if you want me to have a read..

 

[wanderer]

When a few people say it's okay. But looking back at my med school PS I cringed pretty bad. They serve a purpose but it's impossible for them to not be cheesy unless you have a really unique story.

 

[Avo Cado]

So I want to ask you about YOUR experience with writing personal statement for med school. When did you feel content about it? (or did you feel satisfied at all...) How did you resolve issues with your PS constructively? At my undergrad, part of the premed committee LOR requires you to consult with the Writing Dept for your PS- if you did this, did you find it helpful?

I would actually say that I was pretty satisfied with my PS when I submitted it. I started working on it in April... It took a few rounds of editing for me to realize that my original topic wasn't working and to identify a theme that spoke to me. After that, I spent maybe three weeks of May writing and perfecting a version based on the new topic, with feedback from my mom (my harshest critic/biggest fan). I then shared it with writer friends, med school friends, and my mentor. I didn't use my premed committee's PS review service because I felt that they wouldn't provide as much personal feedback, but I'm sure it could've been useful. The response I got was very positive but not great. This was the toughest point for me... I was really proud of it and so sick of reading it, but still had this nagging feeling that it wasn't my best effort. So, I forced myself to revamp it again. The new version was MUCH better and was what I ultimately submitted in late June.

Advice:
1) Find someone who is a careful reader, whose opinion you trust, and who is willing/able to edit your work throughout the process (relative or close friend is best)
2) Don't be married to a single topic--if it's not working, try a completely different approach
3) Keep in mind that the effort and emotion you put into your writing can blind you to its weaknesses
4) Get input from 5-10 different readers, because your essay will be read by people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Ideally some of these people should be med students or MDs.
5) At the same time, trust your gut during the editing process--if the essay no longer feels like your voice, it's not!
6) Don't work on it for more than a few months. You will get so, so sick of it!

Good luck!