* * 2010 - 2011 * * Personal Statement Thread
Started by ShyRem
To ShyRem or any other moderators: are there going to be volunteer readers like before who can read through some of the SDNers' personal statements and give feedback/proofreading corrections?
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check the stickies on the pre-allo forum
...at least in my situation. It's only been half a year (I applied very late). Most of my application is the same, my background is the same, my motivation for being a doctor is the same, etc. etc.
And also the reasons I didn't get in are unrelated to my PS. Yet most of the things I've read lead me to believe that rewriting a PS is necessary...
Anyone else have experience with this?
And also the reasons I didn't get in are unrelated to my PS. Yet most of the things I've read lead me to believe that rewriting a PS is necessary...
Anyone else have experience with this?
What have you done since you last applied in the last 6 months? Is there more relevant work experience? Was there a significant experience volunteering? I would include anything new that you have done in the past 6 months. I know with my application I completely rewrote my personal statement and took the focus away from one aspect of my application to the amazing clinical experience I've been able to gain and experiences I've had over the past year. Most of the statement is the same, parts about education, parts about other experience, etc. but the basis and theme of the essay changed.
It really depends on the person and what you've changed since your last application. If you think its the best thing you have ever written and still holds entirely true go ahead and re-use it. I read somewhere else on here though that adcoms can and will have both this year and last year's applcations in front of them when you re-apply to the same school so you better make sure your personal statement is damn good and worthy of being read twice
I suppose it's worth a re-write, but my experience or outlook hasn't significantly changed, I merely continued doing what I have been (more research, more clinical experience, more grade-boosting). That's the primary problem. So while my application has improved...I have little to add to a PS.
A week longer in the early cycle won't hurt you at all
Agreed, especially at opening but its also possible to simply list the courses as in progress, send the transcripts when they are complete and then AACOMAS will update them to the grades after the fact so you can still apply day 1 if you'd like. The difference is fairly negligible, it'd be a few dollars or a few days
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I'm generally modifying mine. The basic themes and structure are still there but it's essentially heavy tweaking. Streamlining some parts, removing others that I fear are less relevant.
I did use basically the same PS from the first to second application. I got two interviews the second go around, none the first; the deciding factor apparently being the increase in MCAT scores. I think as long as there is at least SOME difference that helps your chances, you should be fine. Just show that you did something.
I did use basically the same PS from the first to second application. I got two interviews the second go around, none the first; the deciding factor apparently being the increase in MCAT scores. I think as long as there is at least SOME difference that helps your chances, you should be fine. Just show that you did something.
My bad if I'm asking a dumb question. But I searched both the detailed pdf on the AACOMAS website, and the other threads, but I can't seem to find the prompt for the personal statement. Having said that, would you guys happen to know the prompt? 🙂
I don't think there is really any prompt for the personal statement. You are free to talk about yourself, your life experiences, challenges you may have faced, and any or all academic or personal achievements.
It is not like the secondary essays which may ask you to talk about a specific topic.
Note that it is limited to 4500 characters (including spaces) and they recommend that you use WordPad and not MS Word, as Word will change the appearance.
Reference: Page 23 http://www.aacom.org/InfoFor/applicants/documents/instructions.pdf
I was a PS reader a few summers ago before I started med school and now am a 2nd year and have some time this summer to help out. Please put me on the list as well.
I am an English/Finance major and have served on admissions committees for my undergrad institution and have done some work for the PCOM committee as well. As a reader/editor, I have the following approach:
- I look for overall content, structure, and grammar
- I look to see if you have answered the question appropriately and what your "personal story" is
- Finally, I make sure that the statement is fluid and reads like a true narrative instead of being choppy and disorganized
I would prefer if you would PM me if you would like your PS read and then I'll send you my personal email addy. Please send it to me in a word doc and I will do a track changes version of the edits. I am happy to read secondaries as well or give you overall advice about the process.
Good luck 🙂
I am an English/Finance major and have served on admissions committees for my undergrad institution and have done some work for the PCOM committee as well. As a reader/editor, I have the following approach:
- I look for overall content, structure, and grammar
- I look to see if you have answered the question appropriately and what your "personal story" is
- Finally, I make sure that the statement is fluid and reads like a true narrative instead of being choppy and disorganized
I would prefer if you would PM me if you would like your PS read and then I'll send you my personal email addy. Please send it to me in a word doc and I will do a track changes version of the edits. I am happy to read secondaries as well or give you overall advice about the process.
Good luck 🙂
My personal statement is written specifically to answer the "Why a doctor?" question. I read somewhere that when applying to DO schools and writing the personal statement - explain why you're choosing a DO program over an MD one. Is this necessary? Do I have to change around my current personal statement and further direct it towards "Why do I want to become a DO doctor?"
Thanks!
Thanks!
I am a reapplicant and my PS this cycle focuses on the things I have done to improve my application since last time I applied (entering a Masters program, more shadowing, volunteering, etc.). I had it read by a doctor friend of my dad's who was on the adcom of a nearby medical school up until several years ago, and he said it was a really strong personal statement and only gave me a couple of minor details to edit.
Then I went to my undergrad university's career center today for an appointment with a premed advisor (no clue what his qualifications are but I'm gonna guess that 1) he was too young to have ever been on an adcom and 2) he is not in medical school because I'm pretty sure that his full-time job is advising). He basically told me to rewrite the whole thing to focus on "why medicine" and "why DO". My questions are:
1) I was under the impression that there was no set prompt, so it is perfectly acceptable for me to write about whatever I want. Is this true?
2) In line with what the previous poster asked, "why DO" is not necessary in your personal statement, correct? I have already started working on an essay to answer the "why DO" question because I thought it was mainly for secondary application essays. Please correct me if I am wrong.
3) Whose advice would you take? I'm inclined to go with the past adcomm... (I'm also having two other docs review my PS right now too).
Thank you in advance!
Then I went to my undergrad university's career center today for an appointment with a premed advisor (no clue what his qualifications are but I'm gonna guess that 1) he was too young to have ever been on an adcom and 2) he is not in medical school because I'm pretty sure that his full-time job is advising). He basically told me to rewrite the whole thing to focus on "why medicine" and "why DO". My questions are:
1) I was under the impression that there was no set prompt, so it is perfectly acceptable for me to write about whatever I want. Is this true?
2) In line with what the previous poster asked, "why DO" is not necessary in your personal statement, correct? I have already started working on an essay to answer the "why DO" question because I thought it was mainly for secondary application essays. Please correct me if I am wrong.
3) Whose advice would you take? I'm inclined to go with the past adcomm... (I'm also having two other docs review my PS right now too).
Thank you in advance!
okay now i'm worried b/c i am talking about why i want to be a D.O. in my ps and I didn't even think about that being an essay for secondaries, is it bad if an essay for my secondary is similar to my ps?
Hey everyone, i'm an accepted d.o. student starting this august...
I'm also an eng. tutor at my local college, and am accustomed to reading and editing people's essays.
Anyways, I went through the process last year and am willing to help look over anyone's personal statement if they want. Also willing to send mine if anyone is curious or wants to look at an example. (PM me if you're interested and I'll provide an email).
Good luck! : )
I'm also an eng. tutor at my local college, and am accustomed to reading and editing people's essays.
Anyways, I went through the process last year and am willing to help look over anyone's personal statement if they want. Also willing to send mine if anyone is curious or wants to look at an example. (PM me if you're interested and I'll provide an email).
Good luck! : )
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Hi, i was wondering if you could send me yours so that i can get an idea 🙂
thanks!
thanks!
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Currently brainstorming for my personal statement. Was wondering if someone could critique my flow of ideas.
I want to open by discussing my research, not in detail, but rather the small role I played and how it was a humbling experience in that i had such a small, yet important role. Then I want to segway into my volunteer work, and again, admit the near insignificance of my duties. Then I want to say that once I paid my dues, this allowed me to take on a larger responsibility with tutoring, and leading the bio honor society. The idea is I want to tie in teamwork and humility, and how sometimes my role was small, but always important for the benefit of the "team". I want to end by attempting to tie teamwork and humility in my reasons for wanting to pursue medicine.
Obviously these are just rough thoughts, but I'm just trying to figure out if I'm moving in the right direction or not. Thanks
I want to open by discussing my research, not in detail, but rather the small role I played and how it was a humbling experience in that i had such a small, yet important role. Then I want to segway into my volunteer work, and again, admit the near insignificance of my duties. Then I want to say that once I paid my dues, this allowed me to take on a larger responsibility with tutoring, and leading the bio honor society. The idea is I want to tie in teamwork and humility, and how sometimes my role was small, but always important for the benefit of the "team". I want to end by attempting to tie teamwork and humility in my reasons for wanting to pursue medicine.
Obviously these are just rough thoughts, but I'm just trying to figure out if I'm moving in the right direction or not. Thanks
I think your overall concept of teamwork and humility is good and tying it into why you would like to pursue medicine would work. Just try to stay away from giving the adcom a timeline of your resume. If it starts to look too much like your resume, brainstorm another way to get your point across.
Anyone willing to look over my PS? I messaged about 15 people from the PS thread of people willing to review but only got 3 responses, so if anyone else has some time, that'd be great.
Thanks 👍
I could always adjust the writing style, it's the overall theme and content i'm more worried about.
I'm one of those people who are actually extroverts, but are too shy to exert that personality socially, if that makes sense. Do you know that numbing feeling when everyday of your life you act like somebody that youre not because of insecurities, shyness, or w/e reason? When I am not being at a situation where i have social issues, I am assertive. I speak my mind. I have all these qualities that leaders have. I know being a doctor requires you to step out of that shell and be able to stand up for your words and actions. Only a few people that I am close to get to experience the real me and I wish everyone can experience that. Even in research or in lab, I am the follower not the leader, which kills me inside. At first I wanted to be a PA but that would leave me stuck in this hole that I'm hiding in my whole life and that I believe that being a Physician will allow me to be the real me and force myself to get over my issues and to also practice my passion of medicine. Do you guys think this would be a good theme in my personal statement? Or will it make me look bad to adcoms...Please help!
I don't think I'd focus on this.
From your post, it doesn't sound like you have gotten better. It seems as if you are expecting medical school to force you to get out of your comfort zone. It may, but I don't think that's a good thing to present to an adcom. It would be different if you started out undergrad this way but by app time you had changed. But even then, I still don't think it should be the main focus of your PS.
It would be something to touch on, perhaps showing how you've grown, but then I'd move on to something else. Have you reflected on what made you want to become a physician? Or what specific talents/skills/attitudes/experiences/etc that you could bring to medical school that might make you unique?
I honestly just don't think this is the best topic to focus on for you PS. From your post, it just doesn't sound like you've overcome your social problems.
I was wondering the same thing. Do our personal statements for D.O. schools have to discuss why D.O.?
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Primary personal statements do not have to be "why D.O." but rather "why medicine". The primary PS is more like a lead-in for your secondary PS. The schools at that point would like to know more about "why D.O." They'd like to hear about experiences (certainly unique ones) that have contributed to your decision to pursue medicine.
By the way, I am available for proofreading your personal statements!
should I use contractions?
i think my PS flows better and sounds more personal with contractions
i think my PS flows better and sounds more personal with contractions
I used some contractions. It sounded better. Who knows though? I wanted my essay to sound like me, so that's how I wrote it. I don't think contractions are bad but you should try to beef up your language so you don't use too many. Also, all the contractions I used were along the lines of that's or I'm. I steered away from negatives to keep a positive tone throughout my essay.
I think a few contractions are fine. I mean, it's going to be someone reading this very quickly, not somebody taking the time to grade it as if it were a research paper. Do whatever flows better, because that's what's going to sound better to the person reading it as well.
will do. found another thread about it too and there were others who used contractions as well
So I am still learning about DO schools but it seems like only a few of them are interested in research (is this accurate?)
I am hoping to use the same PS for the DO schools as I did for MD (just need to trim off like 200 characters). For a good chunk of my AMCAS PS I discussed my research (I'm currently getting a masters so that's all I do) and how this shows I'm a dedicated individual... and how I'm interested in research once I am a physician. Though I'm also as interested in the clinical side. One of my mentors got to interact with patients, do surgeries, and direct an entire research lab [I would love that!]
Anyways, my question is -- will DO schools throw out my application because I talk to much about research (~2600 characters) and that isn't there interest. I feel like I can't exclude that whole part because of my masters, but I could narrow down on the part that I like the idea of being a physician-scientist... but than they might be confused about why I am getting the masters.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Sorry if something like this has already been discussed [i tried searching]
I am hoping to use the same PS for the DO schools as I did for MD (just need to trim off like 200 characters). For a good chunk of my AMCAS PS I discussed my research (I'm currently getting a masters so that's all I do) and how this shows I'm a dedicated individual... and how I'm interested in research once I am a physician. Though I'm also as interested in the clinical side. One of my mentors got to interact with patients, do surgeries, and direct an entire research lab [I would love that!]
Anyways, my question is -- will DO schools throw out my application because I talk to much about research (~2600 characters) and that isn't there interest. I feel like I can't exclude that whole part because of my masters, but I could narrow down on the part that I like the idea of being a physician-scientist... but than they might be confused about why I am getting the masters.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Sorry if something like this has already been discussed [i tried searching]
US MD is 5300 characters max -- so yea, DO is hard to cut down to
Any advice? I am assuming the lack-there-of means the research aspect of my personal statement will be OK.
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Adcomm I met with said contractions are okay (in moderation) if it sounds like how you would actually speak.
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I think I was only able to get about 4200. If you think you addressed all your main points, then I think it would make it worse to pad it with filler. Despite my horrible mcat writing score ( I honestly didn't prepare for this at all and didn't realize you could make stuff up), I am generally a very good writer and have received high praise for my writing.
I like it short and sweet.
I like it short and sweet.
Say what you need to say and that's it. Fluff will only piss off whoever's reading your PS which will be the X00th one he's read
what did your reader(s) say about it? What did they get out of your PS? Is it the same thing you wanted them to get? In the end, they should not remember how long your essay is or how you write it but they should remember YOU.
Hope that helps =)
Hope that helps =)
Your PS is your chance to provide details about yourself, tell your story, etc. Don't skimp. But, at the same time, if you've said what you needed to say to generate interest or explain certain aspects of who you are, then so be it. I don't think anyone reading it is keeping score as to number of characters; they're thinking completeness.
I don't want to play devil's advocate TOO much here ... but if it's solid, I wouldn't try to add fluff. Put it this way ... think about how many personal statements adcoms have to read through. If one was shorter, well-stated, and too the point ... well, that may be something to remember. You know??
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