** 2013-2014 Personal Statements **

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theeleventhhour

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Just curious where all your personal statements ended up, out of the 4500 character limit. I'm currently sitting at ~4000 and I'm not sure if I should add more or not. Also, did you guys indent your paragraphs or just separate them with a blank line?
 
I'm at 4,357, separated with a blank line between paragraphs.

I was well above 4,500 with my first few drafts
 
I'm at exactly 4500. Also have blank line between paragraphs. Makes it look much nicer.
 
I am at 5800 characters and I am struggling with taking anything out. I feel like everything I have said is important......
 
3600 characters. I might add or remove some, I don't know.
 
theeleventhhour said:
Just curious where all your personal statements ended up, out of the 4500 character limit. I'm currently sitting at ~4000 and I'm not sure if I should add more or not. Also, did you guys indent your paragraphs or just separate them with a blank line?
Click to expand...

Since tab does not work, an indent is worth several characters. A blank line is only one extra character. If you are searching for characters to cut, then do the line.

Also, do EITHER the indent or the extra line. NOT BOTH. I have seen this several times, and is poor formatting.

Don't make it longer, just to make it longer. Only add if it makes for a better composition.

dsoz
 
Definitely dont add more than you need to! The character max is just that - a max! If your statement is complete, interesting, and flows nicely - leave it alone 🙂
 
What does it matter how long someone else's PS is? Length has no bearing whatsoever on quality.
 
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2 spaces below the maximum

My roommates when he applied was a 8 sentence paragraph

Moral of the story- if it's interesting it's just that/if its not don't torture people into reading a suck long PS
 
I guess those of us who put two spaces after a period need to change our ways for the AACOMAS application, heh.
 
At ~5200. Doing MD PS first. I'm just going to delete a paragraph or something for DO statement.
 
I am going over my PS now. What are the important things to consider in the primary PS? Do I need to mention why I am interested in osteopathic medicine?
 
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At 4493! It was so hard to reduce the length..
 
4500 exactly, and unintentionally.

I was actually at 4501, but I found an extra space somewhere.
 
Use every character to your advantage. Did you really explain that experience? Do you need another descriptive phrase? Did you remember to expand your contractions?
 
i think about 4300
 
I mean... if it was significantly relevant to your interest in medicine then you may choose to include it. Your app is being read by professionals, as long as you write in a professional manner you should be fine.
 
If it truly affected your decision to enter medical school, then definitely use it! Just tell the truth.
 
gmcguitar4 said:
If it truly affected your decision to enter medical school, then definitely use it! Just tell the truth.
Click to expand...

This. Remember the adcoms are people too, they enjoy a good story and that is likely one they have not seen before. If nothing else they are going to remember your story when they are reading their 10,000th personal statement about volunteering in the ER or something.
 
Jlaw said:
This. Remember the adcoms are people too, they enjoy a good story and that is likely one they have not seen before. If nothing else they are going to remember your story when they are reading their 10,000th personal statement about volunteering in the ER or something.
Click to expand...

You want to stick out and your story will help you do that.
 
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After numerous revisions and drafts, I'm not sure how I feel about my PS. I'm really interested in addiction psychiatry, and while having some EC's and research to back my interest, I'm not sure if it suits me best to make it the focus of my PS.

Since this is the reason I want to go into medicine, is it going to hurt me mentioning my greatest interest? Since most DO schools are focused on primary care, I feel as if this will weed me out. Thoughts?
 
HowDidIGetHere said:
After numerous revisions and drafts, I'm not sure how I feel about my PS. I'm really interested in addiction psychiatry, and while having some EC's and research to back my interest, I'm not sure if it suits me best to make it the focus of my PS.

Since this is the reason I want to go into medicine, is it going to hurt me mentioning my greatest interest? Since most DO schools are focused on primary care, I feel as if this will weed me out. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I would try to phrase it so that your interest in psychiatry and research sparked your desire to go into medicine...not so much that you are 100% going to be a psychiatrist...know what I mean? Don't outline what your future career path is going to be. Just show them your general interest in medicine, and why you have an interest in medicine.
 
armpitsOFmight said:
I'm focusing on pathology in mine and I've shown it to 2 MDs. One's wife was on an admissions committee and she said it was fine for a primary personal statement. It also helps that I worked in anatomic pathology for 3 years.
Click to expand...

Did you also check economically disadvantaged because you live under a bridge?
 
Sure did!! I get free wi-fi here too!!
 
HowDidIGetHere said:
After numerous revisions and drafts, I'm not sure how I feel about my PS. I'm really interested in addiction psychiatry, and while having some EC's and research to back my interest, I'm not sure if it suits me best to make it the focus of my PS.

Since this is the reason I want to go into medicine, is it going to hurt me mentioning my greatest interest? Since most DO schools are focused on primary care, I feel as if this will weed me out. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Hey we have a similar background... I work at NIH and do addiction research... a lot of family doctors do addiction research... and psychiatry could be seen as primary care perhaps and not all DOs go into primary care.. I know top psychiatrists who are DO's.... so feel free to discuss it...
 
A large minority of DOs don't go into primary care. If you get invited to an interview, make sure you look up the school's most recent match list and regurgitate it to them. More than likely, at least a third of their fourth years went into other specialties.
 
armpitsOFmight said:
If you get invited to an interview, make sure you look up the school's most recent match list and regurgitate it to them. .
Click to expand...

...really? Schools don't really expect you to have this information, right?... where could you even find it?

Thanks
 
They post it on SDN all the time. Do a search for the school you're interested in and make sure you include "match list" and a date.
 
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My whole personal statement was about how I wanted to do family medicine. It was true at the time. I don't think there is anything wrong with writing about a specific speciality, especially if its primary care. I don't know if the pathology personal statement will work very well considering pathology is completely unrelated to the basic principles of osteopathic medicine. Pathology, however, is a very DO friendly field.
 
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I used almost all 4500 and had to make several revisions to get it to size. It came down to rephrasing sentences and changing out words.
 
Samuel3 said:
I am going over my PS now. What are the important things to consider in the primary PS? Do I need to mention why I am interested in osteopathic medicine?
Click to expand...

I think it could help, if you have an experience you can relate to wanting to be a physician as well as a DO specifically. I had a sizeable chunk on mine.
 
If I were to use a particular exp I had in the ER as a scribe which made me more passionate about medicine in my personal statement, would that in any way make my application weaker due to the fact that I am describing how I enjoy ER medicine since DO schools are looking to fill in the shortage of primary care physicians

Would they think that "Oh this guy basically wants to be a ER physician but this guy love primary care.."
 
discowisco said:
If I were to use a particular exp I had in the ER as a scribe which made me more passionate about medicine in my personal statement, would that in any way make my application weaker due to the fact that I am describing how I enjoy ER medicine since DO schools are looking to fill in the shortage of primary care physicians

Would they think that "Oh this guy basically wants to be a ER physician but this guy love primary care.."
Click to expand...


I wouldn't think so. What is important is that you show an interest and passion for medicine. They're not going to penalize you if you don't want to become a primary care doc. There's plenty of students who are passionate about primary care and want to do that. 🙂
 
Besides DOs go into every and any specialty. Schools obviously know this. As long as they can see you're passionate about the medical field i'm sure you're fine.
 
To echo the above, you're fine. Just be sure to articulate why you're going DO when it comes to the interview (and maybe secondary application).
 
discowisco said:
If I were to use a particular exp I had in the ER as a scribe which made me more passionate about medicine in my personal statement, would that in any way make my application weaker due to the fact that I am describing how I enjoy ER medicine since DO schools are looking to fill in the shortage of primary care physicians

Would they think that "Oh this guy basically wants to be a ER physician but this guy love primary care.."
Click to expand...

Something that I have seen and heard through shadowing DOs and MDs and some work in the EMS field as a EMT-B, EM is very DO friendly, as ER doctors are not really a master at one general thing (cardiologists for example) they are more or less a "jack of all trades" kind of person. I do not by any means bash higher end specialties because they arguably know a little more on the matter anyways, just from personal experience both family practitioners and ER doctors are similar in a lot of ways when it really boils down to what they do on a day-to-day basis.

To answer your question shortly, pick something your passionate about and show the ADCOMs how you really feel and your passion will shine through: good impressions.
 
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