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We all know that your GPA and MCAT score are important metrics when applying to medical schools. But it’s your personal statement that makes you truly stand out as a dynamic human being who is more than just numbers. And while there’s a lot of opportunity within the personal statement to show who you are, why you’re unique, and why you’re passionate about medicine, there are also a lot of mistakes you can make.
Great candidates get rejected every year for writing about bad topics. To make sure you avoid this common pitfall in the application process, here are 3 medical school personal statement topics to avoid:
The Injured Athlete
Playing sports is important to your development as a person—particularly when you overcome an injury. And most of the time, this type experience is one that truly helped you on your path towards medical school. But you need to think about how this story is read objectively.
First, tearing your ACL (while horrible and tough to overcome) is not the same as battling cancer or some other life-threatening or long-term condition. In fact, when you do focus on something like an ACL tear, it calls into question whether you understand the full scope of medicine or have the right perspective.
Second, know your reader. Not every AdCom member is going to be a sports nut, and even if they are, this topic is so common that it naturally grows boring after you’ve read a couple hundred similar essays.
Instead, focus on your personal background and development towards medicine. Think about about your clinical experience and patient interactions. Save the epic sports story for the movies.
Exaggerating Adversity
This example goes hand-in-hand with the sports injury. And it’s all about putting yourself in perspective.
While your own, personal adversity has without a doubt played a role in your development towards medical school, you need to understand the bigger picture. There might be students applying to your schools who grew up homeless or have battled serious illness or experienced tragic losses in their lives. And while that doesn’t mean your personal hardships aren’t meaningful, you do need to understand them in a comparative sense.
If you are someone who has experienced significant adversity in your life, work to keep your overall message of your personal statement positive. The emphasis should be on overcoming obstacles and growing in the face of hardship.
Repeating Your Activities and Experiences Section
The personal statement is an incredible opportunity to say something new about yourself. Wasting that space by repeating your activities is a missed opportunity.
Many students fall into this trap without fully realizing it—mainly because the personal statement is sometimes seen as the place where you should tell your life story. But it isn’t. Focusing on 2-3 main stories or anecdotes as major, developmental moments of growth leads to a much stronger essay than trying to explain everything you’ve ever done (because, as you’re probably well aware, you have to do a lot of things before you apply to medical school).
A good way to avoid falling into this trap is to have a general framework of how you want to present yourself in your personal statement first; to draft your activities descriptions second; and to then draft your essay third. If you have already written out your descriptions, you should be able to clearly see the repetition if it arises.
Want more personal statement advice? One of our Harvard Former Admissions Committee Members is hosting a webinar on 3/28 on the medical school personal statement. Register here, or schedule a consultation to receive concrete feedback on your medical school candidacy.
Great candidates get rejected every year for writing about bad topics. To make sure you avoid this common pitfall in the application process, here are 3 medical school personal statement topics to avoid:
The Injured Athlete
Playing sports is important to your development as a person—particularly when you overcome an injury. And most of the time, this type experience is one that truly helped you on your path towards medical school. But you need to think about how this story is read objectively.
First, tearing your ACL (while horrible and tough to overcome) is not the same as battling cancer or some other life-threatening or long-term condition. In fact, when you do focus on something like an ACL tear, it calls into question whether you understand the full scope of medicine or have the right perspective.
Second, know your reader. Not every AdCom member is going to be a sports nut, and even if they are, this topic is so common that it naturally grows boring after you’ve read a couple hundred similar essays.
Instead, focus on your personal background and development towards medicine. Think about about your clinical experience and patient interactions. Save the epic sports story for the movies.
Exaggerating Adversity
This example goes hand-in-hand with the sports injury. And it’s all about putting yourself in perspective.
While your own, personal adversity has without a doubt played a role in your development towards medical school, you need to understand the bigger picture. There might be students applying to your schools who grew up homeless or have battled serious illness or experienced tragic losses in their lives. And while that doesn’t mean your personal hardships aren’t meaningful, you do need to understand them in a comparative sense.
If you are someone who has experienced significant adversity in your life, work to keep your overall message of your personal statement positive. The emphasis should be on overcoming obstacles and growing in the face of hardship.
Repeating Your Activities and Experiences Section
The personal statement is an incredible opportunity to say something new about yourself. Wasting that space by repeating your activities is a missed opportunity.
Many students fall into this trap without fully realizing it—mainly because the personal statement is sometimes seen as the place where you should tell your life story. But it isn’t. Focusing on 2-3 main stories or anecdotes as major, developmental moments of growth leads to a much stronger essay than trying to explain everything you’ve ever done (because, as you’re probably well aware, you have to do a lot of things before you apply to medical school).
A good way to avoid falling into this trap is to have a general framework of how you want to present yourself in your personal statement first; to draft your activities descriptions second; and to then draft your essay third. If you have already written out your descriptions, you should be able to clearly see the repetition if it arises.
Want more personal statement advice? One of our Harvard Former Admissions Committee Members is hosting a webinar on 3/28 on the medical school personal statement. Register here, or schedule a consultation to receive concrete feedback on your medical school candidacy.
