a few more TIPS for PS statements

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I've had the honor of being asked to read some PS essays. And WOW! You guys all have such great experiences! I was amazed!

Based on what I've read... I'd like to put some tips here.

1. Cut out the run-on sentences.

This is a sentence: "The man fell off a cliff."

This is THREE sentences: "A man fell of a cliff, I wanted to help him, because he had broke his ankle, and this sparked my interest in medicine."

I know how it is... I used to be the run-on sentence queen... but they really do sound bad... and can get really confusing.

2. A lot people seem to want to put down research. I understand that many of you are not interested in research. That's fine... and certainly you should explain in your essay why research is not for you... but a lot of the people who sent me their essays inadvertantly made research some like a useless, cold, impersonal activity that only nerdy, anti-social people would want to do. Seriously, almost every essay I read had an element of this in it...

Those are just two things I thought I should mention to everybody. Hope this helps someone :)

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I'm gonna link this to my PS thread, if you don't mind :)

Here's the link to my thread:
<a href="http://forums.studentdoctor.net/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=013547" target="_blank">Tips on writing a Personal Statement</a>
 
RP - Can I email you my essay? It is very rough. I think it could be way off, or I think it could be good. I really don't know. Plus I think I've forgotten how to write in any form other than email in the past 4 years. :)
You game?
 
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•••quote:•••Originally posted by Zoobaby:
•RP - Can I email you my essay? It is very rough. I think it could be way off, or I think it could be good. I really don't know. Plus I think I've forgotten how to write in any form other than email in the past 4 years. :)
You game?•••••Sure... PM it to me :)
 
This is going to sound crass, probably because it is, but I have your best interests at heart here so bear with me.

After reading a lot of your essays, some of which were well-written and coherent, I was struck by the amount of conformity in the subjects covered. The same old stuff is probably not going to set you apart from the crowd, I gotta say. I read a few essays about dealing with low-income patients that were basically the same, some about "always wanting to be a doctor," a slew about volunteer work.

I understand that all these experiences may have been important to you, but I hope you realize that adcoms get a lot of homogeneity in the essays they read and you are part of it.

Take some risks--use a little humor, write with some style. Punch it up. I would be willing to bet that a coherent essay that stands out from the rest will do more for you than any earnest treacle you could ever write.
 
This is my second round of application. I believe that my first PS was very strong (humorous, poignant, etc)--is it necessary to write a new one (which would probably be weaker)?
 
It'd probably be a good idea to try and maybe update your old PS if you can. I dunno...I think if you're applying for a 2nd time it's good to show the schools that you're a different and more improved person than the one that applied first time around. That was the tact I took at least and I think my PS the 2nd time was stronger and had more feeling behind it as a result. That's just a thought though
 
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