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[premedprincess26]

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[MaxPlancker]

Unfortunately, seeing a successful one won't help you much as each is tailored to the applicant. If you really want to see successful ones, they are all over Google. My best advice would be to first let someone read the one that you've been working on for years...and then proceed from there.

 

[Frog Kid]

My schools library had a book called 'Essays That Will Get You into Medical School' which has about 30-40 essays from students accepted at many of the top schools. I'm currently in the final stages of editing my personal statement, and this book helped me out a lot with brainstorming, as well as providing many tips on structure, flow, do's and don't's, etc. Granted, many of these students seemed like super star applicants to begin with, so how heavily the book stresses importance of personal statement as opposed to the rest of the application should be taken with a grain of salt, but that aside, I would definitely recommend it.

 

[premedprincess26]

My schools library had a book called 'Essays That Will Get You into Medical School' which has about 30-40 essays from students accepted at many of the top schools. I'm currently in the final stages of editing my personal statement, and this book helped me out a lot with brainstorming, as well as providing many tips on structure, flow, do's and don't's, etc. Granted, many of these students seemed like super star applicants to begin with, so how heavily the book stresses importance of personal statement as opposed to the rest of the application should be taken with a grain of salt, but that aside, I would definitely recommend it.

was this the princeton review book?

 

[Frog Kid]

was this the princeton review book?

'Essays That Will Get You into Medical School' is the one that I used, but I bet a Princeton review version would serve the same purpose.

 

[MaxPlancker]

Just because someone was accepted to a top school doesn't mean their PS was noteworthy. In fact, most PSs are neutral. A few are cringeworthy and a few are memorable. It's somewhat impractical and against your odds to try and craft a stellar PS (even if you and everyone you know thinks its awesome, it probably isn't). The goal should be a PS that effectively conveys what you want.

 

[Frog Kid]

Just because someone was accepted to a top school doesn't mean their PS was noteworthy. In fact, most PSs are neutral. A few are cringeworthy and a few are memorable. It's somewhat impractical and against your odds to try and craft a stellar PS (even if you and everyone you know thinks its awesome, it probably isn't). The goal should be a PS that effectively conveys what you want.

Sure, but if someone was accepted to a top school, and their PS was strong enough to be published in a book showcasing high-quality personal statements, I would say that they are at least noteworthy enough to give a read. The book is also not just a compilation of essays, and is helpful in explaining their process for the reader to develop their own high-quality PS. I think you'd have to read the essays to have a strong opinion of them, and how we define what a strong PS is probably different, but the essays in this book are definitely not neutral or cringe worthy.

 

[MaxPlancker]

Sure, but if someone was accepted to a top school, and their PS was strong enough to be published in a book showcasing high-quality personal statements, I would say that they are at least noteworthy enough to give a read. The book is also not just a compilation of essays, and is helpful in explaining their process for the reader to develop their own high-quality PS. I think you'd have to read the essays to have a strong opinion of them, and how we define what a strong PS is probably different, but the essays in this book are definitely not neutral or cringe worthy.

Eh it could be more of a marketing gimmick. The PS's published might not necessarily be strong, they just have to be from someone accepted to a top school. As I haven't seen the essays, I can't comment on their specific quality. If they are awesome, then that's great.

My point in making my post was not to say that the essays you are referring to are of ___ quality. My point was that the PS of people accepted to top schools aren't necessarily noteworthy. I would imagine that (hopefully) the essays in any published book wouldn't be cringeworthy or neutral; an above average PS also likely seems great to the average pre-med. I guess what I'm REALLY trying to say is that it's usually not worth spending too much time and obsessing over the PS.

 

[Frog Kid]

Eh it could be more of a marketing gimmick. The PS's published might not necessarily be strong, they just have to be from someone accepted to a top school. As I haven't seen the essays, I can't comment on their specific quality. If they are awesome, then that's great.

My point in making my post was not to say that the essays you are referring to are of ___ quality. My point was that the PS of people accepted to top schools aren't necessarily noteworthy. I would imagine that (hopefully) the essays in any published book wouldn't be cringeworthy or neutral; an above average PS also likely seems great to the average pre-med. I guess what I'm REALLY trying to say is that it's usually not worth spending too much time and obsessing over the PS.

Fair enough. I don't disagree that one shouldn't spend too much time obsessing over the PS. I was just suggesting the book I used as a good resource for someone looking for direction on their PS. In my opinion the book chose high-quality personal statements rather than just a batch of essays from matriculants at the top schools (in which case I agree there would probably be some less than noteworthy essays).

 

[tantacles]

OP has deleted the primary post. Closing.