Adcoms & Others: Personal Statements Turn-offs

[PreMedMissteps]

When you’re reading Personal Statements, what are turn-offs?

Are you turned off by stories of how a family member’s serious illness/death inspired them?
Are those stories only meaningful if the student had “clinical care experiences” with that ill/dying relative?

What are you looking for in a strong PS?

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[riverrunner]

Aristotle's Logos, Pathos, Ethos. These, in balance. I don't read medical school PS's, but I do work with students writing essays for undergrad admission. My 2 cents.

 

[Goro]

When you’re reading Personal Statements, what are turn-offs?

Are you turned off by stories of how a family member’s serious illness/death inspired them?
Are those stories only meaningful if the student had “clinical care experiences” with that ill/dying relative?

What are you looking for in a strong PS?

Don't write as if you're using a thesaurus right at your side.

Avoid any hint of entitlement

Do not place an emphasis on Research over clinical practice

For God's sake, do not use the name of school X when you're applying to school Y.

Avoid spelling mistakes.

Have multiple eyeballs vet your writings, especially if you are a non-native English speaker.

Always be able to articulate why medicine, and who are you

Do not use the personal statement to make excuses

Do not use the personal statement to explain your failings

If your secondary essays read much worse than your primary, that's a clue that you bought your primary essay

Avoid any hint in your essay of hubris, ego, or "X specialty or bust" mindset.

 

[Toutie]

For God's sake, do not use the name of school X when you're applying to school why.

Avoid spelling mistakes.

Those 2 comments back to back made me giggle.

 

[PreMedMissteps]

For God's sake, do not use the name of school X when you're applying to school why.

Avoid spelling mistakes

Those 2 comments back to back made me giggle.

Why? Theirs nothing wrong with them.

 

[907914]

I learned this the hard way: Don’t be overly descriptive or literary. Minimum information to get the maximum point across is always better.

 

[freedoctor17]

My personal statement was way under the character limit (used like 3500 instead of the 5000 or so that's allowed) and I had one interviewer comment on how they enjoyed reading my personal statement due to it being emotional yet still highlighting my passion for medicine in a simple and short way.

I would never have gotten it to that point without all the help of the people on here who revised it for me and my close friends that also helped so make sure to get a ton of eyes on it. Some feedback is bad though so be careful to sort through it well. I had one person give me terrible feedback and I just said thank you and moved on haha.

 

[Goro]

Why? Theirs nothing wrong with them.

Luckily I'm not applying to medical school so I can get away with that

 

[Med Ed]

When you’re reading Personal Statements, what are turn-offs?

The following words: fascinated, fascinating, enthralled, enthralling, passion, passions, passionate, deft, deftly, amazed, amazing, alleviate.

Any statement that tries to open with a hook. Just tell me how you got here and we'll call it good.

 

[RNtoMD87]

My personal statement was way under the character limit (used like 3500 instead of the 5000 or so that's allowed) and I had one interviewer comment on how they enjoyed reading my personal statement due to it being emotional yet still highlighting my passion for medicine in a simple and short way.

I would never have gotten it to that point without all the help of the people on here who revised it for me and my close friends that also helped so make sure to get a ton of eyes on it. Some feedback is bad though so be careful to sort through it well. I had one person give me terrible feedback and I just said thank you and moved on haha.

That's what I've done. I prepared mine a couple years before I'll be submitting it and have pretty much every doctor I know look at it and send me corrections.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Does AMCAS give the same prompts for its PS every cycle?

 

[907914]

The following words: fascinated, fascinating, enthralled, enthralling, passion, passions, passionate, deft, deftly, amazed, amazing, alleviate.

Any statement that tries to open with a hook. Just tell me how you got here and we'll call it good.

For an otherwise good PS, what would you recommend to get around usage of these buzzwords while entailing the same thematic vibe?

 

[freedoctor17]

For an otherwise good PS, what would you recommend to get around usage of these buzzwords while entailing the same thematic vibe?

It doesn't really need a thematic vibe. An adcom i met straight up told me just tell me why you wanna be a doctor nice and simple. I'm sure every adcom is sightly different but she explained to me that she was sick of reading personal statements that were trying to wow her when they didn't have anything to do with medicine. I remember she told me someone wrote their personal statement about baseball or something like that and it was well written but made some bizarre connections about team work to medicine and didn't actually say anything legit about why they want to be a doctor so to her that was an immediate trash pile. She said if it was boring but at least clearly stated why they wanted to be a doctor they would have been much better off.

 

[907914]

It doesn't really need a thematic vibe. An adcom i met straight up told me just tell me why you wanna be a doctor nice and simple. I'm sure every adcom is sightly different but she explained to me that she was sick of reading personal statements that were trying to wow her when they didn't have anything to do with medicine. I remember she told me someone wrote their personal statement about baseball or something like that and it was well written but made some bizarre connections about team work to medicine and didn't actually say anything legit about why they want to be a doctor so to her that was an immediate trash pile. She said if it was boring but at least clearly stated why they wanted to be a doctor they would have been much better off.

I totally agree with that, it just needs to answer “Why medicine” and “why me.” I guess I meant along the lines of “enthralled by the human system” type of things. Or “their passion for the well being of patients.” Thematic vibe was the wrong phrasing...I guess just, how to get the same point across without the cliches.

 

[freedoctor17]

I totally agree with that, it just needs to answer “Why medicine” and “why me.” I guess I meant along the lines of “enthralled by the human system” type of things. Or “their passion for the well being of patients.” Thematic vibe was the wrong phrasing...I guess just, how to get the same point across without the cliches.

Although i agree with most of the words med ed mentioned i don't think saying passion is that baad as long as you don't over do it.

But for your other point that's where using real examples from your life come in. You don't have to say "i have a passion for their wellbeing" you can tell a story showing it.

 

[ciestar]

Does AMCAS give the same prompts for its PS every cycle?

What do you mean? A PS is a PS.

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

What do you mean? A PS is a PS.

Does AMCAS give the same prompts for its PS every cycle?

Well technically yes? Just that the prompt every year has been 'Why medicine?'.

 

[Med Ed]

For an otherwise good PS, what would you recommend to get around usage of these buzzwords while entailing the same thematic vibe?

Use more common language and take a "show, don't tell" approach.

By "show, don't tell" I mean use examples. It's one thing to say "I was enthralled by the human system," it's a better thing to write, in clear, simple terms, how that enthrallment manifested.

I am clarifying the "show, don't tell" directive because I have encountered individuals who mistakenly think it means to write in highly descriptive terms. See this gem of a thread.

 

[Med Ed]

Does AMCAS give the same prompts for its PS every cycle?

"Here's your space for personal comments. 5300 character limit. Have fun."

 

[907914]

Use more common language and take a "show, don't tell" approach.

By "show, don't tell" I mean use examples. It's one thing to say "I was enthralled by the human system," it's a better thing to write, in clear, simple terms, how that enthrallment manifested.

I am clarifying the "show, don't tell" directive because I have encountered individuals who mistakenly think it means to write in highly descriptive terms. See this gem of a thread.[/

Thank you for adding my ignorance about personal statements to your repertoire of bad examples. I hope to act as a bastion of foolishness for generations of pre-meds to come.

Seriously though, since then the PS has done a 180. It is down to syntax and word choice stuff now (I hope). While I have found 2 MED students to review it, is there anywhere else on SDN where we are able to find PS editors?

 

[gyngyn]

To the previous list of thesaurus detritus, may I add my personal pet peeves: panoply and plethora (passion has been previously noted!).

 

[MacBee]

I have encountered individuals who mistakenly think it means to write in highly descriptive terms. See this gem of a thread.

Thank you for adding my ignorance about personal statements to your repertoire of bad examples. I hope to act as a bastion of foolishness for generations of pre-meds to come.

Hahahaaa oh my god, this is great. @Med Ed was that planned, or totally a coincidence?? (I’m hoping for the latter)

 

[Goro]

Sage counsel, y'all:
· https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/youre-doing-it-wrong-part-1-your-personal-statement.1247362/


https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/youre-doing-it-wrong-part-2-your-experiences.1247838/#post-18746176