Advice on ERAS Personal Statement

[HopelessMS]

I will be applying broadly (nationwide) next cycle, but have a regional preference. [edited out] I did a SDN search but could not find an adequate answer so please advise.

ERAS allows an upload of a personal statement. Do I convey in the PS obvious clues that I prefer that particular region or should the PS be more general? Since I am applying broadly, I don’t want programs to toss my application if they are not in my preferred region.

If it’s a general PS, does ERAS allow the ability to contact programs in my preferred region to convey my interest? If not, do I need to send correspondence to each program separately in my preferred region after submission? What/How can I do to get programs in my preferred region to consider my app since I can’t do an away elective there and don't have "strong ties"?

Thank you all!

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[TelemarketingEnigma]

You can upload multiple personal statements - you could write a general statement with no regional hints and then a separate statement to send to programs in your region of interest, or even separate ones for each program. I did this for a couple programs in the city where my parents live - just a couple sentences stating why I would be excited to come back to the area and something i liked about their program.

it doesn't sound like this applies to you, but if you can claim a hometown in the region or even list it as your permanent address that does get noticed by PDs (for better or for worse, depending on how strong a hint you want to send about your regional preference). Several specialties used supplemental apps this year with the option to indicate regional preferences as well - but I'm not sure how helpful that ended up being as my specialty didn't use them.

 

[mistafab]

Just make sure if you write multiple personal statements that you clearly label the file differently and double check which statement is going to which program before submission.

Don't want to be that guy/gal who waxes on about the east coast to midwest programs.

 

[HopelessMS]

Thank you! Without access to the ERAS application, I did not know we could upload multiple personal statements!

 

[Ganon]

You can upload multiple personal statements - you could write a general statement with no regional hints and then a separate statement to send to programs in your region of interest, or even separate ones for each program. I did this for a couple programs in the city where my parents live - just a couple sentences stating why I would be excited to come back to the area and something i liked about their program.

it doesn't sound like this applies to you, but if you can claim a hometown in the region or even list it as your permanent address that does get noticed by PDs (for better or for worse, depending on how strong a hint you want to send about your regional preference). Several specialties used supplemental apps this year with the option to indicate regional preferences as well - but I'm not sure how helpful that ended up being as my specialty didn't use them.

This is the way