advice.....

[wdmichels16]

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Im looking for some personal statement advice and not really sure how to handle it. Just some background, I'm hoping to go D.O. I have a 3.56 GPA 3.33 science, MCAT in a month. A couple hundred hours of shadowing, some volunteering here and there. Extra curricular activities include Cross Country (fall), Track and Field(spring), AED, Psi Chi, and a couple clubs. Along with medical research coming this summer. Im not too happy with my grades but I know I could have done better if I didn't have certain family issues going on for the past 10 years. Such as my father having to undergo 7 spinal fusions (T1-L4) with every complication in the book, 3 cases of meningitis, 1 stroke, a dead pituitary gland, multiple CSF leaks, just to name a few, throughout my middle school, high school, and college careers. Furthermore this semester alone my sister and father have been hospitalized 5x combined, (dads currently in again now). All of these scenerios I've had to leave campus and manage. Sometimes being awake 40-45 hours in a row to not only keep them alive, but to keep my grades up and make it to class no matter what it took. Ive even experienced a health problem here and there undergoing a few surgeries to repair torn shoulder ligaments. Im not trying to sob or beg for sympathy or anything, but is it ok to put these things in my personal statement? Is it ok to get deep like this in a personal statement? My plan is to discuss how I've grown from these life challenges and how I've matured, and the lessons they have taught me, such as being a caretaker, perseverance, etc. The experiences have had great effects on me in positive manners, and instilled me with a great drive to succeed academically to the best of my ability and still compete in sports, along with my drive to become a physician.

 

[Magus5454]

Im looking for some personal statement advice and not really sure how to handle it. Just some background, I'm hoping to go D.O. I have a 3.56 GPA 3.33 science, MCAT in a month. A couple hundred hours of shadowing, some volunteering here and there. Extra curricular activities include Cross Country (fall), Track and Field(spring), AED, Psi Chi, and a couple clubs. Along with medical research coming this summer. Im not too happy with my grades but I know I could have done better if I didn't have certain family issues going on for the past 10 years. Such as my father having to undergo 7 spinal fusions (T1-L4) with every complication in the book, 3 cases of meningitis, 1 stroke, a dead pituitary gland, multiple CSF leaks, just to name a few, throughout my middle school, high school, and college careers. Furthermore this semester alone my sister and father have been hospitalized 5x combined, (dads currently in again now). All of these scenerios I've had to leave campus and manage. Sometimes being awake 40-45 hours in a row to not only keep them alive, but to keep my grades up and make it to class no matter what it took. Ive even experienced a health problem here and there undergoing a few surgeries to repair torn shoulder ligaments. Im not trying to sob or beg for sympathy or anything, but is it ok to put these things in my personal statement? Is it ok to get deep like this in a personal statement? My plan is to discuss how I've grown from these life challenges and how I've matured, and the lessons they have taught me, such as being a caretaker, perseverance, etc. The experiences have had great effects on me in positive manners, and instilled me with a great drive to succeed academically to the best of my ability and still compete in sports, along with my drive to become a physician.

I talked about how the illness and subsequent death of a family member turned my academic career around.

 

[kelminak]

Your PS is a place to show your strengths. If you can show it in a way that makes you look stronger for it and not weak, you can definitely put it in there. It sounds like you're on the right track. GL on your MCAT.