AMCAS essays

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bengreenfield

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Let's talk about the essay...anybody have good suggestions for eye-grabbing and effective compositions?

I was thinking about taking a creative writing approach, but perhaps that is too unconventional. For example, since I'm a triathlete, using a race as an illustration of perseverance and versatility and my ability to apply this to academics/medicine as well. Has anybody seen or heard of some great essays, or a website with examples?

*Also*, when is a good time to start the essay, if I'm taking April MCAT's?

Later,

Ben

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best time is probably well before the mcat. when you're studying for the mcat you don't want to be distracted with anything else. and when the april mcat is over you'll probably be going through finals for school. plus it's nice to have your PS ready when you're asking for rec letters. that way you'll have everything ready to go come june and you can submit really early. :cool:

oh and using a running theme might be good. just don't try to stretch the analogy too far.
 
Start early, perhaps now itself. Give some time...ignore it...reread it and then revise. Then get it proofed through good english prof., and definitely your premed advisor. All of this takes time.

Style per se does not matter. In my opinion the essay should be YOU. After reading the essay the reader should be able to know what makes YOU special, your attributes (strengths & weaknesses). If possible it should also make clear to the reader why YOU are embarking on this career.

Essay alone without the god GPA & good MCAT will not help. It is therefore better to write/rewrite the essay now, and later focus on MCATs and other concurrent course work.

good luck,
Zingy
 
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I think the triathlete approach is good. It's something not too many people will have and if they do they likely won't base an essay on it. Be sure to talk about another aspect of yourself also; you don't want to seem as though athletics is completely you. You might as well start working on it now, when the ideas are in your head. The longer you have to proofread and construct, the better the personal statement will be.
Good luck!
 
I've been thinking alot about my personal statement as well. I need to have a rough draft of mine written before I meet with my pre-med advisor in the next month or so. I've been trying to construct a skeleton of how I want to set mine up... I ALWAYS write too much-- is the AMCAS essay 5300 words w/ spaces? Is this correct?

Also did anyone run into the problem of wondering if their essay came off as corny or pretentious? Creative writing/literature/prose is a big hobby/EC of mine, so I'd like to start my PS off with an anecdote/short story or a strong visual of a situation I was involved in that helped formulate my views toward medicine, and build it around a specific theme. I tend to write more descriptive/short-story-esque than analytical. But that can allow the cheese factor to escalate, in some people's minds.... what do you guys think?
 
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