AMCAS personal statement... help help help please!!

[toastess]

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what am i supposed to put in here? wht is important enough to tell them in my allotted 5300 characters? i am so behind on my application... any advice anyone could give me would be awesome.

 

[Haybrant]

what am i supposed to put in here? wht is important enough to tell them in my allotted 5300 characters? i am so behind on my application... any advice anyone could give me would be awesome.

Stay calm; People on this site are a bit ahead but that doesnt mean that you should start having a panic attack. Just use your time wisely and you'll be fine.

 

[NubianPrincess]

Your statement is your chance to tell adcoms something about you that can't be discovered from your MCAT score or GPA. I don't know what you should write about but good luck.

 

[Medikit]

How important is this section? This is the question you should be asking. Well in my opinion it's right up there with GPA and MCAT score. Since you're applying you probably have the MCAT score and the GPA, now it's time to write a fine essay that helps you stand out from all the other applicants. No pressure

 

[jlee9531]

you havent applied yet? hmm. well i hope you have overall solid credentials.

the personal statement is a very important section on the AMCAS. It is basically where you tell them why you and medicine are meant to be.

why medicine?
what factors have influenced you in making this decision to pursue medicine?

 

[Dr.LeoSpaceman]

what am i supposed to put in here? wht is important enough to tell them in my allotted 5300 characters? i am so behind on my application... any advice anyone could give me would be awesome.

Toastess, it is my guess that you are also an ND student...man the world of internet message boards it quite small sometimes. If you want to PM me, I could share my PS with you to maybe get your mind jump-started.

 

[frantic983]

.

 

[principessa]

What is ND?

 

[stinkycheese]

you havent applied yet? hmm. well i hope you have overall solid credentials.

Everyone needs solid credentials to get in, not just August AMCAS'ers. Don't make this person feel worse than they already do; August is not technically late, anyway.

 

[jlee9531]

Everyone needs solid credentials to get in, not just August AMCAS'ers. Don't make this person feel worse than they already do; August is not technically late, anyway.

i dont make people feel worse intentionally. i try to be honest since it is a valid observation that some august mcaters do miss out on some opportunities that are presented to people who apply early on like i did. my GPA wasn't great so i had to send out my apps as early as possible to gain advantage i could at the rolling schools.

sending in an AMCAS around this time means that it takes a lot longer to process as well since AMCAS is well down to have problems around this time and be backed up around this time as well. If you have really solid credentials, then you don't have to worry about the August effect. If you have a red flag in your application, then its a valid concern.

 

[stinkycheese]

I appreciate your response. I just feel like sometimes you could choose your words a little differently, although I do agree with your points.

 

[jlee9531]

I appreciate your response. I just feel like sometimes you could choose your words a little differently, although I do agree with your points.

why hide it? after reading over 30 personal statements for the 2005 sdn cycle people, i found it to be much more helpful to these people that really want honest feedback and not something sugar coated. when my friends want to know an honest opinion, they all come to me.

but i agree...my tone hasn't been the brightest recently. most of my posts are usually diff but just have some stuff on my mind.

 

[toastess]

What is ND?

notre dame


and thanks for the advice guys. 🙂

 

[djohnston]

hey man- chill
I know a guy with 3.7 29 MCAT started applying late October- He got in (NYMC) so all isn't lost if you're not done and interviewing already

 

[Tkehinde]

Does anyone know if it's okay to put in your personal statement that you are interested in primary care? is this a turn off for most schools?

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

Does anyone know if it's okay to put in your personal statement that you are interested in primary care? is this a turn off for most schools?

Likely a turnoff for top research schools. If your not applying to schools that blather on and on about their research, but rather emphasize clinical skills, patient care, physician ethics, then I would go ahead and include it. Harvard is not aiming to train primary docs, but NYMC is. Just my opinion.

 

[docjolly]

one minor off topic question: I'm finishing up my personal statement..5300 characters is equivalent to how many pages??? Thank you 🙂

 

[fourthyearmed]

Does anyone know if it's okay to put in your personal statement that you are interested in primary care? is this a turn off for most schools?

If you're applying to your state schools that is a plus. Definitely put it because that's what they're looking for - someone to do primary care in underserved areas - not another anesthesiologist or dermatologist for the big city. I would definitely put it if you mean it. I've known lots of people of said it just to get it but I disagree with that. Always tell the truth.

 

[Tkehinde]

I'm actually not applying to my state schools but this is my genuine interest. I thought of another way of saying how I feel and that is by saying that I am interested in preventive medicine. I also stated this ranges from simply raising awareness in the community regarding individual preventive measures as well as working in the lab seeking preventions.

 

[Jason110]

one minor off topic question: I'm finishing up my personal statement..5300 characters is equivalent to how many pages??? Thank you 🙂

About a page and a half single spaced (at least it was for me). Always look for the character count in MS Word. It's under "Tools" >> "Word Count". And remember, AMCAS (and every secondary I've seen) counts spaces as characters.

Jason

 

[aparecida]

one minor off topic question: I'm finishing up my personal statement..5300 characters is equivalent to how many pages??? Thank you 🙂

5300 characters is about one page with single spaced Arial 10 point font if I recall correctly. If using Word, you can select Tools - Word Count and you will get a character count (look at the one that includes spaces). Give yourself a bit of leeway since the AMCAS form counts hard returns as several extra characters. Also if using Word, be sure no special autoformatted characters (like curvy apostrophes or long dashes) are included, as they'll format to weird things on the AMCAS.

 

[Radio Edit]

most people turn theirs in in early june. id say youre significantly behind!

 

[Jason110]

5300 characters is about one page with single spaced Arial 10 point font if I recall correctly. If using Word, you can select Tools - Word Count and you will get a character count (look at the one that includes spaces). Give yourself a bit of leeway since the AMCAS form counts hard returns as several extra characters. Also if using Word, be sure no special autoformatted characters (like curvy apostrophes or long dashes) are included, as they'll format to weird things on the AMCAS.

Always, always, proofread before you press 'submit' on AMCAS.

 

[Dr.LeoSpaceman]

most people turn theirs in in early june. id say youre significantly behind!

That is just baltantly untrue. Maybe most people on SDN turn theirs in around early June, but as it has been noted this place is not characteristic of the applicant pool. I would say the average submisson date is around mid-late july. So whle it is a little later, its not significantly late...I would save that for sept/oct submissions.

 

[topworm]

Here's my quick 'n' easy recipe for assured acceptance:

Start with "I was born in..."
Recall a death. If you don't know of one, make one up.
State how you've loved science ever since you got that chemistry/slime lab in 3rd grade
Lastly, make sure you write how you'd just love to help people and make this world a happier place 😍 <---include a little drawing of yourself

Sorry... I had to.

But seriously. Just avoid these tips and write from the ol' ticker. Find some honest motivation, but just do it soon. I know I had planned on turning all my stuff in by the end of june, but somehow a month or two passed by and I didn't submit my applications until the end of July. Now my transcripts haven't even been processed yet and August is almost over! Aye aye aye!

Also... be glad it isn't the osteopathic essay. That thing can only be 3000 characters. I didn't know this until after i'd perfected my AMCAS essay, then had to go through and delete like every other paragraph.

 

[tgerwuds]

what am i supposed to put in here? wht is important enough to tell them in my allotted 5300 characters? i am so behind on my application... any advice anyone could give me would be awesome.

I would suggest you write about 3 things (a la TMDSAS)

1. Your motivation for a career in medicine.
2. Your philosophy about medicine.
3. Your goals relating to the field.

However, you need to make it "personal" and specific. Back up your assertions with examples from your life such as work, school, sports, family,... etc etc. Basically, you need to put anything here that makes you who you are.

Hope this helps.

 

[sylvamoon]

for post secondary experiences -publications, can i just type my abstract in the space or does that look bad