Are you working on your personal statement?

[firebird69guy]

I haven't started yet... but have many ideas. How are you balancing studying for the MCAT beast and writing the most convincing essay of your life?

Also, have you started on your application? Just wondering..

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[tigress]

Every once in a while an idea for the personal statement will pop into my head, so I'll sit down and write it up. I'm collecting them. A few weeks ago I made a basic list of what ECs I think I'll put on the ap, but of course subject to change. I have thought a little about it, but not too much. Mostly I'm trying to focus on the MCAT right now. Hopefully some of the PS ideas I've had will translate into a good essay.

 

[pseudoknot]

I'm not going to start thinking about the essay until after the MCAT; too many things going on right now, including studying for the test...

 

[Krazed_Medic]

the thought has crossed my mind a time or two very briefly, but I'm not gonna worry about it until after the MCAT.

 

[rwk66]

Ugh, I've had enough of this stinkin' personal statement...not an easy esay to write. I've been trying to get this thing done because our pre-Health Sciences committee wants the letters of recommendation by the end of May, and I need to hand out my PS (along with transcript, etc.) to all of my letter writers. I'm hoping to get the PS done (rough draft) to hand out by the end of the week...but I doubt I'll make that deadline. I wish I could wait until after the MCAT.

 

[medicomel]

ditto. mine has to be turned into my advisor by April 1. i'm 90% there, though. i think if you come up with some kind of outline on how you want to structure your ps, along with concrete examples, you'll already be well on your way to formulating a coherent essay.

 

[Canez81]

i dont know much about the guidelines about the PS. roughly what should it include? what should it not include? how many words? pages?

 

[Prophecies]

i dont know much about the guidelines about the PS. roughly what should it include? what should it not include? how many words? pages?

I pulled up my old applications from last year. For TMDSAS the prompt is:

"In your own words, explain your motivation to seek a career in MEDICINE. Discuss your philosophy of the medical profession and indicate your goals relevant to the profession. (Limited to 62 lines and 80 characters per line)"

I can't exactly remember the one from AMCAS...but I think it was something like "Please list any additional comments that you would like the admissions committee to see..." or something like that. There was a word limit...I think 1250 or 1500. Either way...there is a limit on how much you can write.

How you approach your personal statement is up to you. From what I understand, though, the higher your GPA and MCAT scores are, typically the less of an impact your personal statement has. I had some good scores in both categories, so I kinda blew off my personal statement...I listed some major activities that I had done (volunteer work, research, teaching) and then explained how that helped me to narrow my choice of career to medicine. For people who are borderline, the personal statement is DEFINITELY key to admissions.

 

[aamartin81]

How you approach your personal statement is up to you. From what I understand, though, the higher your GPA and MCAT scores are, typically the less of an impact your personal statement has. I had some good scores in both categories, so I kinda blew off my personal statement...I listed some major activities that I had done (volunteer work, research, teaching) and then explained how that helped me to narrow my choice of career to medicine. For people who are borderline, the personal statement is DEFINITELY key to admissions.

I wouldn't take any part of the application lightly, despite your "great stats." As for specifics, the length is allowed to be 5300 characters, with returns counting as two, spaces as one. This works out to around a page and a half in MS Word.

Good Luck,

Adam

 

[Prophecies]

I wouldn't take any part of the application lightly, despite your "great stats." As for specifics, the length is allowed to be 5300 characters, with returns counting as two, spaces as one. This works out to around a page and a half in MS Word.

Good Luck,

Adam

I didn't say that this portion (or any other portion) of the application process should be taken lightly. I didn't even give advice on how to handle your personal statement...I merely said that the personal statement is weighed more heavily on those students who are "borderline." As far as "I wouldn't take any part of the application lightly, despite your 'great stats'"--I didn't, thanks.

 

[aamartin81]

As far as "I wouldn't take any part of the application lightly, despite your 'great stats'"--I didn't, thanks.

I apologize if you took offense to my response, but in your original post, you wrote: "I had some good scores in both categories, so I kinda blew off my personal statement..." You can understand my confusion.

Apparently, whatever you wrote was good enough to get into medical school, a position I hope to be in. I just wanted to emphasize the importance of not having any glaring weaknesses in the application.

Good luck,

Adam