Changing personal statement

[lahaiesi]

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Hey guys! So I, unfortunately, am forced to take a gap year. During this year, I am reapplying. I heard that I should change my personal statement from my last statement but I'm not sure how much I should change on it. Should I keep most of it and just add a bit on what I plan to do with my gap year or should I change the whole statement? Thanks!

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

Hey guys! So I, unfortunately, am forced to take a gap year. During this year, I am reapplying. I heard that I should change my personal statement from my last statement but I'm not sure how much I should change on it. Should I keep most of it and just add a bit on what I plan to do with my gap year or should I change the whole statement? Thanks!

Did you get interviews?? A lot more information is needed to really give you adequate advice.

Some report that you should definitely change your opening and closing paragraphs. OThers say reflect on what went wrong in the previous cycle, and adjust accordingly. Did you contact any schools for advice on improvement?? Was your school list the problem (then you don't really need to change, as it will be the first time they will see your PS).

 

[quiktrip]

Personally, I just edited my original essay. The main idea stayed the same, but I reworded some stuff to make it more clear etc. I also added one more example from recent clinical experience to make it sound better.

I know that some people use exactly the same PS and still get in. Some people decide to completely restart from the scratch, some people just "edit" things.

I called my state school to ask why I was waitlisted (or more like what can I do to improve my application).
I was told that my PS was not the problem. I did revise my PS by working with my premed advisor, my friends etc. I do think that my PS sounds much better, even though it is clear that I revised this essay based my previous personal statement.

I guess my advice would be, YES you should edit it. However, it is hard for your "why medicine" to change drastically in one year. Personally, I don't think you need to completely rewrite it, but I think there are always ways to improve.

 

[lahaiesi]

Did you get interviews?? A lot more information is needed to really give you adequate advice.

Some report that you should definitely change your opening and closing paragraphs. OThers say reflect on what went wrong in the previous cycle, and adjust accordingly. Did you contact any schools for advice on improvement?? Was your school list the problem (then you don't really need to change, as it will be the first time they will see your PS).

I didn't get interviews. Made one waitlist. Two of the schools I'm applying to will be the same and the others will be changing.

 

[lahaiesi]

Personally, I just edited my original essay. The main idea stayed the same, but I reworded some stuff to make it more clear etc. I also added one more example from recent clinical experience to make it sound better.

I know that some people use exactly the same PS and still get in. Some people decide to completely restart from the scratch, some people just "edit" things.

I called my state school to ask why I was waitlisted (or more like what can I do to improve my application).
I was told that my PS was not the problem. I did revise my PS by working with my premed advisor, my friends etc. I do think that my PS sounds much better, even though it is clear that I revised this essay based my previous personal statement.

I guess my advice would be, YES you should edit it. However, it is hard for your "why medicine" to change drastically in one year. Personally, I don't think you need to completely rewrite it, but I think there are always ways to improve.

I talked to the advisor at the school I was waitlisted at also and she said the same thing. I was figuring I'd do the same as you with some editing and then maybe add an excerpt on what I will be doing during this gap year. Thanks for the advice!

 

[parkinson906]

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[Grace184]

@gyngyn and @Goro always recommend a rewrite as they usually compare old and new apps and will see that you didn't bother(read lazy) to rewrite your PS and will usually scrap it. You can keep the theme the same but there's tons of ways to say the same thing. You don't need to rewrite EC descriptions though- checked with them on that. I'm a fellow reapp as well.