- Joined
- Feb 13, 2010
- Messages
- 638
- Reaction score
- 247
Okay, so I have been getting some requests about providing feedback/guidline on how to write a personal statement and what to put in there. Although I am in no way an expert on this, I have edited a fair amount of PS for members on this forum. You can ask some of the members like chinesekid, ageofdarkness, psquared22, CFused about my feedback.
I would say that the most important thing that your PS should address is why you have chosen to pursue the medical profession and & what experiences along the way have guided your interests towards a career in medicine. You should NOT attempt to answer the question why DO (this will be asked during secondaries and interviews).
I will say that, of all the PS that I have read, each usually contains one or more of the following problems:
1. It is not substantive, and does not really answer the question: Why medicine
2. It does not flow or transition nicely from paragraph to paragraph, usually because the writer has rewritten their CV in paragraph form and provided a laundry list of their extracurricular activities.
3. Some sort of cliche statement, like, the patient care tech once told me "life is about getting up after you have been hit down", and this is how successes and accomplishments are achieved. I believe this is a big part of success as a physician as well. (used as example from one of the PS I read, will keep source anonymous).
4. An obsession with over-exaggeration--ie, uses words and phrases like, "in undergrad, my immense dedication and relentless sacrifices allowed me to be successful academically (sure, I don't doubt that you did not work extremely hard, dedicate yourself to your studies, and make sacrifices, BUT, this statement makes it seem as though you did nothing but study! ADCOMS do not like 4.0 Zombies. They want humans who can carry on a conversation and have other interests outside of school and medicine. Don't make it sound like you did not but study and volunteer at a soup kitchen
5. Some sort of grammatical error. The biggest problem I have noticed is people mixing up the past and present tense. If you are talking about an experience that happened 3 years ago, you must speak in the past tense and continue to elaborate in the past tense. Also, avoid run-on sentences.
6. When describing SIGNIFICANT events that apparently influenced their desire to pursue a career in medicine, many writers will be extremely vague and generic. They fail to make the experience anecdotal and palpable. This, in turn, makes their PS sound like the 2000 other PS that ADCOMS must weed through. Use first names if you can. Describe the events (if you can remember any significant/meaningful ones).
I have read a few PS that did not have any of the aforementioned problems, but again there were far and few of those. Those personal statements were nearly finished products and I made a few notes about some things that I would change or reword.
My advice to you all would be to really sit down, and brainstorm, on a white sheet of paper about what it is that makes you want to become a doctor. This is what I did before I wrote my personal statement. What do you enjoy about medicine? What do you look forward to as a prospective medical student and a future physician. Who has influenced you on your journey. What events stand out in your mind? I listed several things on the white sheet of paper and I began making connections, and wrote my personal statement.
My PS was reviewed by 10 people (4 of which were english teachers/professors) and went through 4 revisions. You may not need as many people to read/review it, but this gives you an idea of how much time and preparation should go into it. Good luck. (sorry, still cannot take on any new requests)
I would say that the most important thing that your PS should address is why you have chosen to pursue the medical profession and & what experiences along the way have guided your interests towards a career in medicine. You should NOT attempt to answer the question why DO (this will be asked during secondaries and interviews).
I will say that, of all the PS that I have read, each usually contains one or more of the following problems:
1. It is not substantive, and does not really answer the question: Why medicine
2. It does not flow or transition nicely from paragraph to paragraph, usually because the writer has rewritten their CV in paragraph form and provided a laundry list of their extracurricular activities.
3. Some sort of cliche statement, like, the patient care tech once told me "life is about getting up after you have been hit down", and this is how successes and accomplishments are achieved. I believe this is a big part of success as a physician as well. (used as example from one of the PS I read, will keep source anonymous).
4. An obsession with over-exaggeration--ie, uses words and phrases like, "in undergrad, my immense dedication and relentless sacrifices allowed me to be successful academically (sure, I don't doubt that you did not work extremely hard, dedicate yourself to your studies, and make sacrifices, BUT, this statement makes it seem as though you did nothing but study! ADCOMS do not like 4.0 Zombies. They want humans who can carry on a conversation and have other interests outside of school and medicine. Don't make it sound like you did not but study and volunteer at a soup kitchen
5. Some sort of grammatical error. The biggest problem I have noticed is people mixing up the past and present tense. If you are talking about an experience that happened 3 years ago, you must speak in the past tense and continue to elaborate in the past tense. Also, avoid run-on sentences.
6. When describing SIGNIFICANT events that apparently influenced their desire to pursue a career in medicine, many writers will be extremely vague and generic. They fail to make the experience anecdotal and palpable. This, in turn, makes their PS sound like the 2000 other PS that ADCOMS must weed through. Use first names if you can. Describe the events (if you can remember any significant/meaningful ones).
I have read a few PS that did not have any of the aforementioned problems, but again there were far and few of those. Those personal statements were nearly finished products and I made a few notes about some things that I would change or reword.
My advice to you all would be to really sit down, and brainstorm, on a white sheet of paper about what it is that makes you want to become a doctor. This is what I did before I wrote my personal statement. What do you enjoy about medicine? What do you look forward to as a prospective medical student and a future physician. Who has influenced you on your journey. What events stand out in your mind? I listed several things on the white sheet of paper and I began making connections, and wrote my personal statement.
My PS was reviewed by 10 people (4 of which were english teachers/professors) and went through 4 revisions. You may not need as many people to read/review it, but this gives you an idea of how much time and preparation should go into it. Good luck. (sorry, still cannot take on any new requests)
Last edited:
scroll up. Sorry to be an ass, but it has been repeatedly mentioned in this that your PS should not discuss the question why DO. They will beat you over the head with this question during secondaries. Your PS should answer why you have chosen/what has motivated you to pursue the medical profession.
