DO Personal Statements

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The pre-allopathics SDN have a personal statement reader volunteer system set up. Is there one for pre-osteophatics? If so, can you copy the link to the thread in this thread?

Thank you,

Verónica
 
I'd recommend using the one in that subsection.

I think a personal statement shouldn't be different between DO and MD. It should explain why you want to be a physician and the experiences you have that have solidified your commitment to medicine and helping others. From what I've gathered on here, as well as my own personal application experience, the essays can be identical.
 
DrEnderW said:
I'd recommend using the one in that subsection.

I think a personal statement shouldn't be different between DO and MD. It should explain why you want to be a physician and the experiences you have that have solidified your commitment to medicine and helping others. From what I've gathered on here, as well as my own personal application experience, the essays can be identical.
Click to expand...
I don't know what's going on with the PS reader list. I sent a message to just about everyone on that list and only got 1 person who responded, and they have a 2 week back log.

Either I am not sending my PM's correctly, they are slammed with requests or something else.

Really wanted more than 1 set of eyes on my PS, just in case.
 
DrEnderW said:
I'd recommend using the one in that subsection.

I think a personal statement shouldn't be different between DO and MD. It should explain why you want to be a physician and the experiences you have that have solidified your commitment to medicine and helping others. From what I've gathered on here, as well as my own personal application experience, the essays can be identical.
Click to expand...

The DO PS is shorter than the MD PS. DO is 4500 and MD is 5300. I was also going to tailor the DO PS for DO schools, talking about how I like Osteopathic medicine and my experience with it.

I feel like some things that I say in my PS are going to be the same topics that my secondary applications ask. What should I do in that case? I am not certain but I think that DO schools will ask why I choose to apply to DO schools. Thus, should I leave out the osteopathic stuff on my preliminary application personal statement.

Thank you for all your advice.
 
Yes, seems like you've thought this through thoroughly. Every DO secondary will ask "why DO, why osteopathic, why us?" or some variation of that. In your secondary, you can hit the reasons for your interest in DO specifically.

Even though the DO essay is longer, I'd be carefully about getting to wordy and lengthy (Adcoms have to read thousands). If the shorter version suffices for AMCAS, it's def fine for AACOMAS. Again, I'd keep it to the story of why medicine and your path to get here - why am I certain medicine is my future and why I am the perfect candidate.

You could hit DO briefly if you'd like, but you'll have multiple essays later for that.

Good luck!
 
DrEnderW said:
Yes, seems like you've thought this through thoroughly. Every DO secondary will ask "why DO, why osteopathic, why us?" or some variation of that. In your secondary, you can hit the reasons for your interest in DO specifically.

Even though the DO essay is longer, I'd be carefully about getting to wordy and lengthy (Adcoms have to read thousands). If the shorter version suffices for AMCAS, it's def fine for AACOMAS. Again, I'd keep it to the story of why medicine and your path to get here - why am I certain medicine is my future and why I am the perfect candidate.

You could hit DO briefly if you'd like, but you'll have multiple essays later for that.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

That is not true. MD ps is 5300, DO is 4500.
 
tinylilron said:
The DO PS is shorter than the MD PS. DO is 4500 and MD is 5300. I was also going to tailor the DO PS for DO schools, talking about how I like Osteopathic medicine and my experience with it.

I feel like some things that I say in my PS are going to be the same topics that my secondary applications ask. What should I do in that case? I am not certain but I think that DO schools will ask why I choose to apply to DO schools. Thus, should I leave out the osteopathic stuff on my preliminary application personal statement.

Thank you for all your advice.
Click to expand...

I did tailor my PS for DO. Essential both my personal statements had the same reason of why I wanted to become a physician, but I had my experiences with osteopathic medicine and why I liked osteopathic medicine. I did that because I wanted to show that I did my homework, was genuinely interested in osteopathic medicine and it was not just a backup plan for me.

As for secondaries, I remember touching a little bit of the same topics that my PS did but I really tried to write about different topics and different attributes about myself that I didn't cover in my PS. I did this because you only have so much you can give to schools to convince them to interview and select you. So I wanted to share more about myself and give them more reasons to select me. However, I agree, don't get too wordy. Keep it brief and concise.
 
There's 2 other threads on this on this page.
 
Acerbus said:
I did tailor my PS for DO. Essential both my personal statements had the same reason of why I wanted to become a physician, but I had my experiences with osteopathic medicine and why I liked osteopathic medicine. I did that because I wanted to show that I did my homework, was genuinely interested in osteopathic medicine and it was not just a backup plan for me.

As for secondaries, I remember touching a little bit of the same topics that my PS did but I really tried to write about different topics and different attributes about myself that I didn't cover in my PS. I did this because you only have so much you can give to schools to convince them to interview and select you. So I wanted to share more about myself and give them more reasons to select me. However, I agree, don't get too wordy. Keep it brief and concise.
Click to expand...

Okay sounds good. And I plan to start doing more shadowing with DOs so hopefully I will have more to talk about in my secondaries. Thank you for all your help.

Are you a current medical student or re-applicant?
 
Yeah. I agree we need DO PS readers. Two of the allopathic readers have offered to read mine, and I'm greatly thankful for that. However, I would also love for someone to look at my PS from a DO approach.

My personal statement has undergone over 15 revisions so far; one revision was as recent as today.

It was very challenging for me to fit everything I want to say in 4500 characters, especially that I have a long life experience and wanted to mention my experience with DO as well. Thanks to some of the readers, I was able to trim off lots of fat until I got it down to just below the limit.

Who wants to read???
 
Ibn Alnafis MD said:
Yeah. I agree we need DO PS readers. Two of the allopathic readers have offered to read mine, and I'm greatly thankful for that. However, I would also love for someone to look at my PS from a DO approach.

My personal statement has undergone over 15 revisions so far; one revision was as recent as today.

It was very challenging for me to fit everything I want to say in 4500 characters, especially that I have a long life experience and wanted to mention my experience with DO as well. Thanks to some of the readers, I was able to trim off lots of fat until I got it down to just below the limit.

Who wants to read???
Click to expand...

Did you get them from the allopathic thread? Did you just contact everyone on it? I contacted 3-4 of them and no response. I suppose I just should ask all of them.
 
tinylilron said:
Did you get them from the allopathic thread? Did you just contact everyone on it? I contacted 3-4 of them and no response. I suppose I just should ask all of them.
Click to expand...

yeah you should. Last year, I was fortunate that a well-respected DO on this forum agreed to read my letter, so you could also try that.
 
tinylilron said:
Okay sounds good. And I plan to start doing more shadowing with DOs so hopefully I will have more to talk about in my secondaries. Thank you for all your help.

Are you a current medical student or re-applicant?
Click to expand...

Neither. I will be attending med school in the fall.
 
anyone up to read my personal statement? 😛
 
Ibn Alnafis MD said:
yeah you should. Last year, I was fortunate that a well-respected DO on this forum agreed to read my letter, so you could also try that.
Click to expand...

Ibn... are you only applying to Osteopathic schools?
 
Woland said:
That is not true. MD ps is 5300, DO is 4500.
Click to expand...

I wonder why it is shorter... I feel like I need to write more in my essay for my DO applications... :-/
 
tinylilron said:
I wonder why it is shorter... I feel like I need to write more in my essay for my DO applications... :-/
Click to expand...

I don't think this is true.

Every secondary application will ask you "Why DO and why our school?" You can elaborate on your commitment to the osteopathic approach there.

Personal statement should be an exciting hook of how you found your passion for medicine and why you're a strong choice for a future physician. Answer why medicine in general, why am I situated to be a successful doctor, and how did my experiences shape me into this person. Add the osteopathic piece if you actually have a meaningful/unique experience that has guided you to a more patient-centered, holistic approach - shadowing your family physician doesn't count. I was accepted to 100% of the DO schools I applied to and didn't mention a single thing to do with osteopathic medicine or any of that - I think it detracts from you goal of eloquently and succinctly explaining your candidacy.

tl;dr:
Some adcoms will literally see thousands of these, you need to have a hook and be to the point. Save the osteopathic part for the designated space in the secondary.
 
I don't mind reading some personal statements, if you guys want to PM me. Understand, I'm no different than any other pre-med...or accepted pre-med, but I don't mind giving an extra opinion or looking at grammar.
 
tinylilron said:
Where?
Click to expand...

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=1002521

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=1002265

tinylilron said:
I wonder why it is shorter... I feel like I need to write more in my essay for my DO applications... :-/
Click to expand...

They are both really long actually. You don't have to put more into the DO one, just answer "why osteopathic medicine?". Be concise, interesting and genuine. That's it. You don't need nor should you include your whole life story into it.

Also, if you think 4500 characters is short, just wait until you are required to answer "why do?" & "why this school?" in 500 characters or 250 word secondary essays.

For the secondaries, I recommend completely rewriting them so you sound sufficiently different from your PS. Be original with them, even if some of your answers overlap with the PS, just present the info in a different way or from a different perspective.
 
DrEnderW said:
I don't think this is true.

Every secondary application will ask you "Why DO and why our school?" You can elaborate on your commitment to the osteopathic approach there.

Personal statement should be an exciting hook of how you found your passion for medicine and why you're a strong choice for a future physician. Answer why medicine in general, why am I situated to be a successful doctor, and how did my experiences shape me into this person. Add the osteopathic piece if you actually have a meaningful/unique experience that has guided you to a more patient-centered, holistic approach - shadowing your family physician doesn't count. I was accepted to 100% of the DO schools I applied to and didn't mention a single thing to do with osteopathic medicine or any of that - I think it detracts from you goal of eloquently and succinctly explaining your candidacy.

tl;dr:
Some adcoms will literally see thousands of these, you need to have a hook and be to the point. Save the osteopathic part for the designated space in the secondary.
Click to expand...

Thanks guys... I will save the DO part for the secondaries. I have stuff to say and I am not sure it will fit into my primary PS so I will save it for the secondaries. Is there somewhere we can find the secondary prompts while we are waiting for them to roll in?
 
DrEnderW said:
I'd recommend using the one in that subsection.

I think a personal statement shouldn't be different between DO and MD. It should explain why you want to be a physician and the experiences you have that have solidified your commitment to medicine and helping others. From what I've gathered on here, as well as my own personal application experience, the essays can be identical.
Click to expand...

Yes they can be identical but at the same time the DO adcoms also know applicants pretty much cut and paste their their personal statements from MD schools (stated by Goro). It would be a plus if one does mention about experience working with a DO.
 
I'll read. I was accepted to a DO school this year. I also worked in my Undergrad's Writing Center for 2 years, so I have a experience working with personal statements. [And I have nothing to do until school starts in August.]
 
Pharmakon said:
I'll read. I was accepted to a DO school this year. I also worked in my Undergrad's Writing Center for 2 years, so I have a experience working with personal statements. [And I have nothing to do until school starts in August.]
Click to expand...

Thank you. I am currently reworking my personal statement but I would love to send you mine soon. 🙂
 
DrEnderW said:
I don't think this is true.

Every secondary application will ask you "Why DO and why our school?" You can elaborate on your commitment to the osteopathic approach there.

Personal statement should be an exciting hook of how you found your passion for medicine and why you're a strong choice for a future physician. Answer why medicine in general, why am I situated to be a successful doctor, and how did my experiences shape me into this person. Add the osteopathic piece if you actually have a meaningful/unique experience that has guided you to a more patient-centered, holistic approach - shadowing your family physician doesn't count. I was accepted to 100% of the DO schools I applied to and didn't mention a single thing to do with osteopathic medicine or any of that - I think it detracts from you goal of eloquently and succinctly explaining your candidacy.

tl;dr:
Some adcoms will literally see thousands of these, you need to have a hook and be to the point. Save the osteopathic part for the designated space in the secondary.
Click to expand...

I agree with this 100%. Personal statements should grab the ADOM members attention and answer the main question, WHY MEDICINE. The personal statement is not a place to make a laundry list of your extracurricular activities, but rather an opportunity to provide meaningful insight/example on how your experiences shaped your passion towards a career in medicine. I applied both allopathic and osteopathic, and my personal statements for both were nearly identical. I just changed the wording/trimmed some fat from the DO PS because of the shorter limit, without removing any substance.

And as the poster above mentioned, secondaries will provide you with ample opportunity to answer the question, WHY DO?

I have been accepted and am waitlisted at another school as well. I edited several PS this past year, one for one of my good friends who got accepted to KCUMB. I'd be happy to read some and provide feedback. just PM me.
 
I also have a personal statement if anyone has the time to read through it and throw a little feedback at me. Congrats to those who got accepted and good luck to all this coming cycle! Let's get it!
 
Guys I have been bombarded by requests for now and will not be able to take on any more requests for the next week or two. I will try to let you guys know when I am will to take on more requests.
 
+1
 
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I don't know what to do .
I wrote my PS abt my grandmother and her health struggles and upcoming throughout the years and alot of reviewers do not like it but I don't feel like writing my PS on abt the many experiences I had in medicine I think that too many other pre-meds do that and I dont like jumping from topic to topic.

SN-- I wrote it abt my granmother because she was my first encounter with 'medicine'
 
maybemed2013 said:
I don't know what to do .
I wrote my PS abt my grandmother and her health struggles and upcoming throughout the years and alot of reviewers do not like it but I don't feel like writing my PS on abt the many experiences I had in medicine I think that too many other pre-meds do that and I dont like jumping from topic to topic.

SN-- I wrote it abt my granmother because she was my first encounter with 'medicine'
Click to expand...

I'm truly very sorry for the health troubles your grandma had. However, that is the hands down #1 cliche story not to tell... almost everyone by the time they hit their 20s has had a similar experience.

There was a post by Goro (involved in med school admissions and very well respected member here), I think a few days ago on another thread that said absolutely don't write about that.
 
maybemed2013 said:
I don't know what to do .
I wrote my PS abt my grandmother and her health struggles and upcoming throughout the years and alot of reviewers do not like it but I don't feel like writing my PS on abt the many experiences I had in medicine I think that too many other pre-meds do that and I dont like jumping from topic to topic.

SN-- I wrote it abt my granmother because she was my first encounter with 'medicine'
Click to expand...

Be sure to ask why they dont like it.

From what I've seen, and having read dozens of PS's, I've found that subject matter is not really that important, but content and maturity level expressed is. Does it cover what it needs to, does it read well/polished, do you come across as an interesting and motivated person, etc.

feel free to PM me your PS if you want some feedback, but if several readers don't like it, dont use it
 
Thanks for the feedback but I have to get started on something. I have a mock interview at my uni next Thurs at 2pm.
 
the essays can be identical.
9.jpg
 
I dont know wtf to do. I feel like if I wrote about 4 different reasons why I what to be a doctor it is not going to flow properly, that why I stick to my grandmother for my first PS.
 
IH8ColdWeath3r said:
I agree with this 100%. Personal statements should grab the ADOM members attention and answer the main question, WHY MEDICINE. The personal statement is not a place to make a laundry list of your extracurricular activities, but rather an opportunity to provide meaningful insight/example on how your experiences shaped your passion towards a career in medicine. I applied both allopathic and osteopathic, and my personal statements for both were nearly identical. I just changed the wording/trimmed some fat from the DO PS because of the shorter limit, without removing any substance.

And as the poster above mentioned, secondaries will provide you with ample opportunity to answer the question, WHY DO?

I have been accepted and am waitlisted at another school as well. I edited several PS this past year, one for one of my good friends who got accepted to KCUMB. I'd be happy to read some and provide feedback. just PM me.
Click to expand...

From reading this, I feel like sticking to discussing my grandmother and NOt doing a PS that combines how my ECs has shaped me into becoming a doctor.
 
Is the 4500 characters with or w/o space?
 
And if you writing in Word, it should be reported by Word as 4492 with spaces.
 
Also after each sentence should I do 1 space or 2 spaces?
In my English classes I was taught 2 spaces.
 
How old was your English teacher? (Serious question.) 2 spaces were convention when typing on a typewriter. If they learned to type that way, via typewriter and not a word processor, then they may just be passing that down.
 
Pharmakon said:
How old was your English teacher? (Serious question.) 2 spaces were convention when typing on a typewriter. If they learned to type that way, via typewriter and not a word processor, then they may just be passing that down.
Click to expand...

hahaha. exactly what I thought. It is definitely 1 space.
 
What's everyone's opinion on the 4500 character limit

I have been refining my PS and is now around 3800 characters.
Is that fine or should I add more?
 
Hi all. I was wondering what is your opinion on starting a PS about a smoking I certainly do not want to offend an adcom if he happens to be a smoker. The idea ties up with the rest of the story though. Btw, I had written a PS previously and got accepted to a post bac with it. I am hoping to gain an acceptance from that school as well for next year. I just felt that my current PS is not strong enough so I wish to revise it or should I keep it the way it is since the school did read my PS after all? Thank you again SDN!
 
I really need help my committee did NOt like my PS so I have to start over again.

So I am thinking my PS should contain information about my like of scientific knowledge and caring and how being a doctor would fulfill this.
 
O Grady said:
So how much of your PS should be spent discussing why DO?
Click to expand...

😕 scroll up. Sorry to be an ass, but it has been repeatedly mentioned in this thread 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.
 
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