Do you think I should play it safe for my personal statement?

[MC1910]

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I noticed a lot of people made their personal statements very personal and talked about their life experiences outside of the profession.

I have great stats and letters of recommendation. Basically I've worked really hard to expose myself to leadership, research, and other extracurricular activities.

I have a broad range of life experiences and struggled a lot through different things. I'm wondering if I should risk it, or even take the space in my personal statement to talk about this kind of stuff and try to talk about why it made me want to go into pharmacy...or if I should just make it short and sweet to the point.

I started writing my personal statement and I'm thinking it might be better to just talk about my unique experiences in the field of pharmacy, what I observed, and why I want to be in the field rather than talking about things outside of it too much.

Can you give me some advice?

Sorry it may not even make sense because it's so late at night, I might have to repost tomorrow lol.

 

[kcwang]

Everyone has different approach to ps. For my personal statement, I had intro, 5 paragraphs, and conclusion. I had plenty of life experiences, work, community services, personal projects, hobbies, shadowing experiences, academic experiences etc.. I was not able to fit everything, but I tried to pick one from different areas to give the admission an idea of my diverse perspective. For the experience from each area, I would relate and address the "why pharmacy" and how the skill I gained from my experience would help me achieve that goal.

I am not a great writer ,and I didn't have epic journey through the amazon jungle trying to find herbs. I just kept it concise and personal at the same time. You should write your personal statement base on your writing style, just make sure you answer the prompt.

Outline (obviously) helps alot and it should help you too. =]

You still have the interview to talk about other experiences, so don't worry about fitting everything in.

 

[wanttobepharm]

I noticed a lot of people made their personal statements very personal and talked about their life experiences outside of the profession.

I have great stats and letters of recommendation. Basically I've worked really hard to expose myself to leadership, research, and other extracurricular activities.

I have a broad range of life experiences and struggled a lot through different things. I'm wondering if I should risk it, or even take the space in my personal statement to talk about this kind of stuff and try to talk about why it made me want to go into pharmacy...or if I should just make it short and sweet to the point.

I started writing my personal statement and I'm thinking it might be better to just talk about my unique experiences in the field of pharmacy, what I observed, and why I want to be in the field rather than talking about things outside of it too much.

Can you give me some advice?

Sorry it may not even make sense because it's so late at night, I might have to repost tomorrow lol.

Personal statement is where you can sell yourself without the school actually meeting you. Countless applicants have extraordinary stats and academic achievements, but what makes YOU a unique person (not just an applicant). That's how I approached my personal statement. Not sure if this is what you asking for.

 

[owlegrad]

I like all the advice so far. I recommend you keep it concise. A concise PS is a joy to read. Only list those things that sell you as the perfect pharmacy applicant. What is the one (or two) things you want the adcom to take away from your PS? Keep it tight, focus on that. 👍