Does anyone know what gets read first? Activities section or personal statement?

[sdhere1234]

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Reason I ask is because if they read the activities section first, then there's no need for a simple explanation of one of my activities I'm mentioning in my PS.

But, if they read the PS first, it won't make sense without some background info.

Thanks!

 

[toogoofy]

Ive been told the PS is read first and that the PS should be able to stand on its own.

 

[Catalystik]

Reason I ask is because if they read the activities section first, then there's no need for a simple explanation of one of my activities I'm mentioning in my PS.

But, if they read the PS first, it won't make sense without some background info.

Thanks!

Don't assume the same person will read both. Some schools designate separate readers for the sake of more consistent head-to-head evaluations. Both areas should be able to stand on their own.

 

[LizzyM]

If I look at the application from top to bottom, the experience section comes before the PS. However, some people will bounce around looking for specific things such as motivation for medicine, prior experiences, etc. I agree with Catalystik that the PS should stand on its own.

 

[Ismet]

I always read work/activities first, it comes before the PS in the format we used, but different committee members have their own way of looking at apps that may involve looking at the PS first.

PS should definitely be able to stand on its own. People shouldn't have to refer to other parts of your app to understand what you write in your PS.

 

[Goro]

Of those two, I'll read activities. Actually, the first things I read in an app are the transcripts

Reason I ask is because if they read the activities section first, then there's no need for a simple explanation of one of my activities I'm mentioning in my PS.

But, if they read the PS first, it won't make sense without some background info.

Thanks!

 

[ace_inhibitor111]

So I've been looking through my app again and realized that in an attempt not to repeat the same information from my PS, one of my most meaningful experiences is missing some key points and in retrospect sounds sort of shallow.... Is it common for adcoms to read the activities and skip the PS?

 

[Ismet]

So I've been looking through my app again and realized that in an attempt not to repeat the same information from my PS, one of my most meaningful experiences is missing some key points and in retrospect sounds sort of shallow.... Is it common for adcoms to read the activities and skip the PS?

As @Catalystik said above, there may be some committees that split up the parts of the application so that one person reads activities and another person reads PS.

If each committee member is supposed to read the entire application, then one would assume that they do read everything, but you never know if someone is skimming or not devoting enough time to read something.

If your application is already submitted there's really no point in going over it and scrutinizing little details like this. You can't change it and it's not a big deal anyway.