Don't adcoms get tired of reading the same jibberish over and over again?

[mehc012]

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and you didnt use test prep books and you didnt take time off from a full time job?



Where did you see this? From what I saw SES is one of the least important factors in admission

I used test prep books, yes. But I got test prep books fairly cheap and used off SDN.
I maintained not one, but two jobs during my MCAT prep period, for a total of more than full time work.
And in the end, I did well enough on the test to compensate for my low gpa.

But while I answered your questions so you wouldn't think I'm hiding something, in reality this isn't about me...I recognize that low SES can and does have an impact on standardized testing results. I just personally think that it's less about 'direct' factors such as test prep classes and more about broader, subtler, more foundational factors. Those take a lot longer to delve into, though, so I guess I'm fine with just leaving it at "Kaplan classes confer a huge advantage and benefit rich people".

 

[Sardinia]

@LIC2015 Your reason for wanting a medical seat is so simple even I've figured it out. It's clearly to intentionally take the spot away from all those other pre-meds who would use their cancer ridden parents or their cocaine hooked marijuana selling DC sister as a bargaining tool to convince adcoms that they are more valid candidates than you are. I too remember the great works of Mark Twain from great classics like the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from my mandatory reading assignment in middle school and will reference him as being a straight forward writer.

In fact, Mark Twain helped guide me to write this essay because he was my great-great-great-great grandfather who died of geriatric disease, but will remain in my heart forever. How did he guide me when I never met him? The truth is among us Twains we each pass along a fragment of a map that when put together reveals a treasure chest hidden somewhere along the Mississippi River where Mark left the secret behind his writings. I pieced together all the pieces and made the journey down the river where I opened the chest and discovered The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. Treat the essay you are now reading as not only a personal essay, but a family heirloom showing the rich and varied history of my ancestors.

@LIC2015 I bet my copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer that your essay is as straight forward as a circle.

 

[7331poas]

I used test prep books, yes. But I got test prep books fairly cheap and used off SDN.
I maintained not one, but two jobs during my MCAT prep period, for a total of more than full time work.
And in the end, I did well enough on the test to compensate for my low gpa.

But while I answered your questions so you wouldn't think I'm hiding something, in reality this isn't about me...I recognize that low SES can and does have an impact on standardized testing results. I just personally think that it's less about 'direct' factors such as test prep classes and more about broader, subtler, more foundational factors. Those take a lot longer to delve into, though, so I guess I'm fine with just leaving it at "Kaplan classes confer a huge advantage and benefit rich people".

thats fine and its basically my point. These tests and the process as a whole greatly benefit middle class and up.

 

[mehc012]

thats fine and its basically my point. These tests and the process as a whole greatly benefit middle class and up.

I never disagreed with you on that one. This process benefits those with money.
I DO disagree that money is necessary to do well on the tests.

 

[Lucca]

and you didnt use test prep books and you didnt take time off from a full time job?



Where did you see this? From what I saw SES is one of the least important factors in admission

What have you seen? If you look at the Essential SDN Wisdom sticky you will find a chart by the AAMC where adcoms when surveyed ranked SES as a factor of "medium importance"; I.e, of the same level of importance as race and ethnicity

The AAMC has also written an official report on using SES in admissions
https://www.aamc.org/download/330166/data/seseffectivepractices.pdf

 

[7331poas]

What have you seen? If you look at the Essential SDN Wisdom sticky you will find a chart by the AAMC where adcoms when surveyed ranked SES as a factor of "medium importance"; I.e, of the same level of importance as race and ethnicity

The AAMC has also written an official report on using SES in admissions
https://www.aamc.org/download/330166/data/seseffectivepractices.pdf

From purely anecdotal observations. Even just looking in our WAMC threads URM is more important to our "list providers" than SES

 

[DokterMom]

I can't speak for any of the adcoms but in my opinion, I can't imagine clumping all family illness stories into one big category and generalizing that they're all cliche.

Having a parent/brother going through a significant medical crisis is very different than having an uncle, cousin, grandmother go through it. When my father was diagnosed with cancer, it impacted me in a significantly different and more personal way than when my uncle when he was having his own problems. That's because I actually had to take care of my father, take him to appointments, understand what docs were saying when he wasn't in the right mental or physical state to comprehend it, and understand what he's going through and provide for him to whatever extent I could.

Disclaimer: Did not write about this as my PS, but this is just my 0.02.

I can agree with you on this -- and that's what makes it personal. When it's your father, and you spend months changing adult diapers, or your brother and your after school hangout zone is the hospital waiting room or therapy center -- those experiences are very different from visiting Grandma in the nursing home. But you need to dig to show how and why it was personal. How those weeks in a hospital made you want to stay there and be there and help instead of run away screaming to your own safe warm bed. Or how you overcame that urge to escape and learned to handle it, to find the beauty and the dignity of human life when illness does so much to strip it away. Or even how you learned to cope with the intricacies of a complicated adult life (medical bills, insurance claims, groceries, cleaning and cooking) because your parents were unable to handle those things.

If you dig deep, you can find it; and if you're willing to put it out there, you can produce a powerful essay from these experiences. Or not --

 

[Lucca]

From purely anecdotal observations. Even just looking in our WAMC threads URM is more important to our "list providers" than SES

Disadvantaged status - due to SES or other factors - is important to our WAMC folks who actually know what they are talking about. SDN is just hyper focused on ethnicity for unrelated reasons

 

[DrBeenThere]

I reviewed many personal statements and the fact is some are good, a few stand out, and most are trite and boring. You can totally say "I like science, I'm organized and pay close attention to detail, I'm compassionate, and I want to help people." That is fine. I don't care if you talk about where you grew up or if you love dogs, I basically want to know that you'll be competent in our program and that you're not an unstable person. Adding some humor is completely acceptable.

 

[leonardoson]

Is it possible that all of the interviewed applicants at any medical school have very unique personal statements? Doesn't the "I saved Africa" and "I just want to help people" theme get boring to read? Do adcoms look past the stereotypical fluff and scan paragraphs for concrete examples of a commitment to medicine?

And if we can be honest for a moment. Let's agree that the PS is biased toward those with excellent writing/communication skills, and not those with the most relevant/interesting experiences. When a med school wants to know "why medicine?" when reading my PS, they'll be sorely disappointed to find out that I didn't have a parent who fought a hard battle with cancer or a sibling that died of a drug overdose. In fact, I've never been hospitalized. My reasons for pursuing medicine are simple.

How does originality in the PS come from simplicity? How do I keep the adcom from crashing onto a pile of rejection letters destined for future Masters students?

would you have rather had a family member die or be diagnosed with cancer and live in fear of them dieing, just so you are more "unique"?

 

[Pusheen]

would you have rather had a family member die or be diagnosed with cancer and live in fear of them dieing, just so you are more "unique"?

Remember, this is SDN

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

If you find yourself embellishing your life story but still fall short into an empty and generic PS, you might want to consider padding your resume some more with concrete experiences