Do's and Dont's for PERSONAL STATEMENT

[Kobebucsfan]

i'm starting on my personal statement,

i want some tips. also, i was wondering if i could start mine by introducing myself (where i was born, why i moved to US) , then write about my college experience and then why i want to be a dentist. I know its personal but i was wondering if there any guidelines.

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[herkulease]

You have a limit of 4500 characters including spaces to write a statement.

That's about 2 pages double spaced.

 

[dentalWorks]

i'm starting on my personal statement,

i want some tips. also, i was wondering if i could start mine by introducing myself (where i was born, why i moved to US) , then write about my college experience and then why i want to be a dentist. I know its personal but i was wondering if there any guidelines.

There is no guideline, its free-style writing. The theme is "why dentistry".

What I did was, I only focused on things that answered "why dentistry".... I kept mine short (only 3200 words with spaces). I could have added wayyy more about my personal life, I chose not to because they don't reflect my interest in dentistry.

I think my PS is pretty average (in terms of quality) and....I'd be more than happy to share my it with anyone, shoot me a PM

 

[preOMFS]

Do:
1. take your time writing it
2. be as genuine as possible

Don't:
1. make any spelling or grammatical errors
2. try to write what you think the adcoms want to hear
3. try to sound smart by using big words that come across as awkward in context
4. try to be witty or funny (unless it is part of the genuineness mentioned above)

 

[7 Iron]

When I first started I wrote everything I wanted to say, and then later cut it down to the 4500 characters. If you keep the 4500 characters in mind at the get-go you might not write "enough". But if you revise and then shorten it later, I found each idea makes more of an impact.

 

[camshaft]

Think about what you could write that would make someone want to READ it rather than SKIM it. They see hundreds of these, full of autobiographies and why-dentistry stories written by people, who like every celebrity who publishes a book, think that people are dying to read about them.

There is no guideline, its free-style writing. The theme is "why dentistry".

I'd actually disagree with that. There is no theme I know of, even though people often assume it's an essay about "why dentistry." AADSAS gives some ideas if you have no clue what to write, but nowhere that I know of do they explicitly give a theme. My advisor reminded me awhile back that a personal statement means a statement about your person, and is not to be confused with a statement of professional purpose. That may of course include why you wish to pursue dentistry, but don't miss your chance to see this for what it is - an opportunity to write a statement about who you are as a person. What would make them want to read that statement and say "yes, this is the kind of person we want in our school"? They know you want to be a dentist, and I'm willing to bet they're genuinely bored of the standard-issue autobiographies and why-dentistry spiels.

 

[MechZZ]

I think the best advice is to be to the point without adding too much fluff. If you can effectively relay your message without hitting that 4500 character mark then do it. A big mistake is thinking that your PS is too short and adding more stuff for them to read. Remember that the admissions guy has to read a countless number of these and you don't want to bore him.

 

[321931]

You can't really go wrong with the prompt. Just answer the question "why dentistry." Try to refrain from stating your accomplishments etc, since they already have your resume.

It will most likely be cliche, but really, how can you not be cliche in this prompt? I'm pretty sure adcoms have read every single "story" regarding dentistry. I wouldn't be suprised if they just skim the P.S. (or not read it all), and go straight for the statistics after reading their 500th one.

Edit: Try to catch their attention in the first paragraph. I believe that paragraph is the MOST important one. If it starts out with the same boring 500th cliche sentences, then I would trail off and go to statistics instead. If it catches my attention, I would read into it more if I were an adcom.

 

[dentalWorks]

Here is the instructions directly taken from AADSAS for writing personal statement

Personal Statement

You will not be able to revise this section after e-submitting your ADEA AADSAS application. Print and review your entries carefully before submitting. The personal essay provides an opportunity for you to explain why you desire to pursue dental education.
It is recommended to compose your essay in a text-only (e.g., Notepad, Microsoft Word), review your essay for errors, and cut and paste the final version into the text box. The essay is limited to approximately one page (4,500 characters, including spaces).
Note: To open Notepad, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Notepad. From Notepad, you can view how the text looks and edit it (such as adding or removing line feeds) before saving it as a .txt file in a known folder. You can then copy the text from Notepad and paste it into the textbox in the application.
Some formatting characters and indentation used in programs like Word will not display properly. Take the time to review the final document before you submit your application to ADEA AADSAS.
Your personal essay will be formatted and printed in standard paragraph form before being sent to your designated dental schools as a part of your ADEA AADSAS application. It will not be sent to your designated dental schools in the format you view in the online application.

What should you write?
The Admissions Committee members who read your essay are looking for individuals who are motivated, academically prepared, articulate, socially conscious, and knowledgeable about the profession. Write about your experiences and any qualities that will make you stand out. Check the ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools for ideas about essays.

 

[MrWilson]

Theme-wise, there are several different ways you can approach it. The questions that my PS answered were
What was my path to dentistry (specific personal experiences)? What made it unique? How did you discover dentistry was IT? What about dentistry do I like/don't like/issues? What have I done to make myself stand out? What do I want to do in dentistry? What I can bring to dentistry/dental school? What have I done to prove that I can be an asset in the dental field/dental school/community?
Those are few questions you can answer to get started.

 

[sobe55]

I had the unique opportunity to read personal statements of people who had been accepted, rejected, waitlisted at a dental school (all anonymous of course and i couldnt keep copies.)

The ones who were accepted all:
- effectively conveyed their personalities: who they are, what they're about, how they contribute to the community/their work, their journey
- WHY dentistry, how they explored the field, what their future goals are

The ones that were terrible:
- sounded boastful
- named dropped like no other (dr. this and that...ugh.)
- talked about their parent's accomplishments/hardships ad nauseam (literally a whole paragraph. You can mention it, but keep it to a sentence and make sure it ties into your journey.)

Good luck and get it reviewed by several people before submitting!

 

[camshaft]

You're right DentalWorks, I forgot about that line in the page about the instructions section. Anyway, as I said though the essay will likely include why you wish to pursue dentistry, but I don't think that should be seen as a 'constraint', more as a direction.

 

[Dr. Dai Phan]

i'm starting on my personal statement,

i want some tips. also, i was wondering if i could start mine by introducing myself (where i was born, why i moved to US) , then write about my college experience and then why i want to be a dentist. I know its personal but i was wondering if there any guidelines.

Hi there,

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=405372&page=3

See Post #115 for details. DP

 

[flyguy25]

Never mind, someone just posted thread with exact question

 

[redchesus]

Once you start writing, you'll realize how little space you have to try to convey your personality. I personally spent only one paragraph on why I wanted to do dentistry (like the adcoms haven't heard it all before?) and the rest of the time on how I will be a good dental student/dentist... backing it all up with experiences... of course, this all has to be in story format, not some non-cohesive list.