Early Application Submission v. Great Personal Statement

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I was wondering what everybody's opinions were on this topic -
Is it more important to get your application out as early as possible with a good personal statement OR delay your application from 2-4 weeks just to make your personal statement great?

The way I see it, unless I have had a life-changing experience or write a terrible personal statement, it will get lost in the sea of other PS that will say "I love dentistry. I'm smart. Pick me." Besides, with thousands of PSs to read, I feel the admins will just be looking to make sure you can write coherent sentences and have a general idea of what you're getting yourself into.

At the same time, I realize that your PS is the only three-dimensional representation of yourself. Even if you have great stats, you're still going to be lost in the sea of awesome applicants with great numbers, great letters, great ECs, etc. So this is the only chance to show your personality.

Any thoughts?

 

[ktran17]

I think a Great PS is a must for someone with lower stats. However, if you have great stats and EC's, adcoms only want to see that you can write a coherent and interesting essay. Your PS doesn't have to sound like you just graduated with a PhD in English.

I asked this question to a UCSF adcom and he said that, the PS is only a small part of the application process because some students don't have the resources to get professional advice and others can pay someone to write it for them.

 

[jeffity]

I agree with you. No matter how hard you try, you either have an amazing story or you don't. You're just in the pack with most of the pool where it neither hurts or helps. I wouldn't let it hold your app up too much if everything else is ready to go.

Coherent, error-free, and the main prompt answered should be the goal. That last part means you get to the point and that half of your statement isn't some endless, rambling story. Also, you shouldn't be able to plug any other profession in and have it still make sense. Do all this so you avoid being in the bottom of the pack where it could count against you.

.

 

[SicEm]

Also, you shouldn't be able to plug any other profession in and have it still make sense.

That's actually a pretty interesting nugget of advice! Never thought of it that way...

 

[Kef318]

Interesting...makes writing a good PS a little more challenging.

 

[dentalWorks]

postponing the application by 2-4 weeks will not make you a "late" applicant. IMO, you'll still be early.

Now you have to remember one thing, no one knows exactly how the personal statements are handled at schools. I have a hard time believing admission committee will sit there and literally read and analysis every line of every essay.

I went to 5 interviews when I applied, and not a single one of them asked me ANYTHING about what was written in my PS. I almost got the sense that the essay was never read by the person interviewing me

 

[doc toothache]

At the same time, I realize that your PS is the only three-dimensional representation of yourself. Even if you have great stats, you're still going to be lost in the sea of awesome applicants with great numbers, great letters, great ECs, etc. So this is the only chance to show your personality.

And now a 3D ps.

 

[upcomingcycle]

I think a Great PS is a must for someone with lower stats. However, if you have great stats and EC's, adcoms only want to see that you can write a coherent and interesting essay. Your PS doesn't have to sound like you just graduated with a PhD in English.

I asked this question to a UCSF adcom and he said that, the PS is only a small part of the application process because some students don't have the resources to get professional advice and others can pay someone to write it for them.

People pay other people to write their personal statements for them D=?

 

[upcomingcycle]

Also, you shouldn't be able to plug any other profession in and have it still make sense.

I didn't even think about that! Thanks!

 

[Glimmer1991]

People pay other people to write their personal statements for them D=?

Well, that could definitely happen. I'm sure a more common option would be for people to use a professional editing service.

Luckily, I have friends and family who are good writers who could give mine a look. 🙂

 

[upcomingcycle]

postponing the application by 2-4 weeks will not make you a "late" applicant. IMO, you'll still be early.

Now you have to remember one thing, no one knows exactly how the personal statements are handled at schools. I have a hard time believing admission committee will sit there and literally read and analysis every line of every essay.

I went to 5 interviews when I applied, and not a single one of them asked me ANYTHING about what was written in my PS. I almost got the sense that the essay was never read by the person interviewing me

I can't imagine scrutinizing A personal statement if I have thousands of others to read 😴 That's why I want to dismiss it as it not playing a huge role in the admissions process, especially with good stats.

I was always under the impression that submitting within a week or two of the applications opening would make you early...not the entire month of June/early July ... but maybe I've been lurking on SDN for too long 😀

 

[upcomingcycle]

And now a 3D ps.

I was pointing out that here you can (1) show off your personality, (2) brag about different experiences, and (3) show why they should pick you v. the application which is just a list of numbers and activities.

 

[upcomingcycle]

Well, that could definitely happen. I'm sure a more common option would be for people to use a professional editing service.

Luckily, I have friends and family who are good writers who could give mine a look. 🙂

That's pretty lame. Kind of takes the personal out of personal statement 😛 Having people around me that can give me feedback is really nice =)

 

[jeffity]

I'm just making this up, but I'm going to say that for a chunk of schools, the statement doesn't play much of a role (if any). Maybe for the schools with <1000 applications or something would they have time. But can you imagine having 4,000+ applications? Even after the auto-reject for the people who didn't do their research, that's still a lot of statements. I'll make this part up too. If it's read, it's likely pre-interview or post-interview when they just weren't quite impressed enough and can't make up their mind if they want to dump you or the other lackluster fellow. I know at least three people/schools read mine (pre-interview); a dean and two faculty interviewers. Two just mentioned some content. One was printed out and marked up and was discussed in detail. That's why I suggest that people read their statements before their interview. If you interview late fall, you may have forgotten you wrote about that fake trip to Guatemala until you learn your interviewer is from Guatemala City and she's asking about it.

 

[gn4]

I'm just making this up, but I'm going to say that for a chunk of schools, the statement doesn't play much of a role (if any). Maybe for the schools with <1000 applications or something would they have time. But can you imagine having 4,000+ applications? Even after the auto-reject for the people who didn't do their research, that's still a lot of statements. I'll make this part up too. If it's read, it's likely pre-interview or post-interview when they just weren't quite impressed enough and can't make up their mind if they want to dump you or the other lackluster fellow. I know at least three people/schools read mine (pre-interview); a dean and two faculty interviewers. Two just mentioned some content. One was printed out and marked up and was discussed in detail. That's why I suggest that people read their statements before their interview. If you interview late fall, you may have forgotten you wrote about that fake trip to Guatemala until you learn your interviewer is from Guatemala City and she's asking about it.

fake trip to Gutemala? people lie on their personal statements?

 

[experiment626]

fake trip to Gutemala? people lie on their personal statements?

I wouldn't be surprised. With the rising competition for dental school, there will be some people who will do anything to get to the top of the pile. 🙁

 

[Ionz]

fake trip to Gutemala? people lie on their personal statements?

Pretty sure that's not the only section where lying is rampant... or "overexaggeration"

 

[jeffity]

I'm making this up too...I'm going to guess that shadowing hours are where people lie the most. Just round up to the nearest hundred, right? Then they get asked what their favorite instrument is and they say, "the hand tool." That part is not made up.

 

[mcfuzzy]

A good personal statement is not based around amazing life experiences. It's about articulating your real experiences in just the right manner to demonstrate that you have a particular set of skills that indicate you would succeed in the dental field (and that you want to go obviously, but let's be real, if you didn't love dentistry you wouldn't be applying).

I think that a couple weeks delay right now isn't bad. It's not like you'll be delayed until September.

Is there a professor in your school who normally helps students with their personal statements? I met with my school's personal statement guru and he revolutionized my PS after a couple meets. Talking to someone with vast PS experience is very useful.

That being said, is your personal statement even bad? Just because it's not crazy exciting and unique doesn't make it bad. It could be very good for the experiences you've had.

If YOU don't like your personal statement, I would revise. If you don't like who you are portraying yourself as why would a dental school like you?

That is my jumble of advice. Enjoy.

 

[shulk]

fake trip to Gutemala? people lie on their personal statements?

There are some people who definitely will lie anywhere they are able to if they feel it makes them a better applicant. That's why I feel everything on the application except GPA and DAT is taken with a grain of salt by adcoms (and conversely, why GPA and DAT should be your highest priorities)

 

[upcomingcycle]

I'm making this up too...I'm going to guess that shadowing hours are where people lie the most. Just round up to the nearest hundred, right? Then they get asked what their favorite instrument is and they say, "the hand tool." That part is not made up.

Hahahahahahaha

 

[upcomingcycle]

A good personal statement is not based around amazing life experiences. It's about articulating your real experiences in just the right manner to demonstrate that you have a particular set of skills that indicate you would succeed in the dental field (and that you want to go obviously, but let's be real, if you didn't love dentistry you wouldn't be applying).

I think that a couple weeks delay right now isn't bad. It's not like you'll be delayed until September.

Is there a professor in your school who normally helps students with their personal statements? I met with my school's personal statement guru and he revolutionized my PS after a couple meets. Talking to someone with vast PS experience is very useful.

That being said, is your personal statement even bad? Just because it's not crazy exciting and unique doesn't make it bad. It could be very good for the experiences you've had.

If YOU don't like your personal statement, I would revise. If you don't like who you are portraying yourself as why would a dental school like you?

That is my jumble of advice. Enjoy.

I wasn't saying that not having a mind blowing experience makes a PS statement bad. Just saying that it helps make the PS "wow" and memorable. My dilemma is that I like my personal statement, but I am getting useful feedback - I update it, send it for revision, get other useful feedback, etc. At the beginning, it helped make a significant improvement on my personal statement. But at this point, they're kind of nit picky points you would only arrive to if you were scrutinizing my PS. But feedback is feedback - I'm just wondering how useful it is to continue updating for little improvements.

And I wish I had assistance like that. My school just says - that's good. apply. =P They're more focused on submitting early than making a great personal statement.

 

[shulk]

I'm making this up too...I'm going to guess that shadowing hours are where people lie the most. Just round up to the nearest hundred, right? Then they get asked what their favorite instrument is and they say, "the hand tool." That part is not made up.

When I shadowed, my favorite tooth procedure was when he put the plastic stretchy thing on the tooth, and then drilled it and sucked the bad stuff out. Then he finished by putting a fake tooth cover on top!