Every time I send my re-written statement out to be read by someone, I get tons of comments back. And everyone has different suggestions, sometimes even contradictory. You should emphasize this more. you should cut this part out. You should show "why." You showed why very well here. etc etc. At what point do you feel enough is enough? I wouldn't feel confident about sending out an essay that someone says needs more work, but I feel like it's impossible to get an essay back without comments. I mean, that's why you sent it out in the first place, right? Or maybe I'm just a bad writer? Anyone else feel like this, and how did/would you deal with it?
Editing your PS: When do you feel enough is enough?
- Thread starter Kuune
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I had 3 or 4 people read it, got back comments, and decided which to incorporate. The last person I had read it was the person whose advice was most important/I trusted the most.
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I know enough is enough when I, as someone who has edited a ton of statements, know it would be difficult to improve upon and the readers are consistently telling me they can't find a way to improve.
I am currently on version 5, draft 4 (I apply next year so I'm ahead of the game). My first 4 versions were for the most part garbage and in reviewing them as an editor I tried to distance myself. I knew they were not answering the correct story (ie they were crap and I admit it). I then wrote version 5 from the heart and rewrote it until I had a pretty decent foundation to work on. Sent it off to an editor to help me check flow. Took the comments into account, sent it back to the editor. Given a few more smaller comments. Then fixed those, then sent it out to three other readers and took their minor comments into account. I wrote Version 5, draft 4 until I felt it was the absolute best I could do. Then I sent it out and now has been read by an additional 11 people (most of which were trading comments for their personal statement). Only one of the eleven (the most recent) had a suggestion and it was about a minor tweak to one sentence which I am unlikely to alter. I think by this point I'm not really going to edit it anymore. Now if I do any PS exchanges, I will probably trade for help on Disadvantaged.
I am currently on version 5, draft 4 (I apply next year so I'm ahead of the game). My first 4 versions were for the most part garbage and in reviewing them as an editor I tried to distance myself. I knew they were not answering the correct story (ie they were crap and I admit it). I then wrote version 5 from the heart and rewrote it until I had a pretty decent foundation to work on. Sent it off to an editor to help me check flow. Took the comments into account, sent it back to the editor. Given a few more smaller comments. Then fixed those, then sent it out to three other readers and took their minor comments into account. I wrote Version 5, draft 4 until I felt it was the absolute best I could do. Then I sent it out and now has been read by an additional 11 people (most of which were trading comments for their personal statement). Only one of the eleven (the most recent) had a suggestion and it was about a minor tweak to one sentence which I am unlikely to alter. I think by this point I'm not really going to edit it anymore. Now if I do any PS exchanges, I will probably trade for help on Disadvantaged.
Haha, it would be awesome if that were the case. I just had one editor tell me there wasn't anything in my essay that really made me stand out from all the other good students. Haha, not sure what to do with that suggestion. Go out and cure cancer before applying? When did it become not enough to want to be a doctor because you want to help people?
THIS! all the way...
Two important things stated... first off, trust the advice of those you feel have the best input and you trust very well to begin with.
MOST importantly. ITS YOUR ESSAY. it has to come from you. I got a lot of diff feedback, but in the end, YOU decide what to incorporate so that its good, but is still coming from YOU!
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This is exactly what I did as well.
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If you've read enough personal statements, you will see that everyone is saying the exact same thing, often times in the same few words. After a while it gets monotonous. I would suggest volunteering to read other people's PSs and you will get a good idea of what your editor was talking about. You don't have to cure cancer, but you do have to do something to stand out. You want the adcomm to say "Oh the essay that talked about doing first aid when hiking that's Kuune" (or whatever your thing is), not "That was applicant 4701."
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Kuune, what strikes me about all the wildly varying feedback is that you may not have a PS that really "flows" well or tells a coherent story. If you're jumping around a lot, this might account for the wide variety of responses. Or maybe you just have a lot of different personalities looking at your essay, and each one is reading it uniquely.
I'm in the throes of this myself (hi, aerospace!) and it's been very enlightening for me. So far most of my feedback has been consistent, which reinforces my belief that certain parts of my essay are solid and the ones I don't feel solid about are showing up on everyone's radar as a bit troublesome.
Here's my basic strategy thus far:
1. I've collected a wide variety of readers, both people who know me well, and people who don't, and including people both familiar and unfamiliar with the medschool application process. The only common unifying theme is that everyone I've picked is nitpicky and good with writing.
2. If two or more people have made the same negative comment, whether in general or about a specific sentence/phrase, then it clearly needs work.
3. If only one reader has an issue with a specific thing, I try to consider the source. Perhaps it's just hitting a hot button of theirs, or perhaps they have a certain understanding or bias that makes them feel this way. For example, a friend of mine who went to law school thought that my PS was way too personal and intimate, because it would be way too personal/intimate for law school or grad school.
4. I'm finding all comments very enlightening. I don't have to agree with them, or incorporate them, but if someone had a certain response based on what I wrote it's important for me to consider that an AdCom member may read my essay the same way.
Hope this helps! 🙂
I'm in the throes of this myself (hi, aerospace!) and it's been very enlightening for me. So far most of my feedback has been consistent, which reinforces my belief that certain parts of my essay are solid and the ones I don't feel solid about are showing up on everyone's radar as a bit troublesome.
Here's my basic strategy thus far:
1. I've collected a wide variety of readers, both people who know me well, and people who don't, and including people both familiar and unfamiliar with the medschool application process. The only common unifying theme is that everyone I've picked is nitpicky and good with writing.
2. If two or more people have made the same negative comment, whether in general or about a specific sentence/phrase, then it clearly needs work.
3. If only one reader has an issue with a specific thing, I try to consider the source. Perhaps it's just hitting a hot button of theirs, or perhaps they have a certain understanding or bias that makes them feel this way. For example, a friend of mine who went to law school thought that my PS was way too personal and intimate, because it would be way too personal/intimate for law school or grad school.
4. I'm finding all comments very enlightening. I don't have to agree with them, or incorporate them, but if someone had a certain response based on what I wrote it's important for me to consider that an AdCom member may read my essay the same way.
Hope this helps! 🙂
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I heard they also don't mean that much. My advisor used to be on an adcom, and he said that almost never will a PS help you immensely but it can screw you over really badly. The exception is if you have a remarkable story like if you used to be homeless and self-studied yourself into college, etc.
That being said, I think the most important thing is to show aspects about yourself and why medicine (which amazingly is rare in a lot of PS I read, esp the first point).
I hope this is the case. If I had to guess, a really really good PS (top 10%) can help get an interview, while a really bad one can definitely keep you out of a school, especially if its incoherent/riddled with grammar mistakes. But for most who just write a statement that is unified and coherent, but not that interesting, it is just a neutral part of the app.
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