ERAS Personal Statement - unique to each program?

[cbrons]

So when you write your PS, do you just write 1 that you assign to every program? Or do you like... tweak it each time for each program. Like, "I really wanna attend X Program because XYZ." Then you do the same for program Y, etc.

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[Ismet]

Use the same one.

 

[Crayola227]

you can tweak it if there's something pretty specific you want to say, and you have the time. But you don't have to most people don't.

 

[Psai]

I didn't, figuring that Harvard would know that I wanted to go there by seeing my application to their program

 

[Donald Juan]

No, don't tweak it just to add in some final sentence about X school. It would be a ridiculous amount of work and would probably come off poorly. Now, if you really wanted to be in NYC or something like that and wanted to have a slightly different PS for schools in that area vs others, then I could see a reason for someone to adjust it.

 

[lymphocyte]

So when you write your PS, do you just write 1 that you assign to every program? Or do you like... tweak it each time for each program. Like, "I really wanna attend X Program because XYZ." Then you do the same for program Y, etc.

If X, Y, and Z were legitimate and accurate reasons for a particular programme, I would actually go ahead and change your PS. But having talked to a few PDs about this, most people overestimate what they think are "legitimate" reasons (regional connection is a good one; "this programme is awesome and will be great for my career" isn't), and they really fumble when it comes to "accurate" reasons (what it says on the website might be outdated or you have no clue about the departmental politics involved). The worst is the end-of-PS tagline, where it's clear you've adopted a shotgun approach to "individualising" your PS. So much lame.

In the end, the PS doesn't count for very much but makes for good interview fodder. If your PS has a lot of legitimate and accurate reasons for matching to a particular programme, it makes you sound that much more compelling during the interview. Otherwise, it's probably nothing to worry about (unless you have trouble with spelling/grammar/writing coherently), since the vast majority of your application will be about indicators of professional competence like Step 1, clinical evaluations, AOA, LORs, etc.