Getting Personal in my PS

[bren3345]

I know this question has been asked a lot but I didn't see my specific situation so here I am...

I lost my mom to cancer about 10 years ago and it was the defining moment for me to go in to healthcare. Is this an appropriate thing to discuss in my personal statement? I'm obviously not touching on how I lived in my PJs for 2 months after she died or only ate cookies for days afterwards. I'm focusing more on what I learned from her death and how it motivated me to go back to school and go into medicine. I just don't want to make it appear as a sob story or anything like that.

Thanks for the advice!

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[Frogger27]

If you can approach the situation in an appropriate way then of course this is a good topic to talk about. Losing a loved one is extremely challenging and teaches you a lot. One thing that comes to mind when reading this: is this your main reason for pursing medicine? Are their other reasons that you can write about?

The only reason I ask is that this may be more appropriate for a challenge essay (which ~75% of schools will send you.

I lost one of my parents this summer, the week after I submitted my primary application. I talked heavily in my secondary essays about what it took to overcome this in order to support my younger siblings and move on with my dream of becoming a physician. I think it showed a lot of resiliency and adaptability on my part that schools really appreciated.

Make sure that you can talk about it in a healthy, emotionally stable way. It came up in everyone of my interviews in some way or the other (I was the one who brought it up on a lot of occasions). You have Father Time on your side a little more than I did, but I know it is never an easy thing to talk about. Schools really did appreciate the introspection, humility, and honestly I displayed when talking about this.

I would say go for it, but have many people read it before to make sure it comes off the way you want it to. When something is emotional, sometimes it sounds one way in our head and another in someone else's head.

I would love to help you in any way I can, feel free to message me to talk or to read a draft when you complete one!

 

[Moko]

This more than deserves to be in your PS -- it was a "defining moment" for your journey. In my humble opinion, any version of your personal statement that doesn't include this would not be fully honest about your motivations and journey. Personal statements should be personal. Having written about a similar topic, my advice to avoid coming off as manipulative or a "sob story":

1) Simply state the facts regarding your mother's death and let the readers draw their own conclusions, e.g. "Ten years ago, my mother was diagnosed with widely metastatic breast cancer. She passed away two months later. ... This experience prompted me to... And after painstaking reflection, I came to the conclusion that..." etc.

2) Don't neglect your other experiences that were meaningful to your growth and journey, basically the things that all personal statements should have in them. i.e, what reinforced your decision to pursue medicine, and in what ways can you contribute back to medicine in the future (through teaching, research, etc., all implied through your past/current activities)?

3) I would humbly suggest limiting mention of your mom only to the introduction and ending paragraphs. This way it is still a very significant part of your personal statement without being overbearing. If your experience with your mom is in your personal statement, I would advise against rementioning this in supplementary essays as ideally every essay should highlight a different aspect of your life.

4) Have trusted mentors read through your personal statement to make sure that it comes across the way you want it to.

5) Be prepared to talk about this experience in potentially intimate detail with strangers. Most interviewers will have enough tact to not probe and let you share whatever you feel comfortable with. If you get emotional when talking about this, rehearse your spiel to avoid becoming too emotional yourself during interviews. Some emotion is good -- but too much can be detrimental.

Best of luck! Happy to also be an extra set of eyes when your personal statement is ready to submit.

 

[gamieg]

yes definitely recommend, but make sure to address how you know this is the field for you after that initial inspiration. longevity and realism are important aspects on this med school journey.

 

[Frogger27]

This more than deserves to be in your PS -- it was a "defining moment" for your journey. In my humble opinion, any version of your personal statement that doesn't include this would not be fully honest about your motivations and journey. Personal statements should be personal. Having written about a similar topic, my advice to avoid coming off as manipulative or a "sob story":

1) Simply state the facts regarding your mother's death and let the readers draw their own conclusions, e.g. "Ten years ago, my mother was diagnosed with widely metastatic breast cancer. She passed away two months later. ... This experience prompted me to... And after painstaking reflection, I came to the conclusion that..." etc.

2) Don't neglect your other experiences that were meaningful to your growth and journey, basically the things that all personal statements should have in them. i.e, what reinforced your decision to pursue medicine, and in what ways can you contribute back to medicine in the future (through teaching, research, etc., all implied through your past/current activities)?

3) I would humbly suggest limiting mention of your mom only to the introduction and ending paragraphs. This way it is still a very significant part of your personal statement without being overbearing. If your experience with your mom is in your personal statement, I would advise against rementioning this in supplementary essays as ideally every essay should highlight a different aspect of your life.

4) Have trusted mentors read through your personal statement to make sure that it comes across the way you want it to.

5) Be prepared to talk about this experience in potentially intimate detail with strangers. Most interviewers will have enough tact to not probe and let you share whatever you feel comfortable with. If you get emotional when talking about this, rehearse your spiel to avoid becoming too emotional yourself during interviews. Some emotion is good -- but too much can be detrimental.

Best of luck! Happy to also be an extra set of eyes when your personal statement is ready to submit.

+1

 

[When the Moon Forgot]

I know this question has been asked a lot but I didn't see my specific situation so here I am...

I lost my mom to cancer about 10 years ago and it was the defining moment for me to go in to healthcare. Is this an appropriate thing to discuss in my personal statement? I'm obviously not touching on how I lived in my PJs for 2 months after she died or only ate cookies for days afterwards. I'm focusing more on what I learned from her death and how it motivated me to go back to school and go into medicine. I just don't want to make it appear as a sob story or anything like that.

Thanks for the advice!

Thank you for sharing. When I showed my personal statement to families and friends, I received a lot of criticism about how it isn't a traditional PS that people have come to expect. Feel free to message me and I'd be happy to show you mine. I decided to stick to what I had because it was personal to me. I was candid and sincere about why I decided to pursue medicine after a rather non-traditional trajectory. I ended up getting accepted to my top choice.

Advice #1: Don't think about what others expect your personal statement to be. This is your story, your journey after all. You can include anything you want.

Advice #2: You should spend more time brainstorming than actually writing the personal statement. If you're spending months and months coming up with just the very first draft, you're likely doing it wrong. When you begin the actual writing process, you should be able to finish your personal statement in one sitting (a few hours max) because you know exactly what story you'd like to tell.

 

[pseud0]

Talk about it, 100%. You could even talk about the depression afterwards if you want as long as you have a good story about overcoming it.

Youre going to be a doctor, not a robot.

 

[bren3345]

Thank you everyone for your feedback! I'm definitely at a point where I'm starting to overthink it all haha. I only planned on touching on it in the beginning/end but also discussing the volunteer work/jobs/classes/other experience I've had since then that has also contributed to why I want to do this. It sounds like I'm on the right path so thank you for the reassurance!

 

[Goro]

Yes, and it's very a common meme.

I lost my mom to cancer about 10 years ago and it was the defining moment for me to go in to healthcare. Is this an appropriate thing to discuss in my personal statement? I'm obviously not touching on how I lived in my PJs for 2 months after she died or only ate cookies for days afterwards. I'm focusing more on what I learned from her death and how it motivated me to go back to school and go into medicine. I just don't want to make it appear as a sob story or anything like that.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Toutie]

Yes, and it's very a common meme.

I think @Goro meant common theme. Probably been hitting the holiday eggnog a little too hard today.

 

[Goro]

The kids woke us up at 5 in the morning to open presents so I am a bit tired, yes

I think @Goro meant common theme. Probably been hitting the holiday eggnog a little too hard today.

 

[vellez]

Sorry to hear that. If you can say what you learned/how it impacted you, it would be very powerful. Just be sure not to make it a sob story or even worse....opportunistic (I feel bad for even saying this, but its possible, if written in a certain manner, it could be seen this way). Also, should you get an interview, be prepared to discuss it in your interview. If something is gonna make you start sobbing upon being asked about it, you might want to consider how you will deal with that.

 

[Shawna-Kaye Lester]

I know this question has been asked a lot but I didn't see my specific situation so here I am...

I lost my mom to cancer about 10 years ago and it was the defining moment for me to go in to healthcare. Is this an appropriate thing to discuss in my personal statement? I'm obviously not touching on how I lived in my PJs for 2 months after she died or only ate cookies for days afterwards. I'm focusing more on what I learned from her death and how it motivated me to go back to school and go into medicine. I just don't want to make it appear as a sob story or anything like that.

Thanks for the advice!

Absolutely talk about it. Key to being memorable is being authentic. If this got you started on your journey-- yes! Keep the tone positive, forward and hopeful. Happy to give it a free read for you.