Good guides/books for writing Personal Statement

[Ioannes Paulus]

Hello ya'll,

I am currently preparing to reapply for medical school and I wanted to rewrite my personal statement. My old one was a long anecdote that later framed my interests in research and service to underserved communities. A close friend and a pre-health counselor both stated that I didn't highlight my "uniqueness" in the application and it sounded too generic.

I was wondering if some of you would offer some guidance on some good books/guides/sites for help in writing the personal statement? I found this from Princeton Review but I am not sure how helpful it would be. I think if I read a couple of really good ones I could understand more of what I am supposed to write/include. I am also a little concerned about what is "taboo" or "discouraged" from including the essay, like childhood, names of shadowed physicians, childhood/adolescent challenges, etc.
English is my second language so I am not the best writer and could use all the help I could get.

Thank you in advance everyone! I really appreciate it!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[NeuResurgens]

I really like this thing. Comes from Hopkins.

http://studentaffairs.jhu.edu/preprofadvising/pre-medhealth/applicants/personal-statement/

 

[chonc]

There are lots of good nuggets of examples out in the internet but I definitely don't think it's something you should purchase. tbh, you might end up mimicking rather than creating your own story.

You must have had a few moments in your life that made you think, "Wow, this makes me want to be a doctor" or "Oh, this sucks about doctoring". Open up a Word document, and just write about those events as if you were telling this story to a friend. Describe what happened, what your involvement was -- what did you say or not say, and how did this event point you in the direction of medicine? Did this lead to other extracurricular activities that had similar responsibilities or exemplified the same ethos as those of a doctor? On top of that, what more did you do to keep learning about this field? Basically, show med schools through your personal experiences that for all the reasons above, you are hopelessly in love with this profession, and that you've thought about the good AND bad sides to it. I think that's how you'll be able to help whoever is reading your personal statement to imagine you as a future doctor.

Lastly, be humble, humble, humble. I know, it's a fine line to walk but being modest and self-aware will hugely complement an enlightening personal anecdote. Advisors from multiple med schools have shared with me that arrogance/seeming like a know-it-all is their biggest pet peeve. Basically, don't flex... too hard. Acknowledge that you've just barely scraped the surface, and are super excited to learn as much as you can so that you can serve your community.

btw, your English seems perfectly fine!

Good luck.