How different should the personal statement be for a reapplicant?

[premed2000]

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How different should my personal statement be if I am a reapplicant? Afterall, it's only been one year since my personal statement last year. The reasons behind of why I want to go into medicine remains the same. Yes, I did add a couple of ECs since last summer, but I feel like the majority of my personal statement might remain very similar.

So how differently should it be? Do I need to mention in my personal statement that I am a reapplicant?

 

[DokterMom]

How different should my personal statement be if I am a reapplicant? Afterall, it's only been one year since my personal statement last year. The reasons behind of why I want to go into medicine remains the same. Yes, I did add a couple of ECs since last summer, but I feel like the majority of my personal statement might remain very similar.

So how differently should it be? Do I need to mention in my personal statement that I am a reapplicant?

Why do you think you are a reapplicant instead of an acceptee? (Late app? Wrong schools?)

If you can identify the reasons and are pretty certain it's NOT your personal statement, could be just a buff and polish would do it. (Though do polish it enough so that if the school compares your 2013 statement to your 2012 statement, they won't think LAZY. Of course, a whole new 'Why I want to be a doctor" statement probably wouldn't be a good idea either if you plan to apply to the same schools...

If you think your PS might have played a role or are uncertain, I'd use all the resources available here to help evaluate and edit.

 

[premed2000]

Thanks DokterMom. Another question I have for anyone who reads this thread is I am hearing many conflicting idea about what the personal statement should be really about.

Is the personal statement more about my motivations and why I want to become a doctor? Or is it more about what characteristics/skills that makes me a good candidate, worthy to get into med school?

 

[Barcu]

Thanks DokterMom. Another question I have for anyone who reads this thread is I am hearing many conflicting idea about what the personal statement should be really about.

Is the personal statement more about my motivations and why I want to become a doctor? Or is it more about what characteristics/skills that makes me a good candidate, worthy to get into med school?

It's really a mix of both of these things.

I think your personal statement should be much different than last years. The biggest mistake is that people tell instead of show. You need to write about your motivations and your characteristics/skills, but you need to provide SPECIFIC examples from your ECs or schoolwork that proves that you actually believe what you are saying. In that regard, I think you could certainly add some experiences from your new ECs. I don't know how you did your previous personal statement, but adding more examples is something that almost everyone can do.

The reasons may remain the same, but the essay can be quite different.

 

[cookiemonsters]

n=1 anecdote, but someone I work with reapplied this past year without changing his personal statement except 2-3 sentences, and he reapplied to mostly the same schools... the only major difference in his app was that he was complete 2 months earlier basically everywhere. Got like 3x as many interviews as his first cycle and is matriculating to NYU. So if the personal statement is good already, I don't think you should feel obliged to give it a facelift.

 

[premed2000]

It's really a mix of both of these things.

I think your personal statement should be much different than last years. The biggest mistake is that people tell instead of show. You need to write about your motivations and your characteristics/skills, but you need to provide SPECIFIC examples from your ECs or schoolwork that proves that you actually believe what you are saying. In that regard, I think you could certainly add some experiences from your new ECs. I don't know how you did your previous personal statement, but adding more examples is something that almost everyone can do.

The reasons may remain the same, but the essay can be quite different.

n=1 anecdote, but someone I work with reapplied this past year without changing his personal statement except 2-3 sentences, and he reapplied to mostly the same schools... the only major difference in his app was that he was complete 2 months earlier basically everywhere. Got like 3x as many interviews as his first cycle and is matriculating to NYU. So if the personal statement is good already, I don't think you should feel obliged to give it a facelift.

Thanks guys. I personally think my personal statement wasn't my weakness from last year's application cycle. I really liked my intro + conclusion from last year and I've decided to adopt them with little modification. But I think I will revamp my body paragraphs with a little more emphasis on the skills I've acquired rather than all "motivations" why I want to be a doctor.