How good does a PS have to be

[DentalNucleicAcid]

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How "good" does a personal statement have to be to grant you admission..? I've already submitted my app and had a few people look at my PS before I submitted it. I didn't want to spend more time on it because I really wanted to be early. It's ok but I feel like it's pretty cookie cutter and not anything extravagant. I mean, if we think about it, adcomms have probably seen it all, right? I feel like there's very little one can write about that adcomms would stop and think "wow, I've never read about this before". I'm also just a regular college junior, so nothing out of the ordinary has happened in my life yet that I can talk about and relate to dentistry. So does it just come down to writing something that is acceptable? Can an "OK" PS hurt you?

Anyone here gain admission last cycle with a PS that they feel was just "meh"?

 

[fit2]

From what Ive read a PS came influence a good app too much but a very good PS can really help an average or weaker application stand out.
If your PS is very bad/has many mistakes/looks like you were sloppy and didn't care it might make some adcoms question you

 

[DentalNucleicAcid]

From what Ive read a PS came influence a good app too much but a very good PS can really help an average or weaker application stand out.
If your PS is very bad/has many mistakes/looks like you were sloppy and didn't care it might make some adcoms question you

Oh it doesn't have any mistakes or anything, I think it was well written. I wouldn't call it very good though. The content is decent.

 

[Faefly]

One of the reasons I have not applied yet is because I don't think my PS is good enough.

 

[fit2]

One of the reasons I have not applied yet is because I don't think my PS is good enough.

Haha I ended up rewriting half of my PS the night before I turned it in. It was pretty much the third time I wrote it haha

 

[Faefly]

Haha I ended up rewriting half of my PS the night before I turned it in. It was pretty much the third time I wrote it haha

because I haven't taken the dat yet, I can't just focus on it right now.

 

[Its_Me_G]

The first time I wrote my PS, I thought it was extremely cliche and I ended up having to re-write it a few times before I felt comfortable submitting it. So if you don't feel comfortable with yours yet, maybe re-write it completely and see how you feel? My advice is to make sure that yours is grammar-free and genuine, make sure that they know you're passionate about dentistry!

 

[UCSFx2017]

Admission committees know people receive a spectrum of difference in help when writing the personal statement. Some applicants are the children of deans and receive immense help while others write the statement all on their own. Please read the below excerpt from Dr. Wofsy who is the Dean of Admissions at UCSF School of Medicine:

Dr. Wofsy's comments on the personal statement:
"People agonize over the personal statement more than they're worth. Very few people will get into medical [or dental] school because of what they wrote in the personal statement. Some people will get out of medical [or dental] school because of what they wrote in the personal statement. So be careful with the personal statement. And remember that it is more likely to hurt than help. Write a good personal statement that shows that you can string thoughts in a logical way and you can write clearly and that you can talk about something that is relevant to this experience of applying to medical school, whether it's some activity you've been involved in or why you want to be a doctor [or dentist], or who knows what. It's not that important. What's important is that it's clear. So I tell people not to take risks for the personal statement. It's not what's going to get you in. And we follow that approach in our evaluation, that is, it's not a major determining factor. We know that a lot of different things go into the writing of the personal statement. Some people are the child of an admissions dean and they show their draft to their father and their father says 'No, no, no. Let's do it this way.' And some people have no such help. So we try to recognize that those statements are coming from many different environments and that they probably how we should decide in the end."

Listen to the entire conversation on episode 407 of Radio Rounds at Radio Rounds - Radio Rounds - Free Podcast by Wright State University on Apple Podcasts

I think the best route is to provide personal anecdotes that relates to dentistry leaving some emotional effect on you, perhaps it was you receiving the treatment, you delivering the treatment, or seeing someone else receive treatment. Be clear. Be thoughtful.

 

[StudentDentistsRock]

One of the reasons I have not applied yet is because I don't think my PS is good enough.

Same here. Everything is ready but my ps.

 

[UCSFx2017]

Radio Round's comments on other advice:
"The only way to get an interview is to make it through the numbers cut. If you can't make it through the numbers cut, none of this matters. None of this advice that we are giving today is going to apply to you because you gotta have the numbers to get that interview. And interviews aren't granted on personal statements. You have to make that initial cut...The personal statement only helps when the interviewer want to know what to talk about of if they have any questions, they can get it from that."

Listen to the entire conversation on episode 407 of Radio Rounds at Radio Rounds - Radio Rounds - Free Podcast by Wright State University on Apple Podcasts

 

[Michael_Scott]

How "good" does a personal statement have to be to grant you admission..? I've already submitted my app and had a few people look at my PS before I submitted it. I didn't want to spend more time on it because I really wanted to be early. It's ok but I feel like it's pretty cookie cutter and not anything extravagant. I mean, if we think about it, adcomms have probably seen it all, right? I feel like there's very little one can write about that adcomms would stop and think "wow, I've never read about this before". I'm also just a regular college junior, so nothing out of the ordinary has happened in my life yet that I can talk about and relate to dentistry. So does it just come down to writing something that is acceptable? Can an "OK" PS hurt you?

Anyone here gain admission last cycle with a PS that they feel was just "meh"?

A meh PS won't take you far....A PS has the power to break or make your app. You have to do your best and your effort will show.

Get others, especially current dental students and your university writing center to review it. If you want, you can send it to me and I will take a quick look. If not, doctoothache is a great resource and will give you a blunt assessment.

 

[Medin2017]

How "good" does a personal statement have to be to grant you admission..? I've already submitted my app and had a few people look at my PS before I submitted it. I didn't want to spend more time on it because I really wanted to be early. It's ok but I feel like it's pretty cookie cutter and not anything extravagant. I mean, if we think about it, adcomms have probably seen it all, right? I feel like there's very little one can write about that adcomms would stop and think "wow, I've never read about this before". I'm also just a regular college junior, so nothing out of the ordinary has happened in my life yet that I can talk about and relate to dentistry. So does it just come down to writing something that is acceptable? Can an "OK" PS hurt you?

Anyone here gain admission last cycle with a PS that they feel was just "meh"?

yep that was my mentality. It's like every premed who says their mom's cancer treatment was their inspiration to pursue med thinks they're unique but there's probably 100+ applicants with the same story in some way shape or form. If your stats and everything else are good, a solid generic PS probably won't affect you much.