how long is the personal statement

[michk]

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Hey everybody, how what is the maximum and minimum length of the personal statement for podiatry schools?

 

[stellarzellar]

Well first you should start off by applying online at the aacpm website. If you do that and read the directions it will tell you somewhere less than 500 words. If you are anything of an interesting person then it should be no problem to write close to 500 words especially if you have a passion for the field you are looking into. I personally wrote just above 400 words but as long as you get your point to the people reviewing you then I'm sure you could write less. 👍 good luck

 

[lightfoot]

Yeah, stellarzellar is right. Its not that hard to end up with 500, the problem is keeping it down to 500. My original "short" personal statement was over 800 words. I spents days trying to chisel it down to 500, but I think in the end it was close to 600 words. Not saying that you should do that, but I don't think that anyone actually counts them, so if you go over a little, I think its ok.

 

[JEWmongous]

same here I had about 900 words the first time I wrote my PS 😱 It was actually quite difficult to get down to 500 words. I had about 3 friends review my work and offer advice on how everything sounded. Everything worked out great in the end though.

Good luck.

 

[michk]

thanks everybody, I am going to apply for the fall 2009 matriculation so I have not seen the application yet. Can the personal statement be about anything? I was planning on writing about how a situation with my mom influenced me to pursue medicine and then after shadowing various doctors I realized that podiatry is the field I want to go into. Do I have to address anything specifically, like what specialization within podiatry I may want to get into?

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

This just seems strange. Isn't it a "personal" statement? Should your life, goals, and accomplishments be the determining factor of length not what others on SDN wrote?

It just seems funny to me.

 

[DietMtDewAddict]

The application cuts you off at 500 words.

 

[SonicMD]

...Doode...No offense, really, I'm not trying to start anything or offend you, that's not my thing, but...Diet Mountain Dew? Are you really addicted to that? I tried it once and was horrified at the taste, to me it was the worst soda I've ever tasted and the first time I've ever wished for my money back. x_x


But back on topic, yeah, I agree with everyone who is saying five hundred words. I personally think they should allow us to go over that since some of us had a lot of things that influenced us, but at the same time I sort of look at it as a challenge? It's as if you had to make a report for work, it has to be short and right to the point. It's the same thing with the personal statement, it allows the schools to be able to read it quickly, then move on to the next student's personal statement, and then it also shows that your sumarization skill is good as well if it's short but get's the point across well.

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

Sorry to bump a super old thread, but I scoured AACPMAS and couldn't find a word limit, and I'm trying to write my PS.

Is it still only 500 words???

 

[SuperFeisty]

No. I don't know where this 500 word stuff is coming from. I remember they give you a certain number of characters instead. If you use fancy words, expect your statement to be shorter.

Personal Statement
USING YOUR OWN WORDS, in the space provided (4500 character count, this is about 750 words), write a brief statement expressing your motivation or desire to become a podiatric physician. You are encouraged to save your work often in the event that you are timed out of the system.

DO NOT make your essays school specific as you may decide to apply to additional programs at a later date. You will not be permitted to re-enter your essay or change what was originally e-submitted.

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

no. I don't know where this 500 word stuff is coming from. I remember they give you a certain number of characters instead. If you use fancy words, expect your statement to be shorter.

Personal statement
using your own words, in the space provided (4500 character count, this is about 750 words), write a brief statement expressing your motivation or desire to become a podiatric physician. You are encouraged to save your work often in the event that you are timed out of the system.

Do not make your essays school specific as you may decide to apply to additional programs at a later date. You will not be permitted to re-enter your essay or change what was originally e-submitted.

thanks a ton sf!

 

[andrew3]

when i looked it actually said this.

State below why you are interested in becoming a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine. Provide information about your development for a career in Podiatric Medicine (Your essay is limited to 4500 characters with spaces.)

i actually made an account on aacpm to just look at the prompt so i could write it.