Including Every Single EC in the PS

[Giggles411]

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Hi guys,
What are you opinions about including all of your Extracurrics in the Personal Statement. I find that I'm getting mixed reviews about this. Some sources say that you should state/show every thing you've been a part of post H.S, while others say that there's no need to do this since there's a part in the primary application that lets you list 15. What do you think? I'm finding that if I try to fit every detailed activity I've been a part of, I have a tougher time telling each one as a interesting story due to length limits.
Thank you all!
😍 😍

 

[emquiksilver]

I would not recommend talking about all your ECs in your personal statement. It's there for you to elaborate on your reason(s) why you want to pursue medicine. You made a perfectly good point yourself:

I'm finding that if I try to fit every detailed activity I've been a part of, I have a tougher time telling each one as a interesting story due to length limits.

 

[Giggles411]

Thanks a lot emquiksilver. Good luck!!!

 

[emaj1n]

Hi guys,
What are you opinions about including all of your Extracurrics in the Personal Statement. I find that I'm getting mixed reviews about this. Some sources say that you should state/show every thing you've been a part of post H.S, while others say that there's no need to do this since there's a part in the primary application that lets you list 15. What do you think? I'm finding that if I try to fit every detailed activity I've been a part of, I have a tougher time telling each one as a interesting story due to length limits.
Thank you all!
😍 😍

I would stongly advise you against including ECs in your personal statement. The AMCAS is for listing your ECs. The personal statement is to showcase where you've come from, where you are, and where you want to be. It's a story, and the more memorable (less boring talk about ECs), the better.

I posted something about personal statements on my blog. You can read the entry here.

Good luck!

 

[doinmybest5840]

I would stongly advise you against including ECs in your personal statement. The AMCAS is for listing your ECs. The personal statement is to showcase where you've come from, where you are, and where you want to be. It's a story, and the more memorable (less boring talk about ECs), the better.

I posted something about personal statements on my blog. You can read the entry here.

Good luck!

But what if some of the stuff you did in your ECs cemented your belief that medicine is what you want to do? I don't plan to write the same stuff in my personal statement as in my EC descriptions. The former is more "here is a specific experience I had and how it increased my passion for medicine" while the latter is more "these were my duties/obligations/etc. with __________."

Also, how important would you say it is to discuss grades in your PS if they started low but show pretty much a strong upward trend with the exception of a class or two? I feel like I shouldn't put anything negative in my statement, but some people have told me that you should discuss the reasons for grades. My reasons are that A: I had a little trouble adjusting to college, and B: the slight grade fluctuation later was due to a very tiny and temporary health problem that got a little out of hand (thyroid issue that ended up resolving on its own).

Thanks.

 

[Giggles411]

Thanks emaj1n. I found what you wrote on your blog really helpful.

 

[Giggles411]

I don't think you should write "I got bad grades because..." but I do think it's a good idea to discuss how it was tough for you to adjust and how you had this health problem. They will correlate the two.

 

[doinmybest5840]

I don't think you should write "I got bad grades because..." but I do think it's a good idea to discuss how it was tough for you to adjust and how you had this health problem. They will correlate the two.

Well crap. I already spent 5247 characters discussing all the positive parts. Now I'm gonna have to rework it all.

 

[Giggles411]

Haha. Well, you don't have to. I just think it's better to explain a downfall rather than leaving them guessing what the cause of it was (like getting drunk in the dorms everynight and taking finals still hungover :/ :/).

 

[emaj1n]

But what if some of the stuff you did in your ECs cemented your belief that medicine is what you want to do? I don't plan to write the same stuff in my personal statement as in my EC descriptions. The former is more "here is a specific experience I had and how it increased my passion for medicine" while the latter is more "these were my duties/obligations/etc. with __________."

I think this if fine, as long as it's genuine. Talking about high school Key Club is something different all together. It the EC helped shape who you are today and where you want to be tomorrow, go for it.

Also, how important would you say it is to discuss grades in your PS if they started low but show pretty much a strong upward trend with the exception of a class or two? I feel like I shouldn't put anything negative in my statement, but some people have told me that you should discuss the reasons for grades. My reasons are that A: I had a little trouble adjusting to college, and B: the slight grade fluctuation later was due to a very tiny and temporary health problem that got a little out of hand (thyroid issue that ended up resolving on its own).

In my opinion, you don't have to overtly mention the grade trend because they will notice it. I would mention the later grade fluctuation since it's related to a health problem. If it helps, at the end of my personal statement, I briefly mentioned (like two sentences) how a bicycle accident caused me to withdraw from a semester of classes and take many of my prereqs during summer school. I put all this in ( ) to separate it from my statement.

Thanks emaj1n. I found what you wrote on your blog really helpful.

Very welcome. Let me know if you have any other questions (PM or email).

 

[nick_carraway]

emaj1n! A parenthetical statement? In your PS? You unorthodox rebel, you. I wish I had a good excuse for my grades so I wouldn't be afraid to draw attention to it with parenthesis. Woe is I.

doinmybest, you mean that you're only writing about some of your ECs and not about every single EC, right? The former is more reasonable than the latter.

BTW, I agree that the activity summaries are responsible for what you did and the PS is responsible for what you got from it.

 

[emaj1n]

emaj1n! A parenthetical statement? In your PS? You unorthodox rebel, you. I wish I had a good excuse for my grades so I wouldn't be afraid to draw attention to it with parenthesis. Woe is I.

Haha. I didn't want it to be "part" of my personal statement. At the same time, I needed to mention the situation. I think I settled on parentheses instead of "Acadmic note:" or something similar because of space concerns.

 

[doinmybest5840]

emaj1n! A parenthetical statement? In your PS? You unorthodox rebel, you. I wish I had a good excuse for my grades so I wouldn't be afraid to draw attention to it with parenthesis. Woe is I.

doinmybest, you mean that you're only writing about some of your ECs and not about every single EC, right? The former is more reasonable than the latter.

BTW, I agree that the activity summaries are responsible for what you did and the PS is responsible for what you got from it.

Yeah, I'm only writing about a few things in particular.

 

[CTtarheel]

you PS should ADD to your application. Don't write things in there that are already in other parts of your application. Use the space to tell new things about you and explain your passion for medicine or medical research. This may (should) involve talking about extracurriculars, but try to give anecdotes about situations that show your dedication or made you want to pursue medicine more, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT give a laundry list of your extracurriculars or even attempt to talk about more than just the one or two most significant ones in your decision to be a doctor.