Is it okay to exaggerate in Personal Statement?

[lmnguye4]

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I'd hate to ask, but I need to know. Will exaggerating in the Personal Statement will come and bit you back in the rear?

I'm just wondering because the reason for my interest in medicine appears plain and boring, no exciting life experiences and nothing that would catch my eye if I was an admissions advisor.... However, my P.S. would seem more sincere if I wrote it for what it is, however it wouldn't stand out. But is it okay to excite it a bit more? Maybe add a white lie here and there so make it more appealing?

 

[AdemTD]

I'd hate to ask, but I need to know. Will exaggerating in the Personal Statement will come and bit you back in the rear?

I'm just wondering because the reason for my interest in medicine appears plain and boring, no exciting life experiences and nothing that would catch my eye if I was an admissions advisor.... However, my P.S. would seem more sincere if I wrote it for what it is, however it wouldn't stand out. But is it okay to excite it a bit more? Maybe add a white lie here and there so make it more appealing?

The danger in this would be that it could come up in an interview. If your interviewer finds it to be insincere, he/she may grill you on it and find out just how much you're lying. As always, honesty is the best policy.

 

[spicedmanna]

If, by exaggerate, you mean that you are outright fabricating something, making up a feature that isn't so, or making an obvious mole hill into a mountain, then do yourself a favor and resist the temptation to do it. While the chances of anyone finding out (unless it's absolutely blatant, or you are inconsistent) is pretty slim, I believe it's not worth the risk and the damage to your integrity. That being said, it's often true, in my experience, that fact can be more interesting than anything you can make up. It's not hard to to take some absolutely factual key points in your life and write a compelling story about it. That's the key. It's the story teller. A good story teller can present some seemingly mundane facts in just the right ways. Anyway, I think just about everyone looks at personal statement as the opportunity to put their best foot forward and a healthy use of the "artistic license," so to speak, is probably expected. Work on the story. Yes, it's a bit of a painful process. Get help from some good writers and editors. Think of your life not as a boring story, because that will make your personal statement boring, but as something unique. Nobody lived your life, but you.

 

[scpod]

NEVER exagerrate anything that you do from here on out. A student in the class ahead of me worked on research with several other people but was not a named author on the study. Yet, he included it in his CV. He was headed toward a very prestigious residency until they fact-checked his CV. Now, he's lucky to have gotten a spot in a transitional year program. His future changed very quickly with an exagerration that was meant to make him look better. DON'T do it!

 

[StrivingSurge13]

Ya don't exaggerate... but if you think there is a weak spot on your resume, just don't elaborate on it in your personal statement... If you think that your reason to want to become a doctor is bland, then briefly mention it and then elaborate on other issues such as why you feel you'll be a good doctor etc...

 

[lmnguye4]

Thank you everyone! I am going to take all your advices and use it. It means a lot to me, thanks. 🙂

I am definately going to just tell them the plain truth, no exaggerations whatsoever.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

If, by exaggerate, you mean that you are outright fabricating something, making up a feature that isn't so, or making an obvious mole hill into a mountain, then do yourself a favor and resist the temptation to do it. While the chances of anyone finding out (unless it's absolutely blatant, or you are inconsistent) is pretty slim, I believe it's not worth the risk and the damage to your integrity. That being said, it's often true, in my experience, that fact can be more interesting than anything you can make up. It's not hard to to take some absolutely factual key points in your life and write a compelling story about it. That's the key. It's the story teller. A good story teller can present some seemingly mundane facts in just the right ways. Anyway, I think just about everyone looks at personal statement as the opportunity to put their best foot forward and a healthy use of the "artistic license," so to speak, is probably expected. Work on the story. Yes, it's a bit of a painful process. Get help from some good writers and editors. Think of your life not as a boring story, because that will make your personal statement boring, but as something unique. Nobody lived your life, but you.

This post is pitch-perfect, IMHO. While you certainly shouldn't fabricate anything outright, it's also true that the "art" of preparing a strong med school application depends strongly on your ability to use "artistic license" to make whatever you did sound compelling. (As far as I can tell, even the most qualified applicants to this to some extent; for instance, go look up this year's Rhodes Scholars and tell me that some of their activities don't sound "trumped up" to some degree.)

 

[engineeredout]

Embellishing is one thing, fabrication is another. Like spiced sad, you can use creative language to make it interesting without actually lying.

 

[lmnguye4]

I just reworte my personal statement, it seems very boring and doesn't tell much about medicine or my qualities. So now, I'm confused on how to approach this mean essay.

Anyone willing to read it for me and give me brutal advice/feedback?
PM me, please? 🙂

Thanks.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

Don't put anything in there that could be interpreted as you being full of ****.

 

[linkDO]

theres always ways to liven up medicine, you just need to use the right language and words. it takes work for sure.

i recommend not exaggerating. i know a lot of people who have done it and gotten away with it, but i think thats pretty bogus. times i've known this to come back to haunt someone....which i laughed my ass off at them cause i really dont like people that lie on apps:

1- kid said he was a varsity athlete at some school and trained 30 hrs a week for it. talking about discipline, desire, dedication ,etc.... interviewer called his bluff and said that particular school didnt even have varsity crew, only a club team that did intramural stuff.

2- kid said he helped found a homeless food pantry and was working rediculous hours getting it together. by the time interviews came around the food pantry had publicity and a website proving he was just a tiny volunteer doing prob one day a week, not the very elaborated full time job with the responsibility that he acted like.

 

[CardioPlus]

1- kid said he was a varsity athlete at some school and trained 30 hrs a week for it. talking about discipline, desire, dedication ,etc.... interviewer called his bluff and said that particular school didnt even have varsity crew, only a club team that did intramural stuff.

2- kid said he helped found a homeless food pantry and was working rediculous hours getting it together. by the time interviews came around the food pantry had publicity and a website proving he was just a tiny volunteer doing prob one day a week, not the very elaborated full time job with the responsibility that he acted like.

oh mann, sucks for them.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

Doesn't suck for anyone else. I am glad that these people got weeded out of the system before I had to work with them.

I quit a promising career and worked my ass off to go to med school. I don't want to be around people who bull****ted their way in.

 

[Limvostov]

Doesn't suck for anyone else. I am glad that these people got weeded out of the system before I had to work with them.

I quit a promising career and worked my ass off to go to med school. I don't want to be around people who bull****ted their way in.

I agree fully! I told the truth on my PS and in my interviews and worked hard to get real experiences that were worth hearing about. I'm also leaving a lucrative field for a career that I hope will be rewarding in other ways. I sure hope that there aren't many people who lie or cheat to get into medicine. I would really hate to have to work with them.

Try taking your writing to a writing center. Most colleges have them for free and will give you some insight on ways to make your writing stand out and worded in a way that's engaging.

Good luck!

 

[JanikeyDoc]

I'd hate to ask, but I need to know. Will exaggerating in the Personal Statement will come and bit you back in the rear?

I'm just wondering because the reason for my interest in medicine appears plain and boring, no exciting life experiences and nothing that would catch my eye if I was an admissions advisor.... However, my P.S. would seem more sincere if I wrote it for what it is, however it wouldn't stand out. But is it okay to excite it a bit more? Maybe add a white lie here and there so make it more appealing?

That would be extremely dangerous to your application. If you get caught you could be rejected outright, and the school can notify AACOM and then AACOM will notify other schools. Be honest about your application, its more how you say and write things than what you do.

 

[Sandlot13]

all good points, so I wont repeat everything everyone said 🙂 hooray for truth!

 

[gardengnome]

+1 to honesty

 

[COMedic2Doc]

Doesn't suck for anyone else. I am glad that these people got weeded out of the system before I had to work with them.

I quit a promising career and worked my ass off to go to med school. I don't want to be around people who bull****ted their way in.

Very well said TT. I for one definitely agree, and to be honest I would rather see these people weeded out of the system than be accepted into Medical School that I have worked my ass off to just get to the application stage (eventually, sigh). Not to mention, I despise working with Medics and other providers that lie and feel that they have to fabricate or exaggerate the truth, especially when it comes to dealing with human lives.

To the OP, yes pay attention to your writing and definitely realize that creative writing is not fabrication or exaggeration, it is the art of taking something that is mundane and describing it in such a way that it becomes interesting. I feel that every email that I send home to communicate about my experiences here is mundane and boring, because I'm exposed to it every day. However, people back home find it exhilirating and well worth the read. Having said this, what you interpret being mundane in your life is not mundane to your reader especially if you write well. Good luck with your application. 😎

 

[ShyRem]

OP:

NO. It's NOT.