Is personal statment very important?

[rupkaur]

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Hey Guy,
Thanks for ur replies to questions before. So far, I wrote personal statment twice and included bird as a metaphor. My advisor didn't like my metaphor, but I love it. I also sent it to some of my friends, they also like the metaphor. Now, i m going to change it again.. Do u think that personal statement has any influence on the admission officers. Do they look at it? I was thinking it is just a requirement.. Also, max limit is 4500, so can I have 4000; is it going to be fine or they are gonna say that I don't have enough to say about myself...Thanks a lot.......

 

[aphistis]

1) You're the one writing the paper, not your advisor. Unless s/he's an English professor, take their writing advice with a grain of salt.

2) Of course your personal statement influences your admissions chances. It's an integral part of your application packet.

3) Dental schools receive thousands of applications each year; nobody has time to count the number of characters in your personal statement. Focus less on word count, and more on writing a good essay regardless of its exact length.

 

[pmantz]

I think the use of a abstract metaphor such as a bird might be a little much, my brother is a prof at a FSU and sits on the committee over seeing grad school applicants. He told me specificity=credibility. I used experiences in my own life as examples of why I would be a good candidate. Your personal statement should be well written and somewhat eloquent but it isn't a work of art, it should be concise and not to long. I saw examples of personal statements on line and in my opinion, the statements that were maybe a page were the best who wants to read a couple of pages no matter how well written. Make the adcoms job easy, your metaphor might make sense to you but it might but everyone might not get it.

Your letter is important however, unless you have 20+, and a stellar GPA your letter will play a factor in you getting a interview.

 

[dentaldentist]

The personal statement is your only chance to really give the admissions committee an idea of what you are like. Its your opportunity to not only tell them why you are interested in dentistry but also to give them an idea of who you really are. Using metaphors can be a good idea as it will help your essay stand out if it is well written, but do not lose sight of the real goal of stating why dentistry and to fill in the details that your stats alone don't tell. Just do your best to balance creativity in your essay with clear concise points about who you are.

 

[bionerd]

I say forget the bird metaphor. Be specific and straight to the point. You only have 4500 characters to describe yourself. I've edited essays for many people before, and sometimes people just get caught up in what they believe is eloquence. NOT! It just sounds draggy and unnecessary. If I were the adcom, I'd laugh at any kid who tries to sound eloquent but failed on the personal statement. Don't take that risk. Forget about your friends' opinion. In my personal experience, our friends usually say positive things because 1) they subconsicously want to be nice and supportive, 2) they don't know what they're talking about, or 3) they didn't really read it and just want to give you a thumbs up.

p.s. I'm saying all this assuming that you're not some kind of great literary wiz.

 

[Amalgam X]

Metaphor = cliche

I've already seen the bird metaphor used several times before in personal statements for grad school along with other metaphors such as: trees, playing a sport/game, dancing, and other animals. Definately avoid it and be yourself.

 

[fancymylotus]

maybe im just a little clueless,but whats the bird metaphor?

 

[SugarNaCl]

as far as the length comment...you are restricted on the aadsas web app. They wont let you submit with more than a certain number of words.

 

[iviikoivi]

I was told by the UOP dean of admissions that a good personal statement won't get you in on its own. However, a bad personal statement might keep you from getting in. I can also tell you that UOP is more concerned that about grammar, sentence structure, etc. more than the actual content.

 

[bionerd]

Why? Doesn't that mean most people will pass since we all had it checked and double checked before submitting?

 

[iviikoivi]

Why? Doesn't that mean most people will pass since we all had it checked and double checked before submitting?

You are right, but (according to him) there are still people out there that confuses "there" with "they're" and "their" and such

 

[Uracil]

In my opinion, the personal statement is important because is the portion of the application of you as a person with goals, experiences, ect. It might not be crucial to get you in, but hey, it's part of it.

You will be happy with a personal statement that is you, and only you...no "trying to impress" b*s 😀

 

[djeffreyt]

spell checks don't catch everything, and not everyone has their statements checked by others. then there are always those foolhardy few who decide ten minutes before e-submitting that they need to add this or cut that and then realize they mucked up the statement.

But then again, personal statements are absolutely worthless. That's why no one spends any time on them, that's why there are no books or websites about them, that's why no one ever talks about them.

 

[rupkaur]

Thanks guys for ur comments. Actually, my english professor used to call me queen of metaphor and I used to write every single essay w/ any metaphor. It is just my habbit, I will try not to include my metaphor. But w/ this metaphor, my essay flows really great. As a bird, I also immigrated from another country and I included what r the obstacles during my flight towards destination and how I faced them....But if these metaphors have been used, then probably admission officers will get bored..........thanks a lot............

 

[lemoncurry]

my personal statement was the only reason why i didn't submit my app more than a week ago. I ended up keeping it at about 2000 characters (~3/5 of a page) and pretty darn concise. I was way too wordy in the beginning and had to trim off a lot of fat. I am banking on the adcoms liking a short but sweet essay.

 

[cocokeala]

uop dean said he likes stuff concise and short. long and boring equals death to him 😀

 

[714guy]

my personal statement was the only reason why i didn't submit my app more than a week ago. I ended up keeping it at about 2000 characters (~3/5 of a page) and pretty darn concise. I was way too wordy in the beginning and had to trim off a lot of fat. I am banking on the adcoms liking a short but sweet essay.

i know what you mean, I spent two weeks editing mine.