Left home at 16

[natroncb]

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My wife (now 27) grew up in a single wide trailor 2 hours away from the nearest town. Her father is a park ranger near the border of canada in washington state. Her family housed numerous foster children, and by the age of 16 my wife was outta there. After travelling around... we met. Years later, with many lessons learned, and a daughter we are stronger than ever. Now, I have to say, she has lived a interesting life.

My question: do adcoms actually read personal statements (primary, and secondaries?) And, assuming stats are ok, do they carry much weight?

(When I appied to dental school I questioned if my statement had even been looked at during the interview.)

 

[blee]

I'm assuming your wife is the one who would be applying?

Either way, I can tell you that some adcoms definitely read personal statements. I say "some" because I only interviewed at five of them, and all five of them featured interviewers who knew the content of my PS on at least a cursory level. I can't vouch for the other 120 allopathic schools, but I assume many to most of them work in a similar fashion. 🙂

(I could, if I were feeling bitter, postulate that the ten schools to which I applied that snubbed me for an interview simply ignored everything but my GPA. But I wouldn't say that. 😛)

 

[natroncb]

yes, my wife is applying to med.

I am just excited for her. When I get home I try to share with her something new about the medical application process.

Thanks for your comments.

 

[robh]

My wife (now 27) grew up in a single wide trailor 2 hours away from the nearest town. Her father is a park ranger near the border of canada in washington state. Her family housed numerous foster children, and by the age of 16 my wife was outta there. After travelling around... we met. Years later, with many lessons learned, and a daughter we are stronger than ever. Now, I have to say, she has lived a interesting life.

My question: do adcoms actually read personal statements (primary, and secondaries?) And, assuming stats are ok, do they carry much weight?

(When I appied to dental school I questioned if my statement had even been looked at during the interview.)

I do believe the adcoms read the personal statements. However, I don't think the statement is a big factor. In 10 med-school interviews, I've been asked 2 or 3 questions total related to my personal statement. Kind of disappointing given the amount of work I put into it.

Here are my thoughts on the personal statement. Is it important? Yes, but only to the extent that you don't screw it up. Will a great personal statement overcome poor academics, MCAT, EC, LOR's, clinical experience? In my view, no way. Grades, MCAT, etc., reflect what you have accomplished. The PS is just talk. A good PS is expected so it doesn't add much, but bad PS will definitely hurt you.

There is no way to summarize, in 5000 characters, all the important factors in my life that led me to medicine. (I think this is especially true for non-trad's.) So I view the personal statement as a opportunity to generate interest in my application. My goal was to write enough to elicit in the reader a desire to know more about me. This leads naturally to the next step of inviting me for an interview. A good personal statement is well written, draws the reader in and causes him or her to take a closer look at my application.

That is my $0.02. I guess I'm with you on this one. I'm sure others will disagree. 🙂 Good luck to your wife!

P.S. I love the last line of your signature...

 

[RxnMan]

Not every application is initially read in it's entirety. Most schools apply GPA/MCAT cut-offs that reduce the pile of applications to something that is manageable. (Just think - if it takes 15 min to really read a PS, and schools receive upwards of 5000 applications, reading them full-time would take more than 6 months! And that's without considering the other essays, like ECs and secondaries!)

Thus, I would say that ADCOMS read some statements. Every time I've interviewed I've been asked questions about my PS. Interviewers generally prepare by reading all of your essays and pick some of their questions from what you've written. So if your wife has anything that will make her stand out (especially a difficult childhood, leaving at 16,) or things she needs to explain (low grades due to XYZ...) then she should put it in. Since she came from a difficult home situation, she may qualify for disadvantaged status. This is another thing that will set her apart.

 

[marcus_aurelius]

My wife (now 27) grew up in a single wide trailor 2 hours away from the nearest town. Her father is a park ranger near the border of canada in washington state. Her family housed numerous foster children, and by the age of 16 my wife was outta there. After travelling around... we met. Years later, with many lessons learned, and a daughter we are stronger than ever. Now, I have to say, she has lived a interesting life.

My question: do adcoms actually read personal statements (primary, and secondaries?) And, assuming stats are ok, do they carry much weight?

(When I appied to dental school I questioned if my statement had even been looked at during the interview.)

YES ABSOLUTELY....she should apply if she wants to!!!

Good luck 🙂 👍

 

[psipsina]

I think they do read statements. They serve two purposes 1) to so how well you use the english language and communicate your ideas effectively and 2) [if you write a non-generic i want to help people essay] to learn who you are. I had a similarly non-traditional path into med school, father died when I was 10, mom who suffers from sever psychosis kicked me out at 16 (for no good reason, because of a random delusion), I married at 19 and went to undergrad without the financial or emotional support of a traditional family . . . I wrote about all of this in my PS and have been asked about it and it has been commented on by interviewers. One said that it was people like me who had overcome such adversity that impressed him most. My MCAT is good (32Q) but my grades are so/so (3.1 sci, 3.34 overall) and so far I have an acceptance at Tulane and interviews at both LSUs and at UCLA. Some of the med schools that seem to want gunners from ivy leagues who would be 4th gen Drs might not put alot of weight into personal experience expressed via the PS, but obviously some very good schools do, and those are the schools where your wife would probably fit in the most and have a great experience. Wish her good luck from me

 

[SoCuteMD]

yes, my wife is applying to med.

I am just excited for her. When I get home I try to share with her something new about the medical application process.

Thanks for your comments.

I think that's really sweet.

I think it depends on the school as to whether they take these things into account, but there are definitely schools that will - especially if her stats are in the competitive range.

 

[natroncb]

Thanks... good feedback! (MUCH better than the dental forum --I'm in dental school).