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With the application process coming up quickly, I just wanted to share some brief thoughts on writing your personal statements. This is the process I used, and I found it to be very helpful. I had many interviewers comment on how great my PS was.
Brain dump daily. This should involve roughly 20 minutes of closed-eyes typing. Your eyes may or may not actually be closed depending on your preference (I actually close mine), but the concept is that you're not reading what you type. You're just typing and not worrying about what it says or making it right. It's just raw thoughts for you to look at later.
Topics should include:
-who am I: things about your upbringing/culture/family that have made you who you are
-work style/learning style -short term and long term goals: personally and professionally
-any notable personal struggles you've worked through and their life lessons
-strengths and weaknesses of yours
-things you've learned from particular mentors that were turning points in your life
-how was dental school: what did you learn? What did you like? What didn't you like?
-Why are you applying to what you're applying for?
-How does the thing you're applying for fit into your short term and long term goals?
-What do you know about the field you're applying for?
-What kind of person is ideally suited for that? Is this you or is there a reason why you'll be successful even if you don't fit the mold? These all fit the broad category of "Who are you and why are you writing this essay."
Each day pick a handful of the above topics and brain dump. Each day new dated document, no looking at the old ones. Then after about a week or 10 days, literally print all of them. Physically cut each paragraph out and put them in a big pile in front of you on an empty floor. Mix them all up. Then pick up a paragraph and read it. Start a pile with the general category into which that paragraph falls. After a while you'll find some general themes that keep popping up. Put those paragraphs together. Then you'll find you have all this content for each of these themes and you can staple or tape those raw paragraphs together and have them in front of you as you write your "Who am I" paragraph for your actual first draft, the one where you get to look at the screen and make nice sentences with flow and structure. Repeat for all other meaningful themes you want to draft out.
The process from first brain dump to first reasonable draft is at least 10 days, but usually 2 weeks. The first draft is usually more than double the appropriate length. You'll have things in it that are important to you, but you haven't figured out how to say succinctly or whether you need to actually include an explanation or just a tonal coloring of the rest of your essay. Over the 2 weeks that follow that, it should be condensing things into tighter packages and by about a month in, you'll have a reasonable draft that looks very little like your first draft.
That's my brief thoughts on the whole process of drafting a PS! I know it is a lengthy and somewhat stressful process. happy to answer any questions about the application process as well.
Brain dump daily. This should involve roughly 20 minutes of closed-eyes typing. Your eyes may or may not actually be closed depending on your preference (I actually close mine), but the concept is that you're not reading what you type. You're just typing and not worrying about what it says or making it right. It's just raw thoughts for you to look at later.
Topics should include:
-who am I: things about your upbringing/culture/family that have made you who you are
-work style/learning style -short term and long term goals: personally and professionally
-any notable personal struggles you've worked through and their life lessons
-strengths and weaknesses of yours
-things you've learned from particular mentors that were turning points in your life
-how was dental school: what did you learn? What did you like? What didn't you like?
-Why are you applying to what you're applying for?
-How does the thing you're applying for fit into your short term and long term goals?
-What do you know about the field you're applying for?
-What kind of person is ideally suited for that? Is this you or is there a reason why you'll be successful even if you don't fit the mold? These all fit the broad category of "Who are you and why are you writing this essay."
Each day pick a handful of the above topics and brain dump. Each day new dated document, no looking at the old ones. Then after about a week or 10 days, literally print all of them. Physically cut each paragraph out and put them in a big pile in front of you on an empty floor. Mix them all up. Then pick up a paragraph and read it. Start a pile with the general category into which that paragraph falls. After a while you'll find some general themes that keep popping up. Put those paragraphs together. Then you'll find you have all this content for each of these themes and you can staple or tape those raw paragraphs together and have them in front of you as you write your "Who am I" paragraph for your actual first draft, the one where you get to look at the screen and make nice sentences with flow and structure. Repeat for all other meaningful themes you want to draft out.
The process from first brain dump to first reasonable draft is at least 10 days, but usually 2 weeks. The first draft is usually more than double the appropriate length. You'll have things in it that are important to you, but you haven't figured out how to say succinctly or whether you need to actually include an explanation or just a tonal coloring of the rest of your essay. Over the 2 weeks that follow that, it should be condensing things into tighter packages and by about a month in, you'll have a reasonable draft that looks very little like your first draft.
That's my brief thoughts on the whole process of drafting a PS! I know it is a lengthy and somewhat stressful process. happy to answer any questions about the application process as well.