Opinions please?

[Cells4life]

So I have written my Personal statement and finished the first draft. I have shown it to some people I know and they have all said it is a feasible essay with a good start. I was pretty satisfied with my essay until I gave it to one of those free medical school application editors, he completely ripped my essay and said to trash it.I mean I can handle the brutality of it and I am taking it as good criticism. Honestly, the points he made, I kind of knew I had to improve on them, but like I am confused. I still have to let one professor and a friend read it! How many people do you guys give your PS to read and how do you select who to give it to?. I mean obviously everyone has a different opinion, I feel the urgent to let more people read it now which may or may not be a good thing..basically I need someone's advice I guess...thanks!

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[earf]

People who you trust to give advice. Giving it to one of your friends who never took a writing course in college might not be a good idea, neither would giving it to someone who isn't thinking about grad school. I would let as many qualified people read it as possible (professors, mentors, med students, smart people, and research PIs).

For me, I got feedback from my schools PS reader, my roommate who aced his 6 humanities intensive writing courses, my girlfriend who was applying to law school, my history professor who I got a LOR from, two mentors who are in medical school, and my high school AP literature teacher. All gave me really good feedback not just on grammar, but also on content and how to make it more persuasive/show my motivation/flow better.

 

[prado]

*Didn't have anyone read my PS other than myself and got accepted to multiple schools Crew* checking in

Everyone has a different perspective on what's important and what's not. Some people are emotional while others rely a bit more on logic. The point is that you don't need to take everyone's advice. If you must, give it to a few people whose opinions you value and go from there. Don't let someone make you second guess your entire PS (unless it's unanimously bad).

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

So the guy whose job is to get people to buy his PS writing advice service told you that your PS sucks in a trial review intended to convince you to use the service even though everyone else said it was good.

Do I really need to say more?

 

[mimelim]

I had my wife read it and then two faculty adcoms. They all said close to the same things.

 

[Cells4life]

thanks for the replies..if anyone is willing to help me out..i would appreciate it!

 

[mcloaf]

thanks for the replies..if anyone is willing to help me out..i would appreciate it!

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=982605

 

[earf]

So the guy whose job is to get people to buy his PS writing advice service told you that your PS sucks in a trial review intended to convince you to use the service even though everyone else said it was good.

Do I really need to say more?

This is how I feel about Kaplan and their free diagnostic mcat test.

 

[DrHugs]

I am a pretty bad writer, so I had some people read it and after hearing their opinions I changed it. It is so much better now (after 12 drafts). It is never going to be perfect, but I am glad I asked people to read it. I guess it also depends a lot on how confident you are in your writing skills.

Take some people's advice, but remember that writing is based a lot on personal taste and style, so your style may not mesh with your reader's style.