OPTOMCAS essay

[coastide]

Hey everyone! I had a question about the essay we are supposed to submit with the application. I was just a little confused...is this supposed to be a personal statement? For example, are we supposed to write it in passive voice, is it supposed to be in a story-like format, etc.

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

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[zxcutiemdr]

it can be however you want it. as long as you answer the prompt and end up sounding at least a bit professional
this is a chance for your personality to shine through so take advantage of it

 

[OptomHope]

Are you guys tailoring your personal statement essays to the individual schools that you are applying to?? I really don't know if it makes sense for my essay because mine is based purely upon why I want to be an optometrist, not so much about what school i want to go to.. what do you guys think? If you are tailoring it, how are you doing it?

Thanks!

 

[zxcutiemdr]

As far as I understand you have one Optomcas essay and then individual essays for each school (as to whether other schools have essays to the essays you sent to your other schools is a question i am currently asking )

but yes so I have a general personal statement on Optomcas answering the prompt as to why I want to be an optometrist, my unique experiences/abilities that'll help me succeed in this field etc

for the school specific essays I first started off writing the essay for my top choice...that was easy because I wrote about how I first heard of the school (for me it was a unique situation) and of the optometrists I have shadowed who have gone/taught at that institution and what I learned while shadowing them, a very small personal anecdote compared to my optomcas essay, and I also wrote about why that school is my top choice, you know like unique reasons and why I would be a good fit for that school and stuff.

Just begin by writing from the heart, no matter how "wrong" your reasons or grammar may be because it'll also be a way you being able to personally ask yourself why do I really want to go to optometry school and then you can tailor it into the beautiful, professional personal statement that you will be ready to submit.

Good Luck

 

[OptomHope]

As far as I understand you have one Optomcas essay and then individual essays for each school (as to whether other schools have essays to the essays you sent to your other schools is a question i am currently asking )

but yes so I have a general personal statement on Optomcas answering the prompt as to why I want to be an optometrist, my unique experiences/abilities that'll help me succeed in this field etc

for the school specific essays I first started off writing the essay for my top choice...that was easy because I wrote about how I first heard of the school (for me it was a unique situation) and of the optometrists I have shadowed who have gone/taught at that institution and what I learned while shadowing them, a very small personal anecdote compared to my optomcas essay, and I also wrote about why that school is my top choice, you know like unique reasons and why I would be a good fit for that school and stuff.

Just begin by writing from the heart, no matter how "wrong" your reasons or grammar may be because it'll also be a way you being able to personally ask yourself why do I really want to go to optometry school and then you can tailor it into the beautiful, professional personal statement that you will be ready to submit.

Good Luck

Ohh okay... the only reason I ask is because in OptomCAS it gives u the option to have several personal statement essays to tailor them to the schools. So in most cases you just submit the one essay to all of the schools, but in the "additional questions" essay you can write about why you want to go to that school in particular?

That makes a lot more sense! Thanks

 

[OptomHope]

Hey all

I am just wondering what kind of resources (if any) you used for editing your personal statement. I currently have not shown mine to anyone but I realize that it is probably a good idea to get others to look at it. I don't just want anyone looking at it though... do u have any advice about any resources that you used to help you???

thanks!

 

[physicslover]

I submitted mine to a couple friends,, I was considering using a professional service.. but then I didnt want to waste any more money than needed. Show it to at least one other person.

 

[kiwi5frog]

ask the optometrist doing your LOR. IMO, that person will give you the most insightful feedback

 

[saiwahhh]

I had a lot of friends edit my PS.

Try to find friends with different attributes as well. For instance, Pre-Med/Dent/Opt/Nursing friends will help with the content. Other friends who are better with writing and grammar can help with those types of errors you might have overlooked. I also sent my PS to every person who wrote an LOR for me. I didn't ask them to edit it, but instead just provided it and hoped if there was a big flaw they would point it out.

Does your undergraduate school have a writing center? take it there too!

 

[OptomHope]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone!

hmm.. my optometrist has already written my LOR and i dont know if i will see her before i submit my PS (i'm at school right now). but that would definitely be a good option. I'm going to send it to friends that have gotten into med school, etc, and have other friends look at the grammar. its hard for me to show people because i feel like it's very personal.. but i guess it will really help.

unfortunately my school doesnt have a writing center , i really want to make sure the grammar and everything is correct, so they would be awesome for that!


also.. are any of you applying to NECO... do u have any idea how the additional questions need to be written. for example the one asking why we want to go to NECO..is it supposed to be an essay or just a short answer to the question???

 

[lsmc888]

i used the writing center at my university to proofread and go over it with me and it was free

 

[OptomHope]

i used the writing center at my university to proofread and go over it with me and it was free

it explicitly states that the writing center at my school does not offer proofreading and editing services

 

[zxcutiemdr]

have u ever gone to your schools writing center?
mine states the same thing but it just means that they are not going to fix the whole thing for you, like its a way to make sure that they aren't doing your work for you, is all. just take it there and say that you want to make sure that your essay "makes sense" and that it properly answers the prompt and other stuff, trust me they will proofread and fix mistakes. I took it to many professors and many of my friends and mine was "embarrassing" because I wrote about something that happened to me as a child that inspired my decision to become an optometrist lol. just get it read by as many people as you possibly can

 

[OptomHope]

have u ever gone to your schools writing center?
mine states the same thing but it just means that they are not going to fix the whole thing for you, like its a way to make sure that they aren't doing your work for you, is all. just take it there and say that you want to make sure that your essay "makes sense" and that it properly answers the prompt and other stuff, trust me they will proofread and fix mistakes. I took it to many professors and many of my friends and mine was "embarrassing" because I wrote about something that happened to me as a child that inspired my decision to become an optometrist lol. just get it read by as many people as you possibly can

No i haven't gone... thanks for the insight, I will definitely go tomorrow in that case!! Okay, I guess I will put my pride aside and let as many people as possible read it. hahaha. thanks!

 

[OptomHope]

Oooh another question.. is there any way to change the formatting of our essay on OptomCAS??? When I go to print application it just puts it all into one big paragraph...

 

[happymango]

Did you ever get an answer to this or did you just submit it as a jumble?