Personal Comment Essay

[discusdan]

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I will be applying next year for the class entering 2005. Does anyone have any pointers on what to write and not to write about in the personal essay.

 

[bcosmos]

My two cents:

First: Go to the websites of the schools to which you want to apply...look at their criteria for selection and their mission statement; anything that clues you in about their focus and vision for the fundamentals of "their" type of physician.

Next: Go to Barnes and Noble (or any big bookstore) and look through a few of the books concerning this subject...there is a litany of them, but also look in the MCAT prep books, there is usually a section about the personal statement.

Finally: Using the particular qualities of the schools to which you've decided to apply and the information in the books (structure, content, example essays) formulate yours. I would say it is a good thing to do weeks, if not months ahead of time. You want it to be as polished as possible (I tried mine out on friends and family to make sure it was accurate and captured the essence of how I came to where I am today and the forces that drove that progression - the key here is essence, not facts, capture the emotion, put them in your shoes).

I don't know if that is wise advice. It is what I used and I have yet to be able to report just how fruitful it was, but I wish you well and be diligent, all will workout just as its planned...

 

[valliumv]

I literally rewrote my AMCAS essay 20 times-- I had so many versions of it on my computer i didnt know what to name them. I did look at the essays in different advice books, and they were all great, and I kept having trouble writing mine. Finally my friend (a wise education and history major) gave me the wake up call by saying, how can you expect yours to be awesome if you keep trying to write like them. shouldn't your essay be unique?
she was totally right.

the point of your essay is to communicate to the adcom that you want to be a doctor more than anything else. it also shows you can write, but dont' get caught up in making it pretty. it won't matter if they can't figure out why you want to be an md.

other tips: focus on one or two experiences, don't try to list everythign thats influenced your decision. try to make it memorable to the adcom.

grammar/style: no more than one comma per sentence. if you need more, then restructure the sentence or split up the info. don't use words you don't already know the meaning for. stay away from colons, semicolons or dashes. use active verbs, but not if it means using poor structure.

most of all, write from your heart. it will show if you don't.

good luck!

ps- I'll be willing to read essays come january or so 🙂

 

[TTSD]

Unless you have a damn good story or are a great writer, try to stay away from what I lovingly refer to as the "common fare." These usually include the:

a) One traumatic moment changed my life
b) A physician helped me, so I want to help others
c) I like to help people

I'm not saying that those won't make for an interesting read.. but I'm sure adcoms probably have to read through a gazillion of those so if you can be original. If not, be CAPTIVATING. As one mentor put it, "You want to make them orgasm reading your paper."

 

[topherius]

I sort of disagree with TTSD. You should write what feels right for you. After I finished my first draft of my personal statement, I gave it to a family friend who serves on the adcom of a local med school every other year (not this year, tho--don't worry, no conflict of interest here). She raked me over the coals because I was dancing around the fact that I want to be a doctor to help people...but since I thought it was corny, I wasn't coming out and saying it. I rewrote it and actually said verbatim at one point that I do want to help others. If that's why you want to do it, say it!

Obviously, try to find a non-cliche way of saying the corny stuff (that's going to be hard since every pre-med on the face of the planet has probably given some version of the line). Maybe try putting it in the middle of the piece--open and close with something more original. But if it's between saying something corny and saying something false, I say go with corny. Just make sure your statement is well-written, and try to give it some sort of individual twist that will make it memorable.