Personal Statement advice for reapplicant

[immunomed]

So I am pretty sure I will be a reapplicant. One of the biggest mistakes for me was my late application in combination with my low stats, but my personal statement really bothered me.

I am a christian and my faith played a big part of my decision to pursue a career in medicine, but I did not mention that in my personal statement because I thought it would put me at a disadvantage. Can anyone offer advice about that? I want to put that in my personal statement this year, but is that strongly discouraged?

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[FrkyBgStok]

it depends on how you present your faith. as long as it doesn't come across as push or heavily biased against others, you should be fine. i go to school with a ton of mormons and a number of them mentioned their faith in their personal statements (if what they told me is true) and clearly it didn't hurt them much. but the ones that told me this aren't the pushy religious type so they probably worked it in a very appropriate angle. as long as you do that, you should be fine.

 

[immunomed]

Thank you all for your advice. I have an idea on how I can write my statement now. I guess the hard parts were putting into words how I felt about some of my experiences.

 

[immunomed]

Start by just writing with regard to who will read it. Rewriting and editing will fix this. Also, dont focus on what you felt as much as what it gave you in terms of values, motivation, etc.

For example, I work with many religious jewish applicants in NY, one of which wrote an essay how a trip to Israel and seeing holy sites gave him an understanding and connection to the continuous nature of the jewish culture. he then tied this to the continuous nature being with patients in a primary care setting. While religious, it was sincere, heartfelt and gave the impression he would be committed to medicine as much as his faith.

Thank you for the advice. It really helps. If you don't mind, can you take a look at my personal statement once it is done? It might take some time though.

 

[impact2d]

So I am pretty sure I will be a reapplicant. One of the biggest mistakes for me was my late application in combination with my low stats, but my personal statement really bothered me.

I am a christian and my faith played a big part of my decision to pursue a career in medicine, but I did not mention that in my personal statement because I thought it would put me at a disadvantage. Can anyone offer advice about that? I want to put that in my personal statement this year, but is that strongly discouraged?

I mentioned the aspects of my upbringing, faith, and family that helped guide me towards medicine. I mentioned the aspects of my faith that inspired me, but understand that I don't think you should sound overly pious, pushy, or closed minded. Be sincere, but don't be preachy!

(p.s. I am a christian, and mentioned the community service that I did with my church and the life lessons it taught me, but I didn't get all, God told me to be a doctor so you have to let me in)

 

[immunomed]

I mentioned the aspects of my upbringing, faith, and family that helped guide me towards medicine. I mentioned the aspects of my faith that inspired me, but understand that I don't think you should sound overly pious, pushy, or closed minded. Be sincere, but don't be preachy!

(p.s. I am a christian, and mentioned the community service that I did with my church and the life lessons it taught me, but I didn't get all, God told me to be a doctor so you have to let me in)

lol. yes of course. that is not what i was trying to say. I just did not know if having a christian based motivation was going to put me at a disadvantage.

 

[impact2d]

lol. yes of course. that is not what i was trying to say. I just did not know if having a christian based motivation was going to put me at a disadvantage.

I figured as much, but I edited a lot of personal statements last year. You'd be surprised at some of the stuff people say.

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[pp77]

So I am pretty sure I will be a reapplicant. One of the biggest mistakes for me was my late application in combination with my low stats, but my personal statement really bothered me.

I am a christian and my faith played a big part of my decision to pursue a career in medicine, but I did not mention that in my personal statement because I thought it would put me at a disadvantage. Can anyone offer advice about that? I want to put that in my personal statement this year, but is that strongly discouraged?

My opinion is that it more likely to put you at a disadvantage than to impress the reader. Of course nobody will ever admit to being biased against devout Christians, but I think this prejudice is fairly common amongst medical-school faculty and reflected in other positions they take (e.g. the skepticism regarding medical missions). Obviously this may be less true in more conservative parts of the country, and certainly at schools with religious affiliations.