Personal Statement Advice

[shellsterpie]

Hello!

I am in the midst of writing my personal statement for the upcoming cycle. I have gotten various advice from different people regarding how to go about in writing it. Some told me to be creative and unique, without listing out all your accomplishments since that is what the other parts of the application is for. Others told me to list out all of my achievements and how they affected me as an individual.

The main purpose, of course, is explaining why I want to become a dentist, but I am not sure what the best way to go about writing it. Should I take a more creative route on expressing my goals in becoming a dentist, or go about listing my accomplishments as a student? I know there is a character limitation, so it's also a challenge keeping the PS concise and clear.

Any advice will be appreciated! Thanks!

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[NCC1701]

I would go the creative route! This is the general outline that I followed for my PS:

-Intro about me, tells who I am and where I come from
-Formative experience that made me consider career in healthcare
-Path to pursuing dentistry, why I was interested in dentistry, stuff about guidance from mentor dentist
-Short conclusion

I didn't really include anything about my school accomplishments because all of those were on my app. I also originally included an explanation of my low grades for my first 2 years of undergrad (I wasn't focused, did not apply myself, etc) but people who reviewed it advised against that and said I should only include positive stuff in my PS.

 

[dentalabscessed]

Writing's tough, especially when you only have 4500 characters to shine! Some will say it's the only place to brag about yourself, but try not to think of it that way. Brainstorm by thinking of what experiences in dentistry taught you about the profession/patients/leadership and how each step in your journey helped you visualize your future role in dentistry.

Emphasis on "role." When you look at your resume, what stands out? What is your story? For instance, my "thing" was community service. I was involved in hundreds of hours working with the underserved, and took extra workshops learning about oral health policy and systemic barriers to health care. So in my conclusion, I stated "I strive to use the tools of a dental education to impact community health in a lasting way." Help admission officers visualize your future role in dentistry by spelling it out explicitly, don't leave it to them to guess.

Lastly, be very specific. Thousands of applicants will talk about how they "want to help people" or how they "like to combine artistry with science." These are very broad statements... When you shadowed, what special cases did you see that inspired you? How did observing patient-doctor interactions teach you about humanism? If you volunteered, what did the experience tell you about the responsibilities of helping the sick? In your undergrad education, did you learn about the difficulties of treating medically complex patients/disparate healthcare access/hygiene literacy? Try to show an appreciation/understanding about the challenges facing dentistry today, but tie it back to yourself. How does this knowledge affect you and strengthen your resolve to be a dentist?

The essay is a place for admissions to gauge how serious you are about dentistry (commitment), your capacity to care for the sick (character), what you have done to familiarize yourself with the field (experience), and where you see yourself in dentistry (future goals). It's less about who you are as a person (funny/smart/driven) and more about how your dental experiences shaped your perspective & goals to motivate you to be in this field. Talk about the latter first, they should be able to make conclusions about your personal character from there.

 

[shellsterpie]

This is great stuff, thanks so much guys!!

 

[zujajah]

I was wondering if anyone is willing to read my personal statement.