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Deleted member 750603
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Put together these points from previous threads by @Goro @gonnif and @LizzyM
Used Word Clouds to generate a word cloud of my own statement to show what the themes of my statements were. Good advice as this will be a snapshot of your digital self.
This article should be of help also.
1. Grammar, punctuation, spelling.
2. Best PS tell a story about the road travelled to Medicine.
3. The worst PS start out "The patient was brought in, terrified", or "I was 6 years old and scared".
4. Other bad ones are research heavy, which makes us think, "Why don't you just go to grad school?"
5. Coherent, concise and compelling narrative showing a strong pattern or theme of motivation, commitment and achievement in that order.
6. On one side of the equation are applicants who have concrete experiences and on the other side are adcoms looking for evidence of characteristics that may make one successful physicians. The application is to connect concrete experience to these abstract characteristics.
7. Applicants overlook that it is up to them to set forth their theme in the PS and the that ECs should be as much as possible to be evidence to that theme.
8. Application PS should SHOW ME by example or observation and NOT TELL or explain why. That is, tell me a story
9. It should be a story that has opening that gets me intrigued like the first line of a novel. ECs should read like the first paragraph of a newspaper article. I will say that the first paragraph should read very sincere and real. That really sets the tone for how the reader will take in the rest.
10. The story should also have an end or conclusions that makes sense to where the story started.
11. As one longtime director of admissions at a very top school used to say, the PS should make the reader's eyes dance.
12. It should read sincere and not read like "What I did on my summer vacation" or "what I did on my way to medical school."
13. Start writing from the heart, without worry of who else may read it. Get your real ideas out there so then you can mold into a sincere story.
14. Think through your PS in terms of paragraphs, 4-6, with a clearly stated topic sentence and coherent supporting sentences to follow.
15. The biggest negative at least to me is being arrogant and cocky instead of solid and confident. Yes, it is a fine line, but arrogant essays get tossed very quickly.
16. You may have to get as much of your evidence into the PS as well as in many schools, the PS reader may not see the rest of the app.
17. Have people who do not know you well and may have an idea of what medical schools may be looking for read the essay and criticize. The other posters on SDN are just the right crowd to do that.
18. As much as possible, reduce the use of "I" "Also" "However" and "But". After getting out your ideas, then write it, usually with all the "I" then work on restructuring sentence to reduce the words above.
19. Don’t use cliché and overreaching language like “I want to change the paradigm of what it means to be human”.
Used Word Clouds to generate a word cloud of my own statement to show what the themes of my statements were. Good advice as this will be a snapshot of your digital self.
This article should be of help also.
1. Grammar, punctuation, spelling.
2. Best PS tell a story about the road travelled to Medicine.
3. The worst PS start out "The patient was brought in, terrified", or "I was 6 years old and scared".
4. Other bad ones are research heavy, which makes us think, "Why don't you just go to grad school?"
5. Coherent, concise and compelling narrative showing a strong pattern or theme of motivation, commitment and achievement in that order.
6. On one side of the equation are applicants who have concrete experiences and on the other side are adcoms looking for evidence of characteristics that may make one successful physicians. The application is to connect concrete experience to these abstract characteristics.
7. Applicants overlook that it is up to them to set forth their theme in the PS and the that ECs should be as much as possible to be evidence to that theme.
8. Application PS should SHOW ME by example or observation and NOT TELL or explain why. That is, tell me a story
9. It should be a story that has opening that gets me intrigued like the first line of a novel. ECs should read like the first paragraph of a newspaper article. I will say that the first paragraph should read very sincere and real. That really sets the tone for how the reader will take in the rest.
10. The story should also have an end or conclusions that makes sense to where the story started.
11. As one longtime director of admissions at a very top school used to say, the PS should make the reader's eyes dance.
12. It should read sincere and not read like "What I did on my summer vacation" or "what I did on my way to medical school."
13. Start writing from the heart, without worry of who else may read it. Get your real ideas out there so then you can mold into a sincere story.
14. Think through your PS in terms of paragraphs, 4-6, with a clearly stated topic sentence and coherent supporting sentences to follow.
15. The biggest negative at least to me is being arrogant and cocky instead of solid and confident. Yes, it is a fine line, but arrogant essays get tossed very quickly.
16. You may have to get as much of your evidence into the PS as well as in many schools, the PS reader may not see the rest of the app.
17. Have people who do not know you well and may have an idea of what medical schools may be looking for read the essay and criticize. The other posters on SDN are just the right crowd to do that.
18. As much as possible, reduce the use of "I" "Also" "However" and "But". After getting out your ideas, then write it, usually with all the "I" then work on restructuring sentence to reduce the words above.
19. Don’t use cliché and overreaching language like “I want to change the paradigm of what it means to be human”.
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