Personal Statement CRISIS

[NuckingFutz]

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Hey guys, its been a while since I've posted but I really need some advice on what to do 😳

I think that my personal statement is that pretty unique for the most part (I think anyway). The general summary is that I suffered a traumatic dental experience when I was around 10 years old (Had several baby teeth removed with insufficient amounts of Novocaine). The dentist actually had somewhere between 2-3 assistants pinning me into the seat since I was thrashing around so much from the pain. Not surprisingly I didn't look too kindly to dentists after that ordeal.

Anyways, when I look back I find it ironic that I would actually want to be a dentist now after all that (except perhaps to let little kids experience what I had gone through at their age but trust me thats not the reason here ). A combination of caring, friendly dentists coupled with a developed passion towards helping people later on in my life changed my childhood mentality and I want to express that in my personal statement.

However a few of my friends were surprised that I would actually use that kind of experience in my personal statement mentioning that it could be a double edged sword. So now I turn to you guys for your opinions!

I have another PS thought out involving caring upbringing of family and relatives but it seemed a bit generic to me. What do you guys think?

Any advice is appreciated!!

 

[IdahoDoc]

go with the first one, the more you remember the experience the better. everyone has a "nice story" about how their upbring made them look into dentistry.

 

[OffAngleHatchet]

A livelier hook to capture the reader's attention is usually a more effective way to go, but your friends do have a point. It is possible to describe that negative experience in too much detail, and it may cast a shadow over the rest of t he personal statement. It's definitely doable, you just need to figure out how it fits with the rest of your narrative. So write the rest of your narrative first and then write the opening statement last, making sure to tailor it to the rest of your essay.

 

[NuckingFutz]

I feel as though the best way is to not go into too much detail about the overall experience and just focus on how the experience made me into who I am today. I really want this to work out because I feel like there's some huge potential in this (maybe it's just me 😀)

 

[TheWiredNerv]

Show your personal statement to some of your professors who wrote your letters of rec or other ones you have a good relationship with and tell them to read it over and offer suggestions. One of my professors said to scrap most of my personal statement and then he offered some suggestions on how to build a better one. It worked.

 

[Aceofspades]

Why does everyone have a personal statement involving a dental experience when they were young?

 

[NuckingFutz]

It has to start somewhere 😀

 

[aphistis]

Hey guys, its been a while since I've posted but I really need some advice on what to do 😳

I think that my personal statement is that pretty unique for the most part (I think anyway). The general summary is that I suffered a traumatic dental experience when I was around 10 years old (Had several baby teeth removed with insufficient amounts of Novocaine). The dentist actually had somewhere between 2-3 assistants pinning me into the seat since I was thrashing around so much from the pain. Not surprisingly I didn't look too kindly to dentists after that ordeal.

Anyways, when I look back I find it ironic that I would actually want to be a dentist now after all that (except perhaps to let little kids experience what I had gone through at their age but trust me thats not the reason here ). A combination of caring, friendly dentists coupled with a developed passion towards helping people later on in my life changed my childhood mentality and I want to express that in my personal statement.

However a few of my friends were surprised that I would actually use that kind of experience in my personal statement mentioning that it could be a double edged sword. So now I turn to you guys for your opinions!

I have another PS thought out involving caring upbringing of family and relatives but it seemed a bit generic to me. What do you guys think?

Any advice is appreciated!!

The first angle is interesting and attention-grabbing, but you might consider writing it in a way that focuses more on your childhood response to what is an inherently unpleasant experience to most 10-year-olds. You have no idea whether the dentist used enough local anesthetic, you have no idea whether he extracted the teeth properly or improperly, etc., etc.

Your admissions essay should be a description of how the experience (however it came to happen that way) molded your desire to become a dentist, not a technical critique of a procedure you've never performed in your life and have no knowledge of how to perform. Focus on that and you'll get a much warmer reception from the dentists, faculty, and students who will be reading it. Good luck!

 

[TheWiredNerv]

My personal statement is similar in that it starts with a negative experience I had as a child with a dentist taking my family's financial situation and lack of knowledge for granted. You have to convince the reader that it peaked your interest in dentistry.
Initially, my personal statement was focused entirely on this but my professors said that isn't a great approach. I suggest that you start with your experience but then shortly after you talk about how you grew as time progressed and how your undergrad or any other experience have prepared you for entry into the profession. Worked for my personal statement, which is at a similar angle to yours.

 

[toothfairy85]

Even though it was a negative experience for you, if you can somehow describe it from a positive standpoint, go with it. You don't want your statement to reveal any animosity toward dentistry, but more why this particular event motivated you to pursue a career in dentistry.

 

[elratoncito]

personally, i think the traumatic experiences can be a little safe, a lot of people will go that route, but if that's what you got and you can spin it right, it can definitely turn into a good personal statement.

 

[NuckingFutz]

I definitely plan on putting a positive spin on this (obviously 🙄)

I'm surprised that there would be so many people that had experiences similar to mine though 😱 Ah well, the fact that I remember this vividly is probably reason enough to take this idea and run with it

Thanks for all the input 😍😍

Now if only I can focus on studying for my endocrinology test 😴

 

[TheWiredNerv]

Another good idea is to parallel your negative experience with any positive experiences from shadowing dentists.