personal statement for year long fellowship programs

[worker_bee]

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I am in the process of applying for the Cloisters, CRTP, Doris Duke, and Howard Hughes med fellows programs. I was wondering if there's any conventional wisdom regarding the personal statement portion of the applications to these programs? I explained in mine reasons for interest in research and for each reasons for interest in the particular program. I also explained briefly what kind of research I'd like to do if accepted, but not in much detail. Just curious what people know since no one else I know is applying for these programs.

 

[RxnMan]

...I was wondering if there's any conventional wisdom regarding the personal statement portion of the applications to these programs? I explained in mine reasons for interest in research and for each reasons for interest in the particular program. I also explained briefly what kind of research I'd like to do if accepted, but not in much detail...

So...a couple of things. One, your question is an important one, and it is something I've asked applicants to these programs to help me flesh out the FAQ. Two, I'm also applying this year, as are many others (see the year-off thread). While I want to help you, I'm not going to give away my ideas and hurt my chances. Three, here are general suggestions that you can get anywhere:

- look through the year-off thread for ideas
- look at the program's websites, in order to make sure you cover the points they ask for
- Have a bunch of people review it

 

[DwyaneWade]

Here is basically what I wrote:

-These are some of the major future problems facing my field of study
-These are things that need to be investigated to solve those problems
-Discussed a couple of experimental ways to solve those problems
-Discussed the importance of research to my career
-Discussed how the program will help me achieve my career goals

Not in that exact order, but that is about it.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

Are these year-long research fellowships for those in b/w years 2 and 3, or in b/w years 3 and 4?

 

[RxnMan]

Are these year-long research fellowships for those in b/w years 2 and 3, or in b/w years 3 and 4?

Both, or one or the other, depending on the program. Check this forum's FAQ (scroll down to the bottom) to see details about the programs, links to their websites, and Q & A's by former fellows.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

Thank you!

 

[HarveyCushing]

I only applied to Cloisters, we had a 1 page limit, mine basically went:

1) Why I like academics
2) Why I like oncology
3) Why I like basic science in particular
4) Why I like this program
5) Info about me and some reasons why taking a year off would be particularly beneficial for me at this time (basically, last few years have been rough due to family stuff, i'd like to take a year off to do interesting cool stuff before 3rd year since 3rd year seems like it sucks in some regards)

P.S. I know this is late, but I figure future applicants might like to read this stuff. Who knows, maybe I'll be one of them.

I had something similar to the above. My personal statement went:

1) How my interest in neuroscience started
2) Why I am interested in academic medicine
3) What area of research I am specifically interested in within neuro
4) Past research experience
5) What I like about/think the program will do for me
6) Summary paragraph including my future career and research interests

I can tell you one thing, one page sure fills up quickly. It really is about putting as much valuable information into that short one page personal statement.

 

[RxnMan]

EDIT: The CRTP asks for a personal statement containing including my research interests, career goals, and reasons for applying for the CRTP. 10,000 character limit.

1. Opened with what I thought was good about clinical medicine, research, and where the two came together.
2. Described what training I needed in order to take advantage of the physician-scientist paradigm.
3. Described how I thought the program would give me that training in the form of
   
   a) classes
   b) diverse research opportunities
   c) mentors, mentors, mentors​
4. Talked about the research I wanted to do
   
   a) used broad statements, not a detailed proposal
   b) What I enjoyed about that research field​
5. 5) Talked about my ideal/proposed career
   
   a) What I wanted to do
   b) Why I wanted to do it
   c) How the CRTP would help me get there​

I didn't go too far into research interests because they are incidental to my goal - more research training. My essay was ~6K in length.

 

[HarveyCushing]

RxnMan, how much room are you allowed for the CRTP personal statement? It might be worth noting the difference in allowed length. Sarnoff and HHMI give 1 page, while Doris Duke gave me about 1.5 pages. Doesn't CRTP give a bit more room than the other programs?