I was curious to see if anyone would be willing to overlook my personal statement draft. In my opinion, I am not a very strong writer so any constructive criticism and thoughts would be great if you don't mind taking a look! Just send me a message if you'd like to help, thanks!
Personal Statement Help
- Thread starter cwt0502
- Start date
ex-mdphd
Full Member
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2018
- Messages
- 30
- Reaction score
- 35
Glad to look it over! Don't think I'm able to PM you, but feel free to shoot me a message.
If you're still looking to refine your personal statement, I highly recommend Gurufi! I'm currently in my 2nd year of med school and I really struggled with writing my personal statement and had so many drafts but at the very end I decided to send it over to Brian (editor) at Gurufi and he pulled out the central point of my essay and polished it to the point where I was really satisfied with it. He helped the statement express exactly what I had wanted it to 🙂
- Joined
- May 10, 2015
- Messages
- 131
- Reaction score
- 178
Does Brian also help with secondaries, and is there a fee associated with his services?
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2017
- Messages
- 136
- Reaction score
- 157
Pm me and I'll give ya some feedback.
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2018
- Messages
- 81
- Reaction score
- 82
A very helpful tip about any personal statement: make sure it actually tells your story. These things are typically read by AdComs, however briefly, but there is also an opinion that 'they all sound the same'.
It is very rare for someone's PS to get them an interview. It can help, but it won't be THE deciding factor. So with that being said, don't focus on making your PS all unique and such. Just tell the truth, your story, your inspirations, and your dreams. Don't embellish. Don't make things up. Certainly don't lie.
Another crucial thing to incorporate is more structural. I say crucial because it adds so much for the reader it is too great to leave out. It keeps them reading because there is an element of suspense. Have a sort of "past-present-future" flow to your PS. For past talk about what in your younger years brought you to medicine. For present, talk about where you are now and what your realizations or thoughts have been in undergrad. For future, talk about your vision and goals as a doctor (education, patient care, research, and even things outside your career)...but make sure these dreams are feasible. For example, don't say "I want to be Chief of Medicine at NYU". Not to say this can't be done. I mean someone has to do it. But reading this might come off as unrealistic or disingenuous, as if you're just writing what they want to read. The way you introduce this structure and to keep them reading is to, in your intro paragraph, somehow outline that you'll be addressing the past/present/future of your medical journey.
best of luck
It is very rare for someone's PS to get them an interview. It can help, but it won't be THE deciding factor. So with that being said, don't focus on making your PS all unique and such. Just tell the truth, your story, your inspirations, and your dreams. Don't embellish. Don't make things up. Certainly don't lie.
Another crucial thing to incorporate is more structural. I say crucial because it adds so much for the reader it is too great to leave out. It keeps them reading because there is an element of suspense. Have a sort of "past-present-future" flow to your PS. For past talk about what in your younger years brought you to medicine. For present, talk about where you are now and what your realizations or thoughts have been in undergrad. For future, talk about your vision and goals as a doctor (education, patient care, research, and even things outside your career)...but make sure these dreams are feasible. For example, don't say "I want to be Chief of Medicine at NYU". Not to say this can't be done. I mean someone has to do it. But reading this might come off as unrealistic or disingenuous, as if you're just writing what they want to read. The way you introduce this structure and to keep them reading is to, in your intro paragraph, somehow outline that you'll be addressing the past/present/future of your medical journey.
best of luck
