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personal statement issues
- Thread starter misanne
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misanne said:
I haven't finished yet, but I'm nearly there. One thing I found liberating was to abandon old essays, even ones I had worked weeks on, to pursue new directions. Starting fresh, repeatedly, really brought out some good stuff.
I don't know where you are in the process, but if your problem is you can't think of anything to write, try writing a REALLY bad essay. It's easier than writing a good one and will help get you started. Try "I want to be a doctor because I love the show ER." Or "My parents are making me be a doctor" or something stupid. At least it'll warm you up.
If you have an esay written and find that you're stuck, bite the bullet and start a TOTALLY new one from a totally new perspective. Either you'll write a better essay, or you'll at least get a break from and a different perspective on your old one.
I hope this helps. If you'd like me to read something and get feedback, feel free to PM me. Good luck!
Akimbo's advice about not being afraid to start over is a great one. I restarted mine 3 times before I started getting someplace. Another couple of things I've found that worked for me:
1.) Find a good friend you can talk with about your motivations and just spill your guts about why you're passionate about medicine. Just do a lot of verbal brain storming. Optionally, you can jot a few notes during the conversation. When I first started my essay I was having trouble expressing "why" but found I could express the passion while talking. After having a brainstorming talk with my girlfriend, I had a better idea where to go. If you're a verbal processor, this might help.
2.) Find an editor or two early. Get the input of someone you trust early on. It's great to have their first impression and comments on where you're going at an early stage. If you wait until you've got it polished, they may point some things out and your "almost done" essay may become worthless. Better to change directions at the beginning than have to start over. Getting input early also helped me focus what I was writing on.
3.) This is one I would have never come up with except my girlfriend is an english teacher and grades essays all the time; Don't make your paragraphs too long. She says long paragraphs are very tiring for essay readers and they become dissinterested. I thought this was a bit odd psychologically, but when we broke the essay into smaller paragraphs she was right. It is just easier to read. Something about giving your mind a mini-break between paragraphs does the trick.
4.) If someone (or someones) helps you with editing or getting your ideas down... buy them a beer, flowers, a book or just some kind of thank you. It's gonna be a long road and if you've got people who like you enough to help you out, keep them close to you and let them know they're appreciated.
1.) Find a good friend you can talk with about your motivations and just spill your guts about why you're passionate about medicine. Just do a lot of verbal brain storming. Optionally, you can jot a few notes during the conversation. When I first started my essay I was having trouble expressing "why" but found I could express the passion while talking. After having a brainstorming talk with my girlfriend, I had a better idea where to go. If you're a verbal processor, this might help.
2.) Find an editor or two early. Get the input of someone you trust early on. It's great to have their first impression and comments on where you're going at an early stage. If you wait until you've got it polished, they may point some things out and your "almost done" essay may become worthless. Better to change directions at the beginning than have to start over. Getting input early also helped me focus what I was writing on.
3.) This is one I would have never come up with except my girlfriend is an english teacher and grades essays all the time; Don't make your paragraphs too long. She says long paragraphs are very tiring for essay readers and they become dissinterested. I thought this was a bit odd psychologically, but when we broke the essay into smaller paragraphs she was right. It is just easier to read. Something about giving your mind a mini-break between paragraphs does the trick.
4.) If someone (or someones) helps you with editing or getting your ideas down... buy them a beer, flowers, a book or just some kind of thank you. It's gonna be a long road and if you've got people who like you enough to help you out, keep them close to you and let them know they're appreciated.
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I also agree that writing several completely new essays is a good idea. Once you have done this, take all of the parts that you like and try to write one unified essay. Also, the SDN homepage has a link called "Essay Workshop 101" with some great advice on what admissions committees are looking for in a personal statement.bdt said:
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Another thing--when you're writing your first draft, don't even think about the character limit. Write everything you think could possibly be relevant to your personal statement and get a draft out of your head. THEN you can worry about reorganizing and trimming it down.
When I first began, my biggest problem was that I kept thinking about the quality of my writing and staying under the 5300 limit. Forget all that. Get something out, and worry about the details later. What you want to keep, what you want to delete, and how to organize it will become clearer when you can see it all on paper...then it's easier to spot the good, the bad, and the ugly. 🙂
good luck!
When I first began, my biggest problem was that I kept thinking about the quality of my writing and staying under the 5300 limit. Forget all that. Get something out, and worry about the details later. What you want to keep, what you want to delete, and how to organize it will become clearer when you can see it all on paper...then it's easier to spot the good, the bad, and the ugly. 🙂
good luck!
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A good way to jumpstart the writing process is to answer three questions:
1) Why do you want to become a doctor? The answer to this question typically involves a compelling incident in your life. For some individuals, it's an experience as a patient (e.g., a battle with cancer or whatever), for others it's an experience as a caregiver. In most cases, the motivation to pursue a career in medicine is a sort of calling--i.e., one can't imagine doing anything else.
2) Why do you want to become a doctor ? What features of the medical profession do you find attractive? For me, the trust at the very heart of the doctor-patient relationship is the most attractive feature of the profession. Some other "pull" factors that are commonly mentioned in essays include the transformative potential of medical practice (i.e., the opportunity to make a significant difference in the lives of others), the application of science in a human context, the challenge of lifelong learning, etc.
3) What makes you unique as an applicant? You have to assess your unique qualities in order to distinguish yourself from other applicants with similar "hard" credentials (GPA, MCAT). If you've participated in college athletics, you should focus on the tremendous dedication that attends this extracurricular activity. Many athletes train 4 hours a day, and get up at the crack of dawn to do so; this dedication is remarkable and should be addressed in any personal statement. In my case, I had a lot of teaching and tutoring experience, so I focused on this life experience in my essay; the prime reason for this focus, aside from the fact that not very many applicants have significant experience in these areas, is the fact that excellent communication skills are essential for good teaching. Likewise, the effectiveness of doctoring rests largely on the ability of physicians to communicate, both verbally and nonverbally, with their patients.
If you answer these questions, you'll be in good shape for your personal statement. And by the way, admissions committees want these questions to be answered in a personal statement.
Good luck!
1) Why do you want to become a doctor? The answer to this question typically involves a compelling incident in your life. For some individuals, it's an experience as a patient (e.g., a battle with cancer or whatever), for others it's an experience as a caregiver. In most cases, the motivation to pursue a career in medicine is a sort of calling--i.e., one can't imagine doing anything else.
2) Why do you want to become a doctor ? What features of the medical profession do you find attractive? For me, the trust at the very heart of the doctor-patient relationship is the most attractive feature of the profession. Some other "pull" factors that are commonly mentioned in essays include the transformative potential of medical practice (i.e., the opportunity to make a significant difference in the lives of others), the application of science in a human context, the challenge of lifelong learning, etc.
3) What makes you unique as an applicant? You have to assess your unique qualities in order to distinguish yourself from other applicants with similar "hard" credentials (GPA, MCAT). If you've participated in college athletics, you should focus on the tremendous dedication that attends this extracurricular activity. Many athletes train 4 hours a day, and get up at the crack of dawn to do so; this dedication is remarkable and should be addressed in any personal statement. In my case, I had a lot of teaching and tutoring experience, so I focused on this life experience in my essay; the prime reason for this focus, aside from the fact that not very many applicants have significant experience in these areas, is the fact that excellent communication skills are essential for good teaching. Likewise, the effectiveness of doctoring rests largely on the ability of physicians to communicate, both verbally and nonverbally, with their patients.
If you answer these questions, you'll be in good shape for your personal statement. And by the way, admissions committees want these questions to be answered in a personal statement.
Good luck!
One more thing I forgot on my original post that I found very helpful...
When you get an essay you think is pretty good, throw it in a drawer for a couple of days (ie don't look at it). This is hard to do as you're probably dying to get your AMCAS in but, it's worth it. After 48 hours, you'll come back to it with a fresh perspective and likely find some things you like and some things you'd like to change.
When you get an essay you think is pretty good, throw it in a drawer for a couple of days (ie don't look at it). This is hard to do as you're probably dying to get your AMCAS in but, it's worth it. After 48 hours, you'll come back to it with a fresh perspective and likely find some things you like and some things you'd like to change.
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When you are in the process of finding editor(s), try and have two types, a content editor and a grammar editor, and make sure they are people who will be blatantly honest. One of my editors kept asking me why I included things and what was I trying to accomplish with certain ideas. When I would tell him, sometimes he would say, "then say that", and sometimes he would say, "get rid of it - it's not needed and it's not helping". Remember too to take what they say seriously but don't be afraid to tell them you disagree. It is, first and foremost, your essay and all about you.
As far as content is concerned, I would agree with everybody else. If you have had any clinical experience, talk about one or two cases. I had an experience in the ER with CPR on a patient who died that I played up. I also spent time shadowing a pediatrician and I talked about the experience as a whole - what I learned about the field of pediatrics and why what I had learned made me interested in that field. Just let the admission committees know that you understand what you are getting yourself into and you can back it up with first hand experiences.
Good Luck!
As far as content is concerned, I would agree with everybody else. If you have had any clinical experience, talk about one or two cases. I had an experience in the ER with CPR on a patient who died that I played up. I also spent time shadowing a pediatrician and I talked about the experience as a whole - what I learned about the field of pediatrics and why what I had learned made me interested in that field. Just let the admission committees know that you understand what you are getting yourself into and you can back it up with first hand experiences.
Good Luck!
