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Just checking, Is the prompt for the PS in the primary application pretty much just "Why do you want to be a doctor?"
Personal Statement Prompt
- Thread starter JeetKuneDo
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Well..yes and no...that is definitely a big part of it but you have to be creative in answering that,..don't be a scientist about this part(as many of us are)..its not a list or a resume..it has to be more graceful than that...they have all your stats and they need to get an idea of who you are...as best they can from a paper...the better personal statements are well written papers that grab a persons attention and leave them thinking...I wanna meet this kid...there is no strictly set formula that will get you in...be creative, be personal and work on it A LOT!! I spent probably 5 months on mine..the first 3 just writing down notes about my life and my journey towards medicine..the second 2 were the intense writing and re-writing, editing..letting other people edit it..I had a friend that is an english teacher for the grammar and writing skills, my advisor and a physician all edit it..not to mention a few people that have known me my whole life...its a big deal..sometimes a great personal statment can save a mediocre MCAT or GPA..best of luck
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Well..yes and no...that is definitely a big part of it but you have to be creative in answering that,..don't be a scientist about this part(as many of us are)..its not a list or a resume..it has to be more graceful than that...they have all your stats and they need to get an idea of who you are...as best they can from a paper...the better personal statements are well written papers that grab a persons attention and leave them thinking...I wanna meet this kid...there is no strictly set formula that will get you in...be creative, be personal and work on it A LOT!! I spent probably 5 months on mine..the first 3 just writing down notes about my life and my journey towards medicine..the second 2 were the intense writing and re-writing, editing..letting other people edit it..I had a friend that is an english teacher for the grammar and writing skills, my advisor and a physician all edit it..not to mention a few people that have known me my whole life...its a big deal..sometimes a great personal statment can save a mediocre MCAT or GPA..best of luck
Thanks for the tips. Was there a prompt that they gave in the application or did you just write it up without one?
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Like above, there is no prompt...I started out with a story as well..mine was about waking up in the mornings as a child with my granddad and eating canned corn 🙂...which led me into talking about being raised by my grandparents and how they started me out in volunteering, instilled good morals etc..like I said..make it personal
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Cool beans. Thanks you two.
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Well..yes and no...that is definitely a big part of it but you have to be creative in answering that,..don't be a scientist about this part(as many of us are)..its not a list or a resume..it has to be more graceful than that...they have all your stats and they need to get an idea of who you are...as best they can from a paper...the better personal statements are well written papers that grab a persons attention and leave them thinking...I wanna meet this kid...there is no strictly set formula that will get you in...be creative, be personal and work on it A LOT!! I spent probably 5 months on mine..the first 3 just writing down notes about my life and my journey towards medicine..the second 2 were the intense writing and re-writing, editing..letting other people edit it..I had a friend that is an english teacher for the grammar and writing skills, my advisor and a physician all edit it..not to mention a few people that have known me my whole life...its a big deal..sometimes a great personal statment can save a mediocre MCAT or GPA..best of luck
Good adive on the whole here, but 5 months to write it? Good god it didn't take Hemingway that long to write A Farewell to Arms. Mine was done in two weeks, if that, and I nailed it. I just don't want people to feel that they didn't work hard enogh on it if they didn't spend five months on it. Anywho it helped me a lot to read samples that are floating around online. They helped me pick the tone and flow of my PS. Good luck.
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Just curious how do you define that you 'nailed it'?
Admitted to Yale with the adcoms telling you your PS was amazing? While 5 months is a long time, I wrote my first draft early this year, and am applying this summer so I am probably close though I don't touch it daily, or even weekly.
This does not mean it takes that long to write, but if you get it reviewed by others and make revisions I don't see how you wrote much of a PS in < 2 weeks.
Admitted to Yale with the adcoms telling you your PS was amazing? While 5 months is a long time, I wrote my first draft early this year, and am applying this summer so I am probably close though I don't touch it daily, or even weekly.
This does not mean it takes that long to write, but if you get it reviewed by others and make revisions I don't see how you wrote much of a PS in < 2 weeks.
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I am in agreement with you and as for the previous post to this one...Yeah....I had compliments on mine but I wouldn't go so far to say I nailed it...and I definitely didn't work on it everyday...or even every week..it was more like...when a thought came to my head I'd write notes down...I just gave myself plenty of time to make sure I included everything I wanted to and got it right the first time...oh and by the way...I read a Farewell to Arms...not my favorite..
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It took me about a month to write mine, buy I'd say 3 weeks of those were spent with severe writers block, and I ended up completely scrapping everything save a single phrase that a friend said was good. I then based my final draft on that phrase.
My personal statement told the story of how I've always loved science, and that my late father instilled a dedication to service in me from a young age. This allowed me do describe my view of medicine as the ultimate fusion of these two important aspects of my personality. It helped that I have a lot of science background, and an EC volunteer list in the thousands of hours to back it all up.
I didn't feel like my PS was all that wonderful, but it must've worked because I got admitted pretty easily.
Honestly, I feel like my secondary essays were much much better than my personal statement.
My personal statement told the story of how I've always loved science, and that my late father instilled a dedication to service in me from a young age. This allowed me do describe my view of medicine as the ultimate fusion of these two important aspects of my personality. It helped that I have a lot of science background, and an EC volunteer list in the thousands of hours to back it all up.
I didn't feel like my PS was all that wonderful, but it must've worked because I got admitted pretty easily.
Honestly, I feel like my secondary essays were much much better than my personal statement.
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No problem. I felt that I nailed it because I was able to express exactly sentitment and feeling in my personal statement that I wanted the adcoms to see while presenting it in an interesting, eye catching manner. It was grammatically solid and had a flow that was easy to read. As for how you don't see how I wrote much of a personal statement in two weeks or less I don't know what to tell you, but I will try to. I had my first draft done in a few days. Followed by heavy revisions for a few more days. Then to a final draft I showed to an English Professor at my school. Sat down with her and she gave me a boat load of things to change. Did those changes for a few days. Gave it back to her. She suggested minor changes I did them and she proofread it and I was done in about two weeks. Worked and hour or two each day. Not sure why you were so curious on how I felt like I nailed it, but hope this helps. Good luck.
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I am in agreement with you and as for the previous post to this one...Yeah....I had compliments on mine but I wouldn't go so far to say I nailed it...and I definitely didn't work on it everyday...or even every week..it was more like...when a thought came to my head I'd write notes down...I just gave myself plenty of time to make sure I included everything I wanted to and got it right the first time...oh and by the way...I read a Farewell to Arms...not my favorite..
Well I wouldn't hand in a essay that I didn't honestly think I nailed. Thats just me. Now whether everyone who read it said, "man this son of a bitch nailed it" I don't know. And you aren't the first person I've heard say they didn't like A Farewell to Arms, or Hemingway in general. Most people my age, and I'm assuming you are of the general medical school applicant age, say he is to dry and even say boring and I can agree with if you aren't familiar with late 19th or early 20th century authors or history. Especially knowledge on WW1 for Hem. Anyways, good luck with all your endevors.
