Personal Statement Question for those interviewed/accepted!!

[drshark]

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[MaxillofacialMN]

I'm applying strictly DO, and my committee letter says that, I'm running tight on the character limit, is mentioning wanting to pursue DO in my PS a must? Since it's already mentioned in my letter will it make a difference? Plus don't they sometimes ask in the secondaries why DO? For those who got acceptances or interviews please mention if you did included anything about DO in your PS. Thanks🙂

I'm not involved in this process, but if you aren't mentioning why you want to be a DO, what exactly did you write.....?

The point of the personal statement is to tell the committee who you are and why you want to pursue the degree you are pursuing - did you just tell cute anecdotes about yourself and not mention medicine at all!?

 

[drshark]

no of course i mentioned medicine lol and how ive been helping out my community of immigrants (bilingual) and how i want to continue helping them after i graduate. and why medicine, why dr. I just didnt mention DO specifically

 

[drshark]

I'm not involved in this process, but if you aren't mentioning why you want to be a DO, what exactly did you write.....?

The point of the personal statement is to tell the committee who you are and why you want to pursue the degree you are pursuing - did you just tell cute anecdotes about yourself and not mention medicine at all!?

Stupid 4500 character limit 🙁

 

[Iliketoytles]

no of course i mentioned medicine lol and how ive been helping out my community of immigrants (bilingual) and how i want to continue helping them after i graduate. and why medicine, why dr. I just didnt mention DO specifically

This is fine. I didn't mention osteopathic medicine or D.O. at all.

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

Ohhhh I see, you mentioned medicine, just not specifically OMM. Well, you could probably get away by just adding some adjectives in your PS that suggests you agree with OMM, tons of MD applicants use DO as a backup plan and either just BS their PS or don't mention it, so I wouldn't worry about you. It will come through in your interviews!

 

[Iliketoytles]

Ohhhh I see, you mentioned medicine, just not specifically OMM. Well, you could probably get away by just adding some adjectives in your PS that suggests you agree with OMM, tons of MD applicants use DO as a backup plan and either just BS their PS or don't mention it, so I wouldn't worry about you. It will come through in your interviews!

No need to even mention OMM. Just show you have qualities, whether through your community service or whatever, to show you care about patients and enjoy medicine. My PS centered around my passion for teaching, leadership, community service, and enjoying science.

 

[TheOncoDOc]

I didn't mention Osteopathic Medicine at all in my PS and I ended up with two interviews. I conveyed my passion in pursuing Osteopathic Medicine in my secondaries.

 

[GvGKen]

I disagree with the guy three posts above me. Don't waste a word mentioning OMM.

What DO schools look for is knowledge and respect of the Osteopathic tenets; the whole body approach, treating mind, body and spirit; relation of structure and function; respecting the self-healing ability of the body. Stating them in your personal statement is a plus. But don't worry about forcing it in. I'd worry more about expressing yourself and your experiences. There is no point going for the easy points, if it detracts from another one of your virtues and your overall uniqueness.

You'll have time to discuss osteopathic ideals in secondary essays (some explicitly ask for it) and interviews.

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

I disagree with the guy two posts above me. Don't waste a word mentioning OMM.

What DO schools look for is knowledge and respect of the Osteopathic tenets; the whole body approach, treating mind, body and spirit; relation of structure and function; respecting the self-healing ability of the body. Stating them in your personal statement is a plus. But don't worry about excluding it. I'd worry more about expressing yourself and your experiences. There is no point going for the easy points, if it detracts from another one of your virtues and your overall uniqueness.

You'll have time to discuss osteopathic ideals in secondary essays (some explicitly ask for it) and interviews.

I'm not saying you have to mention OMM, but perhaps you could suggest things in your personal statement that implies you agree with it's teaching.

 

[drshark]

I disagree with the guy three posts above me. Don't waste a word mentioning OMM.

What DO schools look for is knowledge and respect of the Osteopathic tenets; the whole body approach, treating mind, body and spirit; relation of structure and function; respecting the self-healing ability of the body. Stating them in your personal statement is a plus. But don't worry about forcing it in. I'd worry more about expressing yourself and your experiences. There is no point going for the easy points, if it detracts from another one of your virtues and your overall uniqueness.

You'll have time to discuss osteopathic ideals in secondary essays (some explicitly ask for it) and interviews.

Thank you all for the clarity! I am happy with my statement and was hoping I didn't have to weave it in somewhere and ruin the flow!

 

[Whosis]

I would think it would be best to mention something about why you are applying DO, but try to make it authentic. Also it is always better to write above your character limit then have someone who is good at editing take a hack at it then to leave a good idea unsaid. My wife has a journalism degree and she clipped over 1000 characters out of my PS without losing any of what I wantd to say.

 

[411309]

******ed question: when you character count do you go by 4,500 characters w/ spaces or without spaces?

 

[Pisiform]

******ed question: when you character count do you go by 4,500 characters w/ spaces or without spaces?

including spaces

 

[shaggybill]

Nope, don't worry about mentioning anything related to osteopathic medicine. Mine didn't say a word about it. I talked about my experiences that led to my interest in medicine, as well as my experiences with and interest in medical missions. I also talked a bit about working in the ED for 4 years and what it has taught me.

Save the osteopathic stuff for secondaries, because that's when most schools will ask about it.

 

[DrapDO]

I also only applied to DO schools, and I agree that one does not need to mention OMM or the mind body spirit mantra. However I did use two sentences to convey my commitment/excitement about becoming an osteopathic physician, it went something like this:

When I learned of the Osteopathic philosophy I realized that its principles perfectly described the physician I wanted to be, and knew it would be the best way for me to learn and practice the art of healing. I am excited and ready to take the next step on my journey to become an Osteopathic physician.


I didn't get any further into why DO than that, I wanted them to know/think that I only applied to DO schools without having to say it directly.

 

[CopToEM]

I didn't even talk about osteopathic medicine in my personal statement. I didn't apply MD either so it wasn't just a copy and paste. I just didn't feel the need to talk about osteopathic medicine when it was clear they knew I wanted to be a DO hence my reason for applying. [EDIT]: Plus, as you mentioned, most schools ask you Why DO in their secondaries. If you answer that question in your personal statement (which in my opinion does not make any sense) then you will be beating a dead horse by the time you finish the secondary prompts.

I ended my personal statement with something like, "Empowered by [this], [this], and [this], I look forward to my career as an osteopathic physician."

If you want a copy of my personal statement just shoot me a private message on here and I'll send it to you. I went through about 6 or 7 revisions over a few months and worked with several English professors on it. I felt like it was very strong.

 

[drshark]

I would think it would be best to mention something about why you are applying DO, but try to make it authentic. Also it is always better to write above your character limit then have someone who is good at editing take a hack at it then to leave a good idea unsaid. My wife has a journalism degree and she clipped over 1000 characters out of my PS without losing any of what I wantd to say.

I've had it edited over 5x and cut down at the sentence level, lol there is no way I can take something out now without losing something :/

 

[CopToEM]

I've had it edited over 5x and cut down at the sentence level, lol there is no way I can take something out now without losing something :/

It's important to be short, sweet, and to the point. The odds they're going to read the entire thing, word for word, is slim. Most people (including some of the AdCom members on here) that they're simply scanned. It's important to get everything down but you want to present it with as much brevity as you can muster.

 

[drshark]

It's important to be short, sweet, and to the point. The odds they're going to read the entire thing, word for word, is slim. Most people (including some of the AdCom members on here) that they're simply scanned. It's important to get everything down but you want to present it with as much brevity as you can muster.

They put so much emphasis on it? Do you really think they just scan it?

 

[Iliketoytles]

They put so much emphasis on it? Do you really think they just scan it?

My theory is that they scan it, then if you're invited for an interview (which is mainly determined by your ECs, grades, MCAT listed on your app), the interviewers will read your personal statement/secondary essays more in-depth. It just doesn't make sense for adcoms to read thousands of PSs and secondary essays in-depth, for someone who isn't worth an interview.

 

[drshark]

My theory is that they scan it, then if you're invited for an interview (which is mainly determined by your ECs, grades, MCAT listed on your app), the interviewers will read your personal statement/secondary essays more in-depth. It just doesn't make sense for adcoms to read thousands of PSs and secondary essays in-depth, for someone who isn't worth an interview.

very true! btw does 15 hours of shadowing look bad? is it insufficient? And is there anyway to stretch it to 20 w/o anyone knowing the difference? I was in contact with the dr for 5 months but he was so busy I was only able to go in 3 times

 

[Iliketoytles]

very true! btw does 15 hours of shadowing look bad? is it insufficient? And is there anyway to stretch it to 20 w/o anyone knowing the difference? I was in contact with the dr for 5 months but he was so busy I was only able to go in 3 times

15 hours is probably not enough to even get to know the doctor (or have the doctor get to know you). Is it possible to find another shadowing opportunity and maybe get a few more hours? Not a lot... it'll just look suspicious if you only have 15 (unless you have an incredible amount of other ECs). Maybe someone else could comment on this...

As far as stretching it to 20 goes... well... maybe. This is more of an integrity question than a "can I do it?" one. Of course you can do it... and you probably won't get caught either since it's only a 5 hour addition. It's up to you.

 

[ViciousKicks]

It's important to be short, sweet, and to the point. The odds they're going to read the entire thing, word for word, is slim. Most people (including some of the AdCom members on here) that they're simply scanned. It's important to get everything down but you want to present it with as much brevity as you can muster.

This, a thousand times this! I worked hard to keep my PS at one page, and all of my interviewers commented on that and thanked me for keeping it concise. My parents actually sit on admissions boards medical school, residency, and fellowship programs at their university and they both insisted that I not go over one page when they edited my PS. They shared that most people will not even bother to flip to the second page if there is one.

 

[drshark]

15 hours is probably not enough to even get to know the doctor (or have the doctor get to know you). Is it possible to find another shadowing opportunity and maybe get a few more hours? Not a lot... it'll just look suspicious if you only have 15 (unless you have an incredible amount of other ECs). Maybe someone else could comment on this...

As far as stretching it to 20 goes... well... maybe. This is more of an integrity question than a "can I do it?" one. Of course you can do it... and you probably won't get caught either since it's only a 5 hour addition. It's up to you.

I tried as hard as I could do go in, I even felt as if I was being too persistent and was bothering him (I probably wasn't though). But he was just too busy, I do volunteer work in an ED so I definitely watch those doctors do procedures and listen to them as they discuss each patient and what their illness may be. However, the doctors always change every few weeks during my shift so they do not know me personally either.

 

[dedicated2be]

So just doubly clarifying, okay to center PS on why medicine in general and not speicifically why osteopathic medicine, because why osteopathic will be focus of many secondary essays?

 

[Iliketoytles]

So just doubly clarifying, okay to center PS on why medicine in general and not speicifically why osteopathic medicine, because why osteopathic will be focus of many secondary essays?

Yes.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

90% of the schools will have secondary essays saying why osteopathic medicine/this school. this is where you talk about osteopathic medicine. leave it out of your PS if you are hurting for space.

 

[CopToEM]

They put so much emphasis on it? Do you really think they just scan it?

No doubt about it.

Look at the number of students who apply to most DO schools (typically in the thousands). Figure that 25% of the faculty is on the AdCom (+/-) and then figure most personal statements are at least 2 pages. So you're looking at approximately 4,000 pages of text (again +/-).

If there are 10 people on the Admissions Committee that means they would each have to go through 400 pages of pre-med ambition per cycle. Just not going to happen.

I would imagine there's a mental flow chart in most AdCom member minds.

1. Does he write like a monkey? Yes/No
2. Is he entirely too over-eager and likely to be annoying? Yes/No
3. Boring? Yes/No/Sorta
4. Interesting in the slightest?
5. Do I want to meet this person? Yes/No
6. Next.
   
   Total Duration: ~2 minutes.

Just my opinion. It doesn't mean it's true in all cases or true in any case for that matter. As Iliketoytles said it's more likely that your PS will be given a real look over once you've been invited for an interview. The numbers are far fewer and they want to know something about you so they don't come into it blind (unless, of course, it's closed file).