Personal Statement Question??

[Dr. Guitar]

I was just wondering how folks are writting your personal statements. Did you list things, or simply write it in paragraph form?
Just wondering,

 

[dizzle23x]

mine was in para form sort of like a mini-essay

 

[pre-dentalguy]

One page or a max of 700 words

 

[xdianaax]

It's your personal statement so I would think points are not very personal. You want to express yourself, tell them what your about. I would say paragraph form...

 

[Denticized]

Nobody reads those things anyway, I promise you. No school would have 150$/hr professors sit down to read junk about how you're going to "help mankind" or "donate millions to the university" when you graduate.

 

[lgwdnbdgr]

All but one of my interviewers made unsolicited references to my personal statement. The lone interviewer who didn't commented on one of my LORs. They definitely read those things.

Nobody reads those things anyway, I promise you. No school would have 150$/hr professors sit down to read junk about how you're going to "help mankind" or "donate millions to the university" when you graduate.

 

[Envision]

Nobody reads those things anyway, I promise you. No school would have 150$/hr professors sit down to read junk about how you're going to "help mankind" or "donate millions to the university" when you graduate.

You promise? What do you base your promise on i wonder. 2/3 interviews i went to commented on my personal statement. a couple even used that as a foundation for discussion. i received both compliments as well as questions on my personal statement. Most of our application is impersonal, leaving our personal statement as the only description of what kind of a person we are. I would think this is of concern to the dental school. If this is your opinion, thats fine...but don't presume to understand how the admission committee works because you're clearly uninformed. Personal statements are important, those who are applying next year please write genuinely. To the OP, don't list.

 

[Dauber]

the personal statement is a pretty important component to your application package. most the interviews i went to asked me about mine, so i gaurantee they are reading them. do your best to honestly portray why you want to do dentistry and what makes you think you can do it well in an intellegent essay. listing would make you sound like a robot or someone who has never been outside the lab and has never read a book other than a textbook. also steer clear of cliches like "i want to help people" especially if you don't have a huge load of volunteer work with helping people to back it up.

 

[shamrock2006]

I told a story in mine...i think it was pretty interesting. and Yes, they do read them so dont let people think they dont....at my final interview the guy had specific points hi-lited with little notes in red ink..i thought I was back in high school english.. How's that for a hot seat?

 

[Vicarbo]

Nobody reads those things anyway, I promise you. No school would have 150$/hr professors sit down to read junk about how you're going to "help mankind" or "donate millions to the university" when you graduate.

I think he was joking, I think we can all agree they're a very important part of the application...

 

[zreyes86]

Nobody reads those things anyway, I promise you. No school would have 150$/hr professors sit down to read junk about how you're going to "help mankind" or "donate millions to the university" when you graduate.

The schools definitely read the personal statement. It may not be the first aspect of your application that they look at, but it is absolutely crucial. I don't have the best stats, but I believe it was my personal statement (and interview) that got me in. And to answer your question, it should be in paragraph form.....it wouldn't be very 'personal' if it was bulleted. Make sure that you distinguish yourself from the other applicants. Denticized was right about one thing, adcoms probably don't want to read a couple hundred essays on "helping mankind" or "donating". Be unique in what you write, but be honest too.

 

[rusky]

is the personal statement different then theAADSAS essay? And if not , I only need one for all schools right?

 

[Fuji]

is the personal statement different then theAADSAS essay? And if not , I only need one for all schools right?

They are one and the same. You only need to write one essay for all schools, although some schools will ask for more essays in their secondary application.