Personal Statement Question

[RxBoy]

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Personal Statement:anecdotal or direct to the point?

I figure anesthesia PDs don't have time to read all the BS in anecdotal but direct just sound so damn dry. I wrote 2 versions. Direct is 3/4th of a page (single spaced), and transformed that one into a anecdotal that is page and a half long. The anecdotal is way more exciting to read, but I fear PD will look at the length and just not read it period. I'm not sure which one I should use... Any advice?

 

[jennyboo]

Whichever one reads the best.

Some people try to make their statements anecdotal and it sounds like a bunch of cheese, so they're better off not trying to be creative storytellers.

Other people have pretty good anecdotal statements so they should finish up and submit them.

If you can't figure out which one is best, show a few people and let them tell you.

 

[amyl]

can you cut the longer one down a little? just a little -- like to a couple of lines on the second page?

 

[scotchnwater]

Personal Statement:anecdotal or direct to the point?

I figure anesthesia PDs don't have time to read all the BS in anecdotal but direct just sound so damn dry. I wrote 2 versions. Direct is 3/4th of a page (single spaced), and transformed that one into a anecdotal that is page and a half long. The anecdotal is way more exciting to read, but I fear PD will look at the length and just not read it period. I'm not sure which one I should use... Any advice?

I'm in the camp that thinks your PS doesn't really help you that much, and can really only hurt you if it sucks. Bottom line - don't stress about it. Get it written and turn it in - there are other things more worthy of your stress. Just don't say something weird or conceited.

Bonus tip: bring up some cool interest/activity from outside medicine. It will give your interviewers something to ask you about at the interview. Anesthesia interviews are pretty chill and low-key - not a bunch of ethics questions usually - so it's not a bad idea to pre-select some topics to talk about by introducing them in your PS.

 

[bigdan]

We just met with our former program director about applying in anesthesiology. She was pretty insistent that the most important thing, by far, was GRAMMAR, and that the next most important thing was BREVITY. She also wanted to see something that did NOT say: "...because I'm interested in physiology and pharmacology".

dc

 

[RxBoy]

I originally had 3 anecdotal situations. I cut it down to the opening one (grabs pretty good attention from what I heard from others). The rest was direct with brief examples. Got it down to a page and couple of lines.. I think its good enough... Finally done with this stupid app. Jeez after all the rereads, edits, and program tweaking... it takes a hell of a lot longer than I thought. THanks for the advice guys.

 

[deleted9493]

Honestly, I think that there is merit to writing what you naturally think a good PS to be. When you've done so, you are pretty likely to have the sort of trite/run-of-the-mill statement that most applicants are going with and which probably won't be of detriment.

So you can A) Not wrestle with it further or B) jump that ship, let the veil down and write an actual statement about who you are. The former probably won't hurt but the latter certainly can be a bright spot in a sea of bland applications (or so I have been led to believe by those who deal with these things--and yes, many programs do read all of your statement).

 

[RickKane]

Scotch had some great advice. Keep it short but definitely try to drop in a line or two about outside interest. That way your PS will read something this BLAH BLAH BLAH....worked as a Sushi Chef BLAH BLAH BLAH instead of straight BLAH. When your picture flashes on the screen while putting together the rank list maybe someone will say...oh yeah that's the sushi guy..