Personal Statement: Rewrite or Renovate?

[DocInProgress]

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Hi all,

I'm a re-applicant and I was wondering if I should rewrite or renovate my personal statement. I heard that the chances are slim that the same admission committee member will read your application and thus, end up reading your personal statement twice. So, would it be alright to just tweak the personal statement and add some details as to why you didn't get accepted last year, what you did to improve it, and what you did during the past year?

Any helpful suggestions or advice would be much appreciated.

THANKS!!

 

[PHD_2007]

I renovated my personal statement. The overall foundation (Why I wanted to be a physician) was the same but I added in my grad school (wrote a little about my research) and volunteer experiences. Also, I included my experience with being rejected in 2001 and how I dealt with that situation. Good Luck!!!!


P.S. Remember a Great Personal Statement can help you with your secondary application essays. It can serve as a guide !!!! 🙂

 

[DocInProgress]

Thank you!!!

Any more suggestions?!

 

[DrPsychiatry]

I rewrote it. I will send that in soon, I guess

 

[mommy2three]

i have decided to give the ps a total and complete overhaul this year.
i tweaked it from the 2006 app cycle (which had transcript issues) to the 2007 app cycle.
given that it was essentially the same for the previous two years i have decided it is best to give it a total and complete overhaul.
in doing so i am sticking with the general theme of my ps which is my rather unique path to realizing i want to become a dr but i am changing how it is presented.
i think you could keep the general theme of your ps while revamping the content.

 

[Sartre]

Any opinions on whether or not to mention that one is a reapplicant in the PS? I've heard arguments for both sides, and I'm really torn.

On the one hand, I don't want to call attention to the fact that I was rejected last year. On the other hand, these schools already know that I am a reapplicant, right? Would it really hurt to incorporate or mention it in a positive way (rather than ignore it)?

I really liked my essay from last year, and my advisors felt it may have been the best part of my application. Since I am writing a new PS this year, I would actually prefer it if the adcoms took a minute to look back at my PS from last year (so perhaps mentioning that I am a reapplicant might remind them to look back?)

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

 

[DocInProgress]

I decided to just use my old essay since I really liked it too and I'm not too sure how I can start over with the same theme. In addition, I just edited some sentences here and there. And then, I added a paragraph about my failure to get into med school last year and what I did to improve on my stats - like grades, research, and clinical experience.

I do have a question about the new schools that I will be applying to. Do they know that I am a reapplicant? I ask this because most of the schools that I am applying to this year are not from the list of schools I have applied to last year. Does anyone know?

 

[Surf Rx]

I don't think that the new schools will not know that you are a reapplicant, which is why I am pretty skeptical on mentioning it. "Why didn't you feel that it was worthwhile to apply to our school last year?"

 

[Sartre]

Good point, Surf Rx -- I had not considered that.

So is it okay to revise my old PS? Or should I write an entirely new one (perhaps still using important components of my first)? I know my old PS was good, but I don't want schools to think that I didn't care enough to take the time to write a new PS.

Thanks for the great advice

 

[mommy2three]

Good point, Surf Rx -- I had not considered that.

So is it okay to revise my old PS? Or should I write an entirely new one (perhaps still using important components of my first)? I know my old PS was good, but I don't want schools to think that I didn't care enough to take the time to write a new PS.

Thanks for the great advice

you could go through and add some of the parts that are relevant to what has changed since the last application year.
\by doing so you may have to edit the current content significantly to stay under character count.
i know in my last years revision i ended up taking out almost an entire paragraph to fit the new info in there.

 

[DocInProgress]

I don't think that the new schools will not know that you are a reapplicant, which is why I am pretty skeptical on mentioning it. "Why didn't you feel that it was worthwhile to apply to our school last year?"

So I shouldn't mention it? What about those schools that I am reapplying to? Shouldn't I mention it to them? That was suggested by some of my friends as well as some people on this forum.

 

[Surf Rx]

So I shouldn't mention it? What about those schools that I am reapplying to? Shouldn't I mention it to them? That was suggested by some of my friends as well as some people on this forum.

I'm not saying you shouldn't mention it. I was just saying that some ADCOMs at the new schools might wonder why you didn't apply to their schools during your last application cycle. Hopefully, this isn't the case, but you never know. To answer your question though, I would go ahead and mention something about reapplying in your PS. But keep it brief. Make sure it reflects your commitment and your continued motivation to become a physician.

 

[bopmop]

I think the overhaul is worth it. I found out that in my later year I had learned a lot more about why I still wanted to be a doctor and my essay came out much better.

 

[moe_4eva]

Not to crap all over this thread, but I wanted to say thanks, as I was wondering about this myself. Of course, I've been thinking more and more that I want to completely revamp it with the things I have learned about myself and my career choices over the past year. Anywho, thanks again!

 

[Funky]

Definitely renovated mine. Took a few things I liked from the old one but wrote an almost entirely new PS.