Personal Statement Start

[little_giant]

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I was just wondering when you guys started writing your personal statement relative to the primary app being due in June?

I thought I had a lot of time since theres still 4 months left, but it seems like a bunch of people on SDN are already on like draft 5 haha.

 

[907914]

I was just wondering when you guys started writing your personal statement relative to the primary app being due in June?

I thought I had a lot of time since theres still 4 months left, but it seems like a bunch of people on SDN are already on like draft 5 haha.

I wrote my first draft back in July. By winter break I was on my 9th draft and now am on my 13th. And let me tell you, it needed that time and effort as it has gone from a wonderfully written pile of crap to a wonderfully written and engaging document that gets 'me' across. The reason you see the SDNers on their 5+ draft is because they are typically either A) People who are insecure in their application/paranoid about it and want everything to be perfect or B) Just general go getters who want to get things done early.

 

[907914]

Generally, you should give yourself enough time to write a draft, have several people review it, edit. Have 3 cycles of that and you should have a fairly refined product if the first draft was good.

 

[ThrowawayShmoaway]

Started mine in mid April before submitting in mid-ish June. Looking back, there’s nothing I would change in it if given more time, but I still wish I’d have started maybe a month or so earlier, because I wasn’t really able to focus on other parts of my application while writing my statement. If I had finished earlier, I could have had more time to focus on perfecting my ECs/“most meaningful” descriptions more without stressing about pushing back my submit date.

 

[Rachapkis]

Of course, you should devote sufficient time to write, revise and finalize your personal statement. However, the time it takes for each person to write their personal statement may vary. Don’t worry about what other people are doing. A few words of advice: trust yourself; show don’t tell; and write in simple declarative sentences. Best of luck in your journey to becoming a doctor.

 

[chlorocruorin]

started writing mine in may, submitted it in June.