Personal Statement Stress!!!2014

Started by Shereen1
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Shereen1

Shereen1

Full Member
7+ Year Member
I'm applying this cycle - 2014-2015 and still not close to finishing my personal statement! I don't know what it is but I just can't get myself to sit down and finish it... A mixture of writer's block, procrastination ? Gosh I don't know... Anyone else having trouble? Or am I the last one on the boat? Any tips? Did anyone use an online editing service to help them?

Thank you in advance! 🙂
 
I carried a pen and small notebook with me at work (hospital). I scribbled thoughts in there and finally combined everything.

It went through 10 revisions and maybe 15 people before it was finished.

You have a good month to finish it.

Relax!
 
It's a month before the app even opens. Around three months before most schools start going through the apps. Relax. Be happy that you've even started it, take a break for a while, and get back in the groove.
If you still need help, there are plenty of books on the subject with tons of example essays on Amazon. And there's always Google. And the library.
Online editing service? Most likely a complete waste of money. Have your family/friends read it, and ask your school's English dept if you're still a student. Some posters on this site have been generous enough to read them in the past.
 
Have not really started mine either although I have some similar narratives I could draw from and have been doing what chzldfrmstone did. I carry around a little book or stickys and jot things down. I brought it to a desired school's open house and jotted things down that were important to mention in the essay..
Dont stress it.
 
A few days is more than enough to write a PS..4000 characters is not a whole lot of words. Why are you doing 10-15 revisions?!

Write a competent and to the point PS, that covers the main points. The ADCOM isn't going to spend more than 1-2 mins reading it.
 
WesternRedCedar said:
A few days is more than enough to write a PS..4000 characters is not a whole lot of words. Why are you doing 10-15 revisions?!

Write a competent and to the point PS, that covers the main points. The ADCOM isn't going to spend more than 1-2 mins reading it.
Click to expand...
Main points being? Why medicine? Why DO? What are the most important things to mention? Or are the big questions like why medicine and why DO covered during secondaries?
 
bball4 said:
Main points being? Why medicine? Why DO? What are the most important things to mention? Or are the big questions like why medicine and why DO covered during secondaries?
Click to expand...

Why medicine and why DO are important. You should cover those questions in your PS. Tell your story and what led you to chose medicine as a career.
 
Shereen1 said:
I'm applying this cycle - 2014-2015 and still not close to finishing my personal statement! I don't know what it is but I just can't get myself to sit down and finish it... A mixture of writer's block, procrastination ? Gosh I don't know... Anyone else having trouble? Or am I the last one on the boat? Any tips? Did anyone use an online editing service to help them?

Thank you in advance! 🙂
Click to expand...

Med school Personal statements suck to write. I will say it again, they really ****ing suck to write. If you can get it to the point where half the comments you get are negative and half the comments you get are positive, you're in good shape and should just submit it unless you want to get a sudden urge to break things from overanalyzing. I would definitely recommend hiring a writing tutor for grammar (Med schools do care about that stuff a lot and the last thing you want is to be rejected because you didn't put a comma in the right place) and ways to condense wordy sentences. I'm on draft like 50 (the first 15 were totally different and the ones after that were all minor alterations) and i'm still having trouble deciding if I'm done with it. There's so much you have to explain in so little space and it just gets infuriating and there's so much pressure and different opinions. Like some people recommend writing it in a really flowery and exaggerated way, but if you look up a lot of those they're really nauseating honestly and I have my doubts that med school admissions don't raise their eyebrows when they see them, and getting a really direct and concise tone is key.

The hardest part is showing and not telling, so if you can write an interesting hook or scenario that drew your interest in medicine and then expand upon what shaped it and how your interested developed over time that'd serve you really well as a basis. Also, remember cutting out words is easier than adding more, although I've spent hours trying to cut out words and get it under the word limit at times. Describing why you want to be a doctor in like a one page essay just sucks. There's so much ground you have to cover and there's so little room. You can also get radically different feedback about how you should change everything until the end of time, but really that's not going to do much good.

In the beginning it helps to just free write and see what you come up with by the way. Don't try for excellent prose if you don't have the basics down otherwise it gets even more aggravating.

Also, here's a kicker: We spend all this time on personal statements and people are going to be looking at it for 90 seconds to a few minutes max.
 
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Shereen1 said:
I'm applying this cycle - 2014-2015 and still not close to finishing my personal statement! I don't know what it is but I just can't get myself to sit down and finish it... A mixture of writer's block, procrastination ? Gosh I don't know... Anyone else having trouble? Or am I the last one on the boat? Any tips? Did anyone use an online editing service to help them?

Thank you in advance! 🙂
Click to expand...

I had a lot of trouble starting mine. Eventually, I just sat down at the computer and started a list of everything and every experience that led me to choose medicine. It was a long list of unrelated things. I looked at the list, picked two things from it that i felt best represented me, and went from there. It was much easier that way. Also be sure to talk about things you have done in undergrad that will help you to succeed/prove that you can handle the load in med school. If you need any help, feel free to PM me.
 
Just a few tips:
  • When editing, take a few days off from looking at it. The few days will allow you to come back with fresher eyes and catch things you didn't before.
  • Get people are actually intelligent and know what good writing is to read it... I've had undergrad friends offer to read it when I know their essays are generally crap... so I don't take their advice very seriously. That said, it's pretty nice to just getting people to read not to edit, but for the overall feel of it.
  • When editing, read each sentence out loud. If it's too long to read out loud easily, it's too long. If it sounds strange in the air, it sounds strange on paper. If you just said the same thing twice, you should probs delete a sentence.
  • Like mct2762 above, start with a few experiences that showcase some of your best qualities. Expand from there.
  • Don't be dramatic. Let other people read it and tell you if it's a bit dramatic.
  • Short sentences are best.
 
Wow thanks for everyone's input! It means a lot! I'm actually still drafting my essay. Thanks for the advice mct2762- I started doing just that- listing things, and now I'm finally at the drafting point.
 
Mine must have undergone near 20 revisions until I was finally content with it. I had it read and edited by family members, friends, classmates, medical students, physicians, my English professor and my pre-med advisor.

I started out by looking deep down into my soul and seeing why I am interested (perhaps, obsessed is a better word) in medicine. Then, I started to reflect upon the milestones of my life and how these experiences have made me the person I am today, and how all that will serve me well in med school and later on as a physician.

OP, since I have plenty of free time (at least until I start school in 5 weeks), I am willing to read your PS and give you my feedback. If you are interested PM me!
 
gocougs339 said:
Why medicine and why DO are important. You should cover those questions in your PS. Tell your story and what led you to chose medicine as a career.
Click to expand...

Save answering "Why DO" for your secondaries. Also skip the editing service and make sure you get a lot of different people to look at it. Relax, take maybe a day or two to not think about it, and then get back to it. You still have time, OP.
 
Didn't read all the responses, but also make sure not to send out your personal statement to too many people. Select 5 or maybe even less to read it. Have someone look specifically for grammatical errors. The reason why I said not to send to too many is that everyone is different and writes differently. Someone might think your statement is great while someone might think it's trash.
 
I can't speak for every school but from what I understand, a lot of schools don't even read them until they offer you an interview. It might get skimmed by an adcom to make sure you aren't an idiot, but that's pretty much it. Spell check and write sentences above the sixth grade level and you will be fine. The people interviewing you will likely read it so they can ask you questions about it. Put some of your hobbies, shadowing/ research experience.... or don't. There's really no format. Sound educated and be concise. You don't have to use up all the characters. This might be a controversial take, but your personal statement really isn't a big deal. As long as you have a good science/ cum gpa and a good MCAT, it really doesn't matter what you put in it as long as you don't sound like an idiot or an A** hole. It doesn't have to be profound. Remember, there are a lot of english as a second language medical students that had to write these as well.

You do not have to be original whatsoever. Talk about why you want to be a doctor, who inspires you, and why osteopathic medicine is a good fit for you. Throw in primary care, bada bing bada boom.. your done. I wrote mine in about 3 days and then had my parents edit it for me. Quit worrying.
 
I found free writing really helped. I also found it helpful to read others online and see the approach that was taken (BUT DON'T COPY!) Try to make it genuine and related to your personal experiences, because they actually asked me about a few things that were in my personal statement during my interview.
 
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