Personal statement subjects

[jiggahova]

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Im sure this has been discussed before but I couldn't really find much on it but what did you guys write your medical school personal statements on. To be honest my reason for becoming a doc is because everyone in my family is and I like anatomy/physiology. I feel this will be very boring PS, Im curious what did you guys write about

 

[funkydrmonkey]

Im sure this has been discussed before but I couldn't really find much on it but what did you guys write your medical school personal statements on. To be honest my reason for becoming a doc is because everyone in my family is and I like anatomy/physiology. I feel this will be very boring PS, Im curious what did you guys write about

This is one of the worst things to say... Talking about your interest in ana/physio, if fine though...

Think of a creative theme, and apply it. Some people use cooking, or even videogames.... just take something you are passionate about, and then write about it, and tie it into why you are doing medicine...

 

[silverlining1]

Elaborate on the experiences that you put in your AMCAS - tell a story about a particularly important moment, for example. Maybe it was a conversation with a parent, or a particular thing you learned in school, or an experience you had during shadowing. I think you should think long and hard about specific moments that have led you to this decision, because the simple answer you gave will not be enough.

 

[nick_carraway]

As silverlining pointed out, you'll often have a handful of meaningful experiences in your life; clinical experiences, research experiences, classroom experiences, life experiences, etc. that fundamentally changed the way you perceive medicine or your future career or life.

Try to use some of those experiences to craft a narrative about what motivates you. It's easier said than done, but a PS is one of those things that get better by hammering out draft after draft. Eventually you'll get it right.

 

[drelizabeth292]

you should try not to say that everyone in your family is a doctor and thats why you want to be one. this really doesnt prove anything to anyone about why you want to go into medicine.

i talked about my family and growing up in the dominican republic, and how we struggled blah blah blah. its actually a nice story, but the point is that i tied my experience of growing up poor to my experience in shadowing and volunteering in a free clinic. basically you have to show the adcoms what you learned from your life expriences.

 

[dw2158]

i second the creative theme idea. seriously, there are only so many reasons that a person could want to go into medicine. the way you express your reason is what's going to get you noticed. what do you like outside of classes? what powerful experiences have you had relating to medicine so far? if there's nothing earth-shattering, that's okay... find beauty in the mundane 🙂

 

[LizzyM]

One formula that works well is to take one word and work it 3 different ways. You might say genes/jeans and talk about your family as an inspiration, your research activity and a volunteer activity (wearing jeans) I saw someone who did something like this. The format makes the items that the writer chooses to highlight easy to remember and ties together things that might otherwise seem disconnected. I read an application about 4 years ago that used that formula and I can still remember the 3 things that had some tenuous connection to ice (a job, research and a volunteer activity).

 

[dw2158]

One formula that works well is to take one word and work it 3 different ways. You might say genes/jeans and talk about your family as an inspiration, your research activity and a volunteer activity (wearing jeans) I saw someone who did something like this. The format makes the items that the writer chooses to highlight easy to remember adnties together things that might otherwise seem disconnected. I read an application about 4 years ago that used that formula and I can still remember the 3 things that had some tenuous connection to ice (a job, research and a volunteer activity).

i LOVE this! although i'm guessing it would be challenging to do without sounding cliche or really obvious. doesn't mean i won't try though.

 

[LizzyM]

OP I hope our ideas give you help to realize a good essay. I like all the ideas on here.

My ideas were bsed on your suggested reasons but some of my most favorite essays that I reviewed in the last few years were those that took the creative talent analogy approach that one of the first posters in this thread described.

I saw this done with an essay about tennis where a guy talked about a tennis matchpoint and then went to use his sport as analogy for the lessons he learned from tennis and how he intended on applying it to medicine. It was truy well written.

I don't think there is anything that is truly not done before but the point is that you can do it well regadless of whether others have similar reasons or stories to yours.

Excellent suggestion. However, if you get interviews, do not weave tennis (or whatever your hook is) into every answer to every question. I've had a few applicants do that and it is not good as it makes you seem unidimentional

 

[nick_carraway]

i LOVE this! although i'm guessing it would be challenging to do without sounding cliche or really obvious. doesn't mean i won't try though.

Yeah it's a good idea for those who can pull it off, but I think execution will be a HUGE problem.

Most writers just aren't good enough to do it well.

 

[jiggahova]

Thanks for all the ideas they are helpful. I havent really had many life changing experiences, or conversations with patients that convinced me to go to medicine, but I guess I can exaggerate/make up something to make it sound good.

 

[dw2158]

Thanks for all the ideas they are helpful. I havent really had many life changing experiences, or conversations with patients that convinced me to go to medicine, but I guess I can exaggerate/make up something to make it sound good.

For the love of god, do not LIE in you personal statement. there is just no way that that turns out well. instead of lying, why don't you work on getting the type of experiences that will inspire you?

 

[RecyclingBinh]

Im sure this has been discussed before but I couldn't really find much on it but what did you guys write your medical school personal statements on. To be honest my reason for becoming a doc is because everyone in my family is and I like anatomy/physiology. I feel this will be very boring PS, Im curious what did you guys write about

try to give them a sense of who you are. i mean the ps is the only way to sell yourself before they meet you. so wow them with it instrad of making it bland and boring. i worked really hard on my ps and had it revised many times by experts. try to get yours edited many many times because it will look bad if there are grammar in it.

 

[nick_carraway]

try to get yours edited many many times because it will look bad if there are grammar in it.

Actually it'll look great if there's grammar in it 😉

 

[xLoveNYx]

what is a good length for the ps so that is not too wordy? I feel I have a lot to talk about and want to go into detail about certain things (event that we executed at school, plans for the future, where i got my inspiration for medicine). These explanations are general, but the details make them very very unique; and of course my goal is to be unique! Are these ideas too varying to include in the same essay? Should I just limit it to 2 of the 3?
Also, any advice for describing accomplishments without it coming off as if I'm bragging or just showing off? I want to keep it professional, but also get my enthusiasm across.

 

[nick_carraway]

what is a good length for the ps so that is not too wordy? I feel I have a lot to talk about and want to go into detail about certain things (event that we executed at school, plans for the future, where i got my inspiration for medicine). These explanations are general, but the details make them very very unique; and of course my goal is to be unique! Are these ideas too varying to include in the same essay? Should I just limit it to 2 of the 3?
Also, any advice for describing accomplishments without it coming off as if I'm bragging or just showing off? I want to keep it professional, but also get my enthusiasm across.

You'll typically have room for one big idea with two detailed anecdotes and lessons in your PS, so shoot for that. You have a maximum of 5300 characters including spaces and line breaks, which is about 2 full pages with 1.5 spacing.

As for your questions about organization, it's best just to write it and see how it comes together once you're done.