General Admissions & OTCAS personal statement- too much information?

[otstudent95]

Hi everyone!
I'm really stuck on the amount of information I should provide on my personal statement - I definitely want to talk about my experience with raising my baby cousin after my aunt passed away as well as how being a preschool teacher and working with a kiddo with Down syndrome helped shape my love and interest for OT. I'm seeing a ton of different examples of personal statements, some are way longer than others, and I don't know exactly how much I should talk about my past experiences with work/shadowing/ overall life events.

Also, I'd be greatly indebted to anyone that would briefly look over my personal statement to offer any guidance or feedback!

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[lalasing]

Hey! I think you have a pretty solid idea of what you want to talk about in your PS. Everyone's life experiences are different, so as long as you write from the heart and you can make a strong tie to OT, I'd say you're off to a great start! I just finished my first semester of OT school. I separated my statement into 3 sections. I wrote about my undergrad research, a shadowing experience I had, and my current job working with kids, and I tied it all to OT and what I wanna do in the future as an OT.

I'm on a 2 week break right now, so feel free to PM me your personal statement and I'll take a look at it

 

[BHfutureOT]

Hi there!

I'm reviewing a few personal statements and would love to help you as well. Feel free to PM me and I'll take a look!

 

[sngot]

Hi everyone!
I'm really stuck on the amount of information I should provide on my personal statement - I definitely want to talk about my experience with raising my baby cousin after my aunt passed away as well as how being a preschool teacher and working with a kiddo with Down syndrome helped shape my love and interest for OT. I'm seeing a ton of different examples of personal statements, some are way longer than others, and I don't know exactly how much I should talk about my past experiences with work/shadowing/ overall life events.

Also, I'd be greatly indebted to anyone that would briefly look over my personal statement to offer any guidance or feedback!

The essay forces one to effectively communicate. The best advice I was provided was to show, not tell. You have listed 2 wonderful examples that shaped your perspective of OT: 1) taking care of cousin and 2) being a preschool teacher working with a Kiddo with Down syndrome. Anything you add in terms of length or depth should continue to enhance why you are a good candidate for OT and not dilute it. It is okay not to list everything. You want to build a rapport via application enough for an interview or acceptance (for schoolS that do not do interviews).

 

[Kimboslice12]

I'm also working on my personal statement and I'd be happy to exchange statements, send me a PM!