Personal statement?

[CanadianHopefully]

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Hi guys I am just writing my PS and a question. People in other threads are saying you should write about Why DO? But others are saying it should be about your story. I am currently writing it based on the former. Just wondering what your guys thoughts are?

Also when I am done would anyone like to read it?

 

[CharmanderMD]

If you write why DO for your PS you'll have a hard time not duplicating info on your secondaries as they generally ask the "why DO" question.

 

[FutureDrB]

Hi guys I am just writing my PS and a question. People in other threads are saying you should write about Why DO? But others are saying it should be about your story. I am currently writing it based on the former. Just wondering what your guys thoughts are?

Also when I am done would anyone like to read it?

I just touched on the "why DO" in my PS. (Two sentences.)
One of your secondary questions will be why DO and you can go into detail there.
That's my approach anyway.

 

[CanadianHopefully]

ok yah thats what i was afraid of. So then what should be in my PS. My life is all that interesting lol

 

[FutureDrB]

ok yah thats what i was afraid of. So then what should be in my PS. My life is all that interesting lol

Can't really help ya there...hence the word "personal" statement.
But, even if your life hasn't been all that interesting as you put it, you can still write about why you're choosing medicine as a career and the path that led you to where you are now.
Also, I'm sure you've had some sort of failures or struggles in your life that you've overcome that you could write about.

 

[CanadianHopefully]

lol yah i figured but it was worth a shot 😉

yah kind of have an idea of what to write. its odd but i have a really clear moment of when I decided to pursue medicine in general and then the rest was just researching what exactly i wanted to do within that. I think its similar to Why DO question I am sure ill get later, but thats the truth.

There are some current struggles and internal dilemmas i am going through but I don't want to come across weepy or looking for pity :S

 

[keels99]

I included why DO shortly in my PS then had to remove it later when I realized I was a 3900 characters.

 

[CanadianHopefully]

oh k so maybe if i just discuss why med in general in my ps and then answer the why do more specifically

that might work

 

[FutureDrB]

I included why DO shortly in my PS then had to remove it later when I realized I was a 3900 characters.

I hear that. I wrote my first draft before I knew about the character limit. That's the hardest part about the PS in my opinion, is getting it under the 1500 character limit...I could (and originally did) write 3x that much.

 

[FutureDrB]

oh k so maybe if i just discuss why med in general in my ps and then answer the why do more specifically

that might work

This was a quandary for me, because they're going to ask why DO in the secondaries.
I just briefly touched on the "why DO" aspect in my PS, but I don't know if that's good or bad. I plan to go into much greater detail in the secondaries.
Plus, I have so many reasons for why DO, I could easily write a while PS just on that...

My situation is a little different though. Being an older, non-traditional student, I focused my PS more on why I'm just now able to apply, even though I've been pursuing medicine for over 15 years.