I'm having trouble starting my personal statement. What helped you guys when starting?
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Personal Statement
Started by medstudentwannab111
Get help with your application
Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.
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deleted982921
Reading memoirs and thinking about how I'd tell mine!
@Anonymous406 thank you!!
Just write. It is going to take many drafts. Watch Dr. Ryan Gray’s videos and those will help a lot.
@LIFS7 thank you, it's been really rough so far!
Read
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That way you know what you are willing to write about that will not overlap with your personal statement. Many schools ask you to not repeat details in your AMCAS statement in their secondary essays (in a copy/paste way). A few will ask for a completely different personal statement.
Write Your Secondary Essays First | Student Doctor Network | SDN
Secondary essays are a critical part of your application that ensure your picking the right schools and prepare you for the interview process.
www.studentdoctor.net
That way you know what you are willing to write about that will not overlap with your personal statement. Many schools ask you to not repeat details in your AMCAS statement in their secondary essays (in a copy/paste way). A few will ask for a completely different personal statement.
@Mr.Smile12 thank you so much!
@RedFrog thanks for your response! what do you mean by x factor?
There's a book by Ryan Gray that will help tremendously, I used it. It's called "Guide to the med school personal statement" or something.
The point of the personal statement is to tell us why you want to be a doctor. DO talk about impactful experiences that informed your decision to pursue medicine. DO NOT use it as a narrative form of your resume. That's an auto-app trash. DO NOT have spelling or grammatical errors in this thing. That's disrespectful, and usually an auto-reject.
If you want to weave social justice stuff in there, cool. Not necessary, but fine. I put that I wanted to do rural Family Med in my PS; it helped me get a scholarship at my current school, but probably got me rejected by Mayo. Being more generic is fine.
DON'T make yourself out like you're Nelson Mandela. "I was carrying my new adopted niece from the burning orphanage, and the last thing she said to me was, HollowKnight, you MUST go to medical school to save little girls everywhere like me......" Be honest about yourself and your motivations.
Don't tell us how awful doctors are and how you're gonna be better. You might be right, but this is not the place or the time.
The point of the personal statement is to tell us why you want to be a doctor. DO talk about impactful experiences that informed your decision to pursue medicine. DO NOT use it as a narrative form of your resume. That's an auto-app trash. DO NOT have spelling or grammatical errors in this thing. That's disrespectful, and usually an auto-reject.
If you want to weave social justice stuff in there, cool. Not necessary, but fine. I put that I wanted to do rural Family Med in my PS; it helped me get a scholarship at my current school, but probably got me rejected by Mayo. Being more generic is fine.
DON'T make yourself out like you're Nelson Mandela. "I was carrying my new adopted niece from the burning orphanage, and the last thing she said to me was, HollowKnight, you MUST go to medical school to save little girls everywhere like me......" Be honest about yourself and your motivations.
Don't tell us how awful doctors are and how you're gonna be better. You might be right, but this is not the place or the time.
There's also...
www.studentdoctor.net
Personal Essay Workshop for AMCAS and AACOMAS
Use SDN's free personal essay workshop to plan, draft, and revise your AMCAS, AACOMAS, or health professional school personal statement.
www.studentdoctor.net
