personal statement

[bern]

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The application deadline is still a few months away, but I'm trying to get an early start. Does anyone have some specific advice as to what should be included in (and omitted from!) the personal statement? I have a degree in English, so this shouldn't be too frightening for me, but my experience with writing is more in the areas of scholarly-type papers and fiction and I'm feeling somewhat at a loss as to how I should present myself.

I've read a few helpful guides online, but further recommendations would be appreciated, especially from those who have succesfully made it through the application process.

 

[Darla3]

There are some books out there in bookstores guiding students on how to write med school essays. Flip through those just to get some ideas!

Darla

 

[Anggel]

I recommend highlighting a few experiences that you feel are unique and that have helped contour your decision to pursue veterinary medicine. If you have a fairly good notion of what area of vet med you want to pursue-and adequate experience to back it up-you may want to use that as your theme. That's how I approached the personal statement.
My area of interest is veterinary pathology and at application time I had 2,000 hours working for the last county government run-vet path lab in the U.S. I really believe that my unique career goals/experience gave me an enormous advantage when applying. I was accepted to two schools and waitlisted at three. Again, I cannot emphasize enough to highlight those experiences which make you unique.
Hope that helps a bit. Good luck!

Angel

 

[ghostsamurai]

The application deadline is still a few months away, but I'm trying to get an early start.../QUOTE]

this is pretty obvious but don't start off with "I love animals thus I want to be a DVM" because appreciation of animals is understood...

anyways, being the simpleton that I am, I tried to envision the admissions committees reading my personal statement as if they were watching a short movie clip of me...
I broke it down like so:
-who you are...or something interesting about yourself [preferably something that defines YOU] (conveying an interesting personality goes a long way because the rest of VMCAS is just numbers and accomplishments) (e.g. I used a unique experience of being offered a bartending job at a trendy place in Malibu as a way of catching their attention)
-how your life experiences/accomplishments shaped your interest in vet med (e.g. how and when I became interested in vet med and how I tried to gain experience with vets and animals)
-how vet med relates to your career goals (e.g. own a private clinic, save the condors, or cure for Ebola)

if you have to say "I love animals", just say "it" differently that everyone else, say "it" your way...and figuring out how YOU say it may take sometime...

the best advice I can give is:
ask as many of your friends, colleagues, family, etc. to read it (both vet-related and non-vet people) b/c it's good to get as much input as you can from different sources...
and edit until you can't stand to look at it anymore

thats all I have to say about that
so...
best of luck and...
may the force be with you...

 

[ghostsamurai]

The application deadline is still a few months away, but I'm trying to get an early start.../QUOTE]

and don't be like me...

be succinct

 

[bern]

Thanks guys!

Ghostsamurai - I am also occasionally prone to, ahem, verbosity, but hopefully that VMCAS character limit will keep me from writing a novel!

 

[Anggel]

I definitely second the notion of having as many people as possible peruse your statement prior to submitting it! I went through about three drafts before I was truly satisfied. Having valuable and sometimes brutally honest feedback from people I really trusted made all the difference in the world.

 

[Beauty2597]

Hi,
Sorry I am late at replying. I am dealing with finals!

When I wrote my personal statement I had a little book called "Writing about Me" by Barbara Huntington and Linda Masse. It helped me write down things about myself to write about in the personal statement. It often feels weird writing about yourself, doesnt it? It costs 10 dollars and you can order it online, i would google to find out where since I ordered mine a year ago.

Anyway, Good Luck on your essay....I agree with whoever said dont write "i love animals", lol they HATE that (I have professors who are on admissions commitees!!).

Beauty

 

[bern]

Hi,
... I agree with whoever said dont write "i love animals", lol they HATE that (I have professors who are on admissions commitees!!).

Beauty

Yeah, that's the one thing I know I will be leaving out - I assume they will take that as a given!

I'm actually getting off to what I think is a good start. It's actually kind of interesting, looking back over the experiences that have led to my decision to apply. I'm trying to look at it as an exercise in healthy self-analysis, but it is a somewhat daunting task to put certain things into words that will convey what is so subjective.

But it's a good thing to require of applicants - even if you are absolutely sure of your decision, sorting it out like this can really help cement the decision in your brain. I imagine it will be useful when I am swamped with work in vet school and missing such things as free time and adequate sleep - if I ever find myself wondering why I do it, all I have to do is read over my personal statement as a reminder!