Personal Statement

[Tre Cool]

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i can't think of what to write about. i'm getting a little worried. can anyone else help and give me ideas of what to write about and how to start it up? thanks.

 

[nockamura]

I would list two things: the activities that made you want to pursue medicine, and the qualities you possess that will make you a successful physician. Once you have those two lists, answer the question: Why will you be a good doctor?

 

[whoam]

Have you looked at other personal statements, also have you looked at some guidelines for writting your personal statement, there are a few websites that can guide you. But I think you should re-write your statement, so you don't risk the chance of them comparing your previous statement to your new one. Even if they didn't read your statement last time, they still have it on file most likely, and they can pull it up to compare. I wouldn't risk it, just to be on the safe side. I can try and find some of the websites that I used for help on my personal statement, if you want.

 

[LizzyM]

I can't imagine anyone on an adcom pulling up an old application to compare. They have enough to do reading what is before them without looking into the past.

That said, please don't start with an anecdote about an illness and the doctor who took care of you. It is so common that it is boring for adcoms. (Dead or dying grandmothers is another topic that adcoms see every day.) An anecdote about a volunteer experience is far more interesting.

The best PS I read last year tied together 3 topics:
job on campus
lab research
volunteer work

A simple word tied all three together although in the third case it was more metaphorical than concrete. Each of the three had some relationship to medicine although none involved patient contact or work with doctors or sick people. (aside from some first aid administered on the job).

Good luck.

 

[deuist]

whoam - i'd appreciate those websites.

the only thing is i know i'm going to write about the same thing in my new PS because that experience has been the most "personal" to me. i'm so confused. again those websites would be great.

My website. Also, see the section on personal statements in the Not So Short Introduction

 

[2tall]

medgirl!

I could look over your ps if you like. pm me.

 

[nockamura]

If you're happy with it, don't change it. Don't make changes for the sake of change, change it if you know it will be better. Maybe you should keep your personal anecdote and alter some of the other parts. For me, I changed my anecdote and left most of the rest. Hopefully this will make me a reapplican and not a reapplican't.

 

[The JockDoc]

Just FYI, I was told by an admissions dean that they wanted a new PS for reapplicants to show some creativity. I too would rather not write a whole new one, but it looks like I may have to.

 

[whoam]

Here are a few websites, I am not sure if the first one changed it's address, but when I used it, I would need to refresh the page a few times to get it to work, but my computer has a problem. Try seaching for it, if it doesn't work.
http://www.essayedge.com/contentpartners/course/lo_medical.html
http://www.accepted.com/medical/amcasessay.aspx

 

[Tre Cool]

thanks for the input everyone. i will not use the same exact essay from last time but will use maybe parts of it. i'm definitely reworking it now and after a good night's sleep last night, my brain is working today.

 

[ShyRem]

I just rewrote an entire new PS. My old one focused on my previous problems/errors in judgment and what I have done to overcome them. This tactic, obviously, didn't work since I'm reapplying. (although it did get me on several "to interview" piles - which I didn't get an interview from 'cuz I applied LATE.)

The new PS focuses entirely on what I have done/learned as a paramedic and my general philosophical views on medicine and on taking opportunities when they come. I like the new one a whole lot more! 🙂 Here's hoping it brings me good luck!!

 

[stoleyerscrubz]

Do you remember thread or some keywords? Thanks!

I can't imagine anyone on an adcom pulling up an old application to compare. They have enough to do reading what is before them without looking into the past.

That said, please don't start with an anecdote about an illness and the doctor who took care of you. It is so common that it is boring for adcoms. (Dead or dying grandmothers is another topic that adcoms see every day.) An anecdote about a volunteer experience is far more interesting.

The best PS I read last year tied together 3 topics:
job on campus
lab research
volunteer work

A simple word tied all three together although in the third case it was more metaphorical than concrete. Each of the three had some relationship to medicine although none involved patient contact or work with doctors or sick people. (aside from some first aid administered on the job).

Good luck.

 

[deuist]

Quick question:

Are you gonna get your book officially published when it is done??????? Just curious cuz I'm sure it would sell. Or is this part of a project with one of UF's premed things, that you are doing as a joint collaboration??

The book will never be published. I intend for it to be a free resource for anyone to read. The good news is that that the honors pre-med adviser at UF is going to make her students start reading it this fall. I wrote it on my own free will and was not told to do so by a pre-med class or organization (I do not belong to AMSA, I did not take the class, and I'm not even an honors student).

As far as joint collaboration, I would love for others to write additional material that I can incorporate.

 

[stoleyerscrubz]

would it be ok to share this file with file sharing programs?

The book will never be published. I intend for it to be a free resource for anyone to read. The good news is that that the honors pre-med adviser at UF is going to make her students start reading it this fall. I wrote it on my own free will and was not told to do so by a pre-med class or organization (I do not belong to AMSA, I did not take the class, and I'm not even an honors student).

As far as joint collaboration, I would love for others to write additional material that I can incorporate.

 

[bioteacher]

Do I need a whole new PS, or just a reworking of my old one?

I did a little reworking, but not a lot. Did this dean of admissions that encouraged the new PS, actually compare a new application to the old? I guess they may if a candidate is under serious consideration for an interview. Mainly I took out parts that I thought strayed from my main theme and extended those I thought were important.

Last year I started with a quote by Robert Frost that I felt was very analogous to my life. I now think this is cliche, and though it was very appopriate, I decided to eliminate it.

I have decided to focus on how my seven years as an educator will make me a better physician. This was a theme of my last PS, but I've made it the entire theme. I think I shouldn't try to hit everything and hope that the AMCAS section on personal experiences can fill in any information I left out of my PS.

I can't help but feel my personal statement is like a CV.

I feel these are the main points to consider but haven't read anything official anywhere.
-What led you to think of medicine
-How can we (adcoms) trust that you know what a medical career entails
-What traits have you gained through your experience that will make you a good doctor.

Am I wrong?

 

[bioteacher]

Do I need a whole new PS, or just a reworking of my old one?

I did a little reworking, but not a lot. Did this dean of admissions that encouraged the new PS, actually compare a new application to the old? I guess they may if a candidate is under serious consideration for an interview. Mainly I took out parts that I thought strayed from my main theme and extended those I thought were important.

Last year I started with a quote by Robert Frost that I felt was very analogous to my life. I now think this is cliche, and though it was very appopriate, I decided to eliminate it.

I have decided to focus on how my seven years as an educator will make me a better physician. This was a theme of my last PS, but I've made it the entire theme. I think I shouldn't try to hit everything and hope that the AMCAS section on personal experiences can fill in any information I left out of my PS.

I can't help but feel my personal statement is like a CV.

I feel these are the main points to consider but haven't read anything official anywhere.
-What led you to think of medicine
-How can we (adcoms) trust that you know what a medical career entails
-What traits have you gained through your experience that will make you a good doctor.

Am I wrong?

 

[DD214_DOC]

I was told by many people to rewrite the PS or make changes/additions to it; I ignored their advice. You really need to evaluate the quality of your PS. My PS was praised by everyone who looked at it, and it isn't the traditional, "this is what I've done and why I want to be a doc" garbage; it's pretty unique and I believe contributed to my getting an interview everywhere I applied despite my paltry numbers.

I think using the same statement can play to my advantage in several ways. One, I don't think it's really as important as we think. I know of several adcom members who didn't even read mine.

Two, it's very unlikely they will remember my PS from last year. If they do, then there's a chance they will recognize my previous application and my higher numbers for this year will stand out even more.

Three, I seriously doubt they would trash an app just because you didn't completely rewrite your PS.

Stop being neurotic and do what you think you should. Personally, if a school is nitpicky enough to base interview/admissions decisions on whether a reapplicant rewrote his PS then I'm probably better off not going there anyways. Being a physician also means being a leader, so take some initiative to analyze the situation and decide for yourself.

 

[Apple55]

Just wonder if we need indentation on each paragraph on our personal statement? Any advise...

 

[nockamura]

I tried the indentation thing, but it counted like 5 characters for that space for every indent and I really needed all the space I could get. So I went for a page break between each paragraph (a page break counts only as 1 character).

Like this.

See?

Easy.

 

[deuist]

would it be ok to share this file with file sharing programs?

Sure. My only concern with file-sharing programs is that once I update the Introduction, the versions on Kazaa et al. will be outdated. However, feel free to distribute it in whatever manner you feel comfortable.

 

[deuist]

Just wonder if we need indentation on each paragraph on our personal statement? Any advise...

Do not indent---it wastes space. Just hit the RETURN key twice to start a new paragraph. Another way to save space is use only one space between sentences---instead of the two spaces that you had to use in your English classes.

 

[Apple55]

Do not indent---it wastes space. Just hit the RETURN key twice to start a new paragraph. Another way to save space is use only one space between sentences---instead of the two spaces that you had to use in your English classes.

Actual each RETURN key you hit count as 2 characters. Also, if you hit RETURN KEY twice to start a new paragraph, when you print your whole application, it show two line break between paragraph. Should we just hit RETURN KEY once?? Will medical school see the same thing as what we print??

 

[deuist]

Actual each RETURN key you hit count as 2 characters. Also, if you hit RETURN KEY twice to start a new paragraph, when you print your whole application, it show two line break between paragraph. Should we just hit RETURN KEY once?? Will medical school see the same thing as what we print??

You get two line breaks for hitting RETURN twice? That's new. When I applied, you were forced to use RETURN to make new paragraphs. Do you mean that the two line breaks look like a new paragraph that you would see on webpages? As the above poster noted, your essay should look like this:

Starting the personal statement with paragraph 1. Starting the personal statement with paragraph 1. Starting the personal statement with paragraph 1. Starting the personal statement with paragraph 1. Starting the personal statement with paragraph 1. [hit RETURN twice]

Now on to paragraph 2. Now on to paragraph 2. Now on to paragraph 2. Now on to paragraph 2. Now on to paragraph 2. Now on to paragraph 2. Now on to paragraph 2. Now on to paragraph 2. Now on to paragraph 2. [hit RETURN twice]

And close with the third paragraph. And close with the third paragraph. And close with the third paragraph. And close with the third paragraph. And close with the third paragraph. And close with the third paragraph. And close with the third paragraph. And close with the third paragraph.


To answer your second question, yes the adcoms see whatever you see when you print your application. There will be some slight differences---AMCAS uses different formatting and does not allow the committees to see what other schools you have applied to. Therefore, if you notice question marks where you meant to put quotation marks, the adcoms will also see the formatting error.

 

[Apple55]

You get two line breaks for hitting RETURN twice? That's new. When I applied, you were forced to use RETURN to make new paragraphs. Do you mean that the two line breaks look like a new paragraph that you would see on webpages? As the above poster noted, your essay should look like this:

Starting the personal statement with paragraph 1. Starting the personal statement with paragraph 1. Starting the personal statement with paragraph 1. Starting the personal statement with paragraph 1. Starting the personal statement with paragraph 1. [hit RETURN twice]

Now on to paragraph 2. Now on to paragraph 2. Now on to paragraph 2. Now on to paragraph 2. Now on to paragraph 2. Now on to paragraph 2. Now on to paragraph 2. Now on to paragraph 2. Now on to paragraph 2. [hit RETURN twice]

And close with the third paragraph. And close with the third paragraph. And close with the third paragraph. And close with the third paragraph. And close with the third paragraph. And close with the third paragraph. And close with the third paragraph. And close with the third paragraph.


To answer your second question, yes the adcoms see whatever you see when you print your application. There will be some slight differences---AMCAS uses different formatting and does not allow the committees to see what other schools you have applied to. Therefore, if you notice question marks where you meant to put quotation marks, the adcoms will also see the formatting error.

What I mean was

if you enter the following
This is line 1 [hit return once]
This is line 2 [hit return twice]

This is line 3

when you print your application[whole application form], you will see
This is line 1

This is line 2


This is line 3

That's why I don't know if I should use one return or two return.

 

[deuist]

Apple55, that must be new. The system I applied under required us to hit RETURN twice. If the spacing works upon tapping the key just once, then go for it. You'll be able to save some characters.

 

[Minion677]

yeah apple55, i notice what youre saying... and i really need those few characters i will be saving by hitting [Return] only one time between paragraphs. is anyone else who is applying this year doing it that way??