The personal statement bugged me for about 1 months when I was applying. I know you must have heard that the first sentence needs to be "catchy". What I did was that I opened in the middle of a "scene" which I was describing. Start out with an action. Don't start out by describe something...things like "My first day of volunteering at such and such hospital when a man was sent into the ER with a broken leg". Instead, say something exciting (an action) like... "the patient was rushed in to the ER with a broken leg while I was prepping the makeshift bed." An action sentence is more interesting than a descriptive sentence. Use this strategy through out your essay.
And don't just write a list of things...find something significant abou those events...everyone is going to have volunteered/done research/good grades... you need to set yourself apart by pointing out what was unique about your experience that makes you more qualified. Example...instead of saying I did such and such research and published (something already on the CV), say something like "In one of my research experiences, I designed an experiment that was on XXX, ran it, and found out this and that..." People read statements all the time...you need to give them something to remember you by.
==while you're at it, click the ad banner above and donate!).
