personal statement

[PREMEDWOAHS]

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if anyone can help me organize my ideas before i start writing my personal statement, just to figure out what to write, what is unimportant, and what is droning on, PLEASE PM me..

P.S. yes i know there is a thread about this already, but i PM'ed about 17 people and no response, the mod said he would be starting a new thread about personal statement help but, until that is done, i am doing this to fill the gap. thanks

👍

 

[Stolenspatulas]

if anyone can help me organize my ideas before i start writing my personal statement, just to figure out what to write, what is unimportant, and what is droning on, PLEASE PM me..

P.S. yes i know there is a thread about this already, but i PM'ed about 17 people and no response, the mod said he would be starting a new thread about personal statement help but, until that is done, i am doing this to fill the gap. thanks

👍

Does your university have a writing-help department. I went to mine, and it helped a lot.

Search personal statement medical school etc on google and you should be able to find some solid examples.

I see that you're relentless, but don't forget to be patient as well. goodluck.

 

[cowme]

Honestly, it is very hard to give concrete advice on what makes a great personal statement. None of us have experienced any part of your life so we have no idea what is the best way for you to convey 20+ years on paper. All I can attempt to do is to give you some guiding points.

1) Start off with something that will immediately grab the committee's attention. They are looking at thousands of these statements in little time, you have to find a way to stand apart from other applicants. Try think of something that makes you truly unique and think of a creative way to introduce it from the start of your statement.

2) Explain how you became interested in medicine. Give examples to show your devotion to the field, since committee members need to see sufficient motivation to get you through med school.

3) Write, write, write.
Put as many possible thoughts as you can in your original draft. Even if its 4 times as long as the maximum allotted space, your final statement may appear drastically different than the first, so it is important to think of any possible paper at first in order to decide which will be most effective.

4) Revise, revise, revise.
I can't stress this enough. No matter how many times you revise your paper, there is always work that can be done. Revise it yourself, read it out loud, have family/friends/colleagues give suggestions. Utilize any resources you have in order to get the best paper you can.

Obviously, you can take your statement in any way possible. But these are the four things that I focused most heavily on when constructing mine this past year. The most important factors are the 4 C's: be clear, concise, creative and CATCHY!

Goodluck!!

 

[63768]

think about why you want to be a doctor. then think about how you got to that realization. write on that. put everything on paper. it's easier to cut down than to add on.

 

[8744]

Definitely lead with a good dead African baby story.

 

[gujuDoc]

if anyone can help me organize my ideas before i start writing my personal statement, just to figure out what to write, what is unimportant, and what is droning on, PLEASE PM me..

P.S. yes i know there is a thread about this already, but i PM'ed about 17 people and no response, the mod said he would be starting a new thread about personal statement help but, until that is done, i am doing this to fill the gap. thanks

👍

I have a ppt I can email you. It was given by the adcom members of University of South Florida College of Medicine.

It goes over the Do's and Don'ts of personal statement writing.

 

[8744]

Honestly, it is very hard to give concrete advice on what makes a great personal statement. None of us have experienced any part of your life so we have no idea what is the best way for you to convey 20+ years on paper. All I can attempt to do is to give you some guiding points.

1) Start off with something that will immediately grab the committee's attention. They are looking at thousands of these statements in little time, you have to find a way to stand apart from other applicants. Try think of something that makes you truly unique and think of a creative way to introduce it from the start of your statement.

2) Explain how you became interested in medicine. Give examples to show your devotion to the field, since committee members need to see sufficient motivation to get you through med school.

3) Write, write, write.
Put as many possible thoughts as you can in your original draft. Even if its 4 times as long as the maximum allotted space, your final statement may appear drastically different than the first, so it is important to think of any possible paper at first in order to decide which will be most effective.

4) Revise, revise, revise.
I can't stress this enough. No matter how many times you revise your paper, there is always work that can be done. Revise it yourself, read it out loud, have family/friends/colleagues give suggestions. Utilize any resources you have in order to get the best paper you can.

Obviously, you can take your statement in any way possible. But these are the four things that I focused most heavily on when constructing mine this past year. The most important factors are the 4 C's: be clear, concise, creative and CATCHY!

Goodluck!!

They are all mostly crap. Not just crap but unoriginal crap. I have only read two out of about fifty or so that were decent and didn't make me vomit. And it is the format expounded on this thread that makes them crap.

Can someone please just take one interesting experience from their life, build it into a nice story, and leave it at that? I mean without detailing every goddamn thing they have ever done to demonstrate their compassion.

I bet if the OP took one idea, built it into something that indirectly described himself, eschewed the over-wrought prose and self-aggrandizement, and was considerate of his readers who probalby don't like wading through crap he would have an excellent personal statement.

 

[8744]

if anyone can help me organize my ideas before i start writing my personal statement, just to figure out what to write, what is unimportant, and what is droning on, PLEASE PM me..

P.S. yes i know there is a thread about this already, but i PM'ed about 17 people and no response, the mod said he would be starting a new thread about personal statement help but, until that is done, i am doing this to fill the gap. thanks

👍

Email me the odious thing you will no doubt write and I will hold my nose and critique it for you.

 

[gujuDoc]

Email me the odious thing you will no doubt write and I will hold my nose and critique it for you.

I agree. I always tell people to focus on only one or two examples. I've read a few personal statements in which people were trying to put their entire resume into the statement and it seemed very disjointed.

 

[notdeadyet]

Definitely lead with a good dead African baby story.

Isn't that joke getting a wee bit tired?

 

[Stolenspatulas]

Isn't that joke getting a wee bit tired?

Its less of a joke and more of a frustration for me about this whole process. So many fakes out there.

 

[notdeadyet]

Its less of a joke and more of a frustration for me about this whole process. So many fakes out there.

It's not the sentiment or the taste, it's the repetitiveness that's boring. PandaBear can otherwise be a pretty funny guy...

 

[8744]

Isn't that joke getting a wee bit tired?

The funny thing is that out of the approximately fifty personal statements I have read and critiqued, at least a third mentioned dead or dying third world babies.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

I have a ppt I can email you. It was given by the adcom members of University of South Florida College of Medicine.

It goes over the Do's and Don'ts of personal statement writing.

Could you send me a copy as well? 🙂

 

[LifetimeDoc]

The funny thing is that out of the approximately fifty personal statements I have read and critiqued, at least a third mentioned dead or dying third world babies.

I call BS, unless it's really true that 30% of all pre-meds applying to medical school goto third world countries and view dead or dying babies. I sincerely doubt that!

 

[Stolenspatulas]

It's not the sentiment or the taste, it's the repetitiveness that's boring. PandaBear can otherwise be a pretty funny guy...

Eh.... my frustrations were more directed to students in this process that go to third world countries to get into the H, not because they have a true interest in infectious disease or what have you. So many fakes out there edging to stand out as unique.

Yea, Pandabear is pretty funny.

 

[notdeadyet]

The funny thing is that out of the approximately fifty personal statements I have read and critiqued, at least a third mentioned dead or dying third world babies.

Is the lemming effect something that is inherently in the psyche of most people who want to be doctors, or is it something they acquire as premeds?

I'm honestly puzzled by the amount of traffic on SDN devoted to "How can I look more like the other guy?" When you read folks personal experiences, it's as if they are striving to fit into this cookie cutter mold.

What I don't get is that every adcom and medical school I've talked to has stressed how they want people who stand out from their peers. Yet still the lemmings run into the water...

 

[Stolenspatulas]

Is the lemming effect something that is inherently in the psyche of most people who want to be doctors, or is it something they acquire as premeds?

I'm honestly puzzled by the amount of traffic on SDN devoted to "How can I look more like the other guy?" When you read folks personal experiences, it's as if they are striving to fit into this cookie cutter mold.

What I don't get is that every adcom and medical school I've talked to has stressed how they want people who stand out from their peers. Yet still the lemmings run into the water...

Well what happened was these less academically qualified (lower mcat, gpa) students found an awesome EC that would get them into any school they wanted. And that EC was dead african babies. Now everyone who is anyone has that EC. Thus, its lost its flavor.

I wonder what the next big thing will be??? Its like a fad.

 

[notdeadyet]

Well what happened was these less academically qualified (lower mcat, gpa) students found an awesome EC that would get them into any school they wanted. And that EC was dead african babies.

Adcoms like to see service and local and international focus. Premeds, who tend to look at the application process as a punchcard (hence the cookie-cutter applications), sometimes do two week volunteer abroad stints thinking it satisfies two of the three.

I volunteered at clinics in Mexico for a month and at a free clinic at home for eight months and counting. Guess what comes up in interviews? The free clinic at home. Because it's the experience I've had the most involvement with and the one I talk about more.

But the idea that Adcoms go giddy with delight when they see two week medical missions in developing nations is more SDN Premed Myth. Adoms aren't fools. They know the difference between years of sustained volunteering and a couple of weeks helping out someplace. There's no single "awesome EC" that will get a poor applicant an admission into "any medical school they wanted". That's nonsense.

If you find your Adcom really fixating on a week spent in a village someplace it might be a warning sign that your application is so common that they can't find something more interesting to talk about.

 

[8744]

I call BS, unless it's really true that 30% of all pre-meds applying to medical school goto third world countries and view dead or dying babies. I sincerely doubt that!

...or crack babies, drug addicted babies, etc. You would be surprised.

 

[Stolenspatulas]

Adcoms like to see service and local and international focus. Premeds, who tend to look at the application process as a punchcard (hence the cookie-cutter applications), sometimes do two week volunteer abroad stints thinking it satisfies two of the three.

I volunteered at clinics in Mexico for a month and at a free clinic at home for eight months and counting. Guess what comes up in interviews? The free clinic at home. Because it's the experience I've had the most involvement with and the one I talk about more.

But the idea that Adcoms go giddy with delight when they see two week medical missions in developing nations is more SDN Premed Myth. Adoms aren't fools. They know the difference between years of sustained volunteering and a couple of weeks helping out someplace. There's no single "awesome EC" that will get a poor applicant an admission into "any medical school they wanted". That's nonsense.

If you find your Adcom really fixating on a week spent in a village someplace it might be a warning sign that your application is so common that they can't find something more interesting to talk about.

Oh no, I dont mean 2 week awesome ECs. I mean the whole sha-bang. Going abroad for a summer to tanzania for a summer to ''help out.'' I have talked to fellow premeds and uncovered their true reasons for doing these out-of-the-US-into-the-third-world experiences.

The thing is, if there was no huge application advantage for having this huge benefit of an EC, students wouldn't do it. I am even comfortable in saying that 80% of premeds that go abroad do so without true sincere interest. Premeds know its a hot thing to do. Premeds that have researched admissions know that longevity is key to any EC... and thus they do dish out a big enough chunk of time to make the EC appear genuine.

I am not saying that your personal experiences are fake, but I think you're being naiive to think that most premeds do not think about these sort of experience ECs in this manner.

Look at it this way, why aren't numbers peaking for doctors training for infectious disease? i'd bet money that most premeds lack a true global health perspective and do not look for a way to incorporate this perspective later in their careers (ie, doctors without borders, etc).

 

[pyrois]

The funny thing is that out of the approximately fifty personal statements I have read and critiqued, at least a third mentioned dead or dying third world babies.

It's more of a testament to the high infant mortality rate in Africa.

 

[pyrois]

There's no single "awesome EC" that will get a poor applicant an admission into "any medical school they wanted". That's nonsense.

Oh that's foolish. There are plenty of "awesome EC's" that will get an applicant an admission to any med school they want.

To list a couple projects yet to be done.

1. Actually save Darfur.
2. Bring universal healthcare to America.
3. Solve the problem of malnutrition in African children.
4. Impeach Bush (only coastal med schools, mid-west not so much)

You think I'm kidding. And I kind of am, but kind of not. I know people who have done stuff of this magnitude before at the college level, and they certainly got their ticket into their med school of choice.

Either way, nothing is "nonsense." It's that kind of talk that limits one's potential.

 

[Stolenspatulas]

Oh that's foolish. There are plenty of "awesome EC's" that will get an applicant an admission to any med school they want.

To list a couple projects yet to be done.

1. Actually save Darfur.
2. Bring universal healthcare to America.
3. Solve the problem of malnutrition in African children.
4. Impeach Bush (only coastal med schools, mid-west not so much)

You think I'm kidding. And I kind of am, but kind of not. I know people who have done stuff of this magnitude before at the college level, and they certainly got their ticket into their med school of choice.

Either way, nothing is "nonsense." It's that kind of talk that limits one's potential.

exactly.

why are there people with 27 mcats and 3.3 ugrad gpas at harvard.

its not because they smell nice.

 

[pyrois]

I call BS, unless it's really true that 30% of all pre-meds applying to medical school goto third world countries and view dead or dying babies. I sincerely doubt that!

Well I could believe that 30% of pre-meds applying to med school who actually went to the trouble of having their personal statement critiqued on SDN went abroad.

I can also believe that most, if not all of them, went abroad to Africa.

And unless they went to a "nice" part of Africa, I can guarantee you that 100% of them witnessed the death or were in the presence of a dying baby.

To think otherwise is to underestimate the dire situation Africa has been in these past years.

In truth though, "dying babies" are a thing of the past in Africa. Now, with mass distribution of dietary supplements in the form of paltry amounts of enriched grain, the problem is more of deformed and ******ed adolescents who survived infancy, only to be left as invalids due to overall malnutrition.

But give it time. In about 3 years, Panda Bear will be posting about the "overdone tales of malnourished deformed and ******ed African children" and we'll all have a good laugh about how BS that is too.

 

[pyrois]

exactly.

why are there people with 27 mcats and 3.3 ugrad gpas at harvard.

its not because they smell nice.

That actually brings up a valid point. I've heard so many times "how does going abroad or saving people in Africa help you become a better doctor?" Their argument is stubbornly set in the fact that a higher MCAT and higher GPA indicates a higher board score which indicates a more proficient knowledge of medicine and a better ability to diagnose.

I don't disagree with that, but that's not going to get you into Harvard, Yale, Stanford, what have you.

In truth, those schools don't really want to train a whole bunch of "doctors." Sure, they want some of their students to grow up to become nice docs that Mom thinks does a good job of vaccinating their children. But for the most part, they want to train doctors who will solve the major problems of medicine in the future. Doctors who will save Darfur, solve the problems in American healthcare, and do amazing things that may have little to do with their BCPM classes in college. Of course that's not to say they don't also have their share of 44 MCAT/4.0 students from MIT to develop new medical procedures and design new medical devices.

I think that's why many people are surprised about how some "low scorers" get selected by high end med schools.

 

[gujuDoc]

I call BS, unless it's really true that 30% of all pre-meds applying to medical school goto third world countries and view dead or dying babies. I sincerely doubt that!

You'd be surprised. I've read so many mdapps where people have mentioned having gone to a 3rd world country to do medical missions and met many more here at USF too. And send me a PM if you want the ppt.. I need people's email addresses to send it.

 

[Stolenspatulas]

That actually brings up a valid point. I've heard so many times "how does going abroad or saving people in Africa help you become a better doctor?" Their argument is stubbornly set in the fact that a higher MCAT and higher GPA indicates a higher board score which indicates a more proficient knowledge of medicine and a better ability to diagnose.

I don't disagree with that, but that's not going to get you into Harvard, Yale, Stanford, what have you.

In truth, those schools don't really want to train a whole bunch of "doctors." Sure, they want some of their students to grow up to become nice docs that Mom thinks does a good job of vaccinating their children. But for the most part, they want to train doctors who will solve the major problems of medicine in the future. Doctors who will save Darfur, solve the problems in American healthcare, and do amazing things that may have little to do with their BCPM classes in college. Of course that's not to say they don't also have their share of 44 MCAT/4.0 students from MIT to develop new medical procedures and design new medical devices.

I think that's why many people are surprised about how some "low scorers" get selected by high end med schools.

The problem is I think the majority of applicants that ''diversify'' their AMCAS with ECs that support this future lineage are not doing so sincerely. They will show promise for global health, but as only a means to an end.. ie, to get into a top school. I sincerely doubt that not even close to a majority of these accepted applicants have a unique career that does show promise for these things... most just do what the majority of doctors do now, ie just practice in a field trained by residency (doubt they're trying to solve healthcare crisis, go abroad, etc).

 

[notdeadyet]

The thing is, if there was no huge application advantage for having this huge benefit of an EC, students wouldn't do it.

Oh, I doubt that. LOADS of student put down Assistant Treasurer of the Chemistry club on their app as student leadership. I can't imagine more than a handful of adcoms are impressed by that. Yet premeds do it all the time.

I am even comfortable in saying that 80% of premeds that go abroad do so without true sincere interest.

Hmmmm. I think a better stat might be what percentage of students would still do volunteer work abroad if they knew it had absolutely no impact on their app. I'd say it'd be fairly small.

On the other hand, I think the number of premeds who go to the effort and trouble of volunteering in country x while they actually don't give a $hit about people in country X is pretty small.

 

[notdeadyet]

I am not saying that your personal experiences are fake, but I think you're being naiive to think that most premeds do not think about these sort of experience ECs in this manner.

Oh, I'm sure that any premed that does any volunteering (which is most of us) thinks about how it will help their app. This is normal.

All I'm arguing is the impression that volunteer work abroad is some kind of magic key that opens medical school doors for you. It just doesn't.

Look at it this way, why aren't numbers peaking for doctors training for infectious disease? i'd bet money that most premeds lack a true global health perspective and do not look for a way to incorporate this perspective later in their careers (ie, doctors without borders, etc).

I don't think that folks interested in international health need to be driven into doing a medicine residency followed by an ID fellowship. That's one very small path.

I think more interesting is the amount of folks who do MD/MPHs, which have been rising. An MPH does not give you any leg up professionally unless you're interested in public health, domestically or abroad. And it's a popular program.

As for a true global health perspective, I don't think you're automatically given one because you've bothered to get first hand experience in a developing nation's health care system. But it's more likely that you would than if you spent the summer surfing.

 

[notdeadyet]

Oh that's foolish. There are plenty of "awesome EC's" that will get an applicant an admission to any med school they want.

My apologies. With a discussion like "awesome EC's", I thought it was kinda evident that we were excluding things like curing AIDS or creating world peace. Mea culpa...

Either way, nothing is "nonsense." It's that kind of talk that limits one's potential.

Oh, years of experience have taught me that much is nonsense. I'm a relativist, but I have my limits.

 

[notdeadyet]

I think that's why many people are surprised about how some "low scorers" get selected by high end med schools.

And the one thing these "low scorers" who are getting in to high end medical schools have in common is that they do not do ordinary things.

Applicants can compensate for lower GPAs and MCATs by doing things that are truly extraordinary. But a summer volunteering in a developing nation does not qualify. If it's something that more than a very small handful of people have done, you ain't going to Harvard with a 3.0 and 25 MCAT.

 

[gujuDoc]

Oh, I doubt that. LOADS of student put down Assistant Treasurer of the Chemistry club on their app as student leadership. I can't imagine more than a handful of adcoms are impressed by that. Yet premeds do it all the time.


Hmmmm. I think a better stat might be what percentage of students would still do volunteer work abroad if they knew it had absolutely no impact on their app. I'd say it'd be fairly small.

On the other hand, I think the number of premeds who go to the effort and trouble of volunteering in country x while they actually don't give a $hit about people in country X is pretty small.

But why do you imagine that people do these things?? I can tell you that I know of a lot of people who naively believe being an officer in xyz organizations will help their status greatly and a lot of times I've had people argue with me when I tell them that it isn't going to make or break their application one bit. One time a girl chewed me out for telling it like it was and then ended up realizing I was right though her pride would never let her have admitted so. Both she and her friend who had become an officer in the same organization ended up quitting and realizing it wasn't going to do them any good. Once they realized it wouldn't make or break them they cut their losses but before that they were all too eager to join every possible premed club thinking it was going to make them look so great in the eyes of adcoms. I know a lot of other people like these 2 girls. You'd be amazed at how naive some premeds are because they don't do their research well.

 

[notdeadyet]

But why do you imagine that people do these things??

If we're talking about officer in campus xyz organization that doesn't do anything, I'd say they're doing it to check one off the list.

If we're talking about international volunteering, there are a whole lot of reasons folks do it.
* Blatant app padding
* Learn about international health
* Fun in the sun
* Gain clinical experience they couldn't in the states
* The martyr factor
* Providing a service to those in need
* etc. etc.

We're probably in pretty closer agreement than you think. I'm just saying that the fact that lots of premeds do it does not mean that there is a "huge application advantage for having this huge benefit of an EC". They do it for lots of reasons. The mistaken belief that a few weeks abroad is a huge factor in admissions is only one reason.

 

[gujuDoc]

If we're talking about officer in campus xyz organization that doesn't do anything, I'd say they're doing it to check one off the list.

If we're talking about international volunteering, there are a whole lot of reasons folks do it.
* Blatant app padding
* Learn about international health
* Fun in the sun
* Gain clinical experience they couldn't in the states
* The martyr factor
* Providing a service to those in need
* etc. etc.

We're probably in pretty closer agreement than you think. I'm just saying that the fact that lots of premeds do it does not mean that there is a "huge application advantage for having this huge benefit of an EC". They do it for lots of reasons. The mistaken belief that a few weeks abroad is a huge factor in admissions is only one reason.

Put that way, we are not in disagreement I suppose. I may have misunderstood the intent of your original post.

 

[pyrois]

Oh, years of experience have taught me that much is nonsense. I'm a relativist, but I have my limits.

Well, years of a certain kind of experience🙂

 

[pyrois]

And the one thing these "low scorers" who are getting in to high end medical schools have in common is that they do not do ordinary things.

Essentially a restatement of my post.

 

[pyrois]

My apologies. With a discussion like "awesome EC's", I thought it was kinda evident that we were excluding things like curing AIDS or creating world peace. Mea culpa

Er, in a discussion about "awesome EC's" I thought it was kinda evident that things like curing AIDS and creating world peace were the ONLY things we were talking about.

Going abroad is not an "awesome EC" I'm afraid to say. In fact, it's rather ordinary.

 

[pyrois]

The problem is I think the majority of applicants that ''diversify'' their AMCAS with ECs that support this future lineage are not doing so sincerely.

All of my sister's friends that I have met at Stanford med seemd absolutely sincere in their endeavors. Even after getting into their "top med school" they have continued their efforts to solve the problems they approached in college with even more fervor than before.

Many are seeking careers in international health policy and others have even taken time off to actively lobby and pursue political means of correcting the american healthcare system.

If you consider what many graduates of top universities have done with their lives, I think you might change your song about the relative proportions of people at places like Harvard, Stanford, and UCSF who do things sincerely.

In truth, there are certainly a lot of people out there who "resume pad" by going abroad and doing little things with clubs, but the truly high achievers do things that nobody would be willing to do unless they had a true passion for their cause.

 

[gujuDoc]

All of my sister's friends that I have met at Stanford med seemd absolutely sincere in their endeavors. Even after getting into their "top med school" they have continued their efforts to solve the problems they approached in college with even more fervor than before.

Many are seeking careers in international health policy and others have even taken time off to actively lobby and pursue political means of correcting the american healthcare system.

If you consider what many graduates of top universities have done with their lives, I think you might change your song about the relative proportions of people at places like Harvard, Stanford, and UCSF who do things sincerely.

In truth, there are certainly a lot of people out there who "resume pad" by going abroad and doing little things with clubs, but the truly high achievers do things that nobody would be willing to do unless they had a true passion for their cause.

Yes but for every sincere person there are quite a few who are not sincere. I know of at least 2 people that did med missiont trips that were sincere but at least another good amount of people that did it just for the shadowing experience and chance to get some clinical exposure where they'd be allowed to do something not because they want to be practicing physicians in those countries or even go back and help with the problems overseas much less here so much as they want a private practice or group practice here in a lifestyle specialty.

Its just so hard to tell who's being sincere and who's not.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

You'd be surprised. I've read so many mdapps where people have mentioned having gone to a 3rd world country to do medical missions and met many more here at USF too. And send me a PM if you want the ppt.. I need people's email addresses to send it.

I looked into the "medical missions" and they basically amounted to paid application filler/vacations for pre-meds run by religious organizations with an evangelizing mission. Frankly, I feel it's better to give back to your own local community and give money to groups that send actual medical personnel to 3rd world countries. I'd love to go when I'm a actual doctor so I could make a difference. As a pre-med I'm nothing but a tourist going to see sick babies, practice medicine without a license, and pad my application. Just my opinion.

 

[Stolenspatulas]

All of my sister's friends that I have met at Stanford med seemd absolutely sincere in their endeavors. Even after getting into their "top med school" they have continued their efforts to solve the problems they approached in college with even more fervor than before.

Many are seeking careers in international health policy and others have even taken time off to actively lobby and pursue political means of correcting the american healthcare system.

If you consider what many graduates of top universities have done with their lives, I think you might change your song about the relative proportions of people at places like Harvard, Stanford, and UCSF who do things sincerely.

In truth, there are certainly a lot of people out there who "resume pad" by going abroad and doing little things with clubs, but the truly high achievers do things that nobody would be willing to do unless they had a true passion for their cause.

there is no doubt in my mind that there are people who do those things sincerely... and those are the people that will make a difference.

...but the ratio of insincere to sincere is pretty pretty high.

look at the graduates of these institutions... how many are considering positions that would help the global health community, or infectious disease, or something that even minutely relates to the "calling" to go abroad that they felt while they were premeds. of course, some do. most dont.

isnt that quite the fact.

 

[Dr. Josh]

I have a ppt I can email you. It was given by the adcom members of University of South Florida College of Medicine.

It goes over the Do's and Don'ts of personal statement writing.

Could you please PM me that too? I'm sadly unable to start my PS.

 

[ADeadLois]

I agree with Panda. You're much better off writing something that's interesting to read rather than one that highlights every reason why you're a great applicant. Make it like a short story: give it a plot. Don't exaggerate, don't use flowery language, don't explain why you'll be a great doctor. Pick one experience and write a story about it.

 

[psipsina]

there is no doubt in my mind that there are people who do those things sincerely... and those are the people that will make a difference.

...but the ratio of insincere to sincere is pretty pretty high.

look at the graduates of these institutions... how many are considering positions that would help the global health community, or infectious disease, or something that even minutely relates to the "calling" to go abroad that they felt while they were premeds. of course, some do. most dont.

isnt that quite the fact.

Yeah, it never really seemed worth it to spend all that money to get my butt wherever it was we were going until I can actually really help these people. We have a group in my medschool that is about planning these types of trips (presumably too look good on your residency app) but I still don't think I know anything that really would help these people and it seems like an awful lot of money to spend when you are living on loans. Maybe if I had parents with overflowing wallets or something.

 

[VandyXGirl]

My pre-med advisor gave me some great advice that helped me with my brainstorming. He told me to think about my life journey and how did the events in my life shape who I am and why I wanted to go into medicine. Very rarely do people have that one event where they have their "ah hah!" moment. So I just picked a common theme and went through some major events in my life that shaped my decision to go into medicine and that tell a lot about how I have changed as a person throughout my life.

Also when I was applying to undergrad I got the advice to avoid writing about the 3 D's: Death, Divorce, Disease (Personal injury). Now, I think it is okay if you mention these things, but make them a backdrop for talking about YOU and who you are. I think it is easy if the events are really intense to forget that you aren't telling about what happened but about how those events affected who you are. Hopefully, that makes sense.

 

[8744]

The whole premise of the personal statement is idiotic. Most people decide to go to medical school as high school students and thus have no real "life journey" or history ot speak of. (Most, dammit) Their decision to apply to medical school is probably entirely frivolous or at least based on things that they won't even remember when they finally finish residency which is why there are still medically underserved areas. Hell, from reading personal statements you'd think there would be a glut of Family Physicians in the urban ghettos and the rural hinterlands.

With this in mind, why bore your poor reader with yet another page of over-blown Fantasy and Science Fiction? From what I've read, you'd think people were applying for the job of Pope.

 

[medallion]

Follow everyones advice, read it, and then throw that draft away. I write something quickly that really says what you want. And then work on that. I spent a month and a half on my first, threw it away, drafted my second in a few hours, and have had two interviewers comment on how much they enjoyed it. Really forget everything you were taught on how to write an essay. A story approach is better...

 

[CaramelDlite]

Those who go abroad to pad their resumes rarely make significant impact. The fact that they go just to say they went will be evident. Few people care about a one-time "3 week medical mission trip to Africa" if the rest of your application is filled with pre-med society and chem club; the motivation here is pretty clear. Its those who make large impacts that are usually the most sincere because it shows they care. And it will not be any one EC that will make this clear, but a consistent dedication to helping others that is clear in even the activities they involve themselves in domestically.

Now to say that a person who spent their entire college career helping the underprivileged and travelling abroad to third world countries is merely trying to pad their resume then you are fooling yourself. Almost no one thinks that hard about medical school ALL THE TIME to allow it take over their lives in such a way that leaves them with very little time to focus on themselves. And for the very few for which this is not true, in the end they helped a lot of people which is significant in itself.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

The whole premise of the personal statement is idiotic. Most people decide to go to medical school as high school students and thus have no real "life journey" or history ot speak of. (Most, dammit) Their decision to apply to medical school is probably entirely frivolous or at least based on things that they won't even remember when they finally finish residency which is why there are still medically underserved areas. Hell, from reading personal statements you'd think there would be a glut of Family Physicians in the urban ghettos and the rural hinterlands.

With this in mind, why bore your poor reader with yet another page of over-blown Fantasy and Science Fiction? From what I've read, you'd think people were applying for the job of Pope.

However, it's read by the admission committee (or somebody that reports to them), and if you don't catch their attention your file will end up in the rejection pile.