Personal statements- themes and whatnot...

[MadameLULU]

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Hi,

What is the general consensus? To have an overriding theme in the PS or not?

I don't have one b/c my desire to go to medical school stems from SEVERAL different experiences. When I discuss these experiences in my PS, some ppl comment that my essay is disjointed.

I use transitions and such in my PS to try and make these seems smoother so I'm not sure what the prob. is. GRR. Any suggestions?

 

[Attentive]

I ran into the same problem with my PS. I actually ended up trying to tie up everything with my interest in art. It was a stretch, but once I tried enough times, little things like creativity applied to research, inspiration required to begin a painting, dedication required to finish, and the creative process of a vision for a painting parallelling my journey toward medicine.

I'd say if you really want a theme, just to list your experiences on a page. Describe in short phrases what they boil down to. Then pick something that is very personal to you, and describe that in as many ways as u can. See if ur experiences can fit into that context and repeat.

 

[calstudent]

hmmmmm
i didnt have a theme either, except that i want to be a doctor. i think if everything fits into that, you'll be okay.
some people do have passions that make for a theme; personally, i didn't. i think you'll be okay.

 

[kaikai128]

I don't know if I would call it a theme...but the introduction and conclusion parts of the essay were both on the same theme of a conversation I had with a homeless guy and the advice that he gave me...I think it tied together very well.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

But everyone tells me that a PS does not just have to be about why we want to be a doctor. It just seems like eveyone writes about that...makes sense. Whatever you do, theme or no theme don't just write a list of everything you've done; your app already does that. Take something and expand upon it; i that way it's probably best to have a theme.

BTW, I'm struggling with mine too.

 

[jetskigirl]

I used themes and have gotten very good responses from schools (secondaries from everyone but UCSF, and still waiting). If you use something broad enough, you can include a lot of stories. I've written two PS with different themes that have let me cover why I want to be a doctor, meaningful volunteer experiences, my research and difficulty in college. Find something that is uniquely you; there was someone in one of my pre-med classes that was a psych major and wrote her PS following Maslow's heirarchy of needs. Most importantly though, just get it done!!