Personal statment help

[Doctor246853]

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Hi all. I am working on my personal statement and was curious to how long it should be. My ps is less that 1000 characters (982). Is this too short? Who are good people to read over my ps on sdn (or is willing to for that matter)? Catalyst? Nick Naylor? LinzyM? Or anyone? Thanks👍

 

[1289]

um well the max is 5300. it's okay to be shorter than this if you feel like you convey what you need to but less than a 1000 sounds wayyyyyyyyy too short. you need to write more. is that like one paragraph?

 

[Stumpyman]

I think there's a personal statement reader list thread around here somewhere, that should help out a lot.


I would read over it for you bro, but I don't think I'm the best source as I haven't written mine or applied yet 😀

 

[Doctor246853]

um well the max is 5300. it's okay to be shorter than this if you feel like you convey what you need to but less than a 1000 sounds wayyyyyyyyy too short. you need to write more. is that like one paragraph?

It's a super rough draft but it is pretty well to the point and covers everything. I will go over it and continue to work at it. I could go into more detail but I know they have limited time to read our ps...

 

[Doctor246853]

I think there's a personal statement reader list thread around here somewhere, that should help out a lot.


I would read over it for you bro, but I don't think I'm the best source as I haven't written mine or applied yet 😀

Stumpy I didn't recognize you with the new avatar....Finally you reveal how you really look.👍

 

[Ruhroh]

Hi all. I am working on my personal statement and was curious to how long it should be. My ps is less that 1000 characters (982). Is this too short? Who are good people to read over my ps on sdn (or is willing to for that matter)? Catalyst? Nick Naylor? LinzyM? Or anyone? Thanks👍

The character limit includes spaces if you are not aware. If that 982 characters does include spaces, then it won't cut it. At the same time, everyone always says make your essay stand out, and I'm sure something that short will get SOMEONE's attention lol.

 

[Doctor246853]

The character limit includes spaces if you are not aware. If that 982 characters does include spaces, then it won't cut it. At the same time, everyone always says make your essay stand out, and I'm sure something that short will get SOMEONE's attention lol.

Hey!🙁

 

[von Matterhorn]

Dude, 980ish characters is too short. Brevity is great, but not at the expense of being thorough. I don't think anyone could adequately/convincingly explain why they want to go to med school and why it's the right choice for them in that kind of space.

 

[ohioguy]

I understand being succinct but how could you possibly cover everything in a couple paragraphs? Your essay will stand out and in not in a good way.

 

[mimelim]

I think I have some forum posts longer than 1000 characters...

Edit: I threw a PM response about a PS into word, it was 951 characters lol.

 

[von Matterhorn]

This just makes me laugh a little because I fought with that damn character limit for 2 weeks writing my PS

 

[1289]

This just makes me laugh a little because I fought with that damn character limit for 2 weeks writing my PS

haha me too. when i had mine in Word it was 5299 characters, when I copied and pasted into AMCAS it was 5304 and i went around cutting out a character here or there until I got to 5300 on the dot for amcas haha.

OP im certainly not trying to question your reasons for entering med school, but i think it would look strange to an adcom taht you're not able to come up with more of an answer to "why medicine?" it might appear that you either rushed through it/didn't try, which I can tell by your post is NOT the case, but when they're sifting through 1000s of apps it might stand out, and like someone else said, not in a good way

 

[Nymphicus]

I used pretty much all of the allowed space for my personal statement.

Hi all. I am working on my personal statement and was curious to how long it should be. My ps is less that 1000 characters (982). Is this too short? Who are good people to read over my ps on sdn (or is willing to for that matter)? Catalyst? Nick Naylor? LinzyM? Or anyone? Thanks👍

The Official Personal Statement Guide and Reader List 2012-2013 can be found here
forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=895287

 

[Doctor246853]

Thanks guys. I just heard that it should be to the point and concise. I guess I misunderstood🙁. Trust me, I have more to say with dramatic detail too. I will let loose and pour my heart in to it.👍.....This might turn into a book😕

 

[Doctor246853]

OK. Sorry for making this dumb thread, I'm an idiot. My ps is around 1950 or so words not characters. Now Im stuck trimming a 3 page 11000 character ps to 5300🙁

 

[1289]

LOL! okay well that makes more sense now. good luck trimming lol

 

[kyamh]

OK. Sorry for making this dumb thread, I'm an idiot. My ps is around 1950 or so words not characters. Now Im stuck trimming a 3 page 11000 character ps to 5300🙁

Yikes! I know it may be hard to do, but you ought to consider opening a fresh document and writing again. It has worked for me really well. I don't try to make the statement different per se, but it sometimes helps to just re-type out the main points you want to get across. I find that easier than cutting so much, and the statement tends to flow better than if it was a <50% chunk of an original work.

 

[1cor1311]

Hi all. I am working on my personal statement and was curious to how long it should be. My ps is less that 1000 characters (982). Is this too short? Who are good people to read over my ps on sdn (or is willing to for that matter)? Catalyst? Nick Naylor? LinzyM? Or anyone? Thanks👍

Way too short

 

[1cor1311]

OK. Sorry for making this dumb thread, I'm an idiot. My ps is around 1950 or so words not characters. Now Im stuck trimming a 3 page 11000 character ps to 5300🙁

Just saw this, trimming is way better than adding🙂

 

[TheBossDoctor]

Lol why are we digging up this thread? I'm sure OP has finished his/her PS a LONG time ago, and even if s/he is reapplying, hopefully its already been submitted for this year.