Poll: Personal Statement Writing Method

[DVMorBust]

Not sure how to make a poll exactly...but here it goes.

I know there's a lot of threads on the specifics of personal statements, but I just wanted to see how people approached theirs.

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[CalpardNY]

I basically made a list of stories i could think... veterinary, animal, and otherwise. I also had family members look at the list and see if there is anything I could think of. Then i looked at the essay topic and saw which story i liked and could tailor to the question, and then formulated my essay and wrote it out!

 

[wi girl]

I wrote mine in the middle of the night when I figured out the exact wording of what I wanted to say. Same for my supp app to wisconsin. Apparently my mind works best at 2:30am!!

 

[Steelmagghia]

This is a great poll!
I sort of got together a list of ideas I wanted to include and what I wanted to say and then wrote it. Then I went through a few of the school websites and revised my essay based on their recommendations. Then I had friends and family members read it and help me revise.

I did a lot of revising, but I also thought about it for WEEKS before I wrote anything down. I'm weird like that.

 

[mdnghtdnc]

I spent soooo.... much time on my essay....thinking about what to write, what I wanted to say exactly...then all of a sudden the words found there way to the paper. I then had a veterinarian look over it. I had been working for her for years and she kinda told me where I needed to add more and take away from other areas. She also made sure everything was gramatically correct.

 

[CalpardNY]

Apparently my mind works best at 2:30am!!

I know that feeling! I'd believe about 75% of my papers that weren't written last minute in college were probably started at that time of the night! I swear there are inspirational muses that visit us in the dead of night!

 

[VAgirl]

I voted for "Figured out what message you wanted to get across, then the words" but I wrote and re-wrote it so many times that the words didn't come so easily. And my original idea got changed around quite a bit as I got feedback telling me it just wasn't working. I must have had my parents read my PS and give me detailed notes no less than 10 times (sometimes after major revisions, sometimes after minor). My brother and my boyfriend probably read my PS five times each and gave me detailed notes. (My brother's a professional writer, so that was lucky for me!) Then, after they were all about at their wits end with me and I thought it was nearly perfect, I sent it to my mentor who read it and then spent about 1.5 hours going over it with a fine tooth comb with me. Major revisions resulted from that. He rules, though...I still can't believe he was willing to spend so much of his time helping me on that. Then I ran it through my family again (a few times), and then through my mentor again. Then it was finally done.

And then I started on my supplementals. Thank god I didn't feel the need to be quite as thorough with those. By the time I'd submitted everything, I couldn't even bring myself to read those damn essays anymore.

...I'm not crazy, I swear. I just kinda sound that way...

 

[ek816]

I thought of mine in the middle of the night too! I guess laying in bed worrying about your future really brings it out! I feel like all my great ideas happened when I'm waiting for sleep. I had some ideas of what I wanted to write and made short notes. In the end I had that "lightning bolt" where it hit me. I ended up putting together some of the ideas I had. Something worked because it made my mom cry when she read it, haha!

 

[banditalfi]

I read something from the Illinois website that was like "one paragraph about who you are, one about when you made your adult decision to be a vet, and the rest about your experiences" so that's what I did. I've had a pretty unique involvement in 4-H because I've grown up in NYC (Manhattan, more specifically), but over the summers I had market lambs and hogs... so I got to talk about that, which always gets people wondering.

 

[Hobiecat1642]

I did exactly what calpard did, but also wrote and rewrote it many times. I had many people help me edit it, give feedback, etc. I thought that was really helpful to me. By the time it was done, I was really sick of looking at it, so having new eyes evaluate it was great. I also followed banditifa's paragraph format.

 

[rexosaurus]

the first time i wrote my personal statement i had friends and family go over it, then revised it countless times. i didn't get into school.
the second time i wrote my personal statement, i wrote it on my own in one session, then had somebody completely foreign to me revise it. this worked best for me because she read it objectively, and gave me very good criticism. (by a professional writer)
i say do what works best for you, but i find that friends and family want you to add certain things about your character that aren't necessary to a personal statement since we had such a limited space anyway

 

[hendo]

Haha...I used all of those...

 

[CalpardNY]

I did exactly what calpard did, but also wrote and rewrote it many times. I had many people help me edit it, give feedback, etc. I thought that was really helpful to me. By the time it was done, I was really sick of looking at it, so having new eyes evaluate it was great. I also followed banditifa's paragraph format.

Oh multiple multiple multiple times of starting over and revising was part of my process too - sorry for not making that clear! I think if anyone can sit down and write an essay, and especially a personal statement, I am insanely jealous of you and hope you got into vet school!

 

[pupsforseeing]

I started writing my PS by sitting down and putting down the main points that I wanted to cover. Then, I began expanding on each point and tying them all together. I started out with an anecdote that clearly illustrated my main theme (how my passion for working with people with disabilities has fueled my desire to work in veterinary medicine). Once I had it written, I had it proofread by my roommates, mom, sister (who edits professionally), and someone who hardly knew me (to give a totally different perspective). Finally, I was so sick of looking at it, that I just decided it had had enough revisions and submitted it

 

[twelvetigers]

I filled out and submitted my entire VMCAS app in one night. Talk about being naive. Pfft. I did get an interview... lol. I'll be spending a lot more time with it this go around, I'll tell you that.

 

[athenaparthenos]

I filled out and submitted my entire VMCAS app in one night. Talk about being naive. Pfft. I did get an interview... lol. I'll be spending a lot more time with it this go around, I'll tell you that.

Oh man! I started filling mine out in the summer... I don't even think I was obsessive about it or anything, but I probably spent a good 15-20 hours on it. I listed seriously about 40 hobbies in great detail (wanted to look unique! and I do have a ton of hobbies!) and made sure to edit everything at least a few times. I submitted it a month in advance and boy did that feel good Starting early and give yourself ample time definitely helps.

 

[twelvetigers]

Oh man! I started filling mine out in the summer... I don't even think I was obsessive about it or anything, but I probably spent a good 15-20 hours on it. I listed seriously about 40 hobbies in great detail (wanted to look unique! and I do have a ton of hobbies!) and made sure to edit everything at least a few times. I submitted it a month in advance and boy did that feel good Starting early and give yourself ample time definitely helps.

Well, you'd better believe that I'll be doing that this time. I think a lot of my actions so far have been naive - only applying to one school, for example. You live, you learn. Right?

 

[athenaparthenos]

Well, you'd better believe that I'll be doing that this time. I think a lot of my actions so far have been naive - only applying to one school, for example. You live, you learn. Right?

Indeed! Which means you'll have more experience (both in vet med and in life in general) when you apply, which can only be a good thing

 

[meadow36]

I didn't get in this year but I've been told by 2 deans that my personal statement was very good, so I don't plan on changing it very much next year.

Basically it's a story about my equestrian pursuits and love for animals as a child and how I've always been drawn to vet med. Although I've been pulled away from this passion as an adult, I keep coming back to it.

I have a very good friend who is an English professor and he was kind enough to proofread for me. He also helped me give it an edge that made it sound more interesting. I definately recommend having a professional like this look at it before you submit. I think that's what put mine over the top.

Your personal statement should be creative and tell a story.

 

[clawsbeatskin]

I think it's important to relax and not stress about putting words on the page, especially when writing something so personal.

I thought about all of my vet experiences, chose the one I thought would be the most interesting and most fun to write about, and started with that. My first paragraph was essentially an account of a super cool case I helped with, and then I delved into how that one case is just a single experience out of hundreds that have shaped me into the pre-vet I am today. I then discussed my three favorite merits of veterinary medicine learned through those varied experiences; giving examples of my encounters with each and how I intend to develop those merits in my future career. Writing about the case at the beginning really got me pumped up to write the rest, because it reminded me how much I want to pursue this field. I had fun with it, but not in a toungue in cheek, or trying to be humorous kind of way, in a "this is really my passion, and I enjoy writing about it" kind of way. If that makes any sense

Now, if you've seen my post in the successful applicants thread, you know I had quite a few negatives worth explaining. I didn't do it in my personal statement. Some say you should, some say you shouldn't. To me, it just didn't fit. I didn't set out with a decision either way, but in the end it just never came up. So I just put all of that into the explanation statement.

 

[vetmed]

Man, I could've written a book on "why i want to be a vet". It's too hard to get all that and share a cool, unique story about yourself in so few words!

 

[cows93]

Wow! As an adult student with a lot of diffrent life experiences I did not have the words to tell a story. I revised my statement ~50 times. I know they say to tell a story but until I fit in all the experiences I had I didn't have enough space left for anything else I litterally used all the allotted spaces.

 

[nyanko]

Wow! As an adult student with a lot of diffrent life experiences I did not have the words to tell a story. I revised my statement ~50 times. I know they say to tell a story but until I fit in all the experiences I had I didn't have enough space left for anything else I litterally used all the allotted spaces.

I didn't get in so perhaps I went about this the wrong way, but I didn't really feel the need to put all of my experiences in my personal statement. I kind of targeted it more towards writing about myself in general rather than trying to enumerate everything that's made me who I am, if that makes any sense. I guess I figured that they can see my experiences elsewhere in the application so I should use the personal statement to state things that you can't see from reading the rest of the app. Personal qualities and philosophies and how THOSE affected my interest in vet med were what I chose to write about instead.

 

[ShelterGirl]

I used it to explain why I made the 180-degree turn from engineering/I.T. into vet med. I was also fortunate enough to have my sister, a PhD and professor in technical communications, edit it numerous times.

Last year I just free-wrote it, had no one revise it, and was told that it was not very well-developed at my file review after rejection. I highly recommend finding at least one, preferably more, skilled writers to go through it for you!

 

[VAgirl]

Last year I just free-wrote it, had no one revise it, and was told that it was not very well-developed at my file review after rejection. I highly recommend finding at least one, preferably more, skilled writers to go through it for you!

I agree with ShelterGirl 100% (more if possible). After I'd reworked my essay numerous times and had both of my parents, my brother, and my boyfriend read it and give me substantive notes numerous times, I sent it to my mentor for his input thinking it was nearly perfect. His overall comment was sometime like "the mature, contemplative, person who had made choices with purpose that you are does not come through to me in this essay." So I guess I came across as immature and taking action without thinking. And that was when I thought it fully explained everything I wanted it to say to accurately (and favorably) show who I am. Yikes!! So I'd say take ShelterGirl's advice. Seriously.

 

[hoodle]

I agree about getting people to read and reread! I had.... oh, let me see. My mother and my sister (both doctors), my father (an author), my girlfriend, and my academic mentor read it over multiple times. I can't even tell you how many times I rewrote and revised. I basically LIVED my personal statement for about 2 weeks... I would be tinkering with it multiple times a day, sending it to various people, compiling their comments, getting further opinions, etc. It was truly a group process (I mean, it was very definitely MINE, but every phrase had been thought about by other people to make sure I was saying what I wanted to say, in as simple, elegant, and clarifying a style as possible).

I definitely spent a lot of that "revising" time strategizing- what about my application did I want to emphasize, what less so? what was most effective to talk about? I had so much more to say than I could fit... it really becomes an exercise in precision and clarity.

 

[Wolf Vet]

OK guys, please don't throw hypothetical rocks at me, but the PS was my favorite part of the app. (talking about why I love vet med was much more fun and less stressful than typing in my GRE scroes or explaining any questionable grades). I write for fun (a side-project novel which is still in-progress after oh, 6 years is testiment that I don't have any time for it).

Anyways, I opened with a unique experience that was the "theme" of the PS if you will (I drove several hrs into the mountains to spread ashes from the 1st euthanasia I performed after the owners went MIA, and I tied it to my dedication, yada yada). Then I closed with the same image of the ashes and mountains, etc. to tie it all together. I had 2 separate interviewers comment that they liked it (though not enough for an acceptance I guess, as I'm on 3 waitlists).