Post Bac Personal statement

[BruceWayne]

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Hey everyone,

I'm applying to post bac programs and I was just wondering if anyone had any tips on writing a personal statement for it.

Mainly i'm confused as to should I make it short and sweet, but with a general tone, or a bit longer and with more specifics (like what type of research I want to do etc)?

Also I'm applying to post bacs that are academic boosters, so is it wise to be upfront and tell them that I want to improve my academic record through the post bac?

any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[relentless11]

You want to sell yourself just like any other personal statement. In this case you want them to think there is hope in you boosting your GPA and thus getting into med school to boost their own prestiege.

The PS should be no longer than 1.5 pages, but I'd shoot for 1 page (11-12 font, single space). A physician once told me to keep ones PS that short since if it was any longer then you better have a good story.

Keep things positive since nobody really wants to hear excuses or a sad story 😉 . Avoid cliche or common responses like how one wants to go to med school because they "like to help people? Or in your case, wanting to go to a post-bacc because you want to boost your GPA. Obviously everyone doing a post-bacc is trying to boost their stats (GPA or otherwise), but the question is what do you have to offer that the other applicants don't have?

 

[BruceWayne]

Thanks for the input I appreciate it! I guess it won't hurt to put that I want to boost my gpa.

 

[dr1day]

I think I would leave out mentioning that you want to boost your GPA.

 

[BruceWayne]

Also, I know this might sound trivial, but do you "sign off" in any way? I've looked at sample personal statements but don't know where of if I should place my name anywhere. Do you place your name anywhere on the personal statement (like on the top right corner or so)?

 

[MossPoh]

I am writing my pses right now to get ahead of the game a bit and I did like a header with releveant information (Name, email, ssn, phone, program applying to) and then at the bottom I have a footer just saying which school it is for and what not...Since some of the stuff kind of stays the same I try to personalize it a little for each school. I try to write most of my stuff in a bit of a story form, generally humorfull but highlighting leadership abilities, will to succeed, and a short part acknowledging past mistakes and how I corrected or am trying to correct them....I find the kind of story a little more interesting to read..as long as one can integrate all relevant information in it...if it is just some fantasy thing then I doubt that'll be too useful. 😉

 

[BruceWayne]

Thanks!

 

[BruceWayne]

and finally, should I indent paragraphs like a normal essay? Sorry again for the trivial nature of my question

 

[NapeSpikes]

and finally, should I indent paragraphs like a normal essay? Sorry again for the trivial nature of my question

Yes.

 

[NapeSpikes]

Also, I know this might sound trivial, but do you "sign off" in any way? I've looked at sample personal statements but don't know where of if I should place my name anywhere. Do you place your name anywhere on the personal statement (like on the top right corner or so)?

You don't "sign off" like a letter, but I vaguely remember putting my name in the upper-right corner for my postbac essay. I know for sure I did this for med school seconday apps. It'll help if for whatever reason the essay gets misplaced and needs to make its way back to your file.

 

[BruceWayne]

Thanks! Yea I've decided to put my name and other info in the form of a header.