Post bacc essays: are they different from personal statements?

[jeduong]

I've decided to apply to a few post bacc programs in california (Western, UCB-X, SFSU, etc) and wanted to know how to approach the essay/statement portions. I am only limited to 500 words, so am I expected to write an eloquent statement as required for actual medical schools? Will it simply suffice if I just answer the questions that are asked or do I need to thread some sort of stand-out perspective into my answers as I would for a medical school application personal statement?

Any one successfully get into these post bacc programs? Advice? Thanks in advance! =]

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[HerbalPlz]

I treated them as medical school app. personal statements. I applied extremely late and still got into 3 programs.

When it comes to situations like, "should I do it like I would do it for med school or can I put 1/2 the effort and will it still be ok" should be treated like you do it for med school. If you're serious about medical school...doesn't it makes sense to do work up to med school standards for everything leading up to med school?

 

[jeduong]

Thanks so much for your reply! I didn't mean it as a question of should half-ass it haha but i wanted to see if for things like "explain any poor academic achievements" or "what do you hope to accomplish with the post bacc" etc etc if I should just answer them straight-forward or with some creative expression.

 

[HerbalPlz]

I'd try to mix in both perspectives. "what do you hope to accomplish with the post bacc" yeah that's a good question to answer straight forward. Add the creative part in your to things like why you want to be in medicine, etc...the more general questions you can mix in creativity, but still a portion should be dedicated to straight forward answers.

A lot of these post-baccs don't have interviews or the interviews are not much like medical school. Most of what the admissions people see is just in your app. So it would be good to mix some straight-forwardness in your PS along with creativity...giving them the whole package.