Prelim reapplying PS

[wolverines1927]

Hey everybody,

I'm a prelim surgery intern who will be applying to the match again for general surgery. I have a couple quick questions about writing my PS for this upcoming match cycle.

1) Is it necessary to re-write my PS from last year? Common sense tells me I should, but curious if it's necessary or not especially as I'm an absurdly slow writer and don't want to waste time with a rewrite when I'll be super busy with work and trying to get new LOR's.

2) If I do, should I focus again on why I want to do surgery or would I be better served to talk about why I didn't match last year (low STEP 1 score), how I've improved as a student since taking STEP1 (STEP 2 was significantly better) and explain how I'm taking this experience of failing to match/having to do a prelim year as a positive experience (overcoming adversity, etc.)

Really appreciate any advice and insights.

Thanks guys

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Come on. Yes, rewrite. If you're that worried, why don't you write it, say, today?

You have to talk about why you want to do surgery. If it really is all about the low step 1 score then yes I would talk about how you've improved. So you probably should weave both of those things into your personal statement.

 

[wolverines1927]

Thanks GoSpurs,

I wish it was that easy but it's gonna take me at least 3-4 days (I know that's absurd but it's unfortunately just how I write papers) hence why I was asking.

much appreciated

 

[GoSpursGo]

It's not like you're starting from scratch. You can probably re-use parts of the old one and weave in some of number 2.

Honestly, the details of your personal statement don't matter as long as you convey those points you mentioned in your post. It's just there to show that you have some personal awareness of why you are where you are and how you've improved, and give your interviewers some jumping off points for things to talk about.

You do what works for you, but what I found to be a good strategy is to just bang these things out in a few hours, get your thoughts on the paper, and then leave it along for a few days. Come back after a week or so and edit to your heart's content, but at least this way you have a starting point.

 

[rokshana]

so did you apply only for prelim surg last year with that PS?

if no, then you might get away with the old PS, otherwise, option #2.