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Does anyone have this book? Which essays are your favorites from the book? Least favorite? There are some great ones in here but also some decidedly average ones. Any thoughts?
PR's Medical School Essays That Made a Difference
- Thread starter virtuoso735
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Most in that book are okay. None were particularly great. In the words of a med school professor and program director I know after picking up my copy and reading a few, "I was surprised just how unimpressive those essays are."
It's not bad to look at to get some ideas for structure, but beyond that, not worth much, IMO. Also, reading other people's essays is generally a poor way of going about writing your own. There are much better methods. Talk to a good advisor or someone who has successfully mentored past applicants....
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I thought that book was bad (and I'm a pretty big PR fanboy). Get the barron's one instead.
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Bad because the essays are in it are bad, or because the advice given isn't great? I personally think there are some good ones and some bad ones in there, but I like how the essays are realistic and not necessarily written by people who cured cancer one day and flew on the plane the next to save an entire African nation from hunger.
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I think I have the same book. Does it have a picture that says "MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF" at the bottom of it? If it's the same book, then there are no way some of those essays are below the character limit.
Also, too many of the essays are about missions to the armpit of some third world country. One essays wastes about a third of the space describing how to say 'health' in intimate detail in sign language. I don't think it's a useful book
Also, too many of the essays are about missions to the armpit of some third world country. One essays wastes about a third of the space describing how to say 'health' in intimate detail in sign language. I don't think it's a useful book
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I'm not sure if it's the same book. I have the one published by PR, 3rd edition. The PR one does definitely have some essays that are over 5300 characters (I was annoyed that some were so long and typed them out in word and did the character count just to make sure).
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Bad in that it doesn't give you much advice on how to write a good personal statement, and the essays in it are really not that great. The barron book takes you through the whole process and has multiple different essays for multiple different structures. These essays are much better and at the same time the author is more critical of them. It is just a much better book overall, and I highly recommend you spend the extra 10 bucks.
