PS - answer straight-forwardly?

[justapremed]

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So the actual prompt for the personal statement is something along the lines of: Why do you want to go to medical school?

I'm now wondering if my answer is too not-straight-forward. I didn't want to come out and say "I want to go to medical school because..." or "I want to become a physician because..." at any point in the essay.

Instead, I talked about what I love about medicine, though mainly in the intro and concl paragraph only.

But the main bulk of my PS, I noticed, is mainly about you know, what makes me unique, what makes me qualified, some of my memorable experiences (but not resume-esque, it's much more story-filled and relevant to "why/how these experiences, even if not necessarily clinical experience, make me qualified and show that I'm 'ready' for med school").

Is that a usual case? Where the main bulk of my essay is not explicitly "why I want to go to med school"?

 

[chad5871]

What you have described sounds good. You definitely do not want to answer the question in a straight-forward manner - this tends to make the essay boring and unoriginal. You should, as you've described, talk about the experiences you've had and why that would qualify you as a good physician. The best personal statements do not come right out and say "I want to be a doctor because..." OR "I want to help people" OR "I have always wanted to be a doctor and this is my dream." Instead, these messages can be implied from the descriptions used in the statement.

If you're looking for some feedback or advice on content and editing, check out the Official Personal Statement Help Thread. There is a list of volunteer readers who give outstanding feedback there as well as a link to a useful guide to help you with your PS.