PS Who do I listen to?

[socalrulez]

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Been working on the PS for a while and I'm very satisfied with how it has turned out. I've had around 10 people read it, English majors, PI, and the like, and all have said it was good with some minor touch ups. However, I recently had some MDs read it (both have experience reviewing applicants for med school) and both said it wasn't good. Their recommendations were to be more direct and include more examples of things that reinforced my desire for med. However, from the info I gathered on SDN, this advice seems to conflict with the idea that the PS shouldn't be an AMCAS activities rehash. Advice?

TLDR: MDs who read my PS said to talk about more AMCAS activities in PS. Yes or no?

 

[Hospitalized]

It's good to reflect on experiences that have brought you to the decision to pursue medicine. Considering they have direct experience in the field, I would take their advice.

 

[deleted577188]

How many people have English majors admitted to medical school? How many people have those medical doctors admitted to medical school? Just a thought.

I doubt you'd want to go into the details of your personal statement, but I'd side with the adcoms/MDs in most cases including this one.

As the above poster said, if you think that your PS speaks on why you are choosing to pursue medicine, then leave it be.

 

[socalrulez]

It was just a bit shocking to read the email responses from these MDs since I had my PI (Phd) read it as well. Also, I wonder if the bulk of SDN's knowledge is merely pre-med speculation, since a lot of the other things they told me to focus on clashed with what I read on these forums.
Thanks for the responses.

 

[Alejandro]

Well, the question is if people are all like, "its good" because they're too lazy to really pull it apart.

 

[Benighted]

Well, the question is if people are all like, "its good" because they're too lazy to really pull it apart.

I've read (mostly on this site) that adcomms spend, at most, a few minutes reading your personal statement. Are you telling me adcoms can pull a personal statement apart in a few minutes?

 

[mimelim]

What people look for in a personal statement is variable. By the same token, the only people that matter are members of the adcom. It doesn't matter who else likes it. Frankly, most basic science PhD PIs and random English majors (with no other connection to medicine) are likely going to be poor readers other than for basic writing critique. Something that I have noticed in reviewing personal statements on SDN and for people I know (conservatively guessing maybe ~100 personal statements) and hearing other people's feedback, people who's focus is on writing and writing style tend to prefer more flowery language. Certainly not a hard and fast rule, and poor writing is still poor writing, but physicians, including adcoms aren't looking for the next Tolstoy. They are looking for someone that writes well enough that they won't be handicapped going forward, but beyond that, really just want to see the content. People, applicants and readers alike drastically overestimate how 'good' a personal statement. They think that good prose along with the 'usual' is going to help. The reality is that it isn't going to hurt, but it sure as hell isn't going to help. A reasonably well written piece of prose is expected as the bare minimum.

I've read (mostly on this site) that adcomms spend, at most, a few minutes reading your personal statement. Are you telling me adcoms can pull a personal statement apart in a few minutes?

A polished piece of writing takes 3-4 minutes to read and 2-3 minutes to think about. If it isn't very well written, it takes even less time, because most of us stop reading. Something that needs work/edits takes a lot of time to give reasonable feedback. For quick/general feedback, I don't think that you can do a good job in less than 30 minutes and if you are going for broke, minimum an hour. Most professional services expect that it will take about an hour of a reader's time to get through it and give feedback.

 

[NeuResurgens]

You don't need to rehash your AAMCAS activities in order to answer "why medicine." I can't give you much more specific feedback then that. If your PS is lacking in its ability to answer that main question, then I agree with the MDs.

 

[The Real SVB]

The first mistake you made is sending your PS around to ten people to read. No way do that many people need to edit it, and no way are all 10 of them qualified to give you advice on writing your personal statement. Write what you want. Stop guessing what people will want to read because by definition you're going to lose since everyone wants something different (learned this from @mimelim I believe!)

 

[MrLogan13]

You can include examples and anecdotes about experiences that reinforced your desire to enter medicine without rehashing your AMCAS activities. If you can't, then either your experiences are limited or you're thinking too narrowly about how to tell your narrative.

 

[Goro]

A PS should answer two questions:

"Why Medicine?"
"Who am I?"

Been working on the PS for a while and I'm very satisfied with how it has turned out. I've had around 10 people read it, English majors, PI, and the like, and all have said it was good with some minor touch ups. However, I recently had some MDs read it (both have experience reviewing applicants for med school) and both said it wasn't good. Their recommendations were to be more direct and include more examples of things that reinforced my desire for med. However, from the info I gathered on SDN, this advice seems to conflict with the idea that the PS shouldn't be an AMCAS activities rehash. Advice?

TLDR: MDs who read my PS said to talk about more AMCAS activities in PS. Yes or no?

 

[LizzyM]

I tend to go for a 5 paragraph essay: introductory paragraph, one paragraph for each example , and a summary paragraph that harkens back to the first paragraph. There are other ways to accomplish this goal but this is one I've used in helping people I know in real life.

 

[socalrulez]

So I ended up scrapping my original PS, which talked about one of my significant med experiences, and rewrote one based on some of my other medical experiences (also listed meaningful on AMCAS). However, I just remembered I gave one of my non-sci letter writers my original PS. He already wrote it and submitted to Interfolio. If I use this letter, will it look strange to Adcoms if he emphasizes the original activity, when it is nowhere to be found in PS on my application?

TL,DR: LOR writer heavily emphasizes an activity in letter based on old PS draft. I wrote and submitted new PS talking about completely different activities as motivation for "why medicine". How will this look?

 

[mathnerd88]

Send me your old PS and your new PS.

Let me take a look at it.

 

[Irish Luck]

I doubt your lor writes would be rehashing your personal statement. I can read yours over if you want.

 

[22031 Alum]

I can look it over for you... or have I already??? I've lost track. The advice from MDs sounds like something I'd say. The ability to write well is definitely a plus, but it's not good if your paragraphs of stunning prose overshadow the point of your PS. Which is explaining who you are and why you want to go into medicine. The end.

 

[socalrulez]

err, I was more concerned if the letter said "applicant x has stated that he did this, which he said was the driving factor in him pursuing a career in med", when I didn't really explicitly say that. Nothing in my PS that I submitted mentions this activity, though it's one of my AMCAS significant events so it certainly played a role. I was just drafting ideas at the start and didn't want to include ALL my activities, so I stuck with this one until my MD suggested I focus on more recent ones that also helped develop desire for med. PS emphasizes these more recent clinical activities I've been involved in as major factors in pursuing med.

 

[LizzyM]

The LOR writer can say anything he wants but it is best to write what he knows from first hand experience: your performance in class, the papers you've written, anything you've published, activities on campus that hes witnessed. While it is not ideal, some writers will add in things that you've shared in conversation so he might write that caring for your grandmother in your family's home after her stroke in 2002 was a formative experience despite your very young age. No crime in that even if it isn't in your list of experiences and you chose not to include it in your essay.