I have recently given a friend of mine who was just accepted into d school my PS to read over and comment on. My PS is mostly anecdotes from shadowing and my childhood that have basically brought me to dentistry. He told me to write less about that and write more about my volunteer extracurriculars. I feel like that doesnt really answer the question of "why dentistry?" as much though and I already have that stuff covered in my experiences section. Do you guys think hes right and I should write more about my service work?
Question about personal statement content/format
- Thread starter kobe4554
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I think when trying to tell a story in a personal statement it is really important to make sure the point is well received and clearly understood, without taking up half a page. And your friend is right but to a degree. For me, it was really easy to tie in my 4 years with habitat for humanity into my personal statement (obliviously, building with hands, helping the community etc) but don't try to force connections that are not even there just to highlight extracurriculars that you have in your app. If you answer why dentistry genuinely and have a clear theme then you're fine.
It's not about what you put in your statement, it's more about using what you put in your statement to make you seem unique compared to others. A lot of people write very interesting things in a boring way, you have to learn to make whatever you write, whether it is interesting or not, seem amazing to the person who is going to read it.
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Idk this without actually reading it, but sounds like what you wrote about is more interesting than what your friend is suggesting, unless you had some super unique extracurriculars. So keep it the way it is if you think it’s interesting to the reader and answers why dentistry. Remember, hooking them in to read more about you is the key. They have to read hundreds of these...
Its hard to tell without reading it, but its your story, not your friends. Yes your friend got into dental school so I can understand why you value his opinion, and it may not be wrong, but its not the only correct opinion. An advisor at a college told a friend of mine to remove the religious aspect of her personal statement away and she kept it because she thought it defined her. Well shes currently a dental student as well. And as another poster mentioned, make it sound good and interesting. Something really cool can be told in a boring and unpleasing way, and something very uncool can be told in an exciting way that wants the reader to keep reading. (the second option is better; however, its best to tell something very cool in a very interesting way)
