- How to write essays and personal statements
Telling folks how to write essays are like, um, opinions, because everyone's got one. The general rules as a (re-applicant) that I followed were:
1) State why you want to become a doc. Rather like the zeroth law, you have to start somewhere. This should be your topic and it is your chance to sell yourself.
2) Come up with a plan of attack. This plays into 1). If you want to become a doc to find the equivalent of the polio vaccine for the 2000's, then look at your background and find three things that support this thesis. Write a paragraph about each. Put it together with your opener - I want to become a doc to find the next polio vaccine - and then tie it together with a final paragraph. Standard 5-paragraph essay format should get you to your character limit. If you talk about some experience, that experience better be in your EC essays. If it's important enough to be in your PS, it's important enough to take up a slot on your ECs. It also allows you to shift content from your limited PS to the EC essay where you may have more space to describe what you did. While you're doing that,
3) Be positive. It doesn't matter if you're talking about terrible tragedies of Darfur, always be positive. You're trying to sell yourself. Anything less than that will make the reveiwer doubt you.
4) If you have to discuss something terrible, state it, and then be positive. As a re-applicant, if you know you didn't get in because of some poor grades, then state that you got them, state the circumstances, and then move on. That's 2 sentences max - you'll need all of the other space to write about all of the things that make up you. Never over-dramatize. Then, and this part's the kicker:
5) Have a ton of people read it. But not just anyone. If at all possible, have physicians or someone involved with med school admissions read it. While your dad or whomever may be a good writer, or is a reporter for a paper, a family doc is ten times better. Why? Because the family doc is the audience you're writing to. A doc knows whats important. They know what they're looking for. A reporter would help you write a great story, but it may not be one that a doc thinks is important. When you get a lot of people reading it, you'll get tons of critiques. Some of it will be contradictory, and don't take it personally. The PS is a tool to get you admission - not some immaculate work of art. If you have docs (or med admissions folks) reading it, take their advice above all others.
- I'm a re-applicant: Should I redo my PS/whole application?
In general, yes. If last year's application did not work, it only makes sense for you to re-evaluate your entire approach, and that includes your PS and your application essays. If you got a bunch of interviews and were on a number of waitlists, maybe you rolled snake-eyes last year and you can get away with minor revisions. You will still want to update for things you've done in the last year, and you must still always be positive, even though you can write that you didn't get in last time.
