Re-Applicant Advice: Experiences Section

[coffeeshopper]

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Hello All!

I am sorry if this has already been addressed on another thread, I was unable to find any information. I am re-applying this upcoming 2019-2020 cycle and have re-written my Personal Statement and have added a few new experiences over the past year.

I am working on revising my Experiences section and I was wondering:

Are re-applicants expected to change/revise the descriptions of past experiences (submitted in 2018-2019 application)?

Thank you, in advance, for your input!

 

[JSReed]

Hello All!

I am sorry if this has already been addressed on another thread, I was unable to find any information. I am re-applying this upcoming 2019-2020 cycle and have re-written my Personal Statement and have added a few new experiences over the past year.

I am working on revising my Experiences section and I was wondering:

Are re-applicants expected to change/revise the descriptions of past experiences (submitted in 2018-2019 application)?

Thank you, in advance, for your input!

I've been told you (from adcoms) that you should at least change the wording slightly-- so that if they put your applications side-by-side, it doesn't look like you're lazy and just copy-pasted to get out of doing work. But I don't think anyone is expecting your core views on your research experience 5 years ago to drastically change...

 

[Dhooy7]

I am having a difficult time trying to change the wording for my descriptions. Any advice? Some are from 3 years ago.

 

[coffeeshopper]

I've been told you (from adcoms) that you should at least change the wording slightly-- so that if they put your applications side-by-side, it doesn't look like you're lazy and just copy-pasted to get out of doing work. But I don't think anyone is expecting your core views on your research experience 5 years ago to drastically change...

Thank you! This is what I was hoping to hear

 

[Hi_I'mPaul]

I am having a difficult time trying to change the wording for my descriptions. Any advice? Some are from 3 years ago.

Have someone else read and critique them. There's always room for improvement in writing. Make sure your sentences are active, not passive. Change the grammar/words (do you have Grammarly?).

 

[Hi_I'mPaul]

Hello All!

I am sorry if this has already been addressed on another thread, I was unable to find any information. I am re-applying this upcoming 2019-2020 cycle and have re-written my Personal Statement and have added a few new experiences over the past year.

I am working on revising my Experiences section and I was wondering:

Are re-applicants expected to change/revise the descriptions of past experiences (submitted in 2018-2019 application)?

Thank you, in advance, for your input!

I was a reapplicant this cycle from last year. I re-wrote my PS, and just edited/changed some wording of my Experiences--nothing too dramatic. You should be fine

 

[JSReed]

I am having a difficult time trying to change the wording for my descriptions. Any advice? Some are from 3 years ago.

Use synonyms and switch around clauses in sentences. Basic ideas shouldn't change, but presentation should. That's my advice anyway.

 

[tulsajoe94]

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[grapefruit1811]

I was a reapplicant this cycle from last year. I re-wrote my PS, and just edited/changed some wording of my Experiences--nothing too dramatic. You should be fine

How about the most meaningful section? Did you rewrite them too or just change it up a little?

 

[Hi_I'mPaul]

How about the most meaningful section? Did you rewrite them too or just change it up a little?

Exactly, I just updated them a bit. Changed some sentence structure, worked on transitions/flow. For me, I felt that I rigorously combed through the writing of my app on my first time (stats were the biggest issue for me), and had many people read over them. If you have trouble with writing, maybe have new friends read over your stuff. Give you a different perspective. I didn't leave any big blocks of texts the same in fear I may come off as "lazy" should they compare my apps.

It may behoove you to update to a different most meaningful activity if you did something cool throughout the last cycle. I have a friend that is reapplying this year and is changing one of their most meaningfuls to something different than last cycle because it was an experience that helped in their growth.