General Admissions & OTCAS Re-applicant Personal Statement Advice

[QueensHopeful]

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Hi Everyone,

Last year I was waitlisted to SUNY Downstate and I will be applying as a re-applicant this year. I am getting all new recommendation letters, finished my prerequisites and now I'm stumped on how to proceed with my personal statement. Downstate specifically has 2 questions to answer, and they are the same from last year.

So my question is, for anyone that has applied somewhere as a re-applicant, did you write an entirely new personal statement? did you take certain really great parts from your old one? I'm having some writers block and well, about 80% of my experiences that I need to write about are the same as last year. They might compare my applications so that also makes me nervous. Anyway, any advice would be helpful. Thanks and good luck to everyone!!

 

[Bokonomy]

How have you improved? What have you done since then? Talk about how the last year helped change your perspective if it did. It doesn't have to be totally different, though. Maybe add a paragraph and shorten another a bit?

 

[cb31]

Hi Everyone,

Last year I was waitlisted to SUNY Downstate and I will be applying as a re-applicant this year. I am getting all new recommendation letters, finished my prerequisites and now I'm stumped on how to proceed with my personal statement. Downstate specifically has 2 questions to answer, and they are the same from last year.

So my question is, for anyone that has applied somewhere as a re-applicant, did you write an entirely new personal statement? did you take certain really great parts from your old one? I'm having some writers block and well, about 80% of my experiences that I need to write about are the same as last year. They might compare my applications so that also makes me nervous. Anyway, any advice would be helpful. Thanks and good luck to everyone!!

When I reapplied the only thing I actually changed in my personal statement was my opening paragraph and I added like 2-3 sentences on my new job and how it has further help me prepare to be an OT. That's it! And not changing much didn't hold me back because a school that I was wait listed the first time accepted me the second time.... btw, my opening paragraph was a story of my shadowing experience so I just used a different story. I don't know if this will work for everyone, but the way I write personal statements not enough changed in ONE year for me to even put forth the effort to write a WHOLE new one and I kinda feel like they will know that. One year really isn't that long.