Re-Writing Personal Statement

[ChrisM07]

Hey everyone!

I am writing this post on behalf of a friend who does not have an SDN account. He is going to re-apply to medical school this year as he was not accepted this past cycle. Anyways, his question is whether or not it's necessary for him to completely write his PS or if he can submit it again. He has acquired a few good job/volunteer experiences over this past year which I am assuming he will elaborate on in another part of the AMCAS application but his PS is actually really well written. The key experiences and things he wrote about were not ones that he did during this year but occurred in undergrad and they are things that sort of make it stand out. Would it be acceptable if he left it largely the same but changed a few details in it? Or are med schools expecting him to produce a brand new one? The reason he did not get in was because of his MCAT score for sure which he will be re-taking this August. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

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[Heplayer92]

I feel like if his PS is strong, there is probably no reason to dramatically change it up. Maybe tailor it a little bit for the schools he is re-applying to, but nothing substantial. Did he call up the schools to why he was rejected at the school? If it was solely MCAT...then that also favors keeping a similar PS.

Also, does your friend know that an August re-take will make him relatively late this cycle? Best of luck to your friend though!

 

[ChrisM07]

Yeah he called and a few said it was the MCAT so that's where him and I get the idea that the PS may be ok. I am not sure what the cycle is like as I can only account for the dental school cycle. When does the AMCAS cycle open? Last year, he finished the MCAT in December which is super late but wanted to try anyways. He has a really unique background: immigrated to the US as an early teen, lived in an underserved area/high school, did so-so in undergrad, and completely killed his master's program, good EC's and volunteer things throughout. Anyways, thanks for the input and well wishes!

 

[Lawpy]

Yeah he called and a few said it was the MCAT so that's where him and I get the idea that the PS may be ok. I am not sure what the cycle is like as I can only account for the dental school cycle. When does the AMCAS cycle open? Last year, he finished the MCAT in December which is super late but wanted to try anyways. He has a really unique background: immigrated to the US as an early teen, lived in an underserved area/high school, did so-so in undergrad, and completely killed his master's program, good EC's and volunteer things throughout. Anyways, thanks for the input and well wishes!

How did he finish the MCAT in december when the last day the exam was administered was in september?

Either way, he shouldn't apply this cycle. Way too late and he'll be complete in september or october IF his score comes out well

 

[ChrisM07]

My apologies, it was taken early this year. Any-who thanks again for the input.