Reapplicant- Rewrite personal statement?

[StephBee]

So I'm sitting on a couple of waitlists but better safe than sorry so I'm resubmitting my application. Everythings all ready to go but I'm torn around my PS. My one from last year I felt was really good and aside from some tweeking, it could stay the same and still be strong.

However, my mother was recently diagnosed with cancer and it's put a hold on a lot of things, namely all of my free time when I"m not working has been spent trying to help her out. Prognosis is good but in leiu of my family situation, I haven't done much since I graduated college besides working. And I'm curious if I should rewrite my personal statement to revolve around her more (my first draft mentioned her a lot to begin with) or if I should do that more in secondaries and keep my PS the way it is, focusing more on my road to realizing I wanted to go into medicine.


Thoughts on the matter from the peanut gallery?

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[MRSAful Fate]

I think you should rewrite it if you are applying to the same schools.They are probably going to compare your app to last years and look for changes/improvements.

 

[HINKLO]

I am all for tweaking it no matter what and adding what you think would be helpful, and may add a "since last year" paragraph. If you feel like your downfall was not with your PS though, then it's my (not backed up) opinion that keeping the bulk of it the same.

If your problem last year was grades, ECs, your MCAT, or interview skills, and have improved them since, that should be enough to give you better results.

 

[StephBee]

Thanks for the advice. Honestly, I think my single biggest problem last year was that I applied really late seconded by an okay MCAT and lofty, very top heavy schools list. My biggest issue is that to add the additional paragraph, I have to cut something which was my biggest problem the first time I wrote my PS.

 

[kpcrew]

Are you applying to more schools? Your list does look very top heavy, although your gpa is very nice. I would also add an extra paragraph but I think you could include the "since last year" stuff in secondaries since it seems that a lot of them ask that question specifically.

 

[StephBee]

I may apply to a few more but I'm moreso changing the schools I'm applying to. I think there's max 5-10 of the 25-30 I'll be applying to that I applied to last year (including the schools I was waitlisted at). I was kind of cocky last year and made my schools list before my mcat scores were released. I was averaging at 33-34 on my practice tests and have a good gpa so I figured I could afford to apply to a top heavy school list. Clearly, that didn't pan out

 

[MediCynical]

Just make sure to develop ideas more fully and demonstrate you've continued to reflect on your experiences. I used about 65% of my first application's PS during my second application cycle, and I received multiple acceptances from schools I applied to both times

 

[rHinO1]

I may apply to a few more but I'm moreso changing the schools I'm applying to. I think there's max 5-10 of the 25-30 I'll be applying to that I applied to last year (including the schools I was waitlisted at). I was kind of cocky last year and made my schools list before my mcat scores were released. I was averaging at 33-34 on my practice tests and have a good gpa so I figured I could afford to apply to a top heavy school list. Clearly, that didn't pan out

I'm glad you realize this, in all seriousness, your list is perhaps the most top heavy list I've ever seen. Even if you got a 34, you still would have a list that was too top heavy. I hope you have looked over other peoples lists, and have developed a better plan in case you don't get off of a waitlist.

It is entirely possible that your PS is great, and the only reason you didn't get in was your over-reaching and late application. Hopefully, you have someone you trust that can help you realistically evaluate the strength of your PS.