Reapplication Personal Statement

[newyorker41789]

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I am reapplying this year from last year. When writing my personal statement I based it mostly off the one that I wrote for last year, however I have an entire paragraph dedicated to what I am doing/have done since applying the first time around. Do you think it is a good idea to include this paragraph in my PS for this year or should I hold off and put that paragraph on the secondaries under the usual "Anything else you want to tell us not on your AMCAS" sort of question.

Thanks!

 

[CodeBlu]

It's important... read this thread.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=705363

Your personal statement is your motivation for medicine. Not where you list your extracurriculars off... that's saved for the rest of the application.

 

[Avoidthetiger]

Unless you are only applying to schools that you have applied to before, don't mention that you are a re-applicant in your PS. Schools that you haven't applied to before won't know that you are a re-applicant.

You want to focus on why you want to be a doctor in your PS and the good qualities you have to make you an awesome doctor.

Plenty of secondaries will ask you if you are a re-applicant (usually specifically asking if you are a re-applicant to THEIR school) and what you have done since you last applied. That's when you mention what you have done since the last time you applied. Otherwise will ask if their is anything else you would like to mention in the secondary - and if you have applied there before [only then] - that would be the place to highlight the new things that you have done.

 

[flatearth22]

Probably not a good idea to have a similar PS as last year. Especially if you are applying to a lot of the same schools. Adcoms will be like "wtf...I read this crap last year...why should I care about your app if you aren't going to change it from what obviously didn't work last year?"

 

[Avoidthetiger]

Probably not a good idea to have a similar PS as last year. Especially if you are applying to a lot of the same schools. Adcoms will be like "wtf...I read this crap last year...why should I care about your app if you aren't going to change it from what obviously didn't work last year?"

Well, I doubt that exact wording would come out... but some schools do compare your application to previous years, but it's uncertain which schools do. IF they don't, I doubt the school would realize the PS is pretty much identical... if they do, they may or may not care, as long as you have included new ECs and made yourself an overall better applicant.

 

[newyorker41789]

Great thanks for the advice everybody. Sounds like I'm going to take out that paragraph and only give it to certain secondaries that ask as well as change up my PS so it doesn't sound like the same stuff as last year (if they really do compare).

Thanks for the advice!

 

[0919mmk]

Not rewriting your PS seems crazy to me. You failed to gain acceptance last cycle, why would you submit the same PS (or even a similar PS) this time around? I suggest you start from scratch - try to take a fresh approach. Whatever you did last time didn't work, so you'd better switch it up! I'm a reapplicant too this cycle, and that is the advice my premed advisor gave me - take it for what its worth.

 

[HINKLO]

Not rewriting your PS seems crazy to me. You failed to gain acceptance last cycle, why would you submit the same PS (or even a similar PS) this time around? I suggest you start from scratch - try to take a fresh approach. Whatever you did last time didn't work, so you'd better switch it up! I'm a reapplicant too this cycle, and that is the advice my premed advisor gave me - take it for what its worth.

I don't see the problem if you had a good PS. Sure, adjust it, but if you have a really good PS, and you weren't accepted because of your MCAT, GPA, late application or ECs, then focus your effort on those. I wouldn't submit an identical essay, but...honestly, how many peoples' motivations for medicine change that drastically in between applications. Not saying it doesn't happen, but I would imagine it's uncommon.

 

[rentedmule]

Probably not a good idea to have a similar PS as last year. Especially if you are applying to a lot of the same schools. Adcoms will be like "wtf...I read this crap last year...why should I care about your app if you aren't going to change it from what obviously didn't work last year?"

In my short time at SDN even I have noticed your tendency to give out the worst, least thought-out advice. How the hell are you assuming that the PS was the sole reason why someone was an unsuccessful applicant on the previous cycle? It could have been sub-par numbers, how well the interview went, lack of X experience, or a number of other factors that a stellar PS doesn't fix.

 

[tartrate]

I don't see the problem if you had a good PS. Sure, adjust it, but if you have a really good PS, and you weren't accepted because of your MCAT, GPA, late application or ECs, then focus your effort on those. I wouldn't submit an identical essay, but...honestly, how many peoples' motivations for medicine change that drastically in between applications. Not saying it doesn't happen, but I would imagine it's uncommon.

It's good to keep this perspective in mind for the OP and all re-applicants in general. The part about motivations is especially true. However, though your motivations may not change, that does not mean you cannot improve upon the way you express them.

 

[luckyducky87]

I posed the same question a month or two ago here! I had applied 3 years ago and I really liked my PS (and I got a lot of positive feedback from others). In fact, I got numerous interview invites at "reach" schools and I'm willing to say that part of that was probably my PS... Also, when I read old essays, I usually grimace at the immature things I had said, but not with my PS.

I'm still not sure if adcoms really look at your old PS or not... Some say "no," they have enough reading to do as it is; Others say "yes," and they want to see that you've "significantly improved" since last time, and that you've at least put in the minimal effort of re-working your PS!

For me, I took my old essay and decided to just add in a new paragraph about what I've been doing in the past year. This required me to cut out some old material... and somehow in the process, most of my most material got cut off and replaced with new material. My motivation or my main "theme" didn't change, and my intro/concl was essentially the same... but between drastically different way of stating things (more powerful and "visual" words), re-ordering some content, and 1 paragraph of brand new content, my PS does sound fairly different from the last version... Maybe you'll experience something similar? I meant to sit down to "just add in" 1 paragraph, but my PS did go through a make-over after all...