reusing personal statement from 3 years ago...

[luckyducky87]

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I applied 3 years ago, and did not get any acceptances (8 interviews: 5 waitlists, 2 rejections, 1 w/d)... At the time I sent out my primary to 25 schools and completed the secondaries to ~20.

I really liked my old personal statement and the anecdote I used to open and close it. I don't think that my PS was a hindrance to my application last cycle (I think it was mainly my interviewing skills and lack of maturity/people-skills that showed through my interviews).

I will definitely be adding in an additional paragraph explaining what I've done in the meantime post-college and what I've learned. This means that I will also be cutting out some sentences from the intermediary paragraphs since I'm close to the character limit...

However, I've recently been reading that some schools have my old application right next to my current application. I'm figuring that it might look bad to have a "similar" PS in my current application... If I keep the opening and closing paragraph entirely the same, but modify the internal paragraphs a bit and add in a new section on my current experiences, would that still be considered too similar? I don't want the schools to think that I'm not even trying by writing a new PS, but at the same time, I think that my old PS was good and I don't really have better ideas for a brand new PS 🙁

(I anticipate that I'll be applying to maybe 1/2 of the same schools as I previously did)

I'd appreciate any input!

 

[NickNaylor]

It didn't work before... why use it again?

 

[MM07]

Unless you had a horrible GPA, MCAT, or interviews, you might want to rethink using that PS. Also, some anecdotes are nice--but that's just it, they're "nice." You don't want to be too kitschy. Just tell it how it is. I think being direct and presenting yourself without a bunch of fluff will ultimately help you.

 

[luckyducky87]

It didn't work before... why use it again?

I felt that PS wasn't the root of the problem, and other people (pre-med or non-pre-med peers, coworkers, premed advisor, etc) have told me that they really liked my personal statement in that the anecdote was unique, everything was well-weaved together, etc...

(but of course, who knows what exactly was wrong with my application? this is just a gut feeling. Compared to how awful my interview skills were, I think my PS was pretty good)

 

[NickNaylor]

I felt that PS wasn't the root of the problem, and other people (pre-med or non-pre-med peers, coworkers, premed advisor, etc) have told me that they really liked my personal statement in that the anecdote was unique, everything was well-weaved together, etc...

(but of course, who knows what exactly was wrong with my application? this is just a gut feeling. Compared to how awful my interview skills were, I think my PS was pretty good)

Exactly - and that's why I would be leery of reusing any part of my application from an unsuccessful cycle. You might assume that since you got interviews your primary/secondary was "fine," but that may not be the case.

 

[Dr Love]

What makes you think an AdCom would bother looking up an application from three years ago? They rarely read an active application fully.

Don't worry about it. Your PS must've been fine last time, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten so many interviews.

 

[hockeyhy]

8 interviews and no acceptances is just bad luck man. I don't really care what other people here say, but that's the root cause of it: luck. Reapply more broadly and earlier and try to get another 8 interviews and hopefully you'll get in.

 

[IlDestriero]

8 interviews out of 20 completed apps is great. I would agree that the interview was likely the problem. That is to say, you didn't rise above the average interviewed student and got passed over. I hope that the last 3 years were productive, I'm sure that will be the topic of the next interview- What have you done and how does it lead you to a career as a physician?
Make that clear in your revised PS.

 

[HAV000]

What makes you think an AdCom would bother looking up an application from three years ago? They rarely read an active application fully.

Don't worry about it. Your PS must've been fine last time, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten so many interviews.

LizzyM could probably answer that the best. I figure there is a chance it could get brought up because students are often discussed in a roundtable-like group setting so perhaps one person took a cursory look over both statements, who could then tell right off the bat something fishy, as both opening statements are exactly the same. How small of a chance, who knows? 😕

 

[HAV000]

8 interviews and no acceptances is just bad luck man. I don't really care what other people here say, but that's the root cause of it: luck. Reapply more broadly and earlier and try to get another 8 interviews and hopefully you'll get in.

🙁. Sorry you couldn't get over that hump. I wish you the best of luck OP!

 

[NickNaylor]

LizzyM could probably answer that the best. I figure there is a chance it could get brought up because students are often discussed in a roundtable-like group setting so perhaps one person took a cursory look over both statements, who could then tell right off the bat something fishy, as both opening statements are exactly the same. How small of a chance, who knows? 😕

At the average med school, each adcom member has probably looked at at least 1000 apps over three years. I highly, highly doubt one person would remember one PS from three years ago. And even if you used the same one, I do't think that's a major issue.

 

[LizzyM]

8 interviews out of 20 completed apps is great. I would agree that the interview was likely the problem. That is to say, you didn't rise above the average interviewed student and got passed over. I hope that the last 3 years were productive, I'm sure that will be the topic of the next interview- What have you done and how does it lead you to a career as a physician?
Make that clear in your revised PS.

I agree.

It would be highly unlikely for someone on the adcom to read and remember a PS from 3 yrs ago and through luck of the draw, to be assigned to read the same applicant's application this year. That said, the PS should focus on the whole journey to this point. Starting with an anecdote can be an attention grabber but it is a device that has been over-used to the point of making many of us cringe. Please tell me the anecdote does not include lights and sirens.

 

[luckyducky87]

It would be highly unlikely for someone on the adcom to read and remember a PS from 3 yrs ago and through luck of the draw, to be assigned to read the same applicant's application this year. That said, the PS should focus on the whole journey to this point. Starting with an anecdote can be an attention grabber but it is a device that has been over-used to the point of making many of us cringe. Please tell me the anecdote does not include lights and sirens.

That is what I originally imagined - of course chances are slim that someone would *remember* my PS from 3 cycles ago. But is it true that some AdCom's pull out your old app to compare side-by-side for re-applicants? That's the scenario that would be disadvantageous for me if I were to "recycle" my old PS.

The anecdote does NOT include lights and sirens 🙂 It's actually from one of my musical experiences, an experience that's made me think more about the medical field and in a way what motivates me to go into medicine... but it's one of those opening/closing paragraphs that are descriptive and "scenic" in a way, so it would be hard for me to re-use it in different words (with the same effect) unless I just came up with a fresh opener/closer material...

 

[TexasPhysician]

That said, the PS should focus on the whole journey to this point.

I agree. Not significantly changing the PS is a mistake. That personal statement is 3 years old. It needs to better reflect who you are now vs 3 years ago. If you say you haven't changed at all in 3 years, you need to look again.

From all of the PS's I've read, I'd say about 10% make me want to reject the applicant before the interview, 85% are standard, and 5% make me want to accept the applicant regardless of the interview.

Your PS was obviously not top 5%, so now you have the opportunity to improve upon it. Make it so good that interviewers are blown away and your chances will improve.

 

[LizzyM]

But is it true that some AdCom's pull out your old app to compare side-by-side for re-applicants? ...

Nope. Never seen that happen in all my years.

I have seen people recycle secondaries or respond to the old prompt rather than the new, revamped prompt.