Should i avoid putting this into a personal statement?

[akay00]

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It took me a couple years to whole-heartedly commit to the pre-medical path. It wasn't because I was unsure that i would enjoy a career in medicine.. i was just afraid i wouldnt be able to make it. I believe a part of my reluctance came from simply being a small town girl. i went to a small high-school with a class of only 40 students and also attended a small university. I never even thought of a career in medicine until taking a few college science classes. Even after doing well in them, i was afraid of failing. I believe that if i had better confidence when i first started out, my GPA would have been higher. At the time, i was just seeing how i would like the sciences, not striving to get in. Now that it's time to start writing my personal statement I am wondering if i should mention this. I dont want this to sound like an excuse because it isnt. It is simply a part of my story. Also, do you think an admissions committee would typically associate "small-town" with low-class/less intelligent?

Thanks!

 

[Nessy]

It took me a couple years to whole-heartedly commit to the pre-medical path. It wasn't because I was unsure that i would enjoy a career in medicine.. i was just afraid i wouldnt be able to make it. I believe a part of my reluctance came from simply being a small town girl. i went to a small high-school with a class of only 40 students and also attended a small university. I never even thought of a career in medicine until taking a few college science classes. Even after doing well in them, i was afraid of failing. I believe that if i had better confidence when i first started out, my GPA would have been higher. At the time, i was just seeing how i would like the sciences, not striving to get in. Now that it's time to start writing my personal statement I am wondering if i should mention this. I dont want this to sound like an excuse because it isnt. It is simply a part of my story. Also, do you think an admissions committee would typically associate "small-town" with low-class/less intelligent?

Thanks!

I think speaking from the heart is your best strategy. If this is a part of who you are, then you should include this in your PS. Being from a small town might actually help your chances depending on the school; and no, I don't think anyone will consider you "low class/less intelligent", you are who your are. Stand up and be proud!! 👍

 

[Barcu]

It took me a couple years to whole-heartedly commit to the pre-medical path. It wasn't because I was unsure that i would enjoy a career in medicine.. i was just afraid i wouldnt be able to make it. I believe a part of my reluctance came from simply being a small town girl. i went to a small high-school with a class of only 40 students and also attended a small university. I never even thought of a career in medicine until taking a few college science classes. Even after doing well in them, i was afraid of failing. I believe that if i had better confidence when i first started out, my GPA would have been higher. At the time, i was just seeing how i would like the sciences, not striving to get in. Now that it's time to start writing my personal statement I am wondering if i should mention this. I dont want this to sound like an excuse because it isnt. It is simply a part of my story. Also, do you think an admissions committee would typically associate "small-town" with low-class/less intelligent?

Thanks!

You really have to avoid making it sound like an excuse. You want to focus on the positives for your PS, so you can include it, but be careful. Definitely have many people read it to make sure it comes across the way you intend it to (everyone should do this anyway).

And being a small-town girl may actually be beneficial. Rural and smaller town healthcare is a big issue. You bring an interesting perspective to a medical school, and indicating you may want to practice in an area like that could really help you at a number of schools. Even if you don't want to practice in a rural area, you could use being from a small town to your advantage.

 

[seelee]

If I were you, I would tell the story of how you settled on medicine (what clinched it for you) and how you overcame your self-doubt.

Example:

I have always been interested in medicine, but I was plagued with self confidence issues. I was afraid that my small-town education would leave me underprepared for the rigours of my pre-req classes. And, for a few of those classes, my self doubt affected my grades. But because of (insert life-changing experience here) I realized that medicine was what I wanted to do, and I resolved that nothing would stop me...blah blah blah...studied harder...blah blah blah...improved my grades...(Lesson learned, moral of the story, etc.) The end.

I would absolutely not spend too much of your valuable PS space reminding the adcoms about your low grades.

Remember, you have only a few paragraphs to give them a glimpse of who you are. If you don't sell yourself, who will?

 

[Meerkatology]

Also, do you think an admissions committee would typically associate "small-town" with low-class/less intelligent?

Thanks!

no, in fact you could even use this to your advantage. coming from a smalltown/underprivileged area means you had to overcome more to get to them same place in college.

Also you could talk about how you would like to eventually return and practice in a small town setting.

rural / underserved areas have a huge shortage of physicians and the desire to practice in an underserved area is a positive. (that, is if you would actually consider to)

example: "Growing up from a small town, we had a shortage of doctors and we often had to drive X hours to see any physician more specialized than a family doctor. (insert possible harrowing personal experience) This really got me interested in becoming a physician and practicing in a rural area such as my hometown as I think it would really make the most difference. However, when I first entered college, I was unsure whether my smalltown education prepared me for the rigors of a pre-medical education. (insert possible life changing experience, or "but learning more about the medical field in college only deepened my interest to become a doctor becasue of reasons XYZ ") So I was set to follow my dream etc etc worked hard to overcome confidence issues etc etc and improved my grade next semester by X gpa.blah blah"

 

[Gloves]

Definitely speak the truth 😀 it makes you human. Doctors should be humans, after all. Humans that can also do great on the MCAT lol

 

[UbuntuGM]

You should mention everything you just posted because it seems to be a big part of who you are and it's actually quite charming. No adcom will associate small-town/rural with low-class. Don't worry about that.

 

[barcoderider]

I wouldn't talk about the lack of self confidence too much, because it's not really an excuse for poor academic performance. Don't worry about making excuses for poor grades unless they're exceptionally awful (a few B's are fine). Focus on the positives. You should really hype up the small town/want to go back and practice rural medicine angle, because schools are all about that.

Also, the phrase "i was just seeing how i would like the sciences, not striving to get in" does not belong anywhere near your PS because while it may be true, it comes off as too cynical/lazy. Many people work hard in college before they decide to go to medical school, simply for the sake of learning.

Good luck! 🙂

 

[Omni]

I'd definitely mention something like that, but I wouldn't have my PS dwell on that. In the same paragraph (or the next), I'd talk about how I settled on medicine and how I have changed since starting college.

 

[ssahjm]

You really have to avoid making it sound like an excuse. You want to focus on the positives for your PS, so you can include it, but be careful. Definitely have many people read it to make sure it comes across the way you intend it to (everyone should do this anyway).

And being a small-town girl may actually be beneficial. Rural and smaller town healthcare is a big issue. You bring an interesting perspective to a medical school, and indicating you may want to practice in an area like that could really help you at a number of schools. Even if you don't want to practice in a rural area, you could use being from a small town to your advantage.

+1. Depends on where you apply, but as you do your research, you will find that certain schools love students who are interested in/committed to rural medicine. Provided you actually want to do something like that, the combination of your background and your goal would make a very strong statement on your application.

 

[Myuu]

I would mention your history for sure as it seems like you can paint an intriguing picture with it, but I'd spend very little time dwelling on that GPA.

Also, why are you writing your personal statement now??

 

[girlofgrace7]

Example:

I have always been interested in medicine, but I was plagued with self confidence issues. I was afraid that my small-town education would leave me underprepared for the rigours of my pre-req classes. And, for a few of those classes, my self doubt affected my grades. But because of (insert life-changing experience here) I realized that medicine was what I wanted to do, and I resolved that nothing would stop me...blah blah blah...studied harder...blah blah blah...improved my grades...(Lesson learned, moral of the story, etc.) The end.

Honestly, I would leave out that you were "plagued with self confidence issues" and such. You can probably mention (as the latter example said) that you were unsure about whether your rural education adequately prepared you for undergrad though. Be really careful to be positive in your personal statement. That was the most difficult thing for me when I wrote mine. When sharing your story, you want to be truthful, but you don't want it to cause the interviewer to question whether you have what it takes or to come off as an excuse. Self confidence issues affecting how well you did may not sit well with some ad-coms; in med school, you'll be in a class full of people who have always been at the top of their classes, and many med students feel inadequate in comparison but can't let that affect their ability to succeed. Be extremely careful how you phrase things, and as people mentioned above, have a lot of proof-readers.