Tactful personal statement?

[Exalya]

I'm 3 semesters from graduating, so I'm thinking seriously about putting together my application in the next few months. What I'm not sure about is my personal statement. I have a lot of things I can say, a lot of things that I feel make me a better person and make me worthy of the chance to be a doctor. But... I don't want to come off sounding "poor me."

I'm not asking these questions because I want attention, but I really do want to know where to start in incorporating what happened to me into a ps. I do think that my background makes me better able to understand certain people and situations--neither of my parents finished college, I grew up on under $24k/year, lived in an RV for 2 years, ran away not once but 3 times from my abusive mother, lived on my own when I was 16 and I'll still be graduating at the age of 20 with at least a 3.5. Not to mention my husband was in Iraq for a year >.> . So, my problem... what do I put in my statement? How am I supposed to explain myself to a med school when my story is just... crazy?

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[gujuDoc]

I'm 3 semesters from graduating, so I'm thinking seriously about putting together my application in the next few months. What I'm not sure about is my personal statement. I have a lot of things I can say, a lot of things that I feel make me a better person and make me worthy of the chance to be a doctor. But... I don't want to come off sounding "poor me."

I'm not asking these questions because I want attention, but I really do want to know where to start in incorporating what happened to me into a ps. I do think that my background makes me better able to understand certain people and situations--neither of my parents finished college, I grew up on under $24k/year, lived in an RV for 2 years, ran away not once but 3 times from my abusive mother, lived on my own when I was 16 and I'll still be graduating at the age of 20 with at least a 3.5. Not to mention my husband was in Iraq for a year >.> . So, my problem... what do I put in my statement? How am I supposed to explain myself to a med school when my story is just... crazy?

Two things to note. Depending on where you apply you will essentially have two statements to write. At most Fl. schools this is esp. true. You have your main PS and the secondary essay. The main PS gives the chance to say Why MEDICINE? And answer that question.

The secondary is a time to say more specifically what you've been through and how this helps contribute to your diversity to the incoming class and how it will help you become a better physician.

In the Personal statement your goal should be to say why you want to be a physician and what you've got to support that you've thought this through. Not just I'm poor and been through hell and want to get out of hell. but how have you used the exp. of your past to contribute to your growth as of present.

For instance, a lot of people often bring in an illness of a loved one or themselves i.e. epilepsy, cancer, etc. But the adcom doesn't want a poor me story about their situation. So what most people do is show how it prompted them to volunteer in clinical settings and show they could handle patient care when it wasn't just a loved one or themselves and show how that also led to their growth.

So what you should try to aim to do is show how your past prompted activities and actions of your present and how both your past and present exp. have continued towards your growth as a person and desire for a career in medicine.

A lot of secondaries also give areas to talk about obstacles faced in life. You should remember you don't need to cover it all in your PS cuz most secondaries will give space to talk about such.

 

[gujuDoc]

I'm 3 semesters from graduating, so I'm thinking seriously about putting together my application in the next few months. What I'm not sure about is my personal statement. I have a lot of things I can say, a lot of things that I feel make me a better person and make me worthy of the chance to be a doctor. But... I don't want to come off sounding "poor me."

I'm not asking these questions because I want attention, but I really do want to know where to start in incorporating what happened to me into a ps. I do think that my background makes me better able to understand certain people and situations--neither of my parents finished college, I grew up on under $24k/year, lived in an RV for 2 years, ran away not once but 3 times from my abusive mother, lived on my own when I was 16 and I'll still be graduating at the age of 20 with at least a 3.5. Not to mention my husband was in Iraq for a year >.> . So, my problem... what do I put in my statement? How am I supposed to explain myself to a med school when my story is just... crazy?

Judging from your post, I'm going to guess that it is possible that you either had to depend on medicaid or had no form of insurance at all growing up. So you might want to take the situations you faced and show how it affected your life from the stand point of how it affected your healthcare situation. You might also want to show how you feel the situations you've been through helped you to understand others of diff. backgrounds.

If your specific schools of interest are like Fl. schools that ive a place to talk about diversity and obstacles. Then tht is where you can expand more upon what you went through and how it helps you contribute to the diversity of the class and diversity in general and how it will make you a more understanding physician and peer