**The Official Personal Statement Guide and PS Readers List **

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go ahead and PM it to me, i've had good help on mine, i don't mind help others
 
I'm just wondering how important the personal statement really is? Most schools I've looked at list it as the last required item, leading me to believe it is one of the last things they look at. Either way its important to have a good one, i guess.

I had a few professors and my advisor read mine and they all seemed to like it alot. i guess the best advice i could give is to write something from the heart. don't try too hard to sound like the perfect candidate or you may come across detached.
 
and if anyone wants to message me a pm, i'd be happy to read it. 🙂
 
benzene21 said:
I'm just wondering how important the personal statement really is? Most schools I've looked at list it as the last required item, leading me to believe it is one of the last things they look at. Either way its important to have a good one, i guess.

I had a few professors and my advisor read mine and they all seemed to like it alot. i guess the best advice i could give is to write something from the heart. don't try too hard to sound like the perfect candidate or you may come across detached.
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Concensus on the boards is few PSes are outstanding, so if it's average, it's average. If it's really bad, it will hurt you a lot. If it's really good, it will help you a lot. Most adcoms will only remember maybe up to 10 out of the thousands of PSes they've read. So if people who've read yours really like it. You're probably golden.
 
variablistic said:
Concensus on the boards is few PSes are outstanding, so if it's average, it's average. If it's really bad, it will hurt you a lot. If it's really good, it will help you a lot. Most adcoms will only remember maybe up to 10 out of the thousands of PSes they've read. So if people who've read yours really like it. You're probably golden.
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i sure hope so! haha. i figured it was one of those deals where it has to either be outstanding or terrible to really affect the admissions process.
 
benzene21 said:
i sure hope so! haha. i figured it was one of those deals where it has to either be outstanding or terrible to really affect the admissions process.
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yeah. That sums it up!!!

I have been reviewing PSes for a couple or so years now and there are very few that truly stand out to me. I know one of the one's who recently sent it to me and stood out had pretty much sent it when she was in her final stages and her advisors/peers/relatives had all said it was good so she probably didn't even need it reviewed but did it for reassurance. Very few others outside of her also had outstanding essays that needed little work when they sent it to me.

More often then not I see a lot of problems with the flow or lack of theme. Last year the big thing I saw a lot of was people trying to put their entire resume into 5300 characters but this year I think it is just a lack of flow or ways of wording things that are messing up a lot of people.
 
RollSkins said:
Any willing PS readers?
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Send it to me. Oh and good luck with MCAT scores. Most people do somewhere near their practice score range so i think you'll get good news on the 18th of next month.
 
tigercu said:
ive been working on my ps, anyone want to swap personal statement's
i need a honest critique
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I read your personal statement when you sent it to me and I honestly think after getting a large amount of PSes this summer yours is very good and needs very little reworking.
 
Anyone want to read my PS?

I think im almost ready to submit to amcas.
 
Hey guju doc and variablistic I got some great advice from OncoCap and chucky 85. So I am going to rewrite and rework it a bit, well actually it needs alot of work so would you still be willing to look at it tommorow or maybe the next day?

Also variablistic if you want to PM yours I will take a look at it
 
If anyone needs their ps read, pm it to me.
 
so is there a way to use italics in the format on the amcas for the ps?
i ask because I have some Spanish terms in my essay and i'd like to italicize them.
thanks. 🙂
 
bbg4321 said:
so is there a way to use italics in the format on the amcas for the ps?
i ask because I have some Spanish terms in my essay and i'd like to italicize them.
thanks. 🙂
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Nope, it's just plain text. Your best bet would be to put them in quotation marks.
 
RollSkins said:
Hey guju doc and variablistic I got some great advice from OncoCap and chucky 85. So I am going to rewrite and rework it a bit, well actually it needs alot of work so would you still be willing to look at it tommorow or maybe the next day?

Also variablistic if you want to PM yours I will take a look at it
Click to expand...

Yeah send it to me whenever.
 
Hey does anyone know if our PS is supposed to be 5300 characters with or without spaces?
 
Can you guys please temporarily take me off the list of PS readers or append a note that I can't read anymore right now? I posted before about being flooded with PSes but I guess people still just see that I'm a PS reader and I feel really bad having to say no to people, but there were a lot more PSes than I expected and I'm a little busy in my own life too right now.
 
willing to read some as well just pm me.
 
Is it ok to use just one space between sentences instead of two? Doing that puts me at 5294 characters
 
i'll read one PS tonight
so the first person to PM me wins!
 
Anyone interested in reading a PS tonight? If so PM me and I'd be happy to read yours.
 
Would anyone be willing to read my personal statement? If anyone wants to exchange personal statements and critiques I am also up for that. Thanks in advance! 🙂
 
Is it okay for the PS to be only ~4100 characters?? After final edit, that's what mine comes to. Or should I find another paragraph to add to make it closer to the limit??

Thanks for the help.
 
Would anybody be interested in reading my PS? I think that it is pretty close to being done but need someone who is a grammatical wiz to give it a read. I have a hard time knowing when to use commas....

Dave
 
Would anyone be willing to read my ps? I am willing to read other's ps as well!

Thanks!
 
send PS if you want

i've had lots of good help with my PS, i am willing to return the favor, i have critiqued 2 so far, both people have been satisfied with my very HONEST critique
 
chucky85 said:
send PS if you want

i've had lots of good help with my PS, i am willing to return the favor, i have critiqued 2 so far, both people have been satisfied with my very HONEST critique
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i wish there was a rating system to how good each PS reader is.
 
The list of willing readers has become frighteningly large. Due to my intimidation I think that I will post my PS for folks to read. I know of a couple of issues ~10 lines too long, and abrupt and cliche ending. Please be brutally honest.

I am willing to read PSes I have a bit of time today to read and critique. The best would be to e-mail me.
dolemike3000 at yahoo dot com
Please help me rid my PS of the hokey, soap operatic second half

It is lame when 17 people read your ps and you get no feedback. So I removed it. Maybe i should be more positive. Perhaps people downloaded it and i will be sent edits--i hope that is the case

thanks,
mike
 
I also have a PS ready for editing... If anyone's willing to read over it and make comments please PM me! Thanks!
 
DocFunk said:
i wish there was a rating system to how good each PS reader is.
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LOL. I've been doing this for a while and have written a personal statement before so I have done this sort of thing. I've been doing this for 3 years and usually people tend to be ok with my advice. I base my advice on the things that adcom directors say they look for here at USF and partially on general flow of the essay i.e. whether it is smooth flowing or needs reworking more.

I just spent the last few months slowly helping a friend of mine with hers til she perfected hers and so when she went to see one of the adcom members at our school he was pleased with it and what not.

I basically spent my time doing the following when critiquing an essay:

I look to see the content first. Does the reader answer why or when medicine became of interest to them?

Do they use examples of what they have done in their life to support their interest in medicine?

Next I look to see how the general flow of writing is. Do they need more transitions or better flow from one thought to another. Do certain sentences need to be reworded because they come off as wrong.

Additionally, I look for areas where they may need to expand on within the essay. I.E. whether they need to expand on research or clinical experiences within the essay or stuff of that nature. Or are they giving too many details and needing to cut out some of them?

Based on that I give general feedback to the reader.

Last year I found that some of the biggest problems with premeds was that they wanted to fit their whole resume on there. This time that has not been a big problem.

This year the biggest problems I observe come in the flow and wording of thoughts.
 
BTW if any of you are Floridians who need your PS looked at and you plan on applying to USF as one of your schools, I strongly encourage you to make an appt with Dr. Marvin "Ted" Williams because he has been helpful with many many premeds in the past at looking at personal statements for one final assurance.

Even when I review PSes for friends at USF, I always tell them to double check with him or Dr. Specter of the USF COM as well because they can give more official of an opinion and have been helpful a lot in the past, especially Dr. Willams.
 
gujuDoc said:
LOL. I've been doing this for a while and have written a personal statement before so I have done this sort of thing. I've been doing this for 3 years and usually people tend to be ok with my advice. I base my advice on the things that adcom directors say they look for here at USF and partially on general flow of the essay i.e. whether it is smooth flowing or needs reworking more.

I just spent the last few months slowly helping a friend of mine with hers til she perfected hers and so when she went to see one of the adcom members at our school he was pleased with it and what not.

I basically spent my time doing the following when critiquing an essay:

I look to see the content first. Does the reader answer why or when medicine became of interest to them?

Do they use examples of what they have done in their life to support their interest in medicine?

Next I look to see how the general flow of writing is. Do they need more transitions or better flow from one thought to another. Do certain sentences need to be reworded because they come off as wrong.

Additionally, I look for areas where they may need to expand on within the essay. I.E. whether they need to expand on research or clinical experiences within the essay or stuff of that nature. Or are they giving too many details and needing to cut out some of them?

Based on that I give general feedback to the reader.

Last year I found that some of the biggest problems with premeds was that they wanted to fit their whole resume on there. This time that has not been a big problem.

This year the biggest problems I observe come in the flow and wording of thoughts.
Click to expand...

You sound like you have a of experience doing this- would you be willing to read my statement? I am just about ready to submit my application.I've had a lot of people look over it, including professors, and I would like a fresh perspective.
Thanks!
 
soccerpunk60 said:
Is it okay for the PS to be only ~4100 characters?? After final edit, that's what mine comes to. Or should I find another paragraph to add to make it closer to the limit??

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

someone answer plzz
 
Hey guys,

I've done 4 now, and I've gotten nothing but positive feedback from people. I'm ready and willing to critique this weekend, so send your PS my way if you need a reader.
 
sorry to anyone who has sent me a ps to read in the last month or so -- been having technology problems. take me off the list of readers, though; i officially start med school monday, so i doubt i'll have time to read any more.
 
so i don't know if this is mentioned elsewhere, i didn't comb through the whole 7 pages of this thread...buttttt

i have a very strong desire to pursue one particular field of medicine, and have pretty much been pursuing this field since high school. i have a lot of research and clinical volunteer experience to back up this intrest as well. i obviously want to mention this in my PS, but will it seem, i don't know, narrowminded to say that i really want to go into one field only?


are there any disadvantages to saying that you are determined to go into a certain field?


Thanks!
 
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