But so has just getting to the point/listing examples.
Why the difference in the way you/others feel about them? They're the same length usually.
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Too cliche?
Started by VersaceSofas
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Why the difference in the way you/others feel about them? They're the same length usually.
The hook is a device. We're tired of it.
Speaking clearly and in your own voice never gets old.
Because they've been done to death. I can't make it any simpler than that.
I get that!
Weirdthat premed advising focuses on doing this so much...they act like it's a sin to just state why you are applying.
I don't think now is the best time to be asking adcoms how they feel about anything in regards to personal statements.
How so?
Why..?
Far worse to ask us at Christmas after we've read 300 of them!
Funny, my premed advisor told me my statement didn't have enough of these cute little stories.
Fortunately I ignored her.
Fortunately I ignored her.
SAME.
I am still working on my PS...and I had to cut the stories this week because they sound SO unlike me.
Give me examples but start with a statement as you would if I asked you a question in person. If I asked you in an interview "why medicine" would you begin with "It was a dark and stormy night and the ambulance rocked rocking back and forth across the rain slicked streets of Springfield. Inside a man struggled for breath, his eyes darting around the unfamiliar setting." If you don't talk that way, don't write that way and particularly not as the opening of a question. Don't entertain me... get to the point.
IMO this is the best advice. I got similar advice from a friend who is an M4 - the first sentence of the statement should be written as if you only have 1 sentence to explain why you are applying to medical school. Then you can expand and use examples and such later.
Well definitely taking notes in case of a reapplication 
lol
But what we all really want to know... will an overly anecdotal essay get you rejected if you're a borderline candidate? I'm sure it wouldn't if you were perfect, but what about us clingers on? 😛
Also, is it a faux pas to utilize almost as much space dictating "here's stories that tell you why I'm prepared" as you use to state "why medicine"?
But still, mind blown. How whacky are these premed advisors guys?!?!
lolBut what we all really want to know... will an overly anecdotal essay get you rejected if you're a borderline candidate? I'm sure it wouldn't if you were perfect, but what about us clingers on? 😛
Also, is it a faux pas to utilize almost as much space dictating "here's stories that tell you why I'm prepared" as you use to state "why medicine"?
But still, mind blown. How whacky are these premed advisors guys?!?!
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If premed advisors were that good at getting into medical school, they would be doctors.
Not everyone wants to be a doctor? You really believe that advisors are med-school hopefuls that didn't make the cut? I'm not defending anything about what they preach, but it's just unrealistic to say that. Some people like helping in different capacities.
Luckily for you, medical school seats are filled with folks who wrote stuff even worse than we we have discussed here.Well definitely taking notes in case of a reapplication
But what we all really want to know... will an overly anecdotal essay get you rejected if you're a borderline candidate? I'm sure it wouldn't if you were perfect, but what about us clingers on? 😛
Also, is it a faux pas to utilize almost as much space dictating "here's stories that tell you why I'm prepared" as you use to state "why medicine"?
But still, mind blown. How whacky are these premed advisors guys?!?!
I wish a had a nickle for every haiku! At least they're short...
A haiku?! Like...instead of a 5300 character essay?
Eh my comment was a little more facetious than that. Point is they usually have no actual qualifications relevant to medical school. One of my told me it was her first job out of college.
I read one that started off, "Seconds before our truck slams into the tree, I remember the first
time I tried to save a life."
It made me jealous that I didnt write that! lol
time I tried to save a life."
It made me jealous that I didnt write that! lol
I think your clinical experience might have solidified or encouraged you to seek to become a doctor, but you're missing something important here. If you actually have clinical experience you've probably already decided on being involved in health care in some way. For many (not all, but many) people on SDN they were already pre-med or considering medicine and that's why they were in a clinical setting in the first place. Its kind of disingenuous to pretend like something you were primarily doing to get into medical school is what made you want to pursue medicine.
If you were originally pursuing a different health care career and doing so made you want to be a doctor, you should probably describe the reasons you initially went into health care and how and why you decided on medicine. Be honest but don't spend the bulk of your word count describing something that happened to someone else (the patient) that doesn't really involve you just because you think it sounds cool/dramatic and force that to lead into your story.
Gonna jump on this bandwagon and also recommend starting with explaining why you want to be a doctor and then have the rest of the personal statement provide evidence to support that (so you could theoretically talk about the code blue experience further on, saying that it taught you x and y, but leading with it would seem too dramatic).
That's what I've done so far with my personal statement and I've gotten good reviews on its frankness and brevity.
That's what I've done so far with my personal statement and I've gotten good reviews on its frankness and brevity.
Crap, I started my PS with a hook. Or maybe it isn't so bad.
But like, this is my true story in my voice.
Should I move the "I want to be a doctor" sentence to the beginning instead of the end of the intro paragraph? I like essays where the thesis is at the END of the intro paragraph, but they can work either way.
But like, this is my true story in my voice.
Should I move the "I want to be a doctor" sentence to the beginning instead of the end of the intro paragraph? I like essays where the thesis is at the END of the intro paragraph, but they can work either way.
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I think you hit a good point here - "true story in my voice." I've noticed when people write a hook or an anecdote that they tend to lose their own voice and write it instead like a film script. It starts to feel impersonal even though you're trying to do the exact opposite and make it personal.
Also as long as you state your desire to pursue a career in medicine in the first paragraph, I would say you're good!
Sometimes it is in the PS, sometimes elsewhere. Always awkward.
