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I have had some free time so over the past couple of weeks I have been working on my personal statement for the 2014 cycle.
1) Logic vs. Emotion
I start my essay with what I hope to be a decent emotional hook, if for nothing else I think its different and really sets the stage for the type of applicant I am and hopefully draws the reader in. But then through my "story" I seem to unfortunately go into a more logical... I wouldnt say monotone.. but definitely step by step process of how I got to where I am. I mean because a) thats how I think, step by step and B) thats sort of how it happened. An opportunity was lost, so then I took this path. An opportunity opened so I took that path etc. I then end with a rewrap back to some of the "emotion" from the beginning. Sort of wrapping it up.
So does that sound about right? I mean without nit picking it too hard. I definitely want to make sure it is not boring and as a science person, I know we have been trained to write in a non-flowery way. So I am sad to see how my writing goes from interesting/flowery ---> lab technician boring ---> interesting. But is that a decent enough approach as long as it has more feeling in the beginning and the end?
2) DO vs MD
So I wrote my PS very much as a story of my progression to this point rather than directed towards either route of medicine. It is written to become a physician in general. But with the character limit for DO, I think there is no way I will be able to get it down to 4500 characters. I am thinking about just writing another one for DO and keep this one for MD. Only thing is, $100 I would write basically the same thing as I did on my first one, just because it is most relevant to me. The only way I can think that I would be able to write a shorter one is to take an entirely different approach, maybe write one SPECIFIC for why DO. Anyone have any luck with the "why DO" approach rather than the "why become a doctor (any type)" approach?
And a third question now that I thought of it, should I be writing "clinician" or "clinical physician." Clinician is thrown around so much I didnt know if in the actual medical community it is like slang or something.
Thanks for the help
1) Logic vs. Emotion
I start my essay with what I hope to be a decent emotional hook, if for nothing else I think its different and really sets the stage for the type of applicant I am and hopefully draws the reader in. But then through my "story" I seem to unfortunately go into a more logical... I wouldnt say monotone.. but definitely step by step process of how I got to where I am. I mean because a) thats how I think, step by step and B) thats sort of how it happened. An opportunity was lost, so then I took this path. An opportunity opened so I took that path etc. I then end with a rewrap back to some of the "emotion" from the beginning. Sort of wrapping it up.
So does that sound about right? I mean without nit picking it too hard. I definitely want to make sure it is not boring and as a science person, I know we have been trained to write in a non-flowery way. So I am sad to see how my writing goes from interesting/flowery ---> lab technician boring ---> interesting. But is that a decent enough approach as long as it has more feeling in the beginning and the end?
2) DO vs MD
So I wrote my PS very much as a story of my progression to this point rather than directed towards either route of medicine. It is written to become a physician in general. But with the character limit for DO, I think there is no way I will be able to get it down to 4500 characters. I am thinking about just writing another one for DO and keep this one for MD. Only thing is, $100 I would write basically the same thing as I did on my first one, just because it is most relevant to me. The only way I can think that I would be able to write a shorter one is to take an entirely different approach, maybe write one SPECIFIC for why DO. Anyone have any luck with the "why DO" approach rather than the "why become a doctor (any type)" approach?
And a third question now that I thought of it, should I be writing "clinician" or "clinical physician." Clinician is thrown around so much I didnt know if in the actual medical community it is like slang or something.
Thanks for the help
