Using the word "I"

[futuredds08]

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I had heard that dental schools don't like it when you use the word "I" or "me" too much in your personal statement as it may signal a selfish person. I was able to make a decently interesting personal statement avoiding those words, but have found this more difficult when completing secondary applications. Specifically, some schools ask questions like "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" and "How do you handle stress?".

Did anyone else find these things to be an issue? What did you do about it? Am I worrying about nothing? I am starting to think that this is not as much of an issue as the dental student I talked to said it was. 😎

 

[superfinger45]

I had heard that dental schools don't like it when you use the word "I" or "me" too much in your personal statement as it may signal a selfish person. I was able to make a decently interesting personal statement avoiding those words, but have found this more difficult when completing secondary applications. Specifically, some schools ask questions like "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" and "How do you handle stress?".

Did anyone else find these things to be an issue? What did you do about it? Am I worrying about nothing? I am starting to think that this is not as much of an issue as the dental student I talked to said it was. 😎

Ummm...its a personal statement. Superfinger45 thinks it'd be a bigger red flag if you wrote it in third person. Superfinger45 thinks that you'll be ok if you talk in first person.

 

[futuredds08]

Ummm...its a personal statement. Superfinger45 thinks it'd be a bigger red flag if you wrote it in third person. Superfinger45 thinks that you'll be ok if you talk in first person.

LOL, ok, I wasn't too clear I guess. I did write in 1st person, I just avoided using too many self-identifying pronouns. My understanding about what the d-school student I was talking to was saying is that adcoms want to be sure that you are able to see the world and your experiences from outside of the bubble of "me" and "I". As in, talk about the experience or situation but not just about "how I felt" or "what I saw". Sorry, I realize how dumb that first post sounds now.

 

[Decan]

If this is the case, then my personal statement is horrible.

 

[superfinger45]

LOL, ok, I wasn't too clear I guess. I did write in 1st person, I just avoided using too many self-identifying pronouns. My understanding about what the d-school student I was talking to was saying is that adcoms want to be sure that you are able to see the world and your experiences from outside of the bubble of "me" and "I". As in, talk about the experience or situation but not just about "how I felt" or "what I saw". Sorry, I realize how dumb that first post sounds now.

I didnt intend to make you feel dumb, I just saw an opportunity to make a joke. Also, I still wouldnt worry about it too much. We can never know exactly what adcoms are looking for, there may be someone out there who thinks that unless you do write in third person your paper is crap. Thats the thing with applying, the people who are reviewing our applications are just people and everyone is looking for something a little bit different. Your statment may be a heaven send to one person and a pile of crap to someone else. We just have to hope that whoever reviews our applications will like what we've said. Good luck.