What do you think?

[Wishing4MD]

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Hey everyone!
What's the consensus on starting a personal statement with a quote? Is it cheesy or overdone, even if the quote flows well with the body of the p.s?? Thanks in advance!

 

[gettheleadout]

Depends on the quote... Aristotle/MLK Jr./Obama? Probably not the best idea. A family member or someone else personal? Could work.

 

[Wishing4MD]

The one I'm referring to is by someone famous. But rarely anyone knows of him.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

The one I'm referring to is by someone famous. But rarely anyone knows of him.

Aren't famous people well-known by definition?

I believe beginning with a quote can be successful if it is truly meaningful to you and wasn't just something you found on google while trying to start your PS. In general, I think an interesting story is a better way to begin your statement.

 

[ceasefire]

I asked LizzyM in a message what she thinks the most overused personal statement openers are and she responded:

"The most overdone seem to be: 1) lights and sirens screenplay type openings about an exciting medical experience on an ambulance, 2) witnessing an injury, illness or death and feeling helpless, 3) expressing that if a loved one had gotten better care, they would not have died,(or if they had been informed about risk they wouldn't have done dangerous things like smoke cigarettes), 4) a description of a personal injury (often a sports injury) inspiring one's decision to pursue medicine -- particularly with an interest in orthpaedics, 5) being attracted to medicine from infancy and never considering any other profession.

Also, starting with a quote from a book, movie, poem, etc is usually pretty cheesy."

If it speaks to your reasons for pursuing medicine and you can't think of any other way to start, maybe just use it. Otherwise, try something a little more creative?

 

[Wishing4MD]

Aren't famous people well-known by definition?


Lol true.
Thanks for the feedback to both of you! I really like quote, but I figured it may be cheesy. :/

 

[Disinence2]

Aren't famous people well-known by definition?


Lol true.
Thanks for the feedback to both of you! I really like quote, but I figured it may be cheesy. :/

You should start with one of your own quotes.

Its your personal statement. It should be your words. Its not an english paper.

 

[jHustle]

To ensure my motivations for medicine were clear, I started my PS as follows:

A wise man once said "Disregard Females, Acquire Currency"

 

[ColeMine]

To ensure my motivations for medicine were clear, I started my PS as follows:

A wise man once said "Disregard Females, Acquire Currency"

While this rings true, I do hope you're joking.

 

[Verum]

To ensure my motivations for medicine were clear, I started my PS as follows:

A wise man once said "Disregard Females, Acquire Currency"

Don't you mean "Disregard females, acquire MD?"

 

[911 Turbo]

"It was a cold, rainy, Friday night when I sat down to watch my very first episode of House, MD"

Thats how I'm going to start mine

 

[theseeker4]

"'It's never lupus.' The misunderstood physician genius seemed to be talking to me through my TV, and even though I knew House couldn't see me, I felt a chill. At that moment, I knew I was destined to save lives by becoming a doctor."

 

[911 Turbo]

"'It's never lupus.' The misunderstood physician genius seemed to be talking to me through my TV, and even though I knew House couldn't see me, I felt a chill. At that moment, I knew I was destined to save lives by becoming a doctor."

 

[Claudin]

The way I feel about personal statements is that there are only so many ways you can tell your story... so its inevitable that those themes listed by LizzyM will be used over and over and over again.

 

[alerk323]

The way I feel about personal statements is that there are only so many ways you can tell your story... so its inevitable that those themes listed by LizzyM will be used over and over and over again.

As it will be in mine...

damn you LizzyM...damn you....

 

[jHustle]

While this rings true, I do hope you're joking.

No joke bro...I even ended my PS with the quote by a famous poet, "To Live in Die in L.A," in order to put more emphasis on my desire to stay in California.

 

[PreMedOrDead]

I asked LizzyM in a message what she thinks the most overused personal statement openers are and she responded:

"The most overdone seem to be: 1) lights and sirens screenplay type openings about an exciting medical experience on an ambulance, 2) witnessing an injury, illness or death and feeling helpless, 3) expressing that if a loved one had gotten better care, they would not have died,(or if they had been informed about risk they wouldn't have done dangerous things like smoke cigarettes), 4) a description of a personal injury (often a sports injury) inspiring one's decision to pursue medicine -- particularly with an interest in orthpaedics, 5) being attracted to medicine from infancy and never considering any other profession.

Also, starting with a quote from a book, movie, poem, etc is usually pretty cheesy."

If it speaks to your reasons for pursuing medicine and you can't think of any other way to start, maybe just use it. Otherwise, try something a little more creative?

Son of a %*&#$.

Edit:
But in all honesty, it's difficult not to fall in this very general spectrum of 'overdone' themes at some point. How would an AdCom view you as knowledgeable of the field if you never saw an emergency setting (1), you never got hurt (4), none of your family has ever been hospitalized (3), none of your loved ones was ever hurt in your presence (2) or you don't have a passion for the field (5)? I mean there's ways to sugar coat things and avoid directly addressing these as their overused counterparts, but remember plenty of people get in with these personal statements. Just don't buy fully into one of those themes, as I can see that getting quite abusively annoying after a while. Talk about your experiences.

Also, mine begins with a quote. It is a pretty good technique for 'story' type PS's, but no it is not unique at all. I would suggest keeping it to lesser-known quotes to avoid being cliche.

 

[Wishing4MD]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate it! 🙂

 

[TheMightySmiter]

The way I feel about personal statements is that there are only so many ways you can tell your story... so its inevitable that those themes listed by LizzyM will be used over and over and over again.

There are only so many common reasons one chooses to go into medicine to begin with. The key is writing about your non-unique motivations in a personal and interesting manner. Write what you feel and about events as they actually happened, because it's painfully obvious when you've written something that you believe adcoms want to hear.

 

[CodeBlu]

My personal statement went something like this.

I was born with a medical condition, I have hyperawesomeness. I suffer from an excess of haters, but it's ok, I will survive and continue to ball so hard.

 

[Wishing4MD]

My personal statement went something like this.

I was born with a medical condition, I have hyperawesomeness. I suffer from an excess of haters, but it's ok, I will survive and continue to ball so hard.

That was bad *****

 

[management]

To ensure my motivations for medicine were clear, I started my PS as follows:

A wise man once said "Disregard Females, Acquire Currency"

I see what you did there my friend.

 

[Claudin]

There are only so many common reasons one chooses to go into medicine to begin with. The key is writing about your non-unique motivations in a personal and interesting manner. Write what you feel and about events as they actually happened, because it's painfully obvious when you've written something that you believe adcoms want to hear.

I agree. But the stuff you have on your PS will always be limited by your life experience. And for most premeds (including me), our experiences will not likely to be much different. We have all done clinical volunteering, we have all injured ourselves, and so our interpretations of that experience, no matter how personal, will be similar.

I just hope that when an adcom reads my PS, they will think that it's a simple and honest one. An average PS is all I'm aiming for 😳

 

[EnergyDrink]

From what I hear, don't do it unless it's important.

Being said, I just drafted an intro where I quote someone else. I feel like I did so justifiably.

I linked it as an image because I'd rather have it not pop up in search engines because the examples are true, and I don't want someone thinking its the proper way to do things.

http://i.imgur.com/21rea.png

I'm interested to hear what people think. I haven't really proofread or edited it, so the word choices aren't optimal.

 

[ucsfstudents]

I agree. It depends on the quote. Don't use a long quote, and nothing cheesy or funny or with negative connotations.

 

[vayntraubinator]

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know"

 

[TheMightySmiter]

My personal statement went something like this.

I was born with a medical condition, I have hyperawesomeness. I suffer from an excess of haters, but it's ok, I will survive and continue to ball so hard.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbKOEJIcIKI[/YOUTUBE]

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know"

Thats ironic.