What to write for a personal statement?

[dobber]

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Well the title is pretty self explanatory... Can I use one personal statement for all schools im applying to? Or does it depend on the school?

 

[SamuraiIAmurai]

You can only submit one personal statement to OTCAS, so it has to be generic for all the schools that you are applying to through them. Some schools have supplemental essays as well. Unless the essay was very school specific or unique, I used the same personal statement, but I do think personal statements are very important for your application to some schools.

 

[mlc54]

Well the title is pretty self explanatory... Can I use one personal statement for all schools im applying to? Or does it depend on the school?

For most of the schools I applied to, I was able to use the same personal statement. For others, I had to change it around/cut it down a little because of maximum word requirements ("In a personal statement of 500 words or less...") or because of questions that they asked to guide you (and I wanted to make sure I answered the questions).

As far as what to write:
- Why OT?
- What qualities about yourself would make you a great OT?
- What are your future career plans (what setting would you like to be in? School, SNF, hospital, inpatient/outpatient rehab, pediatrics, geriatrics, etc)?
- Is there any personal connection/motivation you have that got you interested in OT?
- What do you want programs to know about you as a person/student (that isn't already included in your application)?

Those are some of the questions I used to guide myself when writing my personal statement. Hope it helps! Good luck 😀

 

[rcludo]

Does anyone know how long the OTCAS personal statement can be? I think I remember reading only a page, or something like that?

 

[mlc54]

Does anyone know how long the OTCAS personal statement can be? I think I remember reading only a page, or something like that?

I just went to look, it says 7500 characters (NOT words)

 

[reb0rn75]

My OTCAS essay was 996 words, and I still had room to write a little more. Other schools had different limits, and when I applied to Columbia, their question was a little different so I tailored my essay to them.