What's the worst thing you can write in a PS?

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Both arrogance and elitism. Both are worse.

But really, any sense of entitlement that comes across when I am reading PS's strikes me as a red flag. It'll be interesting to see what the adcoms have to say. I bet they've read some insane stuff.
 
PatchA said:
I bet they've read some insane stuff.
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Only an MS-1, but this is a true story: I had a classmate in undergrad who wrote about how having a dog taught him the responsibility and dedication necessary to become an "phenomenal physician". His parents paid for the dog, the apartment the dog lived in, and for all of the dog's vet bills.

Where is he now? Pursuing a PhD in Bio.
 
sb247 said:
I'm mad that this thread is worst things we've seen and not the worst that could be done so I'll answer the better question...

"Now I'm not a racist but when you really think about it......"
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intelligent.png
 
The worse thing for me are multiple typos and carelessness. A typical example is a line like "...and that's why I'd like to attend ABCCOM"

Except I'm on faculty at XYZCOM

If someone is that careless about something as important as a med school app, what will they be like with patient's charts?????

Other Adcoms have noted arrogance as being lethal in a PS

hubbsbubbs said:
Arrogance, elitism, or just being annoying? What's the worst thing you've read in a personal statement?
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As a PS editor, I regularly see two kinds of bad aside from poor spelling/grammar. The first is egotism, usually coupled with a sense of entitlement and a shallow understanding of medicine. The second is absurdity - like the dog example posted above. Some PSs make me cringe.
 
sb247 said:
I'm mad that this thread is worst things we've seen and not the worst that could be done so I'll answer the better question...

"Now I'm not a racist but when you really think about it......"
Click to expand...
"I mean, we can all agree Hitler was a bad guy, but you've got to admit he had a few good ideas..."
 
Emphasizing certain specialties (*cough* *cough* any surgery *cough* *cough*) too much. Friend of mine only talked about wanting to be a neurosurgeon in the PS and got grilled at interviews for this and did little to make up for this fact. From anecdotal evidence and experience it seems like many schools want you to show you're open-minded to other specialties and many schools like people interested in primary care, and it's almost certain that you will at least consider another specialty in med school so be careful when treading these waters
 
freak7 said:
People trying to write it like a work of fiction. Nothing I dislike reading more than those cheesy "hooks" that grab you and fling you into the middle of a story where you know none of the characters or who is talking.
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I have read a few of those that actually work really well, but the story is short and apropos, and more importantly doesn't just thrust you into a story you don't care about. I actually wrote my ps like that, and it got very good feedback from all my reviewers.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
I have read a few of those that actually work really well, but the story is short and apropos, and more importantly doesn't just thrust you into a story you don't care about. I actually wrote my ps like that, and it got very good feedback from all my reviewers.
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Yeah I'm more talking about the ones that read like the opening scene of a TNG episode where everything is chaos before the theme song starts.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
I have read a few of those that actually work really well, but the story is short and apropos, and more importantly doesn't just thrust you into a story you don't care about. I actually wrote my ps like that, and it got very good feedback from all my reviewers.
Click to expand...

I did the same thing and also got really positive feedback. I think you just have to be careful that the story is relevant/to the point, not out of nowhere, and that it is rooted in reality. I heard an ADCOM say to avoid being overdramatic, and I think that is hella key. My quick anecdote is me basically answering a simple call light as a lead in to my experience as a CNA at a nursing home. Not at all exciting, but it was a useful starting point for me.

Edit: freak7 beat me in posting, but I agree with him.
 
A common mistake actual people make is that they write their PS in a manner than any school wouldn't consider them because they know they won't go there. An example (fictional) is if a person writes about how he started teaching his surf club CPR, every school outside of Cali and Florida wouldn't consider him for a secondary because they know he wouldn't be a good fit.

I personally know I screwed up my Medical College of Wisconsin interview by saying I wouldn't like living in Milwaukee. I've also rejected people when I interviewed them for similar things.
 
tessellations said:
I did the same thing and also got really positive feedback. I think you just have to be careful that the story is relevant/to the point, not out of nowhere, and that it is rooted in reality. I heard an ADCOM say to avoid being overdramatic, and I think that is hella key. My quick anecdote is me basically answering a simple call light as a lead in to my experience as a CNA at a nursing home. Not at all exciting, but it was a useful starting point for me.

Edit: freak7 beat me in posting, but I agree with him.
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Rule #47: A Star Trek reference is always the fastest way to get a point across.
 
freak7 said:
Yeah I'm more talking about the ones that read like the opening scene of a TNG episode where everything is chaos before the theme song starts.
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Medicine: the most honorable profession. This is the aspiration of undergrad science majors across the country. Our future mission: to explore strange new diseases; to seek out new drugs and new therapies; to boldly learn what no one has learned before.
 
What's especially bad is the desire for the sexy specialties without having any exposure to them. The starry-eyed get weeded out pretty quickly.


buckeyegal1129 said:
Emphasizing certain specialties (*cough* *cough* any surgery *cough* *cough*) too much. Friend of mine only talked about wanting to be a neurosurgeon in the PS and got grilled at interviews for this and did little to make up for this fact. From anecdotal evidence and experience it seems like many schools want you to show you're open-minded to other specialties and many schools like people interested in primary care, and it's almost certain that you will at least consider another specialty in med school so be careful when treading these waters
Click to expand...
 
I cost myself a teaching job when, during a lunch on an interview at a UG school, the Biology Chair asked me what I thought of teaching and I told her that "it wasn't a calling"

Perversely, as soon as I started teaching med students, I knew I found my niche!


Jalby said:
I personally know I screwed up my Medical College of Wisconsin interview by saying I wouldn't like living in Milwaukee. I've also rejected people when I interviewed them for similar things.
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hubbsbubbs said:
Arrogance, elitism, or just being annoying? What's the worst thing you've read in a personal statement?
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  • I want to go into medicine to make a lot of money. (Pretty obvious--and a bad idea in general.)
  • My parent(s) are doctors, so...
  • I knew with certainty I wanted to be a physician at the age of five when... (My six year old would have no idea what it means to be a physician.)
Just a few that came to mind based on some I've read throughout the last decade. Many of the other examples here are good, too.
 
I once read a PS that managed to dribble on for 18 pages without actually saying anything. It was impressive. But his mom liked it.

And then told him to restart from scratch.
 
Nietzsche's Barber said:
Only an MS-1, but this is a true story: I had a classmate in undergrad who wrote about how having a dog taught him the responsibility and dedication necessary to become an "phenomenal physician". His parents paid for the dog, the apartment the dog lived in, and for all of the dog's vet bills.

Where is he now? Pursuing a PhD in Bio.
Click to expand...
His dog had his own apartment? How rich was he?
 
akinetopsia said:
"I like science and I want to help people."
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I would imagine that every PS strives to convey these two points. It's obviously better to illustrate a point than to baldly assert it. But surely saying you like science and want to help people is not the worst thing one can write in their PS.
 
I knew I was not stupid in school, especially in science. I knew it when I got a 110 percent on my first physiology exam.

My grandmother passed in March of 2012. I saw it and I was there for the last breath. But I knew the underlining reasons and I understood. From seeing her go from the talkative little granny with the potato farm to too sedated to the point that she could not walk up, my heart raced to help the Hospice nurse stabilize her. It was adrenaline and learning all in one.
 
Saifa said:
I knew I was not stupid in school, especially in science. I knew it when I got a 110 percent on my first physiology exam.

My grandmother passed in March of 2012. I saw it and I was there for the last breath. But I knew the underlining reasons and I understood. From seeing her go from the talkative little granny with the potato farm to too sedated to the point that she could not walk up, my heart raced to help the Hospice nurse stabilize her. It was adrenaline and learning all in one.
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Mind if I copy and paste this into my PS?
 
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