Worth the effort to personalize your personal statement to every program?

[Idiopathic]

It wouldnt be that much trouble, I suppose, but would it be advantageous to insert something personal in the statement that relates to each program, since you can assign different PS to each one. Like, this is why I would be a good fit at _________ U. medical center, etc. Not necessarily that blatant, but something along those lines. Any thoughts?

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[b&ierstiefel]

No. Too much effort for little reward.

 

[deschutes]

I tend to agree with Andy here.

I had just one name change to make, i.e. changing "the University of _______" to "your university" and even then I'd wonder periodically if I had assigned the Personal Statement #2 to the right program in ERAS.

 

[blue2000]

Plus programs know you're applying to multiple places, and if I were a PD I'd think "this schmo thinks he can schmooze all of us." I think it comes off a little too kiss-ass.

 

[ramonaquimby]

i guess i'm in the minority here, but i think it's totally worth IF you're sincere. otherwise, it's a crappy way to try to kiss ass. but if you 'really mean it' and have 'meaty' things to say, i think it's perfect.

 

[texdrake]

It wouldnt be that much trouble, I suppose, but would it be advantageous to insert something personal in the statement that relates to each program, since you can assign different PS to each one. Like, this is why I would be a good fit at _________ U. medical center, etc. Not necessarily that blatant, but something along those lines. Any thoughts?

No its not.

Couple things:

1. If you haven't decided on a specialy write your PS so that 80% is generic and you only have to rewrite a paragraph or two.

2. Only worth the trouble to make sure your PS is specialty specific

 

[Jalby]

During my med school application I told Mount Sinai how much I wanted to attend NYU.

 

[braxtonhicks]

I think doing it for every school would come off as excessive. I'm debating doing two versions of my PS - one targetting research heavy programs and the other geared more toward community programs. But that's the most personalizing I would do. If you are sincere and want to talk about a specific program, I would save that for thank you letters and other correspondence.

 

[14022]

My dean published a study where he gave a survey to PD's in various specialties across the country to rate the importance of various characteristics that PD's use in the ranking of applicants. "Applicant interest in the program" was the least important characteristic.

That being said, I would only consider doing this if I knew more about the program than the average applicant, i.e., I went there for medical school or an away elective. Without having first-hand knowledge of the program, it would be difficult to know that you would be a good fit in the program. First-hand knowledge is more than reading the program's mission statement on the website or reading on Frieda that they give you one week off for paternity leave.

 

[ForSkin]

i think it's absolutely important. now, being super specific and even mentioning the name of the program outright would be unnecessary. but if you are applying into a competitive residency and applying broadly, you might want to write one essay type for research heavy programs, one for clinical programs, out of state programs, in state programs, etc. while 80% of the content remains intact, you can address issues that they will inevitably have issues about.
ie. "you are from california, went to school in nyc, why are you coming to little rock/iowa/louiseville?" "you seem very research focused ... we're just a small community program."

i know that for applying in derm, writing slightly customized essays helped, and never was to my detriment.

 

[maverick_pkg]

i think it's absolutely important. now, being super specific and even mentioning the name of the program outright would be unnecessary. but if you are applying into a competitive residency and applying broadly, you might want to write one essay type for research heavy programs, one for clinical programs, out of state programs, in state programs, etc. while 80% of the content remains intact, you can address issues that they will inevitably have issues about.
ie. "you are from california, went to school in nyc, why are you coming to little rock/iowa/louiseville?" "you seem very research focused ... we're just a small community program."

i know that for applying in derm, writing slightly customized essays helped, and never was to my detriment.

going slightly off track, suppose you did some away rotation somewhere, and had a profound experience that u wanna mention or stuff that you learnt that u wanna mention then is it allright to name the place? suppose I am applying to hospital 'xyz' and write that I learnt a particular procedure at 'abc' ivy league univ hospital or did my sub-I at such and such place?

 

[GenSurg]

I knew someone who personalized every PS for orthopedic surgery, approx 45 schools. She went to the websites and found out if the program spelled ortho as orthopaedic or orthopedic.

Way to high maintenance. Just write one PS for each different residency and call it good. Most people will be fine as long as you apply to a good number of programs.

http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=20049323

 

[blocks]

Not worth it. Your personal statement is about you, not them. Just float your story out there, and let them decide if you would be a good fit/you meet their minimum standards for interview. Besides, how much do you really know about a program before you see it in person to say in your PS that you'd be a good fit? Sounds a litttle brown-nosey.

The time to bring that type of stuff up is in the interview. Then it will appear as though you have done your homework, not like you are buttering someone up. After going through the process this year, I am inclined to believe that the vast majority of programs don't read your PS until shortly before your interview, anyways.

 

[LovelyRita]

During my med school application I told Mount Sinai how much I wanted to attend NYU.

That's hillarious. And my worst nightmare. One of my programs I'm applying to requires a statement as to why you're interested in their program.

Funny thing is, I could still insert the name of any program into that part of the PS.

And of course I'm afraid that somehow program X is going to accidently see how interested I am in program Y.

Somebody kill me right now.

 

[bigfrank]

Dr. Mary C ------ I like your signature.

 

[Blessedone]

Please don't waste your time trying to personalize each statement by school. By the time your on your 6th interview, you'll start forgetting what you wrote anyway. Just use all of that specialized stuff in yourinterview or correspoding emails, etc...

 

[LovelyRita]

Dr. Mary C ------ I like your signature.

Likewise! I have that book on my shelf.