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Two Notes on Sensitivity:
1. Don’t make others small. In the Work and Activities section, we cautioned you against using language that places patients beneath you. (Go back and read that section.)Honestly, some applicants who make this mistake are jerks. They use language that glorifies themselves and belittles patients, classmates, and colleagues all the time and therefore don’t realize that there’s anything wrong with using it in their Personal Statement. But many applicants are trying so hard to cast themselves as benevolent that they miss the fact that they’re casting others as nothing but the lucky receivers of their gifts. When you’re writing about how you related to patients or someone you helped, you’re writing about an exchange you had with a peer.
2. Don’t be a label maker. This means watch how you use the word “the,” and you’re going to have to flip the order of words sometimes when writing about those with physical or mental illness. For example, instead of saying “the schizophrenic” to refer to a patient population, you’d write “patients with schizophrenia.” This is a fairly new rule inwriting, a correction that was a long time coming. Avoiding this mistake often means using the passive voice—and you get a pass for doing so in these cases. You are sacrificing conciseness to show respect. By the way, admissions teams will take notice.
Interested in learning more? Check out Apply Point's offerings here.
1. Don’t make others small. In the Work and Activities section, we cautioned you against using language that places patients beneath you. (Go back and read that section.)Honestly, some applicants who make this mistake are jerks. They use language that glorifies themselves and belittles patients, classmates, and colleagues all the time and therefore don’t realize that there’s anything wrong with using it in their Personal Statement. But many applicants are trying so hard to cast themselves as benevolent that they miss the fact that they’re casting others as nothing but the lucky receivers of their gifts. When you’re writing about how you related to patients or someone you helped, you’re writing about an exchange you had with a peer.
2. Don’t be a label maker. This means watch how you use the word “the,” and you’re going to have to flip the order of words sometimes when writing about those with physical or mental illness. For example, instead of saying “the schizophrenic” to refer to a patient population, you’d write “patients with schizophrenia.” This is a fairly new rule inwriting, a correction that was a long time coming. Avoiding this mistake often means using the passive voice—and you get a pass for doing so in these cases. You are sacrificing conciseness to show respect. By the way, admissions teams will take notice.
Interested in learning more? Check out Apply Point's offerings here.
