Writing a Personal Statement

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>D is a rising senior and part of the Rice/Baylor program. Although it is allowed, she is not applying to other schools (after reading Curm's thread on this topic I continually thank my lucky stars - WOW.)</p>

<p>She is, however, required to complete the application and other paperwork and must submit a Personal Statement by 8/31. I told her I would come here and seek real-world "how to write a personal statement" advice on her behalf. I read these forums and send her threads to read all the time, but she's never posted.</p>

<p>Any words of wisdom? Thanks so much!</p>

2

<p>Tell the story of why you want to be a doctor. Avoid the usual pitfalls – things like “I always wanted” or talking about your parents buying you a Fisher-Price set. You want this to come across as a well-reasoned decision.</p>

<p>Tell stories, don’t just talk about principles. “I am committed” comes off as conceited, but “Despite the rain, I ventured out…” helps show the same thing.</p>

<p>Other than that, make it very personal. =)</p>

3

<p>Have as many people read it over as possible after every stage in your revision, and take their feedback seriously! </p>

<p>This might mean completely overhauling 1/2 of the thing, and that is okay. </p>

<p>I saved a new document every time I revised my personal statement and this has allowed me to see how drastically it has changed over the months I wrote it (for the better, I hope) as well as allowed me to have old copies of earlier revisions for reference if I needed them. </p>

<p>Personal statement writing is fun.</p>

4

<p>BDM, I hoped this would get a response from you! Many thanks!</p>

5

<p>how about i love the smell of hospitals</p>

<p>jk.</p>

<p>although, i don’t get why people hate it so much. i find nothing wrong with it.</p>

6

<p>but on a more serious note, is it a good idea to say that i can’t imagine doing anything else but be a doctor?</p>

7

<p>No. That is an extremely, extremely bad idea.</p>

8

<p>whheex:</p>

<p>That suggests that you have a very limited imagination or that you’re too lazy to look into other professions that might interest you. Neither are good messages to send to med school adcoms.</p>

9

<p>How many words is a personal statement for med school application? And how much time does it take to complete one application?</p>

10

<p>The AMCAS PS is 5300 characters including spaces, I think TMDSAS (TX) was 5000 characters.</p>

<p>Convey how you came to the decision to be a physician and how you have checked out the profession and educated yourself-shadowing, volunteering, etc. Keep it interesting and use excellent grammar and writing techniques.</p>