Creating Your Personal Statement workshops are held each spring in OCS.
See the schedule.
Below is a list of sections with details on how to create your Personal Statement:
DETAILS ON CREATING A PERSONAL STATEMENT
Getting Started
Questions to ask before beginning...
- What is the purpose of the personal statement?
- What will make the admissions committee want to meet you?
- What details in your life might help you create your personal statement?
- Have you faced any obstacles in your life (for example, economic, familial, or physical)? How did you handle these?
- How have you been influenced by certain events and people?
- How do you know - not simply why do you know – that you want to be a doctor?
- How has your interest in medicine changed and developed over time?
- Recall a time when you had a positive impact on another person. How did you and the person change as a result?
- What are your goals? Why are they important to you?
- What were major turning points or decisions in your life?
Feeling stuck?
- Pretend you are writing to a friend, not an admissions committee.
- Ask a family member or friend which qualities or experiences they think distinguish you from other applicants.
- Tell a story using concrete examples.
- Develop a theme that unites your essay.
- Think of two or three personality characteristics that you feel are your strengths and would help you succeed in medicine: teamwork, leadership, initiative, cooperation, etc. What have you done that demonstrates you have these qualities?
- "Free write" without editing to get started.
Writing the Statement
Do...
- Tell a story.
- Make it interesting. Use specific examples and anecdotes.
- Provide information, insight, or a perspective that is not included elsewhere in your application.
- Be clear about your message - no need to begin with quotes or introduction.
- Describe experiences in terms of what they mean to you. Make sure the reader learns about you, not just the experiences.
- Ask family and friends for feedback. Ask "does this sound like me?"
- Use strong action verbs and vivid images.
- Be concise. Make sure every sentence needs to be there.
- Illustrate your personality.
- Describe what you learned in your research, not the details of the specific research project (unless writing the MD/PhD essay).
- Allow plenty of time to write, revise, reflect, revise. etc. Step away often so you can revisit your essay with fresh eyes.
- Proofread. Spell checking will will not catch everything! Then, proofread again.
Don't...
- Just list or summarize your activities. This is not a resume.
- Try to impress the reader with the use of formal or “fancy” language.
- Tell the reader that you are compassionate, motivated, intelligent, curious, dedicated, unique, different than most candidates, etc.
- Focus only on childhood experiences.
- Use slang or forced analogies.
- Lecture the reader - about what's wrong with medicine, what doctors should be like, why medicine is changing, etc.
- Make excuses for poor grades.
- Begin every sentence or paragraph with "I".
- Overwork the essay to the point where you lose your own voice.
- Make it your premier creative writing piece.
- Use generalizations and cliches.
- Solicit the advice of too many people.
- Assume you can share everything there is to know about you. This is not possible and will only dilute the impact of your message.
Opportunities to Write
- Personal Comments: This space is for your Personal Statement. (Limited to 5300 characters or one full page)
- Institutional Action: If you answer "yes" to this question, you must include an explanation. (Limited to 1325 characters or approximately 1/4 page)
- Felony: If you answer "yes" to this question, you must include an explanation. (Limited to 1325 characters or approximately 1/4 page)
- MD/PhD: Two essays: 1) Reasons for wishing to pursue combined MD/PhD degree. (Limited to 3000 characters) and 2) describe significant research experiences including supervisor, nature of problem studied, contribution to project. (Limited to 10,000 characters)
- Secondaries:
- How you dealt with a difficult moral or ethical situation.
- Clinical/volunteer activity where had an impact on someone’s life.
- Aspect of X med school program that interests you.
- Choice of undergraduate school and major.
- Rewarding experience or ach3eivemnet.
- How environment in which lived influenced desire to pursue medicine
- Interest other than medicine.
- How contribute to diversity of student body.
- Optional: Additional information wish to provide admissions committee that may be important in evaluation of candidacy.
Resources
