U of T personal statement: straight-forward or story-teller style?

[Charms]

i'm trying to start my essay, but i'm not sure how to go about it... straight forward? or "story teller" (as i like to call it). the former has the obvious advantage of being short on words and to the point (which i'm sure would be appreciated by some people...) but the latter has the advantage of being more interesting and maybe standing out more (which i'm sure would be appreciated by others)..

 

any advice would be much appreciated. thanks =)

[bustylegs]

Hi Charms:

 

I personally went with the "story-telling" style with my U of T essay.

 

In my opinion, story-telling style definitely has the advantage of grabbing someone's attention right away, provided that the first paragraph was interesting and sounds genuine. For example, I started my essay with: "The morgue at Mount Sinai Hospital reeked of dried blood and formalin." (For those of your that reviewed applications last year, if you recognize the essay... it's me )

 

From the reviewer's point of view, I think a story-styled essay will give them a break from all the other standard essays, and plus everyone's story is different, so it'll be a fun read anyway.

 

Just make sure that you are telling a story about YOU, be genuine, use words that reflect who you are, and do NOT make stuff up or blow things out of proportion.... the reviewers are too simply seasoned to be fooled by the fake ones and will only japedize your success!

 

Just my two cents. Good luck!

[peachy]

i'm trying to start my essay, but i'm not sure how to go about it... straight forward? or "story teller" (as i like to call it). the former has the obvious advantage of being short on words and to the point (which i'm sure would be appreciated by some people...) but the latter has the advantage of being more interesting and maybe standing out more (which i'm sure would be appreciated by others)..

I think that substance is more important than style. Worry about the content, about the message that you want to send, about the way in which you want to portray yourself. If you do a good job on that part, it won't matter whether it is "straight forward" or "story teller". They aren't marking your writing, they are marking your suitability for medicine based on your essay.

[Ollie]

I did file review last year and I must say that I was very disspointed in many of the essays I read (of course there were good ones too). I agree with Peachy that style is not that important. Some people just went with the chronological approach and some went with the more story-like approach. However I would say that your writing itself is important in terms of grammar (don't try to use big impressive words unless you are sure you are using them correctly) and "flow". I read a couple of essays that just jumped all over the place and were hard to follow. Very annoying. If you are going to go with the creative approach, don't go to crazy. Sometimes people get a little to in to their story at the expense of writing about themselves.

 

Another important thing to remember is that UofT does have guidelines for the essay. READ THEM, FOLLOW THEM!!! I was amazed at the number of people who apparently disregarded the guidelines. For example, not discussing their choice of premedical studies.

 

Something that would seem obvious to me but apparently some people found unnecessary to discuss was why they want to be a doctor. A lot of people went on at length about why they would be a great doctor and how all their activities really helped them learn about the profession but never ever mentioned what their initial motivation to pursue medicine was.

 

Also annoying is what I will call "stretching". By this I mean trying to get a little to much mileage out of an experience. For example, discussing how a particular volunteering experience was so instrumental in your decision to apply to medicine, but when I take a little gander at your sketch, you've only been volunteering there since 2 months before the application was due.

 

I think in general that applicants seem to underestimate the importance of the essay. You essay can really set you apart, because honestly most applicants are quite similar wrt grades and EC's. So don't ignore it!

[Kuantum]

I did file review last year and I must say that I was very disspointed in many of the essays I read (of course there were good ones too). I agree with Peachy that style is not that important. Some people just went with the chronological approach and some went with the more story-like approach. However I would say that your writing itself is important in terms of grammar (don't try to use big impressive words unless you are sure you are using them correctly) and "flow". I read a couple of essays that just jumped all over the place and were hard to follow. Very annoying. If you are going to go with the creative approach, don't go to crazy. Sometimes people get a little to in to their story at the expense of writing about themselves.

 

Another important thing to remember is that UofT does have guidelines for the essay. READ THEM, FOLLOW THEM!!! I was amazed at the number of people who apparently disregarded the guidelines. For example, not discussing their choice of premedical studies.

 

Something that would seem obvious to me but apparently some people found unnecessary to discuss was why they want to be a doctor. A lot of people went on at length about why they would be a great doctor and how all their activities really helped them learn about the profession but never ever mentioned what their initial motivation to pursue medicine was.

 

Also annoying is what I will call "stretching". By this I mean trying to get a little to much mileage out of an experience. For example, discussing how a particular volunteering experience was so instrumental in your decision to apply to medicine, but when I take a little gander at your sketch, you've only been volunteering there since 2 months before the application was due.

 

I think in general that applicants seem to underestimate the importance of the essay. You essay can really set you apart, because honestly most applicants are quite similar wrt grades and EC's. So don't ignore it!

 

Awesome advice...anything else for us hopefuls?