xClashx Posted May 17, 2014 Report Share Posted May 17, 2014 Does the personal statement generally overlap with what is in your work and activities section? For example, the question for the personal statement is why you want to go to medical school, and so if we use life experiences (work / volunteering) to show how you came upon medicine as a career path then it kind of seems like I am repeating myself. Does any one know any sites or anything that can help you critique your statement (preferably med school students). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopefulMD12 Posted May 27, 2014 Report Share Posted May 27, 2014 Do not list your resume in your personal statement. Of course you can discuss some of your extra curricular experiences, but provide another angle. In my essay, I talked about my childhood and how that inspired me to go into medicine. Whereas for the ECs, I just mentioned what I did during my college years. Send the essay to your professor or a mentor who you trust. As someone who has been through it all, I would be happy to look at it as well. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abelign Posted May 28, 2014 Report Share Posted May 28, 2014 ^Same. You'll most likely end up talking about a few things that are already on your Work/Activities section, otherwise you wouldn't include them in the first place. It's what hopefulMD12 said, you need to go at it through a different angle. Show how those life experiences sculpted your motivation for medicine. I also used some childhood experiences and that helped because it introduced elements to my essay that the admissions committee officer couldn't have seen on my Work/Activities section. Another VERY IMPORTANT thing to keep in mind is to make your personal statement into a story. I had this book that showed the personal statements of people who had been accepted at top tier schools in America and the best ones (as judged by admissions committee officers) were the ones that were interesting, insightful and FUN to read. The personal statement is your opportunity to show that passion and emotion! Bring more of that and less of the resume-type listing of credentials most applicants make the mistake of doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glucon3og3n3sis Posted May 30, 2014 Report Share Posted May 30, 2014 Could you post the name of the book? I'm working on my personal statement as well and suffering from massive writer's block Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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