I thought I would start to do a rough draft of my PS and was wondering if there should be a specific format.
I was thinking about writing about “why I am pursuing medicine” and also “why I am pursuing medicine at my age.”
Any suggestions or hints?
What, nothing?
Well, I put together a first draft and was hoping that someone might read it and give me some feedback. maybe?
If you send it to me, I will read it after Friday but not before next Wednesday.
Thanks, Gabe. I’ll forward that to your mailbox. Totally understand (best of luck on your COMLEX), and I’m not under any time frame as positive. I just want to know what I might need to expand on and what I might need to just delete.
Thanks!
Kris
I read somewhere on here that maybe us non-trads shouldn’t mention our age in our interviews and/or statements…someone correct me if I’m wrong…
Do you think they won’t notice? LOL. J/K. I try to not bring up my age. Nice being with 18 year olds, one can pretend that one is still 18. *sigh.
Actually, I got some real good advice from madkasia. When I rewrote my PS, I didn’t mention my age at all but my experiences which were a little more than a traditional student might have.
Always looking for new readers to help me get my PS in the best light, if anyone is interest.
I am in agreement with not highlighting your weaknesses. I just recently had to completely throw out one of my essays, because it addressed a weakness that had not been resolved (my MCAT score). Although many of my friends and family members thought it showed great determination to succeed. However, dean of admissions at my local med school thought it should not be mentioned at all. He said, “DO NOT ADDRESS YOUR WEAKNESSES, UNLESS THEY HAVE BEEN RESOLVED.” If there is a weakness, you want to explain let admission ask you a question about it.
Only highlight your strenghtens. You are suppose to be showing that inspite of your frailities you are an excellent candidate for medical school. Shine brightly with your strong points.
Im not saying do not show your struggles and challenges in life that you have overcome. Do not point to your age, you have not overcome that?!?! Have you?
Think about this…Let say as your application is being reviewed they notice your age, but they continue to review your application and see all your hard work and dedication, then when they get to one of your essays you are pointing back to your age which may not had been an issue by the time they had reviewed your application. But, you just reminded them that you are older than most.
Show how your life experience and maturity are an asset to who you are. Your age is may or may not be an asset.
Best wishes…
Thanks! Actually, Kasia shed that light on me when I did my first PS.
Since then, I’ve written a new one, had done multiple edits, and have gotten very good reviews. Two that made me really happy because one was one of the doctors I work with, and the other is a biology professor who also at one time was on an admissions committee.
The only way I would change any of that now is if I don’t get right into med school next year, and I need to add some more personal development in it. I’m hoping not!
Thank you for posting that link!
Arghhh, I am so disappointed! I spent weeks working on my PS, with lots of guidance and feedback from friends and writers and recent MD grads, and finally had something I thought was pretty effective at explaining A) Why medicine vs anything else and B) Why I am a good candidate.
I just gave it to my SMP adviser, though, and she said I’d fallen into the “trap” of explaining my career path. Instead, she said I should find one completely unique quality/interest of mine, something that makes my eyes “light up” and write about that (ie, my undergrad work in bioethics). She also added that my snagging an interview is going to depend on having a scintillating essay (so no pressure!).
I don’t know… aside from the fact that most of this process has killed the “light” in my eyes 
, I am not sure this is the best strategy for someone who needs to convince an adcom that I have a stronger science background than my numbers indicate. Thoughts?
Hey jlr,
First of all, do not let that “light” die and don’t let anyone let it die, including your SMP advisor.
While yes, your PS is important because it will give the adcoms a more dimension view of who you are, it isn’t the most important. There are going to be many facets to your application. If it were me personally, I would continue to have others view your current PS…are you close to any of your professors, past or present?
Have you had any one here read your PS? I’ve great respect for many of them, and Kasia (Thank you!) really set me on the right path.
DON’T LET ANYONE BLOW OUT YOUR LIGHT!!!
Not to mention that many medical schools send out secondaries regardless of the PS, which will enable you to delve more into different things that particular school is interested.
I’m sure that there are some advisors that help, but unfortunately they seem to be far and few behind.
Hi Kris,
Thanks for the support - this particular adviser is someone whom I trust very much, but I did also give it to Kasia who echoed her statements!
Like most people, I have a more vibrant personality and speaking style than my writing conveys, which is I guess what my adviser was trying to steer me towards (I think she said the words should have as much passion as my voice). Unfortunately, I am very dry writer, and “expository with anecdotes” seems to be the best I can pull off.
Is it more important to keep searching for that killer “hook”, or should I submit before mid-July regardless? It’s not bad, it’s just not brilliant. 
Submit. You can tinker endlessly with this thing and not be satisfied… if there is one person who knows you well, who has NOT read it, show it to him/her, ask if it does a good job of conveying your essence, and if so --> send it in.
Mary
- jlr18 Said:
Hi Kris,
Thanks for the support - this particular adviser is someone whom I trust very much, but I did also give it to Kasia who echoed her statements!
Like most people, I have a more vibrant personality and speaking style than my writing conveys, which is I guess what my adviser was trying to steer me towards (I think she said the words should have as much passion as my voice). Unfortunately, I am very dry writer, and "expository with anecdotes" seems to be the best I can pull off.
Is it more important to keep searching for that killer "hook", or should I submit before mid-July regardless? It's not bad, it's just not brilliant.
Thanks for the support - this particular adviser is someone whom I trust very much, but I did also give it to Kasia who echoed her statements!
Like most people, I have a more vibrant personality and speaking style than my writing conveys, which is I guess what my adviser was trying to steer me towards (I think she said the words should have as much passion as my voice). Unfortunately, I am very dry writer, and "expository with anecdotes" seems to be the best I can pull off.
Is it more important to keep searching for that killer "hook", or should I submit before mid-July regardless? It's not bad, it's just not brilliant.
When you showed it to others who stated they liked it, what kind of comments did they give? Do you think they were being sincere or just wanted not to hurt your feelings? Because if they were sincere...send it in...because it hooked them, if not, ask them for their feedback for good or bad.
Kasia gave me some great advice on how to format my PS, and then I gave it to a some of the nurses I work with (and friendly with). I was afraid that some of them, having big hearts wouldn't want to hurt my feelings if something wasn't coming through right. I gave them explicit instructions to be critical, because I would rather hear the criticism now then later. I also have a friend that after home-schooling two of her kids who were also cross-enrolling in college writing classes to read it and help me to get it flowing nicely...which she did! My final two readers was a biology instructor I had who used to be on a medical admissions committee a few years back, and one of the doctors I work with...I got some very positive comments...I'm done....
I have to revisit that point about writing about something that highlights your unique quality. There are thousands of applicants with the same “career path” type essay and the whole idea of standing out is to, well - stand out.
I would also assume that the “best” feedback, rather than people simply saying they “like it” or they “think it’s great” (which doesnt offer much) is to offer your PS to people who you dont know on a personal level (i mean family members, very close friends etc). I think that really compromises the unbiased critique that will do you the most good.
“Do not address your weaknesses unless they have been resolved” - great point, Jobusch. That answered many questions I had about what to include in my PS and to what extent… There are, after all, a few things I can leave out that might do me more harm than good.