To end up with a competitive application, it takes a lot of revisions on your first draft. It takes more than 10 drafting and re-drafting to get the competitive edge in your personal statement. It is also advisable to have professional advisers or experts to read your work and ask them to pose questions about your personal statement. This will help you to think further and add more content to your work. This is a very helpful tip if you want to be confident that your work is proofread.
Look for grammatical flaws
Before thinking of passing your primary application, the most important thing you should never take for granted is the grammatical errors you might have committed. It is very common to see grammatical errors in essays, which have not been revised thoroughly. This could give the admissions officers a bad impression about you. They might think you?re not really interested in becoming a doctor. It is a very small error that applicants take for granted. But this small error could cost them their admission.
Check if each sentence is clear
Read and re-read your sentences. Make sure that they convey your point and that they are simple enough to be understood by a lay person. Don?t make a sentence too long. It will be confusing to the reader. Ask one of your friends to read it for you and see if he or she understands your point in every sentence. Organize the sentences so they show an organized timeline of events. This will prevent your personal statement from becoming a big jigsaw puzzle.
Make sure that all ideas are cohesive
The final thing to check is if all the ideas are telling the admissions committee one thing. It will be a mess even if your essay is grammatically incorrect or if the sentences cannot be understood easily. It all comes down to the essay as a whole. Ask yourself this: Did my essay convey the same message all throughout? It will make a great difference if the admissions committee sees nothing wrong with the grammar–all sentences are clear and concise and they all say the same thing to them. If you find there are discrepancies or irrelevant ideas, don?t be afraid to revise your quotations, words, sentences, paragraphs, or even rewrite the whole essay. Take your time and be determined to give them a perfect essay.
Related links:
Medical School Application ? Using a personal approach for med school admission essays
Personal Statement Guide ? Tips on writing a personal statement
Journalism experience – Using your journalism experience as an edge in writing personal statements
Specialization in Medicine – why discussing specializations in admission essays are important
Foreign Med Students – Guide for foreign students in applying to US med schools
Secondary application
is also a requirement for admission into med school. Just like a personal statement, it must be formal and very informative about yourself. It should bring out your true color and help the admissions committee decipher you more. After your secondary application is completed, the admissions committee should see you now as a whole person, complete from head to toe, inside and out. After all, your primary requirements have been sent. It all depends on the school you?re applying to on how they process secondary applications.
Learn more about the school and its program
It is always a good practice to know the background of the schools you?re applying to. Almost all medical schools right now have a school website, which caters to what a student needs to know about their school. But all of it can?t be found there, you need to be more aggressive about information collection. You can go personally to that school and inquire or even ask the students themselves. Read from past news and articles about the school. You can use this information as an edge later on when interviews come or when you are asked why you chose their school.
Know what they’re looking for in their students
You should be aware of what the school looks for in their students. Make sure you?ve done enough research even before applying to any school. Look at past questions and interview recent students on what kind of students the school is looking for. Read the school?s mission and vision statements. This is where the school bases their programs and the kinds of students they admit.
Tell them how you fit into the school
Making a great impression is a must, but you must also ensure that the impression you make fits the profile they are looking for in a student. After all, you?ve researched about the school, so you should know by now how well you fit in their program. Show them how your traits and character fit their programs by citing examples of what you?ve done to care for others or prepare for a medical career. Be sure to be honest at all times, and don?t just fit your self in because you need to. Stand out from the other applicants, but fit in with their programs.
Related links:
Personal Statement Tips ? Tips on writing a med school personal statement
Foreign Med Students – Guide for foreign students in applying to US med schools
Specialization in Medicine – Discussions on why specializations in admission essays are important
Med School Preparation – Reflecting in preparation for med school
Secondary Applications ? Tips in writing secondary applications for med school
There are a lot of med schools out there, but you can only choose one that best fits your interests. If you have chosen one, then it?s time to put all your efforts into getting admitted into that institution. The first thing to do is to complete your requirements. One of these requirements would include a personal statement. This can be the biggest chance you have in entering your chosen med school. This is your chance to show them how good of a physician you can be if you get admitted into their program. You should also consider scholarships and financial aids to support your education.
Say how you can be a good physician
You can have the highest MCAT out there, but you still need to prove to them how you can put that high MCAT to use by being a good physician. You can always count on your experiences to help you show the admissions committee how you can be a good doctor. You can?t tell them all your experiences though, you have to write down just relevant experiences. Choose from them the best that can describe you most and start putting down the details. The experience should show how dedicated you are to your profession. It can be your volunteer work or missions and how much you?ve sacrificed for the sake of helping others.
Explain why you want to be a doctor
This is the easiest part for you if being a doctor is what you want by heart. Just be straight to the point why you want to be one. Tell them a story that supports those reasons and all the “WHYs.” It could be humanitarian, a sick member of the family, the science involved in it, or it could be the love of your life. Don?t be too personal about your reason, just stick to the topic. You should be sincere about your reasons. Don?t just write some melodramatic story just to get their pity. You should be honest at all times and always make a point for saying such things. Discrepancies in your story can make the admissions committee doubt your credibility.
Share what you love to do and why
Be discrete and selective about the things you can share to your readers. There are lot of things you love to do that you?d love to share but it?s all about what you want them to know about you. Choose those that are related to your profession or specialty. Show them things that make you happy and whole. For instance, tell them doing volunteer work and how it makes you happy and fulfilled with your life.
Related links:
Specialization in Medicine – Discussion on why specializations in admission essays are important
Anecdotes in Essays – Using anecdotes in personal statements
Med School Essay – Tips on writing a med school personal statement
Medical School Application – Using a personal approach for med school admission essays
Admission Criteria ? How consultancy agencies can help in med school admission essays
