Do you think writing a personal statement for medical school is daunting? Well, it might be so, but with some helpful tips, you can write an excellent personal statement for med school without much difficulty encountered by other applicants. KU has some tips that could help you make the task a whole a lot easier to bear. Here are some of them:
Make your personal statement for med school personal
According to KU:
Don’t derive your statement from a friend’s essay, or an example from a website, and don’t use quotes or cliches. Use your own words!
Your statement of purpose should be about you, and there’s no easy way out of this. You cannot simply borrow other people’s works and present them as your own. That would be plagiarism, and this has serious repercussions on your application once caught. Instead, write about your own experiences. And most importantly write through your own voice.
Organize your ideas
Another tip says:
Let your structure flow from the content you have chosen. Many essays use both time and another type of element, e.g., a chronology of personal stories, life changing events, places you’ve lived, important activities, influential people, or recurring themes.
If you organize your ideas and sentences, your readers will find your essay easy to read and understand. A well-organized essay will make the readers remember it well. It will highlight your arguments and your essay would appear more persuasive.
Here’s another excerpt:
Saying you want to help people and like science just scratches the surface. It doesn’t differentiate you from any of the other candidates who are applying, and doesn’t differentiate the role you desire from the countless other careers that involve helping with science. What can you do as a member of the profession that you could not do in other professions?
Your essay should be self-reflective. Don’t be shallow. The admissions panel wants a mature mind that does not just dwell on the surface of things. Take your discussions to a deeper level, one that best exhibits the use of critical thinking.
Remember that:
Admission committee members are looking for a passion for the profession. One way to convey your passion, is to use emotional language. Write and talk about your feelings!
Your essay is the best way to share your passion. Your passion will tell readers how eager you must be to become a doctor or to specialize in a specific field of medicine. This can also be a way to appeal to the emotional side of your readers who might relate to your passion and enthusiasm.
Purdue OWL has this advice regarding personal statement writing:
Type and proofread your essay very carefully. Many admissions officers say that good written skills and command of correct use of language are important to them as they read these statements. Express yourself clearly and concisely. Adhere to stated word limits.
Writing a personal statement for medical school shouldn’t be too difficult. Just follow the tips above. Make your essay personal, organize your ideas well, show your passion, and be meticulous. These will pave the road to admission success.
