The Medical School Personal Statement
Here are some basic tips for writing a great medical school personal statement:
Sell Yourself
Your main goal is to sell yourself to the medical school, but do so in a way that is not arrogant. You must strike a balance between selling them on yourself as an applicant and not sounding cocky or pompous. The mistake people often make is that they think selling themselves involves listing grades and honors. It doesn’t (see Chapter 3). Rather, it involves telling the reader about you as a person. Remember, the admissions committee already knows how you look on paper, they now want to know who you are. This is the place in your application where you have freedom. You can be humorous, you can be serious or you can be philosophical. The key is to just be yourself. Let your personality shine through.
Tell Them Why You Want To Go Into Medicine
The second goal for the personal statement is to tell the committee why you want to go into medicine. The committee needs to see your passion for medicine. While wheeling around patients while volunteering shows them something, this is your chance to really tell them why you want to go into medicine.
Keep It Readable
You will also want to keep your personal statement to a readable length and writing style. Trying to use large words and convoluted sentences to make the personal sound more impressive will only lead the reader to put the paper down.
Make It Interesting
Perhaps the most important goal of all though is to keep the personal statement interesting. Your personal statement needs to be one that keeps the readers interest throughout. Remember, medical schools admissions committees are reading hundreds of these essays. You want yours to stand out in a good way. Writing a generic personal statement may not get your rejected, but it certainly will not get you into medical school.
SUMMARY: The medical school personal statement is one of the most important factors in getting into medical school after your GPA and MCAT.
ABOUT AUTHOR: MedSchoolCoach is the US’s leading medical school admissions consulting firm with advisors who are physicians with admissions committee experience utilizing their expertise to help you get into medical school.