A medical school personal statement is a crucial part of the application process, providing personal information to humanize the application. It should be clear, concise, engaging, and interesting, highlighting unique experiences and fitting with the school’s mission. Avoid overused lines and slang language, and ask a friend to proofread.
A medical school personal statement is an important component of a medical school application, providing information about the candidate designed to illustrate why the candidate would be suitable for a particular program. The purpose of the statement should be to set the candidate apart from a group of other candidates and intrigue the admissions committee enough to request an interview. Strategies for medical school personal statements should revolve around keeping the statement clear, concise, engaging, and interesting.
Other parts of a medical school application provide information about academic history, test scores, research participation, and other matters relevant to the admissions committee. The medical school personal statement gives the applicant the opportunity to provide personal information, humanizing the application and creating an image to accompany the numbers and notes. It can be a good place to surface interesting elements of the candidate’s personal history and the reasons why the candidate wants to study medicine.
It may help to start a medical school personal statement by jotting down a few ideas. Candidates can think about why they are applying to medical schools and what they want to do with their degrees, as this can provide some material for the personal statement. Someone who wants to work in developing countries, for example, should definitely mention this in the application. If an important personal experience made the applicant want to pursue medicine, that would also be important information to add.
Candidates should also think about what sets them apart from others when preparing a medical school personal statement. They may have unique life experiences, such as growing up in a commune, going to school in a foreign country, and so on, which can be interesting to an admissions committee and increase the diversity of the incoming class. Students should also think about the programs they are applying to and consider whether they have personal experiences that fit with the school’s mission. A school interested in technological innovation in medicine, for example, will be interested in a candidate who has participated in research involving medical technology.
A medical school personal statement should avoid slang language and an overly informal tone, but it is recommended that some regional expressions and personalities appear. Candidates should also avoid overused lines like “I always wanted to be a doctor because…” and “I knew I wanted to be a doctor when…” to highlight their requests. Unless the application specifically states that people must write their personal statements completely independently, it is also wise to ask a friend to look over the statement for obvious spelling and grammar errors, as well as readability.
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