DO NOt do this on your personal statement (and some do's)
See The Facebook Group to join the conversation!
(I know I've been on the PS train, but at this point if you're applying, this is really the only thing that you can alter in terms of app. Your EC's, MCAT, and grades are pretty much done. However, DO NOT forget to make sure the descriptions you write for your EC's is just as good as your PS! having different caliber of writing is disconcerting.)
1. Please NEVER use the word superhero or comic book or villain or anything like this. I've seen this in far too many PS's already.
In the words of Rhucha Joshi: "I'm sorry unless you created a comic for marvel or DC, you should not be using the word superhero"
I know you guys want to be unique/cute but that is NOT the way to do it. I roll my eyes. Comeon! You want to sound like you've grown and are not stuck in romanticized-ville/cliche-ville.
2. Also, yes, it is A-ok to talk about dark things/your failures/how you triumphed over them. In fact, that is desired! Just make sure you do it in a positive way and frame it so that the focus is on what you learned and how you improved, not how bad it was and how they should feel sorry for you. We have compassion, but ultimately you don't want them left with a bad taste of you in their minds. NOW I am NOT saying you should make your essay rainbows and butterflies, but just make sure you pay heed to how you say things. This is important now in your PS, and it'll be important for the rest of your career. Learn it early, learn it now.
3. Also, DO NOT FORGET YOUR THESIS. PLEASE. At some point you gotta say you want to be a doctor. Plain and simple. And WHY. Your why better derive from who YOU are, and don't just list WHAT you've done. I better not have read halfway through your PS and still not see you say you wanna be a doc.
4. Do not talk about your mental illness or any other personal, medical, religious or other issue that could cast doubt on your ability to succeed as a medical student or physician.
Tempting as it may be, you are taking a huge gamble that this will be seen as a positive by an adcom reading your statement.
More often than not, it is a losing gamble.
5. What I do want to see:
Show me your passion for medicine.
Show me why you want to put up with the sacrifices, the sleepless nights, the demands of the public, the interference by bureaucrats, the aggravation, the disappointments, the anguish.
What is it about medicine that will make you push through 4 years of medical school, years of post-graduate education, and a lifetime of continuing education?
Show me the skills and attitudes you have developed that will make you a successful student and a good physician.
(I know I've been on the PS train, but at this point if you're applying, this is really the only thing that you can alter in terms of app. Your EC's, MCAT, and grades are pretty much done. However, DO NOT forget to make sure the descriptions you write for your EC's is just as good as your PS! having different caliber of writing is disconcerting.)
1. Please NEVER use the word superhero or comic book or villain or anything like this. I've seen this in far too many PS's already.
In the words of Rhucha Joshi: "I'm sorry unless you created a comic for marvel or DC, you should not be using the word superhero"
I know you guys want to be unique/cute but that is NOT the way to do it. I roll my eyes. Comeon! You want to sound like you've grown and are not stuck in romanticized-ville/cliche-ville.
2. Also, yes, it is A-ok to talk about dark things/your failures/how you triumphed over them. In fact, that is desired! Just make sure you do it in a positive way and frame it so that the focus is on what you learned and how you improved, not how bad it was and how they should feel sorry for you. We have compassion, but ultimately you don't want them left with a bad taste of you in their minds. NOW I am NOT saying you should make your essay rainbows and butterflies, but just make sure you pay heed to how you say things. This is important now in your PS, and it'll be important for the rest of your career. Learn it early, learn it now.
3. Also, DO NOT FORGET YOUR THESIS. PLEASE. At some point you gotta say you want to be a doctor. Plain and simple. And WHY. Your why better derive from who YOU are, and don't just list WHAT you've done. I better not have read halfway through your PS and still not see you say you wanna be a doc.
4. Do not talk about your mental illness or any other personal, medical, religious or other issue that could cast doubt on your ability to succeed as a medical student or physician.
Tempting as it may be, you are taking a huge gamble that this will be seen as a positive by an adcom reading your statement.
More often than not, it is a losing gamble.
5. What I do want to see:
Show me your passion for medicine.
Show me why you want to put up with the sacrifices, the sleepless nights, the demands of the public, the interference by bureaucrats, the aggravation, the disappointments, the anguish.
What is it about medicine that will make you push through 4 years of medical school, years of post-graduate education, and a lifetime of continuing education?
Show me the skills and attitudes you have developed that will make you a successful student and a good physician.