Pre-Med/Pre-Health Program | AS

Basic Pointers for Writing Your Personal Statement           

• Remember that you have limited space; think carefully about what you will write.
• Be sure that your essay is united by a theme or thesis.
• In preparing to write your statement think about the characteristics that an admissions committee might be looking for: academic ability, knowledge of the field, personal commitment and integrity, interpersonal skills.  In addition to these characteristics, they will also be concerned with presentation, including writing abilities, grammar, and spelling.  Please be sure to take the time to proofread your statement.
• Your essay should demonstrate a commitment to health care and human service.  To this end, be prepared to demonstrate that commitment by citing specific examples of your experiences thus far in science, medicine, and/or service.
• Do not use your essay to simply list all of the activities that you’ve been involved in.  You will be able to do this in your activities list.  An essay focused on a particular theme, idea, or thesis that cites specific examples of your experiences, while also reflecting upon those experiences, will be much more effective.
• Allow readers to draw their own conclusions about you. The examples that you give should show your readers what qualities you have, which is more meaningful than you telling the reader what you’re look.  To this end, you should avoid using direct statements—such as “I’m good at working with people,” or “I like science.” Instead, illustrate these points by telling stories of times that you’ve successfully led or collaborated with others, or demonstrated your interest in science.
• Have many people read your statement and tell you: a) what impression you give to the audience; b) what they think your main thesis is; c) whether they’d want to interview you out of the thousands of candidates they’ll screen, based on this essay.  This will help you to gauge how clearly your ideas are coming across.