Personal Statements
The personal statement is an essential part for all health profession applications. Your personal statement should answer why you are a good fit for a specific profession. This is an opportunity to highlight experience and strengths that will provide admission committees a holistic view of you. Here are some tips to get you started.
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Requirements
- Medical schools (MD/DO) personal statements are a maximum of 5,300 characters. There is no specific prompt or question.
- Joint MD/PhD programs require two additional essays. The first essay is a maximum of 3,000 characters and asks you to explain why you are pursuing a MD/PhD. The second essay is a maximum of 10,000 characters in which you will explain your significant experience in research. In this essay, you should specify your research supervisor’s name and affiliation, the duration of the experience, the nature of the problem studied, and your contributions to the research effort.
- Dental schools (DMD) personal statements are a maximum of 4,500 characters. You will be asked to explain why you are pursuing a dental career.
Brainstorming
- Make a personal inventory of your interests and experiences.
- What experiences inspired your interest?
- What experiences helped you explore your interest?
- What experiences helped you develop skills that are important in the profession?
- What professional skills are needed for this career?
- Why are you choosing this career?
- What do you want the admission committees to know about you?
- Review the AAMC Core Competencies.
Outline and Draft
- Select the most important points from your brainstorm and create an outline.
- Don’t worry about length for the first draft. Just write!
- Less is more. Discuss fewer examples or activities to leave room for reflection.
- Show, don’t tell. Use “mini-stories”
- Be specific. Always follow up statements of your values, personal qualities with concrete examples
Personal Statement Feedback
- Attend a “Personal Statement” workshop offered in both the fall and spring semesters.
- Schedule a meeting with Pre-Health Advising or the Hiatt Career Center.
- For research focused essays, utilize the Science Communication Lab.
- Ask for SPECIFIC feedback from letter writers, friends and family.