6 do's and don'ts of a personal statement

Spencer started working on his personal statement in April. Finally during a family reunion the end of June he finished. It was a rough beginning but slowing we put together a statement that we were proud of. 

Here are a few hints from USA News. You can read the entire article here. 

To help ease the uncertainty surrounding the personal statement, here are some do's and don'ts to follow.

1. DO make sure your statement addresses these two important points: your reason(s) for wanting to pursue medicine and your appeal as a candidate to medical schools. It is important to cover both these points; often, many statements only answer one of them (usually the first one). These types of statements risk getting lost in the shuffle with inundated admissions committees searching for those whose unique qualities shine through their application materials.

2. DON'T choose a subject matter simply because you think it will impress. Admissions officers have read it all: "I want to help people," "I want to make a difference," etc. They would prefer to read a much more personal story of learning and growth, regardless of the topic—though it's probably best to avoid controversial topics. You never know who will read your essay!

[Get more medical school tips and stats.]

3. DO broaden your list of potential essay themes. Believe it or not, this is your moment to be creative! This is not only the time to think outside the box, it's also the time to review certain aspects of your life, including your experiences (school or non-school related), motivations, and personal qualities.

You don't have to include all of these things, but organizing your thoughts into these categories will give you a better picture of your list of potential essay topics. You can also combine categories in formulating your topic.

4. DON'T rehash your résumé or other parts of your application in your essay. All too often, the personal comments section quickly becomes a summary of accomplishments that are listed elsewhere in the application. Doing this could squander a potential opportunity to show another side of you not reflected in transcripts or recommendation letters.

[See the 10 most popular medical schools.]

5. DO give yourself enough time. Because so many components are involved in composing a strong personal statement, it's important to start at least the first step—brainstorming—early on. Each year, a substantial number of applicants express some regret that they felt rushed to submit early and lost critical time in working on their statement; when they realize how much time it involves, it's often too late.

Give yourself enough time to write multiple drafts and have them read by others; remember that professors, premed advisers, and writing centers at schools might be very busy with others in the same boat this time of year. 

6. DON'T gloss over any potential red flags. If you have something on your record you think may raise questions when admissions committees review your files— a difficult semester, low science grades, or a gap in your educational history—it's important to use the personal statement as an avenue to address these issues.

The upside to this is that the personal statement is your chance to describe what lessons you learned from what happened. Sometimes, applicants who have been through unfortunate circumstances may be inclined to justify or defend what happened. Keep in mind that acknowledging mistakes and highlighting what you learned from them can have a profound effect on even otherwise marginal applications.

Now our advice....

-Start early

-Start with lists. List all of your strengths and then find stories that show those.

-Be yourself. It should be polished but it should also be real. Make sure it is readable and shows your personality

Good luck! 

application advice from the b. family (plus happy 4th)

happy fourth of july!!!! spence and i are still on our cruise celebrating our nations birthday. what are you doing to celebrate???

i thought i'd share a few of my favorite 4 of july pins....just for fun!!!

anyway....

applications were rough for spence and i
it was a really stressful time of life.  i was in the middle of a large job hunt. spence was in the middle of studying for the mcat and working full time. but good news...we survived.

we started the application the first day we could. we made a plan but didn't turn it in until the middle of july. spence wanted to make sure everything was perfect. i was a nervous wreck that because we turned it in late we wouldn't get any response.

here is what i would suggest.....
-start early. we spent about 80 hours filling out the first amcas application. add a few more hours for the tmdsas (texas) application and a little bit for the do application. we decided to focus on the amcas first and really try to polish as much as we could.
-spence and i took turns. i filled out all of his classes, grades, etc....he wrote all his essays. i typed in his service, leadership and work hours. he wrote more essays. i checked, rechecked, and rerechecked the application. he wrote and rewrote essays. yes there were that many essays!
-don't get stressed. though this is easy to do try to avoid it. don't worry about when you turn it in. if you're not ready to turn in your application...don't turn it in yet. wait till you feel ready and confident.
-be prepared for more...the first application is simply that...the first. you'll have secondaries. spence was asked for secondaries from every school he applied to (hum...some schools just want money!). so we were in the mix of applications from may to november.
-save your essays under topics. for secondaries you can usually take a general essay you wrote and make it work for that school. there will be a bit of changing to do but it helped us out!

so basically start early, plan for a bit of time, share in the work, and don't stress....

and once you've turned in your application
go CELEBRATE!!!!

surviving the mcat

i know i know...i'm really late in posting today.
i'll try and make up for it!

like i mentioned earlier spence decided to wait a year to take the mcat. after looking into prep programs we decided that we really needed to do a program. after lots of research we decided on altius test prep. it was a great decision for us.

michelle went into the programs. i'm going to talk about how we got through the whole "mcat prep". altius has a very rigorous study schedule. with spence working full time and trying to do all other med school prep stuff we had to learn to survive.

there were times when i was so stressed that spence wasn't studying enough. and he was stressed he was studying too much.

there were other times when i was so mad he had to study or take a practice test (like on valentines day). there were other times when he just couldn't take studying locked in a little room by himself anymore.

we had to learn how to survive.

so this is what we did....

i got involved in as much as i could. i took over a the application worry. i figured out everything he needed to get together. input info as much as i could. and created timelines. i also made a very detailed calendar that was put on our wall that told us what studying needed to be done as well as application stuff that needed to be done that day.

finally i got creative. i made "coupons" for everyday left until the mcat. for everyday spence completed his mcat study schedule he got a coupon. coupons could be used that day or saved for later. they were everything from "going to the park" to "getting ice cream" and spence's favorite "back massage". it was actually really fun. spence loved getting a new "surprise" each day and i loved making studying fun.

there came a time when studying and stress became too much. so we took a break. sometimes that is just what the dr. orders. it's easy to get overwhelmed while studying for such a big test. but in the end if you are relaxed and on-top of things you'll do a lot  better.

so our advice....
1. start early, know when you are going to take the mcat and give yourself plenty (8-6) months of study time.
2. get organized. i got all the study material, application material, and md school advice books together. got them spiral bound and marked the important pages. when we were ever confused or had a question we knew right where to go.
3. find your own "relax" techniques. for spence it was "us" time where he didn't have to think about med school or mcat
4. calendar. this was what saved us. we wrote down what studying had to be done and then spence did that study and that was it. no more no less
5. rewards. this was the fun. plan little milestone rewards. after a practice test or after a hard week of studying. and then after the mcat celebrate
6. if you are a wife.....find something to keep yourself busy while your husband studies. don't just sit and feel bad for yourself that you have nothing to do. go have fun, girls nights, craft nights, family nights etc...
7. celebrate when it's all over!!!! we took a weekend off and just had fun

good luck to everyone taking the mcat this summer! keep on schedule and it'll all work out.

 the "coupons" i made each numbered for the number of days before the mcat

 spence studying....i kept myself entertained with taking pictures!

 our "prep" books. all spiral bound and ready to go

 after one of our breaks. a much needed nelsons custard 

we may have taken a little break to go to mexico 2 weeks before spence took the mcat. he did study each day though. i think this little relaxation and fun really helped me do better!