On February 26th's meeting, Pre-Med Society's President Faith Kemp gave a comprehensive presentation on writing a personal statement for medical school applications. She mentioned:
• the personal statement is a self reflection on why you believe you are qualified to be a doctor
• It is one of the most important factors to get invited for an interview, outside of your stats (MCAT score and GPA)
• MD/PhD applicants must write two more essays in addition to their personal statement
• start early - create a file of possible points in the personal statement
• Prior to sitting down to write the statement: think about who you are, what you've accomplished, and what you really care about
• important tips for the statement: have a theme, consider why you are writing the statement and what it is ultimately supposed to accomplish, the best way to tell your story
• start by listing your most important experiences, and select one that demonstrates a relevant personal trait that would make you a good doctor
• write a draft based on this experience
• leave the draft for a while, then go back to proofread it
• ask others for suggestions, and let them help you edit
• some things to avoid in the statement include: lie/embellish, victimize yourself, be controversial, use weird structure
• things to do: answer the prompt, sound like yourself, be professional
• for MD/PhD, work with your mentors to precisely capture your research experience for your research experience essay
• provided a list of helpful questions and prompts for the essays, as well as links to sample personal statements
The presentation can be found here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1phtrxXkXTKxisXzVZxx6sMvygKyTSDnl29EulGaR-YA/edit?usp=sharing
For any questions please contact Faith Kemp at fkemp1@umbc.edu
