How to write your personal statement

When applying to med school, your MCAT and GPA have been finalized. The majority of your extracurriculars and research won’t change either.

But, there is one part of your application that can substantially change within a couple of hours --

your personal statement. 

And the reality is, most people know this. That’s why writing a personal statement can feel impossible. 

Before you start going through the mountain of advice on reddit, this is what I wish someone had told me.

Don’t Strive For Memorable

Every single admissions committee member I have talked to has said the same thing: 

“We read 1,000s of personal statements every year. We remember maybe 50 bad ones and 5 incredible ones. The rest are just forgotten”

This means one thing:

Don’t strive to be memorable.

If you try to be memorable out of 10,000+ applications, that means you have to take big risks. 

If you take big risks, there is a much higher chance that admission committees will remember you for the wrong things. What you find clever or unique might be why they throw your application in the trash.

Instead, do these 3 things:

• Go for balance, not brilliance: Committees value well-balanced narratives that showcase your motivation over flashy stories designed to grab attention.

• Be consistent: Your personal statement should explain “the why” behind your accomplishments. This will craft a consistent narrative that ties together your application. When many experiences align and connect, it is much more believable than 1 crazy experience.

• Never leave anything up for assumption: Avoid leaving room for assumptions by clearly stating your motivations, goals, and the lessons learned from your experiences. Admissions committees shouldn't have to guess why you're pursuing medicine or how your experiences have shaped you.

Sometimes one bad sentence can change the course of your personal statement. Don’t go overboard.

Write for it to be skimmed

Admissions committees will spend no more than 10 minutes on your entire application. 

And your personal statement might be 3 minutes of that. Trust me - they aren’t reading everything you write. 

They are skimming.

This means you should structure your personal statement so it is easy to be skimmed. Here is the structure you should follow:

Intro

• Strong hook with the first 2 sentences.

• End the introduction with a “why doctor” sentence.

Body paragraphs

• Pick 3 activities from your application and tell a mini story about each one of them.

• ALWAYS make sure to tie back to “why doctor” or how that skill will be useful to you as physician at the end of each paragraph

Conclusion

• Tie together your body paragraphs into once again, “why doctor.” 

I remember when I learned about this structure and I thought it was horrible. Am I in 5th grade or something?? I spent months trying different things, and ultimately, I came back to this simple 5 paragraph method and it works like a charm.

Last note on structure — for residency applications, a program director once told me, “Make your intro and conclusion of your personal statement really good. That will determine how much I read in the middle” 

The same applies here.

Zeroing in on “Why doctor”

There is one true north star that should guide every single sentence you write in your personal statement:

Why Doctor?

Not why nurse.

Not why politician.

Not why EMT. 

Just why doctor.

Let’s say you spend your entire essay talking about how you loved volunteering at a mobile clinic in Uganda, and want to devote your life to helping others.

You should ask yourself: why doctor and not a lifelong volunteer? At the end of the day, volunteering will have an instant impact compared to the delayed impact of serving your community after med school.

This approach not only reaffirms your decision of becoming a doctor, but it convinces the admissions committee that you are excited and dedicated to go down this path. 

Want an easy way to make sure you are answering “Why Doctor”?

After every paragraph you write, just ask yourself, “Does this paragraph help in answering the question ‘Why Doctor’ or does it weaken my argument?” 

If you don’t have a definitive yes, then you change what you talk about.

Shadowing is one of the best experiences to write about

While shadowing is not an incredible accomplishment, it makes for a fantastic body paragraph in your personal statement.

It is so great because it lets you show what you appreciated about a doctor. 

When writing about shadowing, you should write about: 1 moment with a doctor and patient. The smaller the moment the better. Then explain why that moment was so magical.

Don’t say, “Oh when I shadowed, I love how the doctors would care for their patients.” 

Instead, detail the scene.

If you're explaining a heart touching experience of a doctor sharing a cancer diagnosis to a 16-year-old patient, then paint the picture. 

• Where and how did the doctor share the news? 

• How did the doctor's demeanor change? 

• What verbal and non-verbal cues did the doctor use to provide comfort? 

These details help bring the moment to life. After outlining the moment, analyze the impact.

Dive into why it struck you to your core. This is your chance to reflect on the empathy, communication skills, and the subtle art of medicine that you saw.

Discussing why this moment stood out to you shows your understanding of the patient-doctor relationship. By just acknowledging it, it shows that you care enough to strive for it.

A stranger should know you are applying to be a doctor

The best personal statements are ones where you could hand it to someone on the street and they know that you are applying for medical school.

This is the level of clarity you want.

Easy ways to simulate this is to show it to a grandparent and ask them what they think it is for:

If they say anything along the lines of “why do you want to become a doctor," then you have hit the nail on the head.

If they don’t, then it’s time to change it.

If a common person isn’t convinced by your story, then there is no way you are convincing admission committees on your personal statement. 

A quick favor…

Can you quickly just respond to this email and let me know what you thought was the best part?

This will help me elaborate more on that topic.

Best,

CKR