College of Arts &
Sciences Pre-Health Professions Advising
Writing
Application Essays:
Professional
schools are looking for essays that are well-written, and
convey a sense of you as a person. You should use the essay to
sell yourself, without listing your achievements or boasting.
This is the only opportunity for the schools to get to know
you prior to inviting you for an interview. Therefore, you
must impress upon the school the factors that make you unique
and perfect for their program.
An effective
essay catches the reader's attention in the very first
sentence. It then develops two or three main points.
There are 5 basic
topics that are used for open-ended essays such as those found
in the AMCAS application for medical schools. These topics
are:
1. What is your
motivation for a career as a physician?
2. How has your
life been influenced by your family and earlier personal
experiences?
3. What has been
the influence on your life of extracurricular/work/volunteer
activities?
4. What are your
long-term goals, and personal philosophy?
5. If you have
any irregularities in your record, how can you explain this?
If you have a very non-traditional background, how can you
turn this into an advantage?
This
article describes some essay problems, and how to cure
them. It is a "must read" for anyone writing an essay for
medical school or for any other professional
school.
______________________________________________________________________________________
The Personal Statement: The Essay of Your
Life
What to Do and
What Not to Do
DO
1. Catch the reader’s
attention from the very beginning
2. Include factors in
your background that show
your
motivation for the field of______
that you have the
experience in the field of________
your maturity
your
honesty
that you possess good oral as well as written
communication skills
that you have strong ethics
that
you possess critical thinking skills
that you have overcome
hurdles and have good coping skills
that you are capable of
original thinking
3. You must be an advocate for
yourself
4. You should discuss volunteer/work
activities/shadowing, and talk about the impact of the
experience
5. You must be original
6. You should show
passion, honesty and sincerity
7. You should provide
specific details of your life and experiences
8. You must
be articulate
9. You should show gratitude for
opportunities, rather than discuss how great you are
10.
You should explain information in your application that may be
viewed negatively or questionable. This includes: withdrawals,
drops, poor grades in one or more courses, poor test scores
overall, or a poor grade in a specific section of the
exam
11. You should make the essay visually pleasing. This
includes the use of separate paragraphs.
12. You should
have a strong closing statement. You need to leave the reader
with the thought that they must recommend you for an
interview.
DON’T
1. Don’t have ANY
spelling or grammatical errors
2. Don’t try to
make too many points
3. Don’t criticize anyone- including
your instructors, department, school, family, or health care
professionals you may have encountered
4. Don’t boast
5.
Don’t simply list your activities or rehash your resume
6.
Don’t be redundant
7. Don’t be redundant (See how
frustrating this can appear?)
8. Don’t write about
controversial topics such as politics, religion, abortion,
etc. Don’t mention God.
9. Don’t use clichés or expressions
that are commonly used to the point of boredom
10. Don’t
use excessive quotations. Admissions committees are interested
in what you have to say.
11. Don’t be so abstract that the
reader has to guess what you mean.
12. Don’t make your
essay too short. Use all or most of the available space to
make your points, but do not be redundant.
13.
Don’t have ANY spelling or grammatical
errors
| 