Health Professions Advising

Princeton University

Writing the Medical School

Personal Statement The personal statement is your opportunity to personalize your medical school application.

Your essay – or “personal comments,” as the AMCAS officially calls it – should reveal

something about yourself that is not discussed at length elsewhere on the application, and it

should make Admissions deans and directors want to meet you. They often use this part of your

application to sort through their “maybe” piles and determine who to invite for an interview.

Ultimately, the personal statement is one of the only parts of this process that you still have

control over at the time you’re actually applying. Your GPA and MCAT are behind you at this

point, but you can still improve your chances by writing well.

What do I write about?

• Make it personal. Your audience should get a good idea of who you are and what you are

like in person. Most applicants’ essays are not personal enough.

• Tell a story or anecdote. Don’t tell your life story, but instead focus on one or two

experiences that you believe distinguish you. Meaningful events and people who have

influenced you are also topics to consider. Think about what hasn’t already been included

elsewhere on your AMCAS.

• Be positive. The personal statement is not the best place to explain problems with your

academic record unless poor grades are directly tied to a pivotal period in your life. If you

learned important lessons from past mistakes, you may mention the transcript, but keep the

focus positive.

How do I begin?

• Start at any time during your career as a pre-med, and devote as much time to writing as

possible. You will need a polished version of the personal statement when you complete

your AMCAS application in May of the year you are applying.

• Keeping a journal during a clinical experience is always a good idea. Record memorable

conversations with doctors and patients, general impressions, reactions, etc.

• Consider making lists of your influences, goals, achievements, and personal history. Look

for themes in these lists and use them to generate ideas for your essay. You might also make

Writing the Medical School Personal Statement 2

a list of adjectives that describe your strengths as an applicant, focusing on personality traits,

then match those traits with experiences that demonstrate these qualities—to use as evidence

in your essay.

• Consider your reasons for becoming a doctor. What other professions also match those

motivations? Why do you want to be a doctor instead of having those other jobs?

• Make an outline to keep your thoughts organized. Write your first draft quickly. It doesn’t

have to be perfect, so don’t worry about the length.

• Once you have finished your first draft, put it aside for a while, ideally several weeks. When

you return to it, you will have a fresh perspective.

Remember:

• Revision is an ongoing process. Go back and revise your essay often.

• After you have completed a draft, then work on your introduction. Keep in mind that you do

not have long to catch your reader’s attention; Admissions personnel sometimes read 50 to

60 essays a day, spending only 3 to 15 minutes on each. But at the same time, remember that

the whole essay needs to be well-done, not just the opening. Applicants tend to spend far too

much time on their introductions and neglect the body of the essay.

• Keep it to two double-spaced pages or one single-spaced page. The AMCAS limits you to

5300 characters (including spaces). Note: If you plan on cutting and pasting your essay into

the application, you should draft the essay in a text-only format, such as Microsoft Notepad.

Copying formatted text into the application will result in formatting problems that are

difficult to change and cannot be corrected after submission. It’s best to type the final

version of your essay directly into your AMCAS.

• Use varied sentence lengths, active voice, and strong verbs.

• Include details. Give specific examples that illustrate what you’re trying to say about

yourself. Details make your essay more personal, and you more memorable.

• Have many people read it, both those who know you well and those who don’t. Your final

audience will not know you well, so find out what those who know little about you learn

from your essay.

• Read it aloud. Hearing your essay helps detect poor transitions and tone problems.

Common Mistakes

• It is very important to illustrate your commitment to the application process through an

errorless essay. Grammar mistakes and typos look careless. Make sure you proofread.

No changes are allowed after you have submitted your AMCAS.

Writing the Medical School Personal Statement 3

• Use your own voice. A professional but conversational tone will work best. Also, avoid

quotations by famous people - quoting Maya Angelou or Henry David Thoreau does not

make it about you.

• Don’t pretend that you know what it’s like to be a doctor. Admissions committees are

health care professionals and know more about the field than you do. They do expect for

you to have investigated the field through volunteer work, shadowing, etc., so write about

what you learned through those experiences. And, words wasted on ‘the medical

profession’ are words that could have been used to describe you.

• Keep your self-promotion in check. Be proud of your accomplishments, but be very

careful not to sound arrogant. Do not start all of your sentences with “I.”

• A little subtle humor is OK, but don’t overuse it. A bad joke does a lot more harm than a

funny joke helps. Humor should not be at anyone else’s expense.

• Keep your focus on one or two topics. Often applicants try to write about too many

experiences and end up not doing justice to any of them. Do not simply recount your

resume in prose form.

• Secondary or supplemental applications will have additional essay questions. Even if the

question is something very similar to what you wrote about in your primary statement, do

not reuse any part of your AMCAS essay.

Resources

• Health Professions Advising, 305 West College, has a few books that address the med

school application essay. While some include sample essays, refer to these only to get

started; they are not ‘templates’ to be followed!

• The Writing Center in Wilcox Hall, 3rd floor. Trained, experienced tutors are available

for drop-ins or scheduled appointments. Go to the Writing Program website at

www.princeton.edu/sites/writing/ (click on “Writing Center”).