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August 16, 2022

9 Secrets to Telling an Attention-Grabbing Story

You’ve completed most of your application. Now it’s time to write your personal statement. You want your statement to stand out from the rest, and the way to do this is to tell a compelling story – the tale of your greatest achievements, dreams, and challenges. 

You can tell a compelling story by tying together the following key elements:

Storytelling element #1: Create a killer opening

Start with something that will grab the reader’s attention from the get-go. This will ensure that they keep reading enthusiastically. Usually this is something in a scene or moment in the middle of the action. Starting an essay by saying “One day I decided to watch TV” will probably leave your reader not really caring what happened next, even if that leads to the most important part of the essay. However, starting your essay with “The moment I found the lump, I suspected that my life was about to change forever” will surely draw your reader in.

Storytelling element #2: Set context

‘“It was mid-July 2011. I was a busy consultant at McKinsey’s Chicago office, the proud father of a boy about to turn one, and a generally happy guy in his mid-20s.” 

Context (person, place, time) is important because readers want to understand the story’s circumstances; it helps them relate to the story, even if they’ve never been in that situation.

Storytelling element #3: Introduce the stakes

The above also shows the reader what’s at stake. Stakes further help the reader relate to a story – if there’s little for the main character to lose, then the reader won’t care much about what happens next. If you never figured out the source of the lump and treated it (if necessary), then you wouldn’t have been able to continue your life as a busy consultant, proud father, and generally happy guy. You don’t need huge stakes for people to relate to your story; but effective stakes are something most of us would fight for, like health, a job, our community’s welfare, and the like. 

Storytelling elements #4 and #5: Outline the obstacles AND Demonstrate strength of character

“It was tempting to wish the lump would just go away, and for a few days that was my strategy. I didn’t even tell my wife. But soon I recognized that knowledge is power, and made an appointment with my doctor. Within a week I had a diagnosis: cancer.”

This keeps the reader interested because it brings in two new elements: an obstacle (cancer) and character (your personality traits).

By this point in the story, your readers will know that you are the main character – you’re the consultant, father, etc. But the text above shows your reader what kind of character you are : one who is human (tempted to wish something bad away) but also one who takes action in adverse circumstances (going to the doctor).

Character isn’t only about positive traits. Many essay questions ask you to discuss a time you failed or made a mistake . For those, you need to highlight negative traits upfront (e.g., keeping the lump a secret), but in the context of how you gained insights and ultimately more positive attributes from dealing with their consequences. 

<< Work with an admissions pro to create a personal statement that gets you accepted to your dream school! Click here to get started >>

Storytelling element #6: Add a twist

So, what happens next in our tale? (Incidentally, a well-told story uses these elements to make readers ask this question again and again, pulling them through the story.) 

“Once I got past the initial shock, I discovered an unexpected challenge: choosing among major surgery, two rounds of chemotherapy, and ‘surveillance’ (i.e. regular testing to see if the cancer was spreading). The options had the exact same survival rate (very high), but very different side-effect profiles. For example, the surgery was associated with potential nerve damage, while the chemo could have resulted in lower lung capacity.”

This part of our story includes a twist and further obstacles. Twists, or surprise turns in stories – in this case, the challenge of choosing treatment – aren’t essential to grad school essays, but they certainly make them more engaging: a teammate with a secret, a client’s abrupt shift in expectations, etc. In this story, the twist also represented an obstacle, in that our courageous subject had to choose from three very different treatments with similar levels of effectiveness. 

Three Ways Writing About Obstacles Strengthens Your Application Essays

Storytelling element #7: Detail the process

Here’s what happened next: 

“It was time for some deep research: with my wife’s help and inputs from my oncologist and other doctors, I pored over journal articles and other materials to understand my treatment options and their risks. For example, we learned that the surveillance course could take over five years before one could consider themselves cancer-free.”

Here we can see the process – the exact steps he took to approach the obstacle. Too many applicants leave out their process. You need to tell the adcom what you did, how you did it, and ideally how you engaged others to overcome the challenge as well. Even our cancer story here includes a team element (the wife and doctors).

Storytelling elements #8 and #9: Share the outcome AND Talk about lessons learned

“After weeks of research and deliberation, I opted for two rounds of outpatient chemotherapy. I said goodbye to my hair and hello to needles and nausea. The first week went well. But as I neared the second, my doctor called: the chemo had pushed my white blood cell count too low, compromising my immune system. I would have to wait. For two weeks I avoided raw fruits and vegetables and stayed inside as much as possible. My white blood cell count rose, and I completed the second week of chemo.

“Now, over eight years later, I’m considered cured, a survivor. The only physical residue of my treatment is slightly wavier hair. But the experience reinforced the importance of a proactive approach (I found out most men wait over six months to get lumps checked), of careful due diligence in health and other matters, and of never giving up. I carry those lessons into everything I do. So, I was right: the lump changed my life in a big way; but I never could have guessed how positive those changes would be.”

The last part of our story brings more process (how our survivor made a decision) and another twist (his low white blood cell count), along with the outcome and lessons learned . These last two elements typically tie together: the outcome (surviving cancer) reinforced multiple lessons, as noted above. It’s easy to spend too little (i.e. none) or too much (i.e. paragraphs) time on lessons learned; generally, 1-3 lines gets the job done. 

It’s always recommended to wrap up your story by returning to your opening, to end with a killer ending with a broader theme or key realization or glimpse of the future. 

Our story has just over 400 words, but it has all the important elements. 

Do you need help writing your attention-grabbing story? Check out our 1-on-1 services for more information on how we can help you use story elements to write essays that will draw in the adcom and get you ACCEPTED.

Related Resources:

• 5 Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Grad School Statement of Purpose , a free guide
• How Personal is Too Personal?
• How to Write a Great Statement of Purpose , a podcast episode

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The Medical School Personal Statement: How To Stand Out

Posted in: Applying to Medical School

Impressive GPAs and MCAT scores, research experience, physician shadowing, and meaningful volunteer work are only one part of a successful medical school application . You may meet all other medical school requirements , yet face rejection.

One thing can help you stand above the rest : A compelling personal statement.

The medical school personal statement is important because it highlights your hard work, your pre-medical school accomplishments, and why you’re a better candidate than everyone else. 

In other words: Who are you, what makes you unique, and why do you deserve a spot in our school?

We’ve helped thousands of prospective medical students increase their odds at acceptance with better personal statements. Now, we’ll show you exactly how to do it. 

Working on your personal statement? Speak with a member of our enrollment team who can walk you through the step-by-step med school application process from start to finish.

Table of contents, what’s in a great med school personal statement.

An excellent medical school personal statement should contain:

• Passion for an area of the healthcare field.
• Storytelling that captures the reader’s attention from the first sentence.
• Emotion and personality to show (not tell) admissions committee members who you are.
• A unique answer to the question, “Why do you want to be a doctor?”

A powerful personal statement shows that you are the kind of candidate who will make an exceptional physician and be a valuable asset to the school during your medical education. Additionally, it helps to distinguish your application from the many other students with similar MCAT scores and GPAs.

A weak personal statement would, in turn, have the opposite effect.

Not only does the personal statement weed out unqualified candidates, but it also serves as a foundation for many interview discussions and questions . 

Admission committee members often only have a few minutes to review an application. Personal statements provide them with the right amount of information. Since it’s possible this is the only part of your application they’ll read, it needs to be perfect .

When writing your personal statement, you’ll also want to note the AAMC core competencies that are expected of all medical professionals. Some, if not all, of these competencies should shine through in your application essay.

The AAMC premed competencies include: 

• Professional competencies:  Factors like communication skills, interpersonal skills, commitment to learning and growth, compassion, dependability, and cultural awareness and humility
• Science competencies:  Understanding of human behaviors and living systems, both of which are best demonstrated in data-driven measures like research, MCAT scores, and science GPA (in other words, not things that necessarily need to be displayed in your personal statement)
• Thinking & Reasoning competencies:  Critical thinking, reasoning, scientific inquiry, and written communication

It’s important to show passion for something specific — a group of underserved people, a type of patient, the benefit of a particular area of medicine, etc. Your passion should be evident, non-generic, and authentic. Ask yourself, “What makes a good doctor?”

It’s crucial to avoid cliches in your personal statement, like claiming you want to become a doctor “to help people.”

Dr. Renee Marinelli, Director of Advising at MedSchoolCoach, warns that certain cliches may not truly represent meaningful experiences that influenced your decision to pursue medicine.

You may have decided to become a doctor from experiencing a kind physician as a child, but that personal experience doesn’t convey genuine passion. Your enthusiasm for medicine doesn’t need to originate from a grand experience or sudden revelation.

Your interest in medicine probably developed gradually, perhaps when you fell in love with psychology during college and volunteered at nursing homes. You don’t need a lifelong dream to demonstrate passion and become an outstanding doctor.

2. Storytelling

A memorable personal statement captures the reader’s attention from the first sentence, which you can do with an interesting personal story or anecdote. Including some creativity, ingenuity, humor, and character.

Immersing the admissions committee in your personal statement allows you to show , not just tell , how your experiences have impacted your journey to medicine.

Don’t repeat the data your admissions committee can read on the rest of your application — SHOW the passions and experiences that have led you to this field using a narrative approach.

Consider the following examples of statements about a student’s volunteer experience at a food pantry:

"“Through my work at the local food pantry, I came to understand the daily battles many individuals face, and it allowed me to develop deeper empathy and compassion.” “When I saw Mr. Jones, a regular at the kitchen, struggling to maneuver his grocery cart through the door, I hustled over to assist him. My heart sunk when I saw he was wearing a new cast after having been assaulted the night prior.”

Which do you think performed better in terms of conveying personal characteristics? Your personal statement is a deep dive into one central theme, not about rehashing all of your experiences. 

3. Emotion & Personality

An engaging personal statement allows your unique personality and real emotions to shine through.

As Dr. Davietta Butty, a Northwestern School of Medicine graduate, avid writer, pediatrician, and MedSchoolCoach advisor, puts it,

“I think the best personal statements are the ones that showcase the applicant’s personality. Remember that this is your story and not anyone else’s, and you get to say it how it makes sense to you.” 

This is why storytelling is such an important part of personal statement writing. Your writing process should involve quite a bit of writing and editing to express emotion in a relatable, appropriate way.

A Note On Writing About Tragedy

One way you can show who you are is by expressing an appropriate level of emotion, particularly about challenging or tragic experiences. (But don’t worry — not everyone has a tragic backstory, and that’s perfectly fine!)

If you are discussing a tragedy, don’t go into an extended explanation of how you feel — show emotion and your personality while sticking to the plot.

Personal tragedies, such as the death of a loved one, can powerfully motivate a personal statement. In a field where life and death constantly clash, experiences with death might appear impressive qualifications; however, approach them cautiously.

Focus on the reasons behind your motivation, rather than the details of the tragedy. Explain how the experience impacted your medical career aspirations, including skill development or perspective changes.

How have you applied these new skills or perspectives? How would they contribute to your success as a medical student?

4. Why You Want To Be a Doctor

Becoming a doctor is no small feat. What journey brought you here?

Writing things like “I want to help people” or “I want to make a difference” won’t set you apart from all the other students applying for medical school .

Knowing who you want to serve, why you want to help them (in story form), and where you’d like to end up will show admissions officers that you are serious about your medical career.

After all, this career doesn’t just involve many years of post-graduate education — you need a significant motivation to see this career through. That’s what admissions committees are looking for!

Read Next: Medical School Interviews: What To Do Before, During & After  

How long is a personal statement for medical school?

Your statement is limited to:

• 5,300 characters (including spaces) on the AMCAS application ( MD programs )
• 5,000 characters on the TMDSAS (Texas MD programs)
• 5,300 characters for AACOMAS ( DO programs )

That’s roughly 500-700 words, or 3 double-spaced pages of text.

We typically suggest our students divide their personal statement into about 5 full paragraphs — an intro, 2-3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Pro tip: Do not type directly into the text box — if something goes wrong, you’ll lose all of your work. Write in another program first, then copy and paste the edited copy into the application text box.

Use a text-only word processing tool (TextEdit on Mac devices or Basic Text Editor on Windows), or type the essay into Microsoft Word or a Google Doc. Just remember to save the file as a *.rtf. This will eliminate formatting issues when you copy and paste the essay into the AMCAS box.

How To Write a Personal Statement For Medical School

Your personal statement is an opportunity to showcase your passion for medicine and your unique experiences. Be genuine, focused, and concise; your personal statement will leave a lasting impression on medical school admissions committees.

Some questions you may want to consider while writing your personal statement are:

• Why have you selected the field of medicine?
• What motivates you to learn more about medicine?
• What do you want medical schools to know about you that has yet to be disclosed in another application section?

In addition, you may wish to include information such as unique hardships, challenges, or obstacles that may have influenced your educational pursuits. Comment on significant academic record fluctuations not explained elsewhere in your application.

With thousands of students, we’ve developed a nine-step process for how to write a personal statement that’s sure to get noticed. Follow these steps in order to uplevel your personal statement writing.

1. Choose a central theme.

Sticking to one central theme for your personal statement may sound tricky, but sticking with a central theme can give your statement more of a rhythm.

Here are a few examples to use when thinking of a central theme:

• What is an experience that challenged or changed your perspective on medicine?
• Is there a relationship with a mentor or another inspiring individual that has significantly influenced you?
• What was a challenging personal experience that you encountered?
• List unique hardships, challenges, or obstacles that may have influenced your educational pursuits.
• What is your motivation to seek a career in medicine?

2. Choose 2-4 personal qualities to highlight.

Keep this part brief and highlight the strengths that will make you an exceptional doctor.

What sets you apart from others? What makes you unique? What are you particularly proud of about yourself that may not be explained by a good GPA or MCAT score?

Here are a few examples of quality traits great doctors possess:

• Persistence
• Reliability
• Accountability
• Good judgment under pressure
• Excellent communication skills
• Leadership skills

3. Identify 1-2 significant experiences that demonstrate these qualities.

In this section, you should include that these experiences exemplify the qualities above and outline your path to medicine.

The top experiences college admissions seek are research projects , volunteer activities, and mentorship.

Here are a few ways to narrow down what makes an experience significant:

• Which experiences left you feeling transformed (either immediately, or in retrospect)?
• Which experiences genuinely made you feel like you were making a difference or contributing in a meaningful way?
• Which experiences radically shifted your perspectives or priorities?
• Which experiences have truly made you who you are today?

Pro tip: If you’re still in your third year of pre-med and want to participate in more experiential projects that will support your future medical career, check out Global Medical Brigades . We partner with this student-led movement for better global health, and brigades are a transformative way to begin your medical career.

4. Write a compelling introduction.

Your personal statement introduction is the first thing the admissions committee will read. The first paragraph should be a catchy, attention-grabbing hook or story that grabs the reader’s attention and sets up the main point of your essay.

Check out this webinar for more examples of what makes a great introduction.

5. Use storytelling to write the body paragraphs.

Since the goal is to achieve depth rather than breadth (5,000 characters isn’t a lot!), focus on key experiences instead of discussing everything you’ve accomplished. Remember, you’ll have the Work & Activities section to share other relevant experiences.

Use the following five-step formula to elaborate on important experiences in the body paragraphs of your personal statement:

• Discuss why you pursued the experience.
• Mention how you felt during the experience.
• Describe what you accomplished and learned.
• Discuss how your experience affected you and the world around you.
• Describe how the experience influenced your decision to pursue medicine.

The best personal statements tell a story about who you are. “Show, don’t tell,” what you’ve experienced — immerse the reader in your narrative, and you’ll have a higher chance of being accepted to medical school.

6. Create an engaging conclusion.

Your goal is to make the person reading want to meet you and invite you to their school! Your conclusion should:

• Talk about your future plans.
• Define what medicine means to you.
• Reflect on your growth.
• Reiterate how you’d contribute to your school’s community and vision.

7. Use a spellchecker to proofread for basic errors.

Misusing “your” instead of “you’re” or misspelling a few important words can negatively impact how your personal statement is received. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation should be perfect on your personal statement.

Use Grammarly or a similar spellchecker to check for errors before completing your personal statement. You can also use an AI tool like ChatGPT for proofreading, although it’s more likely to make sweeping changes.

8. Edit your draft.

Editing your personal statement a few times over will benefit you in the long run. Give yourself time to write, edit, reread, and re-edit your personal statement before submitting it with your application.

You can use AI technology like ChatGPT for small edits or to help you add in information where you might feel stuck, but don’t rely too much on it.

9. Ask a few trusted people to read your draft.

Have at least one friend, family member, and at least one person who’s a medical professional review your draft. A  professor in your pre-med program would be a great person to review your draft.

Be willing to receive as much feedback as your trusted people are willing to give. Don’t get caught up in obsessing over one statement you really like if all three of your readers suggest cutting it.

If you’d like a professional eye on your personal statement, consider a personal statement editing service. Our editors are medical professionals, often who have reviewed personal statements and applications submitted to admissions committees.

We’d love to help you craft a personal statement that’s sure to stand out.

30 prompts to inspire your personal statement.

Here are 30 prompts to inspire your personal statement: 

• Describe a defining moment in your life that solidified your desire to pursue a career in medicine.
• Discuss a challenging situation you faced and how it shaped your perspective on healthcare.
• Reflect on a time when you made a meaningful impact on someone’s life through your actions or support.
• Explain your motivation for wanting to become a physician and how it has evolved over time.
• Describe a personal quality or skill that will contribute to your success as a medical professional.
• Discuss the importance of empathy and compassion in the medical profession and share a personal experience demonstrating these qualities.
• Reflect on a specific medical case or patient that inspired you and how it influenced your future goals.
• Share a story about an interaction with a mentor or role model who has inspired your path in medicine.
• Describe a time when you overcame adversity or faced a significant challenge in your journey to medical school.
• Explain how your background, culture, or upbringing has influenced your perspective on healthcare.
• Discuss a medical issue or topic you’re passionate about and why it’s important to you.
• Describe your experience working or volunteering in a healthcare setting and the lessons you’ve learned.
• Reflect on a time when you had to adapt or be resilient in a challenging situation.
• Discuss how your interest in research or innovation will contribute to your career as a physician.
• Share a personal experience that has shaped your understanding of the importance of teamwork in healthcare.
• Describe a leadership role you’ve held and how it has prepared you for a career in medicine.
• Discuss the impact of a specific medical discovery or advancement on your decision to pursue medicine.
• Reflect on your experience with a particular patient population or community and how it has influenced your perspective on healthcare.
• Share your thoughts on the role of social responsibility in the medical profession.
• Explain how your experiences with interdisciplinary collaboration have prepared you for a career in medicine.
• Describe a time when you advocated for a patient or their needs.
• Share your experience with a global health issue or project and how it has impacted your perspective on healthcare.
• Discuss your interest in a specific medical specialty and why it appeals to you.
• Reflect on a time when you encountered an ethical dilemma and how you resolved it.
• Describe an experience that demonstrates your commitment to lifelong learning and personal growth.
• Share a story about a time when you had to think critically and problem-solve in a healthcare setting.
• Discuss how your experiences with diverse populations have informed your approach to patient care.
• Describe an experience that highlights your ability to communicate effectively with others in a medical setting.
• Reflect on a time when you demonstrated your commitment to patient-centered care.
• Share your thoughts on the importance of balance and self-care in the medical profession and how you plan to maintain these practices throughout your career.

Avoid These Common Personal Statement Mistakes

Avoid these 5 common mistakes students make when writing their personal statements: 

• Clichés : “I just want to help people,” “from a young age,” “I’ve always wanted to,” and “for as long as I can remember,” are just some of the overused phrases in personal statements. Other clichés we’ve seen often include saying that you’ve wanted to be a doctor for your whole life, using overly dramatic patient anecdotes, or prideful-sounding stories about how you saved a life as a pre-med student. Eliminate clichés from your writing.
• Typos/grammatical errors: We covered this already, but the grammar in your statement should be flawless . It’s hard to catch your own typos, so use grammar checking tools like Grammarly and ask your readers to look for typographical errors or grammar problems, too.
• Name-dropping: At best, naming a prominent member of the medical community in your statement sounds braggadocious and will probably be brushed off. At worst, an adcom reader may think poorly of the person you mention and dismiss you based on the connection. If you do know a well-known and well-respected person in the medical field and worked closely with them, request a letter of recommendation instead.
• Restating your MCAT score or GPA : Every character in your personal statement counts (literally). Don’t restate information already found on your application. If your application essay is being read, an algorithm has already identified your prerequisite scores as being worthy of reviewing the rest of your application.
• Using extensive quotes from other people: This is your chance to show who you are. Quoting a philosopher or trusted advisor in these few precious characters takes away from the impact you can have. A single short quote might be okay if it’s highly relevant to the story you’re telling, but don’t go beyond that.

Should you use ChatGPT to help you write?

ChatGPT is a great AI tool to help you get your personal statement off the ground. However, since this is your personal statement, ChatGPT won’t be able to effectively write transitions or tie your personal statement together.

Only you can effectively convey what being a doctor means to you. Only you carry the experiences in your mind and heart that have compelled you to pursue this competitive profession. Don’t rely on artificial intelligence to fake those experiences — it will show, and not in a good way.

We’ve found that ChatGPT can help speed the processes of ideation , editing, and grammar-checking. If you’re not using it to emulate human experiences but just treating it as a helpful assistant, go for it! 

When should you start writing your personal statement?

Begin writing your personal statement early enough to have months of reflection and editing time before your application cycle begins. We recommend writing your personal statement as the first step when applying to medical school , starting in December or January before applications open.

As you progress, anticipate revising multiple versions of your draft. Spend time reflecting on your life experiences and aspirations.

Dr. Katzen, MedSchoolCoach Master Advisor and previous admissions committee member at GWU, recommends starting your personal statement in December/January if you plan to apply in May/June (you should!). 

This gives you plenty of time to have others review it or to get professional personal statement editing services. It also gives you time to write multiple drafts and be 100% satisfied with your final essay.

9 Personal Statement Examples That Led To Med School Acceptance

We’ve included some of our favorite medical school personal statement examples below. Each of these was written by a student who was accepted at one or more programs of their choice.

1. Embracing Diversity: Healing Through Cultural Connections

Student Accepted to Case Western SOM, Washington University SOM, University of Utah SOM, Northwestern University Feinberg SOM

With a flick and a flourish, the tongue depressor vanished, and from behind my ear suddenly appeared a coin. Growing up, my pediatrician often performed magic tricks, making going to the doctors’ feel like literal magic. I believed all healthcare facilities were equally mystifying, especially after experiencing a different type of magic in the organized chaos of the Emergency Department. Although it was no place for a six-year-old, childcare was often a challenge, and while my dad worked extra shifts in nursing school to provide for our family, I would find myself awed by the diligence and warmth of the healthcare providers.

Though I associated the hospital with feelings of comfort and care, it sometimes became a place of fear and uncertainty. One night, my two-year-old brother, Sean, began vomiting and coughing non-stop. My dad was deployed overseas, so my mother and I had no choice but to spend the night at the hospital, watching my brother slowly recover with the help of the healthcare providers. Little did I know, it would not be long before I was in the same place. Months later, I was hospitalized with pneumonia with pleural effusions, and as I struggled to breathe, I was terrified of having fluid sucked out of my chest. But each day physicians comforted me, asking how I was, taking time to reassure me that I was being taken care of, and explaining any questions related to my illness and treatment. Soon, I became excited to speak with the infectious disease doctor and residents, absorbing as much as I could to learn more about different illnesses.

In addition to conventional medical settings, I also came to view the magic of healing through other lenses. Growing up, Native American traditions were an important aspect of my life as my father had been actively involved with native spirituality, connecting back to his Algonquin heritage. We often attended Wi-wanyang-wa-c’i-pi ceremonies or Sun Dances, for healing through prayer and individuals making personal sacrifices for their community. Although I never sun danced myself, I spent hours in inipis, chewing on osha root, finding my own healing through songs. In addition to my father’s heritage, healing came from the curanderismo traditions of Peru, the home of my mother, who came from a long line of healers, which involved herbal remedies and ceremonies in the healing of the mind, body, energy and soul. I can still see my mother preparing mixtures of oils, herbs, and incense while performing healing rituals. The compassion and care she put into healing paralleled the Emergency Department healthcare providers.

Through the influence of these early life experiences, I decided to pursue a career in the health sciences. Shortly after starting college, I entered a difficult time in my life as I struggled with health and personal challenges. I suddenly felt weak and tired most days with aches all over my body. Soon, depression set in. I eventually visited a doctor, and through a series of tests, we discovered I had hypothyroidism. During this time, I also began dealing with an unprocessed childhood trauma. I decided to take time off school, and with thyroid replacement hormones and therapy, I slowly began to recover. But I still had ways to go, and due to financial challenges, I made the difficult decision to continue delaying my education and found work managing a donut shop. Unbeknownst to me, this experience would lead to significant personal growth by working with people from all walks of life and allowing me time for self-reflection. I found myself continuously reflecting on the experiences in the hospital that defined my childhood and the unmatched admiration I had for healthcare workers. With my renewed interest in medicine, I enrolled in classes to get my AEMT license to get more experience in the medical field.

As my health improved, I excelled in my classes, and after craving the connections of working with others, I became a medical assistant. In this position, I met “Marco,” a patient who came from Mexico for treatment. Though I spoke Spanish while growing up, I had little experience as a medical interpreter. However, I took the opportunity to speak with him to learn his story. Afterwards, he became more comfortable, and I helped walk him through the consultation process, interpreting the physician’s words and Marco’s questions. This moment showed me the power of connecting with others in their native language. As a result, I began volunteering at a homeless clinic to continue bridging the language barrier for patients and to help advocate for the Latinx community and those who struggle to find their voice.

My journey to become a doctor has been less direct than planned; however, my personal trials and tribulations have afforded me the opportunity to meet and work with incredible people who have been invaluable to my recovery and personal development. Most importantly, I have seen the value of compassionate and empathetic care. Though I have not recently witnessed any sleight of hand or vanishing acts, what healthcare providers do for patients can only be described as magic. I look forward to bringing my diverse background as a physician and expanding my abilities to help patients in their path to healing.

2. The Calling to Heal From the Battlefield

Student Accepted to Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Harvard Medical School, Yale SOM

I’ll never forget his screams of pain.

It was the first time I had heard a man cry for help, and it shook me to my core. It had been a long night of training in South Korea for me and my fellow Army Rangers. We were reaching the end, heavy with exhaustion, when my friend took the direct impact of an explosive to his leg. The shockwave momentarily rattled my sense of balance. Struggling to see in the dark, I switched on my headlamp. In that instant, all I could focus on was his face. His eyes darted back and forth, sweeping the surroundings for any semblance of help, but all I could do was stand there and watch as our medics treated him.

No amount of training prepared me to see a friend in pain. As I watched the helicopter fly him away, I couldn’t help but think— even though I’d gone through some of the best military training in the world, in that moment, I could do nothing for him. Fortunately, he is okay, but had there been no medic available, the situation could have ended with tragedy. That night, I realized that through a career in medicine, I could be more than just a bystander to suffering— I could be in the position to not only reduce unnecessary pain but to also help those affected by conflict and trauma be restored to the fullness of life.

Upon returning home from this deployment, I shifted my focus to developing my skills in trauma care. I completed various trainings on caring for casualties in a combat environment and preparing non-medic Rangers to provide self-aid or buddy-aid in the absence of a medical provider. In a final scenario-based training lane, I helped lead my team in the treatment and packaging of a trauma patient for evacuation, setting a record time in our company and earning a military medal. This achievement, however, was only the beginning. These trainings and my successes served as a foundation that I built upon to ensure I could provide life-saving care in combat situations.  I continued to hone this skillset over my next two combat deployments as a machine gunner to Afghanistan, where, I was prepared to use these critical abilities to decrease mortality on the battlefield. In medicine, like in the army, the actual practice of one’s craft may be life or death. Therefore, evolving both dependability and proficiency during training is imperative in preparation for that final test, both in war and in medicine.

After leaving the military, confronting injury and trauma continued to be a reality. A year after exiting the service, two Army Ranger leaders whom I knew were critically injured on a mission overseas. One was my former team leader, who was shot in the neck, and the other was caught in an explosion that later resulted in a triple amputation. The relentless efforts of doctors and nurses is the reason why both of these brave men are alive today. Recognizing that without the diligent care of these medical professionals, these men would not have survived, I became ever more dedicated to serving others.

While in college, this dedication pushed me to routinely visit the West Haven VA Hospital to provide a community of support for the older, disabled veterans there. I first began visiting this hospital for my own medical care but witnessing the suffering of the other veterans at the hospital spurred me to return repeatedly not as a patient, but as a friend to my fellow veterans.  As a veteran and student, seeing and hearing about the pain and loss of function experienced by many other veterans reminded me of the importance of advocacy in healthcare: to understand, to care for, and to fight for those who are unable to do so themselves.

I continued to see these effects of conflict while volunteering as a tutor to individuals from the Middle East who were affected by the very war I served in. Alaa lives in Syria and dreams of becoming a surgeon. Together, Alaa and I discussed chemistry, biology, and math. Despite his love of learning and dedication, the instability of his community, which was plagued by violence, often barred him from focusing on his studies and committing to a routine tutoring schedule. Although I’ll never intimately know the reality of growing up in a war-torn country, working with Alaa taught me to keep the bigger picture of healthcare in mind. It reminded me that a career as a physician would provide me with the capability to help those like Alaa who are affected by conflict.

When I reflect on medicine, I draw many parallels to my life in army special operations. The training is intense, the hours are long, and the structure is hierarchical. The mission, above all else, is to provide the best outcome for those around you. On my journey to a career in medicine, I plan to continue to add to what I’ve learned from my experiences so far: humility, empathy, dependability, communication, teamwork, and leading from the front. For over four years I lived by the Ranger Creed, and I plan to imbue the same ethos in serving as a physician— to keep myself mentally alert and morally straight, to shoulder more than my share of whatever task presents itself.  In crossing from the path of a warrior to that of a healer, I hope to continue a life of service to improve the human condition and reduce unnecessary suffering in the world one person at a time.

3. Community-based Health and Empathy: Serving Underserved Communities in Crisis

Student Accepted to Weill Cornell

My path to medicine was first influenced by early adolescent experiences trying to understand my place in society. Though I was not conscious of it at the time, I held a delicate balance between my identity as an Indian-American and an “American-American.”

In a single day, I could be shooting hoops and eating hotdogs at school while spending the evening playing Carrom and enjoying tandoori chicken at a family get-together. When our family moved from New York to California, I had the opportunity to attend a middle school with greater diversity, so I learned Spanish to salve the loss of moving away and assimilate into my new surroundings.

As I partook in related events and cuisine, I built an intermixed friend group and began to understand how culture influences our perception of those around us. While volunteering at senior centers in high school, I noticed a similar pattern to what I sometimes saw at school: seniors socializing in groups of shared ethnicity and culture. Moving from table to table, and therefore language to language, I also observed how each group shared different life experiences and perspectives on what constitutes health and wellness. Many seniors talked about barriers to receiving care or how their care differed from what they had envisioned. Listening to their stories on cultural experiences, healthcare disparities, and care expectations sparked my interest in becoming a physician and providing care for the whole community.

Intrigued by the science behind perception and health, I took electives during my undergraduate years to build a foundation in these domains. In particular, I was amazed by how computational approaches could help model the complexity of the human mind, so I pursued research at Cornell’s Laboratory of Rational Decision-Making. Our team used fMRI analysis to show how the framing of information affects its cognitive processing and perception. Thinking back to my discussions with seniors, I often wondered if more personalized health-related messaging could positively influence their opinions. Through shadowing, I had witnessed physicians engaging in honest and empathetic conversations to deliver medical information and manage patients’ expectations, but how did they navigate delicate conflicts where the patients’ perspectives diverged from their own?

My question was answered when I became a community representative for the Ethics Committee for On Lok PACE, an elderly care program. One memorable case was that of Mr. A.G, a blind 86-year-old man with radiation-induced frontal lobe injury who wanted to return home and cook despite his doctor’s expressed safety concerns. Estranged from family, Mr. A.G. relied on cooking to find fulfillment in his life. Recognizing the conflict between autonomy and beneficence, I joined the physicians in brainstorming and recommending ways he could cook while being supervised. I realized that the role of a physician was to mediate between the medical care plan and the patient’s wishes in order to make a decision that preserves their dignity. As we considered possibilities, the physicians’ genuine concern for the patient’s emotional well-being exemplified the compassion that I want to emulate as a future doctor. Our discussions emphasized the rigor of medicine—the challenge of ambiguity and the importance of working with an individual to serve their needs.

With COVID-19 ravaging our underserved communities, my desire to help others drove me towards community-based health as a contact tracer for my county’s Department of Public Health. My conversations uncovered dozens of heartbreaking stories that revealed how inequities in socioeconomic status and job security left poorer families facing significantly harsher quarantines than their wealthier counterparts. Moreover, many residents expressed fear or mistrust, such as a 7-person family who could not safely isolate in their 1 bedroom/1 bath apartment. I offered to arrange free hotel accommodations but was met with a guarded response from the father: “We’ll be fine. We can maintain the 6 feet.” While initially surprised, I recognized how my government affiliation could lead to a power dynamic that made the family feel uneasy. Thinking how to make myself more approachable, I employed motivational interviewing skills and even simple small talk to build rapport. When we returned to discussing the hotel, he trusted my intentions and accepted the offer. Our bond of mutual trust grew over two weeks of follow-ups, leaving me humbled yet gratified to see his family transition to a safer living situation. As a future physician, I realize I may encounter many first-time or wary patients; and I feel prepared to create a responsive environment that helps them feel comfortable about integrating into our health system.

Through my clinical and non-clinical experiences, I have witnessed the far-reaching impact of physicians, from building lasting connections with patients to being a rock of support during uncertain times. I cannot imagine a career without these dynamics—of improving the health and wellness of patients, families, and society and reducing healthcare disparities. While I know the path ahead is challenging, I am confident that I want to dedicate my life to this profession.

4. Creating a Judgment-Free Zone with The Power of Acceptance in Healthcare

Student Accepted to George Washington SOM and Health Sciences, Drexel University COM

Immigrating into a foreign country without speaking a word of the language is a terrifying task for anyone. My mentee at Computers4kids, Sahil, came to the United States at seventeen and had been struggling to integrate with society due to the language barrier. Although I was born in the United States, I can empathize with the struggle he encounters daily, since both my parents and many members of my family have dealt with the same issues. Often, these barriers exacerbate mundane issues the immigrant population faces as they have difficulty finding people who can understand and care for them. Since I am bilingual in Farsi, when Sahil approached me with his driving instructions manual written in Dari, I thought I could teach him the rules of the road with no issues. I asked him to read the first sentence, but he diverted his gaze and mumbled that he did not know how to read. As I realized he seemed embarrassed by his illiteracy, I placed my hand on his shoulder and assured him that he could learn. I increased my weekly hours at the site to spend an equal amount of time on the rules of the road and on phonetics and reading. Within a few months, he was more comfortable greeting others around the Computers4Kids site and participating in interactive projects. Upon reflection, I appreciate the importance of creating a judgment-free zone that encourages learning and reciprocal care. Once Sahil noticed that I saw him no differently after learning of his illiteracy, he was ready and willing to work on the basics of language and reading, instead of solely memorizing words.

I did not realize how pivotal a judgment-free zone in a medical environment is until I worked at the University of Virginia Emergency Department as a medical scribe. Although I had scribed at a smaller hospital before, I had always strived for a position at a high-volume healthcare center and level one trauma center. Close to the end of a long shift, I walked into the room of a patient with the chief complain of ‘Psychiatric Evaluation’.  A male patient with schizophrenia was hyperventilating and speaking through tears as he described seeing his deceased wife and daughter everywhere he looked. Between short breaths, he mentioned he was going to Florida to attack the person who “murdered his family”. The resident diffused the situation by acknowledging the patient’s feelings and suggesting that he stayed for psychiatric help instead of flying to Florida. Eventually, the patient agreed and was admitted. Seeing the resident create this judgment-free environment was eye opening, as the previously distressed patient was now accepting counseling. The powerful influence of acceptance can lead to valuable insights about patients’ lives, potentially increasing the range of care one can administer.

I decided to transition to primary care in the most recent fall season because I would be able to build a more personal relationship with families in my community. I began working at Union Mill Pediatrics and was finally able to serve the community I grew I up in. I was given the responsibility of acting as the primary contact for a few families with children who have autism. Dr. Maura and I perused the plan of care for one of these children, Ayaan, determined by the Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), to ensure that set therapeutic goals were reasonable and generalizable. When I asked Salwa, Ayaan’s mother, about some of the goals set by her BCBA and the school, she mentioned they would repeat exercises he already knew how to complete. I informed Salwa of her right as a patient to bring up her concerns with Ayaan’s teachers. I was overjoyed when she updated me that she instructed Ayaan’s teacher to continue putting his hearing aid in despite Ayaan’s constant cries. Salwa explained that the tantrums would curb after two days, which proved to be true. Similarly to how I encourages Salwa to advocate for her son, I will advocate for my patients and help them develop confidence to speak about their needs. After finding her voice as the patient’s guardian, Salwa gained the confidence to ask about a support group as she faces difficulties raising Ayaan alone. After some research, I found a few active groups to send her. By proving to Salwa I had her best interests in heart, she opened up to me about her mental health issues, which enabled me to extend the appropriate resources her way.

I have witnessed the potential that physicians have at work to forever change a family’s quality of life by being open-minded and remaining judgment-free. As a physician, I will aim to provide for my community through attentive healthcare and community service. I will advocate for my patients with cultural, language or socioeconomic barriers to healthcare. Building a trusting relationship with my future patients can result in a more productive office visit and enhance my ability to administer holistic care. My goal is for patients to leave their visit with not only a reasonable plan of care, but also a greater appreciation of their health and their rights as patients.

5. The Intersection of Medicine and Creativity

Student Accepted to Hackensack Meridian SOM, Nova Southeastern CoOM/KPCOM

Growing up, I inherited a deep admiration for medicine. From my grandfather’s chilling stories as a forensic psychiatrist assessing mental fitness, to my father’s heroic accounts as a pediatric dentist operating on toddlers with severe tooth decay, I was enamored with the honor of healing. These exposures nurtured my natural curiosity and innate aptitude for the sciences. Yet my mother, who had studied dance and theatre, instilled in me a fervent love of the arts and creative practice. Following in her footsteps, I took up multiple musical instruments, attended a high school for the arts, and earned a degree in art history coupled with a dance minor. Still, my dream was to pursue medicine, and though it seems counterintuitive, my love of art has only facilitated my enduring love of science, reinforcing why pursuing a career as a holistic, health-centered physician is my deepest aspiration.

My affinity for the health sciences began in the dance studio, where I devoted many hours of my adolescence. Dance, insidious in its promotion of grotesque health practices, demanded that I limit my calories to 1,200 a day counting everything from ibuprofen to a stick of gum, and to dance through a severe hamstring tear. My conceptions of health were severely warped until college dance came to my rescue. These new progressive teachers uplifted dancers of all physical and cognitive abilities, distributed scientific journals on effective warm-up techniques, and abandoned conventional dance norms. I was disturbed by all the unlearning I had to do, but eager to reacquaint myself with my body and disseminate new knowledge. Thus, I was honored when dance again presented an opportunity in health, as I was hired to teach dance at my childhood summer camp. Here, I could separate my curriculum from unreasonable physical expectations and interpersonal competition. I found a fierce sense of joy and fulfillment from being an advocate for physical and emotional health, and I knew I wanted to continue helping others heal while also deconstructing my own negative health experiences.

These formative experiences in the arts profoundly supported my intellectual development, allowing me to thrive in science-based settings and ultimately prompting me to seek out colleges with robust research programs. At the University of Michigan, I had the privilege of participating in a campus research lab, undoubtedly resulting in my most valuable college experience. The world of scientific inquiry can be intimidating, but after a year of reading dozens of papers and learning novice lab protocols, I began my own independent investigation of zebrafish retinas. My goal was to uncover the mechanisms of retinal regeneration in fish, thus addressing vision loss. The excitement I felt in utilizing challenging lab techniques, working with animals, witnessing the culmination of my efforts through image analysis, and being a part of such life-altering research was unmatched. What once seemed like magic was now tangible; I was an artist helping craft the solutions to science’s unanswered questions. In the context of my multidisciplinary interests, my research reinforced the creative, humanitarian side of science, and that science was where I felt compelled to take action and build a career.

Art continued to deepen my passion for and understanding of medicine. The revolutionary approaches of my dance teachers modeled the importance of critique as it pertains to health. This was not a new concept to me; my high school art teachers had urged us to challenge institutional weaknesses. It was not until college, however, that I realized how this line of thinking intersects with medicine. Studying art history, I repeatedly encountered artists whose work tackled issues in health. Keith Haring confronted the AIDS crisis when society had turned on the gay population, and Marc Quinn confronted the disease of addiction in his self-portrait sculptures, made entirely of his own frozen blood. Art, I learned, is so often a response to disease, be it physical, mental, or sociological. These artists had been champions of health in light of its stigmas and politics; art thus fostered new intentions, instilling within me an ardent goal of social activism through medicine.

Art has contributed to my journey, and while it is not my ultimate goal, I hope to incorporate my artistically based insights into my work in science and medicine as a health and social justice advocate. I am driven to continue exploring these intersections, having compiled an entire portfolio on the connection between dance and science, researched disability in the arts, and pursued my personal interest in LGBTQ+ health advocacy by connecting with and shadowing a variety of gender care physicians. My intention to pursue medicine is personal, fulfilling, and pressing, and I take seriously the responsibility I will have as a physician to be a mogul for change in areas of healthcare that compromise the human experience. Further, my natural inclination towards science and involvement in academic research has instilled in me the confidence and skills necessary to be an effective medical practitioner. With this balanced mindset, I know I will contribute to a more ethical and well-rounded approach to healthcare.

6. Innovation in Medicine and a Quest for Discovery

Student Accepted to Johns Hopkins SOM, Washington University SOM, Hofstra Zucker SOM

As a notoriously picky nine-year-old with a penchant for grilled cheese, I was perplexed when I learned that my younger sister, Rachel, had been diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I felt a sting of betrayal knowing my comfort food was the culprit for Rachel’s terrible stomach aches. Yearning to understand how my favorite food was poisoning my favorite person, I developed an insatiable desire to discover the “why” behind Celiac. As Rachel’s doctor explained her disease, I was both fascinated that a simple protein could cause so much damage and inspired by the doctor’s compassion. He described every detail in a way Rachel would understand, addressed her every concern, and held her hand when she was scared. I wanted to be just like Rachel’s doctor so that I too could use science to decipher medical mysteries while also reassuring my patients that I would be their advocate and help them heal.

My interest in medicine drove me to learn more about what it meant to be a doctor. As a freshman in high school, I arranged a shadow day with Dr. M, a cardiologist. He taught me about echoes, showed me a pacemaker implantation, and in the midst of a cardioversion, even beckoned me over to press the button that discharged the defibrillator. I could not contain my excitement recounting how much I had learned during my first day in a clinical setting. From there, my curiosity skyrocketed and I embarked on a relentless pursuit to explore the spectrum of the medical field. I was moved by the supportive atmosphere of the NICU, struck by the precision involved in ophthalmology, absorbed by the puzzle-like reconstruction of Mohs surgery, and awed by the agility of cardiothoracic surgery. Between high school and college, I shadowed over a dozen physicians, cementing my interest and furthering my passion for a future medical career.

My college classes allowed me to immerse myself further in the study of the human body. Following my fascination with cancer, I secured an internship working on a melanoma immunotherapy clinical trial at the National Institutes of Health. I savored the stimulation, grasping new experimental techniques and developing assays; but my work took on even greater meaning when I learned that my grandfather had been enrolled in an early-stage immunotherapy trial himself while battling mucosal melanoma. Although immunotherapy did not heal my grandfather, I was immensely proud to be advancing the science years later. Through long nights and evolving experiments, I gave the trial its final push through an FDA approval checkpoint; ultimately, my contributions will help more grandparents go into remission. The most fulfilling moments came every Monday when I accompanied the leading physician scientists on their rounds. As I met patients, listened to their stories, and celebrated their improvements, the pulsating blister on my thumbpad from endless pipetting became akin to a medal of honor. Reflecting on these encounters, I wanted to continue driving scientific innovation, but I also wanted a more active and personal impact in the patient’s experience.

My desire to connect with patients brought me to Alliance Medical Ministry, a clinic serving uninsured, disadvantaged communities in North Carolina. I stepped up to lead efforts to organize a community COVID-19 vaccination clinic, communicating personally with every eligible patient and arranging vaccine appointments for over a thousand people across the hardest hit areas of Raleigh. The experience became even more rewarding when I trained to administer vaccines, becoming a stable, anchoring presence from the beginning to the end of the process. One memorable patient, “Amy,” had not seen a doctor in years because of the associated financial burden. When she came to the clinic suffering from diabetic ketoacidosis, she was not even aware of her diabetes diagnosis. While I waited with her for transportation to the ER, she expressed her fears about contracting COVID at the hospital. However, she emphatically dismissed my suggestion about receiving a vaccine. I listened intently to all her concerns. Not only was she worried about the vaccine infecting her with the virus, but also her history of being denied healthcare due to her socioeconomic status had instilled fears that she would not be taken care of should she have an adverse reaction. I took her hand in mine and reassured her of the clinic’s mission to provide care regardless of ability to pay. I further explained everything I knew about how the vaccine worked, its safety and efficacy, and how my body reacted when I received my own injection. I could not help but beam behind my N95 when days later, Amy returned, sat in my chair and confidently rolled up her sleeve for me to give her the protective shot.

I have grown by exploring the multifaceted world of medicine through shadowing, pioneering research to advance patient care at the NIH, and cultivating trusting relationships with patients from the vaccine clinic. As a doctor, my desire to be an innovative thinker and problem solver will fuel my unrelenting quest for discovery throughout a lifetime of learning. Most importantly, I aspire to use my medical knowledge to improve lives and establish meaningful patient partnerships, just as Rachel’s doctor did with her.

7. Transforming Pain into Purpose: Inspiring Change in the Field of Medicine

Student Accepted to UCSF SOM, Harvard Medical School

Countless visits to specialists in hope of relief left me with a slew of inconclusive test results and uncertain diagnoses. “We cannot do anything else for you.” After twelve months of waging a war against my burning back, aching neck and tingling limbs, hearing these words at first felt like a death sentence, but I continued to advocate for myself with medical professionals. A year of combatting pain and dismissal led me to a group of compassionate and innovative physicians at the Stanford Pain Management Center (SPMC). Working alongside a diverse team including pain management specialists and my PCP, I began the long, non-linear process of uncovering the girl that had been buried in the devastating rubble of her body’s pain. From struggling with day-to-day activities like washing my hair and sitting in class to thriving as an avid weightlifter and zealous student over the span of a year, I realized I am passionate about preventing, managing and eliminating chronic illnesses through patient-centered incremental care and medical innovation.

A few days after my pain started, I was relieved to hear that I had most likely just strained some muscles, but after an empty bottle of muscle relaxers, the stings and aches had only intensified. I went on to see 15 specialists throughout California, including neurologists, physiatrists, and rheumatologists. Neurological exams. MRIs. Blood tests. All inconclusive. Time and time again, specialists dismissed my experience due to ambiguous test results and limited time. I spent months trying to convince doctors that I was losing my body; they thought I was losing my mind. Despite these letdowns, I did not stop fighting to regain control of my life. Armed with my medical records and a detailed journal of my symptoms, I continued scheduling appointments with the intention of finding a doctor who would dig deeper in the face of the unknown. Between visits, I researched my symptoms and searched for others with similar experiences. One story on Stanford Medicine’s blog, “Young Woman Overcomes Multiple Misdiagnoses and Gets Her Life Back”, particularly stood out to me and was the catalyst that led me to the SPMC. After bouncing from doctor to doctor, I had finally found a team of physicians who would take the profound toll of my pain on my physical and mental well-being seriously.

Throughout my year-long journey with my care team at the SPMC, I showed up for myself even when it felt like I would lose the war against my body. I confronted daily challenges with fortitude. When lifting my arms to tie my hair into a ponytail felt agonizing, YouTube tutorials trained me to become a braiding expert. Instead of lying in bed all day when my medication to relieve nerve pain left me struggling to stay awake, I explored innovative alternative therapies with my physicians; after I was fed up with the frustration of not knowing the source of my symptoms, I became a research subject in a clinical trial aimed at identifying and characterizing pain generators in patients suffering from “mysterious” chronic pain. At times, it felt like my efforts were only resulting in lost time. However, seeing how patient my care team was with me, offering long-term coordinated support and continually steering me towards a pain-free future, motivated me to grow stronger with every step of the process. Success was not  an immediate victory, but rather a long journey of incremental steps that produced steady, life-saving progress over time. My journey brought me relief as well as clarity with regard to  how I will care for my future patients. I will advocate for them even when complex conditions, inconclusive results and stereotypes discourage them from seeking continued care; work with them to continually adapt and improve an individualized plan tailored to their needs and goals, and engage in pioneering research and medical innovations that can directly benefit them.

Reflecting on the support system that enabled me to overcome the challenges of rehabilitation, I was inspired to help others navigate life with chronic pain in a more equitable and accessible way. Not everyone has the means to work indefinitely with a comprehensive care team, but most do have a smartphone. As a result, I partnered with a team of physicians and physical therapists at the University of California San Francisco to develop a free mobile application that guides individuals dealing with chronic pain through recovery. Based on my own journey, I was able to design the app with an understanding of the mental and physical toll that pain, fear, and loss of motivation take on patients struggling with chronic pain. Having features like an exercise bank with a real-time form checker and an AI-based chatbot to motivate users, address their concerns and connect them to specific health care resources, our application helped 65 of the 100 pilot users experience a significant reduction in pain and improvement in mental health in three months.

My journey has fostered my passion for patient-centered incremental medicine and medical innovation. From barely living to thriving, I have become a trailblazing warrior with the perseverance and resilience needed to pursue these passions and help both the patients I engage with and those around the world.

8. Overcoming Bias, Stigma, and Disparities in Medicine

Student Accepted to University of Florida COM

Growing up as a Black woman, my family’s experiences with racial bias in medicine were central to my perception of doctors. From my grandmother’s forced electric shock therapy in the Jim Crow South that resulted in severe brain damage, to my father’s ignored appendicitis that led to a near-death infection after rupturing, every trip to the doctor came with apprehension. Will these strange men with sharp tools heal me or hurt me? This question repeated in my head as I prepared to undergo my first surgery to remove suspiciously inflamed lymph nodes at age 11. I woke up groggy from anesthesia with a negative cancer diagnosis but a blistering third degree burn. The surgeon had successfully removed the malignant masses but had left the cauterizing iron resting on my neck in the process. Today when I look in the mirror and see the scar, I am reminded of the troubling reality that myths such as black people having thicker skin and less sensitive nerve endings are still pervasive in the medical field. By challenging the systemic disparities in medicine that disadvantage minority populations, I vow to my inner child that I will be a different kind of doctor, a doctor who values the patient as much as the procedure.

My experiences with a variety of communities, minority and majority, stem from growing up in a military household that came with frequent relocations. I was exposed to a wide range of communities from an early age—rural Oregon to tropical Hawaii, industrious Japan to politicized D.C, sunny San Diego and finally to radical Berkeley where I  began my pre-medical education. I chose to view medicine from an anthropological lens while at Cal and supplemented my coursework with community service.  As co-coordinator of UC Berkeley’s chapter of Peer Health Exchange, my 9th grade students were, at first,  mistrusting –even with my Angela Davis-esque afro, I was clearly not from Oakland and not quite old enough to be lecturing them. But it was the Good Samaritan Law lecture, during which students learned they would not face police penalty for calling 911 if a friend was in trouble, that I finally gained their trust. One student shared, “I always worried that I wouldn’t be able to call for help because I’m undocumented.”  Later as a health advocate at UCSF, I encountered the same sentiment from families in the pediatric clinic who worried that accessing healthcare for a sick child might put their immigration or legal status at risk. I learned that to get to the root of barriers to access, trust is invaluable. Navigating marginalized spaces with cultural competency is an asset that I pride myself in.

I carried this foundation into my research and clinical work on HIV, a disease that disproportionately affects Black and Brown communities and is often left untreated by the stigmas surrounding medicine for these communities. As an HIV PreP Navigator at the Oasis clinic, I was on rotation when a thirteen-year-old girl was referred to the clinic after testing positive for HIV. We analyzed her T cell count and viral load, and discovered she fit the AIDs criteria.   In the following weeks, we worked on medication adherence, and as the girl’s CD4 count rose, so did her spirits and mine. Medicine is more than just a diagnosis and prescription—it is active compassionate treatment. It is holding steady when the entire ground seems to shake with the magnitude of an illness. It is being able to look a patient in the eye and truly see them despite the myriad of differences.

The disparities and differences in patient circumstances has been emphasized by the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing this disproportionate effect of the virus on minority communities, I worked at a COVID-19 testing facility in one of the most underserved and impoverished communities in the Los Angeles’ area. Assuring patients of the safety of Covid testing measures was a big part of the job. “Have you done it?” They would ask. “What about Tuskegee?”  Being Black, I felt the burden of responsibility that came with these questions. How could I have such faith in medicine knowing the traumatic past? My response was simple, “I believe in the science. I can explain PCR testing to you if you like.” By eradicating some of the mystery surrounding these lab techniques, people felt more comfortable.  The opportunity to serve as a trusted community leader by directly interacting with patients and working on a team with doctors, EMTs, and nurses amid an international crisis reaffirmed my journey into medicine.

Zora Neale Hurston once wrote, “mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to ‘jump at de sun.’ We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground.” As an aspiring physician, these words have served as a motivating mantra. To “get off the ground” for me means to become the first medical doctor in a lineage of sharecroppers and farmers. Medicine has been my “sun” for as long as I can remember; its promise to bring light has kept me jumping at every opportunity. Like my grandmother, my father, and so many others, I have experienced disparity in medicine. The scars that mar our bodies are my constant reminder that there is much work to be done. I see medicine as the ability to directly enact that change, one patient at a time.

9. Navigating Personal Struggles to Become a Compassionate Physician

Student Accepted to Touro CoOM, Nova Southeastern CoOM/KPCOM

I fight the heavy sleepiness that comes over me, but before I know it, I am out like a light. Forty-five minutes later, I wake up with a sore throat, watery eyes, and an intensely cold, painful feeling plaguing my entire right leg. Earlier, my parents and I arrived at the Beckman Laser Institute for another treatment of my port-wine stain birthmark. Despite my pleas to not undergo these procedures, my parents still took me twice a year. As I was rolled into the cold, sterile operating room on a gurney, I felt like I was experiencing everything from outside of myself. Despite my doctor’s and nurses’ best efforts to comfort me, I felt my heart racing. Feelings of apprehension and fear of the unknown flooded my senses at the sight of beeping machines and tubes that seemed to go everywhere. As the anesthesiologist began to administer the “sleepy juice,” I felt sad, realizing that my birthmark was a permanent resident on my leg and that I would have to receive this treatment for the rest of my life.

As an adult, I am grateful my parents continued to take me to the laser institute. Starting treatment so early aided in the lightening of my birthmark, which did wonders to improve my self-confidence. However, I suffered daily, feeling like I constantly had to hide something about myself. I kept my secret from everyone except my parents. Despite there being several medical doctors in my family, I knew that any sign of illness or disease would be held against me socially amongst other Egyptians. My secrecy was made even more difficult by the advice of my doctor to avoid certain physical activities, as they could worsen the underlying pathology of the veins in my legs. On his advice, I only wore long pants and would not run with other children during recess and gym class. This all added to the isolation I felt growing up, not knowing anyone with a similar condition to mine. Even as a child, no amount of explaining or encouragement could make me understand the benefit of those painful laser treatments.

What eventually changed my perspective was the team of compassionate doctors and nurses who have been caring for me since I began this journey. I was particularly touched when one of my doctors shared with me that she had also undergone a procedure that she would be performing on me. In that moment, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Not only was she a specialist in the field, but her empathy for what I would soon go through became a source of instant comfort and ease for me. I knew that what she said was heartfelt, and not simply an attempt to convince me to undergo a procedure. I realized then that one of the reasons I had felt so afraid was because I had been alone in what I was going through.

A few years later, I attended a conference held by the Vascular Birthmark Foundation, where a variety of specialists convened to discuss port-wine stain birthmarks and other related conditions. Once we arrived at the hotel where the conference would take place, I met a woman who had a facial port-wine stain birthmark. As we began sharing stories about our experiences with our condition, we connected over how difficult it had been to receive treatment. We both knew what it felt like to be told that the birthmark was simply a cosmetic issue, and that any form of treatment we received would have no corrective purpose, if it was even considered treatment in the first place. There was a certain sense of freedom that I felt in finally being able to talk about my illness with someone I could trust to understand. Thinking back to the doctor who connected with me over a procedure she had also experienced as a patient, I felt truly called in that moment to pursue my goal of becoming a vascular physician. My goal would be to become a source of comfort and familiarity for patients who struggle as I have, to give them the same relief that I experienced from finally being understood.

Despite the pains I went through, I now realize that the experiences I have had as a patient can help me better understand what it means to be a physician. By being an excellent listener and openly sharing my experiences with receiving treatment, I can foster an honest and safe physician-patient relationship. I believe this approach will not only comfort my patients, but also help them make informed decisions about their treatment. My commitment to this approach has also led me to choose a DO path for my medical career. Having researched the holistic treatment approach that a DO delivers, I realized that being treated by a DO would have done wonders for my self-confidence and overall health as a young patient. The aspects of my port wine stain that were always left untreated were the emotional and social side effects of my condition. As a DO in the dermatology or interventional radiology specialty, I hope to gain the tools to provide empathetic and comprehensive care to my patients that reassures them that they are not alone in their journey to better health.

Want to read a few more great samples? We also broke down the things that make these 3 personal statements excellent and compelling.

Other Resources For Personal Statement Writing

Do you want to learn even more about personal statements? Dive into these great resources!

FREE MEDICAL SCHOOL PERSONAL STATEMENT WEBINARS

Preparing Your Personal Statement For Medical Programs : Hosted by MedSchoolCoach Director of Writing & College Advising, Jennifer Speegle.

Creating the First Draft of Your Medical School Personal Statement : Hosted by MedSchoolCoach advising and writing advisors, Ziggy Yoediono MD and James Fleming.

Where to Begin When Writing Your Personal Statement : Hosted by MedSchoolCoach Associate Director of Writing and College Advising, Jennifer Speegle, Associate Director of Advising, Ziggy Yoediono MD, and Writing Advisor, Carrie Coaplen Ph. D.

The Medical School Personal Statement – What Makes a Great Intro and Why It’s Important : Hosted by Director of Advising, Dr. Renee Marinelli, MD, Master Advisor, Dr. Ziggy Yoediono, MD, and Founder of MedSchoolCoach, Dr. Sahil Mehta, MD.

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Episode 2 – The Personal Statement

Episode 42 – Writing Your Personal Statement

Episode 76 – How to Tackle the Medical School Personal Statement

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Personal Statement 101: Five Tips to Telling Your Story

When reviewing personal statements, our program directors want to understand your intentions. They want to know how you will use the graduate program as an opportunity. Will you use it to improve yourself, or impact your personal effectiveness, or to attain specific professional goals?

If you have never written a personal statement and are unsure of where to begin, don’t worry—we’ve got you covered.

Here are five tips on writing a personal statement that will help us get to know you.

Start off strong.

It is important that you make a great first impression. Begin your personal statement with something other than, “My name is … and I am interested the Master of Science in …” Start off with what excites you the most about the graduate degree programs, how your personal and professional background makes you a great fit for graduate school, and why you feel like you’re ready to start.

For example…

After three years as a department supervisor in a high tech company, I am ready to learn more about best practices in leadership. I am interested in the M.S. in Leadership degree because I want to advance my career into division management. To accomplish this goal, I need to learn how to lead diverse teams and find different ways to communicate expectations with my employees.

Do Your Research

Read everything that is available about the master’s program you want to enter. Demonstrate your knowledge about the program by relating the degree outcomes to your professional goals. Provide examples of which classes or parts of the  graduate program  you are most excited to explore.

When you’re writing your personal statement, choose your words carefully and be articulate. Remember, you are writing a statement that will be reviewed by your program director. You want to demonstrate your best writing skills. Avoid using figures of speech or jargon that require explanation. Your personal statement should be between 500-1,000 words.

Add to Your Resume

Be proud of what you’ve accomplished, but don’t re-write your  resume . Instead, connect your personal and professional highlights to your pursuit of a graduate degree.

Review and revise your personal statement. Read it out loud. Ask a friend to offer constructive feedback. Revise any awkward words, run-on sentences, and grammar.

We can get a sense of who you are from your resume and references, but your personal statement allows you to highlight your strengths, goals, and areas for growth.

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Essential components to the personal statement: how to tell your story

Sharing your story in a clear, compelling way is an important skill that will come in handy for the rest of your life, from writing personal statements to presenting yourself in interviews. It’s also a skill that’s not often emphasized in high school and college English classes, where literary analysis is highly prized. How can you hone this skill?

First, Read

You’ve heard this before, but I’ll reiterate: reading enables you to sharpen your skills as a writer because it will help you train an “ear” for different kinds of sentence structures and provide fodder for how to lay out a story and how to show, not tell. Reading the classics is wonderful, but also read memoirs for examples of how a personal narrative can be woven. Some of my favorites are Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt. The profiles in the New Yorker are also an excellent example of how to vividly paint a picture of someone without explicitly telling the reader facts but by illustrating with meaningful details, snippets of dialogue, and quirky vignettes.

Tackling the Personal Statement

Whether for college applications or for graduate school, the personal statement is the intimidating cherry on top. But keep in mind that the personal statement is always just one facet of your application, so don’t stress about needing to pick the perfect story or weave together many different parts of your life. Write about something that feels important to you, even if it might seem like a minor event; if you write for yourself first, you will be able to connect more genuinely with your reader. 

I always start with a free association brainstorming process with pen and paper. Sit down with the prompt, and generate as many different ideas or personal stories that feel relevant to the topic without judging or editing. Take a break, and come back to brainstorm some more.

Generate an outline based on one or two stories that speak to you the most. Try to narrow your focus as much as possible because it will be more powerful to dive deep into a circumstance or story with description and reflection rather than skimming the surface of many different events. Once you’ve generated an outline, you’re ready to write a first draft. Again, the first draft can be daunting because you may feel pressure to produce a great essay, but remember that you will have plenty of time to edit and rewrite. Hook your readers at the beginning by placing them in the midst of a story with descriptive language that transports them to your world--then you can zoom out later and give the thesis, or “point,” that your essay will make.

Tough Issues

Sometimes students worry about crafting an essay that is “palatable” to admissions officers. Is it too much or too “personal” to discuss a sibling’s mental illness?  To discuss a traumatic experience? If you feel comfortable sharing these experiences, it can be very poignant to disclose life challenges that most certainly have had a tremendous impact on you and are likely not reflected in your transcript or extracurriculars. Don’t be afraid to give it a try, and share with people who you trust to elicit feedback. 

Editing is tedious but rewarding: you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I would give your essay to a maximum of 3-4 people to read for feedback. A trusted English teacher, a family member, a peer whose writing you admire, a guidance counselor, or a CC coach are all possibilities.  But too many editors and you may get frustrated with conflicting feedback and a sense that the individuality of your essay is becoming diluted. It’s also okay to listen to and ultimately reject feedback that you receive. Admissions officers want to hear your unique voice and writing style in your essay, so always try to implement the final edits on your own.

Oral Storytelling

In the interview, you are asked to tell your story on the fly, verbally. For many schools, the interview is also as much an opportunity for you to get to know the school as it is for the school to get to know you. So, the most important piece of wisdom is to be yourself. You can prepare to “be yourself” by brainstorming the most meaningful answers (for you) to common interview questions such as: Describe a time you failed and what you learned from it. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What’s something you’re most proud of? What are your most important values? What are you interested in studying? 

These questions can catch us off guard in the moment, especially if we’re feeling nervous., so  preparing ahead of time with a quick brainstorm or even practicing a mock interview with a friend or CC coach can make a huge difference. If you tend to be more shy and reserved, you may also try during this mock interview to push yourself to add a few more details to your answer than you normally would. This will help your interviewer get to know you that much better and prevent shyness from being misinterpreted as lack of interest in the school or the interviewer. Lastly, always follow up with a Thank You card or e-mail.

Good luck, and I hope you’ve enjoyed this mini blog series on staying well and true to ourselves under pressure as much as I have!

Related Content

5 Qualities of the Best Personal Statement Stories

If you want to get better at storytelling - and if you're working on your med school personal statement, then believe me, you should - then you should learn from the best.  And some of the best storytellers are the folks at Radiolab.

Don't just take our word for it - go listen to their recent podcast about a haunted house.

http://www.radiolab.org/story/haunted/

What makes this story so compelling?

1) It dives right into the action by giving you a hint of things to come.

2) The main character is sympathetic.  We all know someone who has moved back home after college, who has struggled to find a steady job.  His motivations are easy to understand - from moving out of the house to moving back in.  Even the decision to ask the ghosthunters to come out made sense, since he talked about confirming the feeling of distress at the basement door with multiple people.

3) There's an excellent plot.  They didn't just examine the moment of the haunting; Radiolab gave us the backstory of the deaths of the parents from cancer.  They gave us the backstory of the house too.

4) They put the listener in the main character's shoes.  You hear the events unfold just as Dennis does.

5) And of course, they explain an alternative possibility for what we hear.  They don't just say, "it's a mystery!" They give the listener competing explanations for what happened and let the listener draw their own conclusions.  This makes the story more compelling because we're forced to interact with the material and decide for ourselves what we think.

What does this mean for your personal statement?

The five qualities above are the same five you should strive for in your personal statement:

1. Start your essay with a story. You probably won't have a story so compelling - either emotionally or scientifically - but it doesn't mean you shouldn't try.  Connecting with a heartfelt story is a tried and true way to draw the reader into your essay.

2.  Use a story where you are at the center of the action.   The best stories are not ones where you only observe; they're ones where you participate in the action.  We learn a lot more about you when you have to make a choice or play a pivotal role, and that will make you more sympathetic as a main character.

3.  Have a plot to your story.   I know it seems obvious, but a lot of personal statement stories don't have anything that actually happens.  Where is the tension?  Where are the twists and turns ?  Many of the best personal journeys - and anecdotes - have a compelling plot.

4.  Put the reader in your shoes.  Rather than talk generally about your experiences, put the reader in your shoes.  What did it feel like when you rode in the ambulance for the first time as an EMT?  How nervous were you to run your first GBM as a president of your student organization?  Putting the reader in your shoes can be an effective way to convey a memorable experience.

5.  Show, don't tell.  Instead of just telling the reader that, "I have always wanted to be a doctor," show the details that reveal your motivation.  "I often traveled to my hospital volunteering alone, over an hour each way.  Even though I was low on sleep from studying for my classes, I found joy in learning about the lives of others.  I will never forget a middle-aged woman from China I met..."

And of course, these aren't the ONLY five qualities that make an effective story.  The more you read, listen to, and watch the works of amazing storytellers, the better you will get at telling stories of your own.

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The Power of Storytelling in Personal Statements

Transform your statement into a captivating narrative that grabs attention immediately. This guide unlocks the secrets to weaving your experiences into compelling stories, highlighting growth, and leaving a memorable impact. Elevate your application with storytelling techniques that make your journey shine.

• By: Emma Wilson

Creating an engaging and memorable academic writing guide on "The Power of Storytelling in Personal Statements" requires a thoughtful approach that resonates with readers at a fundamental level. This guide aims to give you the skills to craft a personal statement that stands out, weaving your experiences into a compelling narrative showcasing your unique journey and aspirations. Through storytelling, you can transform your statement into a powerful tool that captivates admissions committees and highlights individuality.

Start with a Hook

Begin with an intriguing opening that draws the reader in..

Your statement should start with a bang! Think of it as the opening scene of your favorite movie. An intriguing question, a surprising fact, or an engaging anecdote can be a magnet, pulling the reader into your world from the first line. This is your chance to make a first impression that sticks.

Use a compelling anecdote or a thought-provoking question.

Imagine Sarah, who begins her statement with a vivid description of the moment she realized her passion for environmental science. While volunteering in a coastal cleanup, she describes how the sight of a sea turtle entangled in plastic waste sparked a deep commitment to environmental advocacy. This draws readers in and sets the stage for her narrative.

Build a Narrative Arc

Organize your statement with a clear beginning, middle, and end..

Your statement should tell a story with a clear arc that guides the reader through your experiences, challenges, and achievements. Start by setting the scene, delve into the conflicts or challenges you've faced, and lead the reader toward a resolution or climax that showcases your growth.

Ensure each part contributes to the overall story and theme.

John's statement, for example, weaves his journey of discovering his love for coding through a summer camp experience, facing and overcoming the challenge of self-doubt, and ultimately creating his first app. This narrative arc demonstrates his perseverance, growth, and passion for computer science.

Show Growth and Change

Highlight personal growth and how experiences have shaped you..

Admissions committees are interested in how you've evolved. Describe a turning point in your life that led to significant personal growth. This could be a challenge you overcame, a failure that taught you a valuable lesson, or an experience that changed your perspective.

Demonstrate how challenges have led to learning and transformation.

Consider the story of Alex, who failed his first business venture but used the experience to learn about resilience, strategic planning, and the importance of mentorship. His statement reflects this experience, showcasing how it transformed him into a more thoughtful and determined entrepreneur.

Use Vivid Details

Include specific details that bring your story to life..

Your statement should be rich with details that paint a vivid picture for the reader. Describe settings, emotions, and actions precisely to immerse the reader in your story. This makes your narrative more engaging and memorable.

Appeal to the senses to create a vivid and memorable picture.

Emily's statement vividly describes the bustling, colorful streets of the market in her hometown, where she initiated a community project. The sights, sounds, and smells she recounts help to transport the reader to that place and moment, enhancing the emotional impact of her story.

Conclude with Reflection

End with a reflection that ties your story to your goals and aspirations..

A powerful conclusion draws connections between your narrative and your future goals. It should reflect on the lessons learned and how they have prepared you for the challenges ahead, reinforcing the relevance of your experiences to the path you wish to pursue.

Leave a lasting impression by summarizing the significance of your journey.

Your conclusion is your final opportunity to resonate with the reader. Summarize the significance of your journey, emphasizing how it has shaped you into the ideal candidate for their program. This is where you bring your story full circle, leaving a lasting impression that makes your application unforgettable.

Through these techniques, your statement will not just tell the reader about you; it will show them who you are and what you stand for, making a compelling case for your admission. Remember, a well-crafted narrative can turn a simple application into an unforgettable story.

Similar Guide: Top 5 Tips for a Compelling Personal Statement - For expert strategies to capture attention and showcase your unique story.

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This time, it’s personal

Personal statement advice: tell a story, experts say, effective personal statements tell a concise but vivid story about an applicant’s uniqueness and suitability for a career in medicine..

Having reviewed thousands of personal statements over the years, admissions committee chairman John T. Pham, DO, has come up with his own rule of thumb.

“When I look at a personal statement, if it doesn’t catch my attention in the first paragraph, then I’m not interested in reading further,” says Dr. Pham, who is the vice chair of the department of family medicine at the Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest in Lebanon, Oregon.

The personal statement provides an important glimpse of a candidate’s noncognitive traits such as self-awareness, empathy, passion and fortitude. A vivid well-written essay conveying a medical school or residency program applicant’s motivations and aspirations can be a deciding factor in inviting that candidate in for an interview.

“The personal statement is really the only way you can make a memorable mark on admission committee members before you meet them,” says Benjamin K. Frederick, MD, a third-year radiology resident in Columbia, Missouri, who runs an essay-editing service called Edityour.net.

Dr. Pham advises students to have their personal statements critiqued before submitting them to medical schools or residency programs. Applicants should seek feedback on their draft essays from their classmates, physician mentors, college guidance counselors, and friends or family members with strong editorial skills, he says.

Some students take this process a step further by seeking professional help with their statements. Dr. Pham is not opposed to students’ enlisting help from private admissions consultants and essay editors as long as the personal statement reflects the applicant’s own words, insights and experiences.

But Adam Hoverman, DO, who has reviewed many personal statements to assess med school and residency applicants, is concerned that heavily edited, overly polished essays do not accurately portray a candidate’s communication skills.

“Being able to organize your thoughts and write effectively is vital for transmitting knowledge as a physician,” says Dr. Hoverman, an assistant professor of family medicine and global health at the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine in Yakima, Washington. “An essay that reflects someone else’s skill set is misleading.”

Common pitfalls

But those who provide essay-editing services argue that they help future physicians become better, more reflective communicators. If it weren’t for their help, they maintain, many talented, compassionate individuals would not gain entrance to medical school or competitive residencies.

Medical school candidates often produce personal statements that are superficial and clichéd, says Linda Abraham, the founder of Accepted.com, an admissions consulting and essay-editing firm.

“The applicants will write in very generic terms about how they want to help people, and you don’t see where this comes from,” she says. “They don’t give their background story, and they don’t provide examples.”

Dr. Frederick notes that many students try to cram too much information into their personal statements, which end up reading like CVs or résumés.

“The personal statement should be a narrative about an experience that led to personal growth in the pursuit of a medical career,” he says.

Vagueness and a lack of illustrative stories are the death knell of many personal statements, says medical school admissions consultant Cynthia Lewis, PhD.

“What I tell my applicants is that only one half of one sentence in a paragraph should be ‘This is what I did.’ The rest needs to be a reflection on why you did something,” says Dr. Lewis, founder of Lewis Associates. “What did you get out of it? How did it change you? How do you think differently about the world as a result of this experience?”

Telling a story

When Dr. Pham reads a personal statement, he wants to be wowed by the applicant’s story. Maybe the candidate decided to pursue medicine because of experiences in the Peace Corps, hardships overcome, a community service project, a family member’s battle with a disease or any other life-changing situation.

“Does the personal statement engage me from the get-go?” Dr. Pham asks himself. “Does it have a good story line and tell me a lot about the person and whether he or she is really dedicated to medicine?”

Applicants to osteopathic medical school are limited to 4,500 characters (including spaces), roughly 700 words, for their personal statement, so it must be concise and to the point. Dr. Lewis recommends that candidates divide their personal statements into three components. The first part, she says, should be a one-paragraph “uniqueness statement”—something significant the applicant has accomplished, a passionate interest or hobby, or a challenging or deeply moving experience.

She recalls one client who had several stories to choose from. When he was studying abroad in Spain, his wallet was stolen while he was traveling in England and he had to navigate Europe without his passport or any other ID. He also learned how to play flamenco guitar that year.

“You need to pick one key experience or interest and talk about it,” Dr. Lewis says. “This will say a lot about you, what you care about and how you think.”

The second part of the personal statement should describe the applicant’s journey to medicine, she says. The candidate should explain in a couple of paragraphs what initiated his or her interest in becoming a physician, what has sustained that ambition over time, and why he or she feels ready to apply to medical school.

The final part of the essay should explore the candidate’s interest in osteopathic medicine. “Don’t just say, ‘I shadowed an osteopathic physician,’ ” urges Dr. Lewis. “Explain what you learned from the experience and how you might incorporate osteopathic philosophy into your future practice.

“If you are applying to osteopathic medical schools, the people evaluating your application need to see that you have an understanding of the osteopathic approach to care.”

However, warns Dr. Pham, applicants should not try to address all of the osteopathic tenets in the essay, which would seem forced and insincere.

“Applicants should not tell us what they think we want to hear,” he insists. “We know that many students apply to both DO and MD schools. But if a student is strictly applying to osteopathic schools, it’s important to tell us why.”

Months-long process

Unlike personal statements for osteopathic medical school, which are submitted with the application through AACOMAS, those for residency can be customized to the specialty and program, as ERAS permits. But that doesn’t make them any easier to write, says Kim M. Peck, the director of academic and career guidance at the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSUCOM) in East Lansing.

Residency candidates need to tell the story of how they came to be interested in a particular specialty and what their long-term career goals are, according to Peck. “I advise students to be specific,” she says. “Don’t just say, for instance, that you are good with your hands and would make a great surgeon. Give an example of how you came to realize that, including details. Did an attending compliment you when you assisted with suturing? Was it an interaction with a hospitalized patient that helped you make up your mind?”

MSUCOM’s website includes a list of 14 questions students should ask themselves before they begin writing their first draft, such as “Which course work and clinical experiences have you enjoyed the most and why?” and “What is unique about you and your experiences?”

The process of writing an effective personal statement may take months, not just days or weeks, Peck says.

“Medical students are so busy doing rotations, taking shelf exams, and jumping through all of the hoops that are part of the residency process that they often don’t have time to think about themselves and where they’re going,” she observes. “Taking considerable time to self-reflect and write a compelling personal statement is a valuable exercise that helps ensure that students are making sound, thoughtful career decisions.”

Medical communication: An overlooked skill?

Googling “medical personal statement editing” yields more than 590,000 links to services and informational websites.

“Evidently, these services have arisen because of demand: Students feel they have not been adequately prepared as premeds to write persuasive personal essays,” says Dr. Hoverman, who stresses that educators should be teaching aspiring physicians communication skills alongside biology and chemistry.

“The ability to frame your thoughts in a manner that is productive for a peer, a patient or the community is substantially relevant in all aspects of health care,” he says.

Premeds interested in educating themselves can take electives such as creative writing classes and advanced speech classes. Medical students may consider pursuing writing opportunities on their own, such as starting a blog or writing research papers or articles for medical publications.

Picking up communication skills will help aspiring physicians do much more than write better personal statements, Dr. Hoverman notes.

“Organizing clinical teams, developing treatment plans, engaging in health advocacy—all of these things require physicians to be excellent communicators,” he says. “Consequently, a personal statement should genuinely reflect an applicant’s communication skills.”

Thinking outside the box

6 ways to be a physician without practicing clinical medicine, driving it home, a housing and real estate guide for physicians and medical trainees, packing for away rotations: here’s what is essential, supporting doctors, what needs to be done to improve physicians' mental health and reduce burnout, news in brief, updated omt coding and documentation guide is available now, previous article, next article.

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How to Write an Amazing Personal Statement (Includes Examples!)

Lisa Freedland is a Scholarships360 writer with personal experience in psychological research and content writing. She has written content for an online fact-checking organization and has conducted research at the University of Southern California as well as the University of California, Irvine. Lisa graduated from the University of Southern California in Fall 2021 with a degree in Psychology.

Learn about our editorial policies

Zach Skillings is the Scholarships360 Newsletter Editor. He specializes in college admissions and strives to answer important questions about higher education. When he’s not contributing to Scholarships360, Zach writes about travel, music, film, and culture. His work has been published in Our State Magazine, Ladygunn Magazine, The Nocturnal Times, and The Lexington Dispatch. Zach graduated from Elon University with a degree in Cinema and Television Arts.

Bill Jack has over a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. Since 2008, he has worked at Colby College, Wesleyan University, University of Maine at Farmington, and Bates College.

Maria Geiger is Director of Content at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.

The personal statement. It’s one of the most important parts of the entire college application process. This essay is the perfect opportunity to show admissions officers who you are and what makes you stand out from the crowd. But writing a good personal statement isn’t exactly easy. That’s why we’ve put together the ultimate guide on how to nail your personal statement, complete with example essays . Each essay was reviewed and commented upon by admissions expert Bill Jack. Let’s dive in!

Related: How to write an essay about yourself  

What is a personal statement? 

A personal statement is a special type of essay that’s required when you’re applying to colleges and scholarship programs. In this essay, you’re expected to share something about who you are and what you bring to the table. Think of it as a chance to reveal a side of yourself not found in the rest of your application. Personal statements are typically around 400 – 600 words in length. 

What can I write about? 

Pretty much anything, as long as it’s about you . While this is liberating in the sense that your writing options are nearly unlimited, it’s also overwhelming for the same reason. The good news is that you’ll probably be responding to a specific prompt. Chances are you’re applying to a school that uses the Common App , which means you’ll have seven prompts to choose from . Reviewing these prompts can help generate some ideas, but so can asking yourself meaningful questions. 

Below you’ll find a list of questions to ask yourself during the brainstorming process. For each of the following questions, spend a few minutes jotting down whatever comes to mind. 

• What experiences have shaped who you are? 
• What’s special or unique about you or your life story? 
• Who or what has inspired you the most? 
• What accomplishments are you most proud of? 
• What are your goals for the future? How have you arrived at those goals? 
• If your life was a movie, what would be the most interesting scene? 
• What have been some of the biggest challenges in your life? How did you respond and what did you learn? 

The purpose of these questions is to prompt you to think about your life at a deeper level. Hopefully by reflecting on them, you’ll find an essay topic that is impactful and meaningful. In the next section, we’ll offer some advice on actually writing your essay. 

Also see:  How to write a 500 word essay

How do I write my personal statement? 

Once you’ve found a topic, it’s time to start writing! Every personal statement is different, so there’s not really one formula that works for every student. That being said, the following tips should get you started in the right direction:  

1. Freewrite, then rewrite 

The blank page tends to get more intimidating the longer you stare at it, so it’s best to go ahead and jump right in! Don’t worry about making the first draft absolutely perfect. Instead, just get your ideas on the page and don’t spend too much time thinking about the finer details. Think of this initial writing session as a “brain dump”. Take 15-30 minutes to quickly empty all your thoughts onto the page without worrying about things like grammar, spelling, or sentence structure. You can even use bullet points if that helps. Once you have your ideas on the page, then you can go back and shape them exactly how you want. 

2. Establish your theme 

Now that you’ve got some basic ideas down on the page, it’s time to lock in on a theme. Your theme is a specific angle that reflects the central message of your essay. It can be summarized in a sentence or even a word. For example, let’s say you’re writing about how you had to establish a whole new group of friends when you moved to a new city. The theme for this type of essay would probably be something like “adaptation”. Having a theme will help you stay focused throughout your essay. Since you only have a limited number of words, you can’t afford to go off on tangents that don’t relate to your theme. 

3. Tell a story

A lot of great essays rely on a specific scene or story. Find the personal anecdote relevant to your theme and transfer it to the page. The best way to do this is by using descriptive language. Consult the five senses as you’re setting the scene. What did you see, hear, taste, touch, or smell? How were you feeling emotionally? Using descriptive language can really help your essay come to life. According to UPchieve , a nonprofit that supports low income students, focusing on a particular moment as a “ revised version of a memoir ” is one way to keep readers engaged. 

Related: College essay primer: show, don’t tell  

4. Focus on your opening paragraph

Your opening paragraph should grab your reader’s attention and set the tone for the rest of your essay. In most cases, this is the best place to include your anecdote (if you have one). By leading with your personal story, you can hook your audience from the get-go. After telling your story, you can explain why it’s important to who you are. 

Related:  How to start a scholarship essay (with examples)

5. Use an authentic voice 

Your personal statement reflects who you are, so you should use a tone that represents you. That means you shouldn’t try to sound like someone else, and you shouldn’t use fancy words just to show off. This isn’t an academic paper, so you don’t have to adopt a super formal tone. Instead, write in a way that allows room for your personality to breathe. 

6. Edit, edit, edit…

Once you’re done writing, give yourself some time away from the essay. Try to allow a few days to pass before looking at the essay again with fresh eyes. This way, you’re more likely to pick up on spelling and grammatical errors. You may even get some new ideas and rethink the way you wrote some things. Once you’re satisfied, let someone else edit your essay. We recommend asking a teacher, parent, or sibling for their thoughts before submitting. 

Examples of personal statements 

Sometimes viewing someone else’s work is the best way to generate inspiration and get the creative juices flowing. The following essays are written in response to four different Common App prompts: 

Prompt 1: “Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.”

When I was eight years old, I wanted a GameCube very badly. For weeks I hounded my dad to buy me one and finally he agreed. But there was a catch. He’d only get me a GameCube if I promised to start reading. Every day I played video games, I would have to pick up a book and read for at least one hour. At that point in my life, reading was just something I had to suffer through for school assignments. To read for pleasure seemed ludicrous. Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about this proposed agreement. But I figured anything was worth it to get my hands on that shiny new video game console, so I bit the bullet and shook my dad’s hand. Little did I know that I had just made a life-changing deal. 

At first, the required hour of reading was a chore — something I had to do so I could play Mario Kart. But it quickly turned into something more than that. To my complete and utter surprise, I discovered that I actually enjoyed reading. One hour turned into two, two turned into three, and after a while I was spending more time reading than I was playing video games. I found myself captivated by the written word, and I read everything I could get my hands on. Lord of the Rings , Percy Jackson , Goosebumps — you name it. I was falling in love with literature, while my GameCube was accumulating dust in the TV stand. 

Soon enough, reading led to writing. I was beginning to come up with my own stories, so I put pen to paper and let my imagination run wild. It started out small. My first effort was a rudimentary picture book about a friendly raccoon who went to the moon. But things progressed. My stories became more intricate, my characters more complex. I wrote a series of science fiction novellas. I tried my hand at poetry. I was amazed at the worlds I could create with the tip of my pen. I had dreams of becoming an author. 

Then somewhere along the way my family got a subscription to Netflix, and that completely changed the way I thought about storytelling. My nose had been buried in books up until then, so I hadn’t really seen a lot of movies. That quickly changed. It seemed like every other day a pair of new DVDs would arrive in the mail (this was the early days of Netflix). Dark Knight, The Truman Show, Inception, Memento — all these great films were coming in and out of the house. And I couldn’t get enough of them. Movies brought stories to life in a way that books could not. I was head over heels for visual storytelling. 

Suddenly I wasn’t writing novels and short stories anymore. I was writing scripts for movies. Now I wanted to transfer my ideas to the big screen, rather than the pages of a book. But I was still doing the same thing I had always done. I was writing, just in a different format. To help with this process, I read the screenplays of my favorite films and paid attention to the way they were crafted. I kept watching more and more movies. And I hadn’t forgotten about my first love, either. I still cherished books and looked to them for inspiration. By the end of my junior year of high school, I had completed two scripts for short films. 

So why am I telling you all this? Because I want to turn my love of storytelling into a career. I’m not totally sure how to do that yet, but I know I have options. Whether it’s film production, creative writing, or even journalism, I want to find a major that suits my ambitions. Writing has taken me a long way, and I know it can take me even further. As I step into this next chapter of my life, I couldn’t be more excited to see how my craft develops. In the meantime, I should probably get rid of that dusty old GameCube. 

Feedback from admissions professional Bill Jack

Essays don’t always have to reveal details about the student’s intended career path, but one thing I like about this essay is that it gives the reader a sense of the why. Why do they want to pursue storytelling. It also shows the reader that they are open to how they pursue their interest. Being open to exploration is such a vital part of college, so it’s also showing the reader that they likely will be open to new things in college. And, it’s always fun to learn a little bit more about the student’s family, especially if the reader can learn about how the students interacts with their family. 

Prompt 2: “The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?”

I remember my first impression of Irvine: weird. It was foggy, stock-full of greenery and eucalyptus trees, and reminded me of my 5th grade trip to a “science camp” which was located in the San Bernardino mountains. Besides Irvine, that was one of the few places in Southern California where you’d find so many non-palm trees. 

Of course, perhaps my initial impression of Irvine was biased, motivated by a desire to stay in my hometown and a fear of the unknown. While that was true to an extent, Irvine was certainly still a little peculiar. The city itself was based on a “master plan” of sorts, with the location of each of its schools, parks, shops, and arguably its trees having been logically “picked” before the foundation was poured. Even the homes all looked roughly the same, with their beige, stucco walls almost serving as a hallmark of the city itself.

Thus, this perfectly structured, perfectly safe city seemed like a paradise of sorts to many outsiders, my parents included. I was a little more hesitant to welcome this. As I saw it, this was a phony city – believing that its uniformity stood for a lack of personality. My hometown, although not as flawlessly safe nor clean as Irvine, was where most of my dearest memories had occurred. From the many sleepovers at Cindie’s house, to trying to avoid my school’s own version of the “infamous” cheese touch, to the many laughs shared with friends and family, I shed a tear at the prospect of leaving my home.

Moving into the foreign city, remnants of the hostility I held towards Irvine remained. Still dwelling in my memories of the past, I was initially unable to see Irvine as a “home.” So, as I walked into my first-ever Irvine class, being greeted by many kind, yet unfamiliar faces around me, I was unable to recognize that some of those new faces would later become some of my dearest friends. Such negative feelings about the city were further reinforced by newer, harder classes, and more complicated homework. Sitting in the discomfort of this unfamiliar environment, it started to seem that “change” was something not only inevitable, but insurmountable.

As the years went on, however, this idea seemed to fade. I got used to my classes and bike racing through Irvine neighborhoods with my friends, watching the trees that once seemed just a “weird” green blob soon transform into one of my favorite parts of the city. While I kept my old, beloved memories stored, I made space for new ones. From carefully making our way over the narrow creek path next to our school, to the laughs we shared during chemistry class, my new memories made with friends seemed to transform a city I once disliked into one I would miss. 

Through this transformation, I have come to recognize that change, although sometimes intimidating at first, can open the door to great times and meaningful connections. Although Irvine may have once seemed like a strange, “phony” place that I couldn’t wait to be rid of, the memories and laughs I had grown to share there were very real. As I move onto this next part of my life, I hope I can use this knowledge that I have gained from my time in Irvine to make the most of what’s to come. Even if the change may be frightening at first, I have learned to embrace what’s on the other side, whether green or not.

One huge plus to writing an essay that focuses on a place is that you might have it read by someone who has been there. Yet, what’s really helpful about this essay is that even if someone hasn’t been there, a picture is painted about what the place is like.  Admission officers have the hard task of really understanding what the student sees, so the use of adjectives and imagery can really help.  It’s also really clever to see that the green that’s mentioned at the beginning is mentioned at the end.  It’s a nice way to bookend the essay and tie it all together.

Prompt 6: “Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?”

I like getting lost. Not literally, of course, but figuratively. Whether it be in the story of a love song by Taylor Swift, or in the memories brought back by listening to my favorite childhood video game’s background music, I’ve always appreciated music’s ability to transport me to another place, another time, another feeling. 

Alas, I cannot sing, nor have I practiced an instrument since my middle school piano class days. So, perhaps Kurt Vonnegut was right. As he puts it, “Virtually every writer I know would rather be a musician.” While I cannot speak for others, I have certainly not debunked his theory. Writing allows many, including myself, to attempt to mimic the transformative power of music – even if our singing voices aren’t exactly “pleasant.” Just as you can get lost in music, you can do so in a story. Whether it is in George Orwell’s totalitarian Oceania, or Little Women’s Orchard House, the stories outlined in novels can provide an amazing look into the lives and worlds of others, and an escape from the worries and problems of those in your own.

While I am certainly not claiming to have the storytelling abilities of the Orwells or Alcotts before me, I’ve had fun trying to recreate such transformative feelings for others. When I was nine, I attempted to write a story about a little girl who had gotten lost in the woods, only managing to get a couple pages through. As I got older, whenever I was assigned a creative writing assignment in school, I wrote about the same pig, Phil. He was always angry: in my 8th grade science class, Phil was mad at some humans who had harbored his friend captive, and in my 9th grade English class, at a couple who robbed him. 

Thus, when I heard about a writing club being opened at my school in 11th grade, I knew I had to join. I wanted to discern whether writing was just a hobby I picked up now and then, or a true passion. If it was a passion, I wanted to learn as much as possible about how I could improve. Although my high school’s writing club certainly wasn’t going to transform me into Shakespeare, I knew I could learn a lot from it – and I did. The club challenged me to do many things, from writing on the spot, to writing poetry, to even writing about myself, something that’s hopefully coming in handy right now. 

From then on, I started to expand into different types of writing, storing short ideas, skits, and more in appropriately-labeled Google Drive folders. At around the same time, I became interested in classic literature, which largely stemmed from a project in English class. We had been required to choose and read a classic on our own, then present it to the class in an interesting way. While my book was certainly interesting and unique in its own right, nearly everyone else’s novels seemed more captivating to me. So, I took it upon myself to read as many classics as I could the following summer.

One of the books I read during the summer, funnily enough, was Animal Farm, which starred angry pigs, reminiscent of Phil. I had also started going over different ideas in my head, thinking about how I could translate them into words using the new skills I learned. While the writing club helped reaffirm my interest in writing and allowed me to develop new skills, my newfound affinity for classics gave me inspiration to write. Now, I am actually considering writing as part of my future. In this endeavor, I hope that Phil, and the music I inevitably listen to as I write, will accompany me every step of the way.

Admission officers might read 70 (or more!) essays in one day. It’s not uncommon for them to start to blend together and sound similar. This essay might not make you laugh out loud. But, it might make the reader chuckle while reading it thanks to the subtle humor and levity. Being able to incorporate a little humor into your essay (if it is natural for you to do… do not force it), can really be a great way to shed additional light into who you are. Remember, the essay isn’t merely about proving that you can write, but it should also reveal a little bit about your personality.

Prompt 5: “Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.”

I learned a lot of things during the summer I worked at Tropical Smoothie. I discovered the value of hard work. I figured out how to save money. I even mastered the art of the Mango Magic smoothie (the secret is lots of sugar). But most importantly, I learned the power of perspective. And I have Deja to thank for that. 

Deja was my shift supervisor, and one of Tropical Smoothie’s best employees. She was punctual, friendly, and always willing to lend a helping hand. She knew the store from top to bottom, and could handle pretty much any situation thrown her way. She made everyone around her better. On top of all that, she was four months pregnant! I was always impressed by Deja’s work ethic, but I gained an entirely new level of respect for her one day.

It was a Friday night, and Deja and I were working the closing shift together. It was very busy, and Deja and I were the only ones on shift. We managed to get by, but we were exhausted by the end of the evening. After wiping down the counters and mopping the floors, we closed up shop and went our separate ways. I was eager to get home. 

I walked a couple blocks to where I had parked my car. Well, it wasn’t my car actually. It was my dad’s ‘98 Chevy pickup truck, and it was in rough shape. It had no heat or A/C, the leather seats were cracked beyond repair, and the driver’s side door was jammed shut. I sighed as I got in through the passenger side and scooted over to the driver’s seat. The whole reason I was working at Tropical Smoothie was to save up enough money to buy my own car. I was hoping to have something more respectable to drive during my senior year of high school. 

I cranked the old thing up and started on my way home. But soon enough, I spotted Deja walking on the side of the road. There was no sidewalk here, the light was low, and she was dangerously close to the passing cars. I pulled over and offered her a ride. She got in and explained that she was on her way home. Apparently she didn’t have a car and had been walking to work every day. I couldn’t believe it. Here I was complaining about my set of wheels, while Deja didn’t have any to begin with.

We got to talking, and she confessed that she had been having a tough time. You would never know from the way she was so cheerful at work, but Deja had a lot on her plate. She was taking care of her mother, her boyfriend had just lost his job, and she was worried about making ends meet. And of course, she was expecting a baby in five months. On top of all that, she had been walking nearly a mile to and from work every day. The whole thing was a real eye opener, and made me reconsider some things in my own life. 

For one, I didn’t mind driving my dad’s truck anymore. It was banged up, sure, but it was a lot better than nothing. My mindset had changed. I appreciated the truck now. I began to think about other things differently, too. I started making mental notes of all the things in my life I was thankful for — my family, my friends, my health. I became grateful for what I had, instead of obsessing over the things I didn’t. 

I also gained more awareness of the world outside my own little bubble. My encounter with Deja had shown me first-hand that everyone is dealing with their own problems, some worse than others. So I started paying more attention to my friends, family members, and coworkers. I started listening more and asking how I could help. I also gave Deja a ride home for the rest of the summer. 

These are all small things, of course, but I think they make a difference. I realized I’m at my best when I’m not fixated on my own life, but when I’m considerate of the lives around me. I want to keep this in mind as I continue to grow and develop as a person. I want to continue to search for ways to support the people around me. And most importantly, I want to keep things in perspective.

Too often we can be focused on our own problems that we fail to realize that everyone has their own things going on in their lives, too.  This essay showcases how it’s important to put things in perspective, a skill that certainly will prove invaluable in college… and not just in the classroom.  Another reason I like this essay is because it provides deeper insight into the student’s life.  Sure, you might have mentioned in your activities list that you have a job.  But as this essay does, you can show why you have the job in the first place, what your responsibilities are, and more.

A few last tips

We hope these essay examples gave you a bit of inspiration of what to include in your own. However, before you go, we’d like to send you off with a few (personal statement) writing tips to help you make your essays as lovely as the memories and anecdotes they’re based off of. Without further ado, here are some of our best tips for writing your personal statements:

1. Open strong

College admissions officers read many, many essays (think 50+) a day, which can sometimes cause them to start blending together and sounding alike. One way to avoid your essay from simply fading into the background is to start strong. This means opening your essay with something memorable, whether an interesting personal anecdote, a descriptive setting, or anything else that you think would catch a reader’s attention (so long as it’s not inappropriate). Not only might this help college admissions officers better remember your essay, but it will also make them curious about what the rest of your essay will entail.

2. Be authentic

Perhaps most important when it comes to writing personal statement essays is to maintain your authenticity. Ultimately, your essays should reflect your unique stories and quirks that make you who you are, and should help college admissions officers determine whether you’d truly be a good fit for their school or not. So, don’t stress trying to figure out what colleges are looking for. Be yourself, and let the colleges come to you!

3. Strong writing

This one may seem a little obvious, but strong writing will certainly appeal to colleges. Not only will it make your essay more compelling, but it may show colleges that you’re ready for college-level essay writing (that you’ll likely have to do a lot of). Just remember that good writing is not limited to grammar. Using captivating detail and descriptions are a huge part of making your essay seem more like a story than a lecture.

4. Proofread

Last but not least, remember to proofread! Make sure your essay contains no errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. When you’re done proofreading your essay yourself, we would also recommend that you ask a teacher, parent, or other grammatically savvy person to proofread your essay as well.

Final thoughts 

With those in hand, we hope you now have a better sense of how to write your personal statement. While your grades and test scores are important when it comes to college admissions, it’s really your essays that can “make” or “break” your application. 

Although this may make it seem like a daunting task, writing an amazing personal statement essay is all about effort. Thus, so long as you start early, follow the advice listed above, and dedicate your time and effort to it, it’s entirely possible to write an essay that perfectly encapsulates you. Good luck, and happy writing!

Also see:  Scholarships360’s free scholarships search tool

Key Takeaways

• It may take some people longer than others to know what they want to write about, but remember that everyone, including you, has something unique to write about!
• Personal statements should be personal, which means you should avoid being too general and really strive to show off what makes you “you”
• Time and effort are two of the most important things you can put into your personal statement to ensure that it is the best representation of yourself
• Don’t forget to ask people who know you to read your work before you submit; they should be able to tell you better than anyone if you are truly shining through!

Frequently asked questions about writing personal statements 

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2024 How to Write a Medical School Personal Statement (11 Steps)

• By Med School Insiders
• December 2, 2023
• Medical Student , Pre-med
• Medical School Application , Personal Statement

Each piece of a med school application brings a unique set of anxiety-ridden challenges, but few equal that of the personal statement. A personal statement is much, much more than a narrative-version of your CV. Reiterating your grades and extracurriculars in complete sentences is not how to write a medical school personal statement.

A personal statement is an opportunity to tell your story. Why do you want to study medicine? What drives you? This is your chance to let an admissions committee know who you really are beyond your grades.

Of course, you’re studying to become a doctor, not a novelist, which means the idea of crafting your personal statement may seem daunting, to say the least.

In this guide, we’ll take a comprehensive, step-by-step look at how to write a medical school personal statement, including how to get started, everything you need to include, and common mistakes to avoid.

Article Sections

• Anatomy of Medical School Personal Statement

What Med School Admissions Committees Look For

How to get started.

• How to Write a Personal Statement

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Medical school personal statement examples, anatomy of a medical school personal statement.

A personal statement has a 5,300 character maximum, about 1.5 pages of single-spaced 12-point Times New Roman font. The challenge isn’t trying to fill in words; the challenge is selecting the key moments in your life that made you want to be a doctor and expressing them concisely.

A personal statement is made up of three parts:

Introduction

It’s essentially a short essay that uses your life experience to succinctly demonstrate why you’re the right person for the job. If someone’s making a movie about your life and the events that shaped your desire to become a doctor, what key moments do you want to highlight?

Your introduction must capture an admissions committee’s attention. Use the introduction to hook your readers. The first few sentences should entice them to read more.

There isn’t a perfect number of paragraphs or set structure. This is where you discuss the experiences that have shaped your personality, your desire to study medicine, and your dreams for the future.

This is the summary of your statement, and it should tie in directly to your introduction. Now is the time to emphasize why you want to be a physician and your future goals.

Learn more about the Anatomy of a Stellar Medical School Personal Statement .

Admissions committees need to know they’re accepting students who are ready to face the rigorous day-and-night grind of medical school. They have your CV and transcripts; now you need to demonstrate you have what it takes to succeed.

The personal statement is your chance to display your personality and highlight the experiences that shaped you. What drives you? What strengths and experiences will you bring to medical school? Why are you an asset?

The admissions committee isn’t looking for a list of your accomplishments. They want to know your story . Don’t tell the admissions committee you’re compassionate and driven; show them with tangible examples from your life.

So you’re a great listener. What’s a moment in your past that demonstrates this? If you care deeply about the wellbeing of others, what story from your life illustrates that passion?

1 | Read Real Personal Statement Examples

Right off the bat, it’s important to remember that you’re not alone—far from it. Every medical student who came before you has written personal statements, which means you have a wealth of examples to read and learn from.

Every personal statement is unique to the writer. Don’t expect to find a perfect blueprint you can copy off of, but reading several different personal statements will give you a sense of the themes, concepts, strategies, and stories that can help you find success.

If you know people in your own life who have successfully matriculated to med school, it’s a good idea to ask them if you can take a look at their personal statement. Med School Insiders compiled a database of personal statements donated by successful medical school applicants. Reading successful personal statements will give you an idea of what’s expected.

Reading bad personal statements can also give you an idea of what mistakes to avoid. Learn from our bad personal statement examples , which includes key insights into what you should do instead.

2 | Reflect on Past Experiences

Take this as an opportunity to reflect. Don’t think of it as brainstorming, and don’t worry about being creative just yet. Simply think back on key moments from your past.

Think of your personal statement like your superhero origin story. You may have excellent grades, abilities, and a natural aptitude for science, but why are you pursuing medicine? What moment or moments in your life revealed to you why you had to be a doctor?

Take Spider-Man. Yes, Peter Parker received his superpowers from a radioactive spider bite, but that’s not why he fights crime; Spider-Man fights crime so that what happened to his Uncle Ben never happens to anyone else. Bruce Wayne is incredibly smart, incredibly strong, and incredibly rich, but that’s not why he fights crime as Batman. Bruce Wayne became Batman so that no one else would lose their parents to a random act of violence like he did.

The truth is, a lot of superheroes have pretty similar motivations, and doctors have similar motivations, too. Your desire to become a doctor likely stems from a genuine intellectual interest in medicine, a desire to work closely with other humans, and a drive to help people and save lives. The other med school hopefuls you’re applying with have very similar motivations.

The key is digging deep and determining what you value most about becoming a doctor. Once you know that, think about the tangible experiences in your life that helped you realize those values.

Utilize our list of 25 medical school personal statement prompts as you ideate and reflect on your life to date.

3 | Choose Which Experiences/Traits to Highlight

Identify three to four personal strengths you are particularly proud of and want the admissions committee to know. Where did these strengths shine in your premedical years? What experiences helped you build on these strengths? This will make up the body of your personal statement.

Remember: writing a personal statement takes time—and lots of it. It will likely take several different attempts and drafts. After discussing your selected strengths, you may find that they don’t define you well enough or that there are better options. Don’t be discouraged. Give yourself plenty of time to reflect on and explore a variety of different strengths.

Don’t forget about the interview; the admissions committee will certainly ask you to further elaborate on the experiences outlined in your personal statement. Share personal stories that you want to be asked about and feel comfortable addressing.

Generally, personal statements involve experiences in the following categories:

• A passion for patient interaction
• Intellectual curiosity for medicine (academics, research, etc.)
• Dedication and discipline (medicine or another pursuit)
• Perseverance in the face of adversity
• Interpersonal and professional skills

How to Write a Medical School Personal Statement

4 | show, don’t tell.

If essays or storytelling aren’t necessarily your strong suit, think back to math class and those equations where the teacher made you show your work for the full grade. It’s not enough that you got the answer right; you had to show how you arrived at the answer.

Think of this in the same way. It’s great that you’re compassionate, but the admissions committee isn’t going to take you at your word. They want you to back up that claim with evidence. It is vital that you show the admissions committee you’re compassionate with concrete examples from your life that illustrate your journey to medicine.

It’s much more impactful to share a story that demonstrates specific qualities than it is to tell someone you have those qualities directly. Saying you are hardworking or resilient is not enough. You need to craft a story that allows the reader to infer those qualities about you.

5 | Leverage the Narrative-Based Approach

You are applying to medical school along with an immense number of other students with great grades, stellar qualifications, and impressive clinical hours. These are all key to your medical school application, but the best grades in the world won’t set you apart in the eyes of the admissions committee.

Your personal statement is a chance to stand out in a crowded field. Too many personal statements read like a CV but with full paragraphs, which quickly becomes monotonous.

Leverage a narrative-based approach so that the admissions committee is excited to learn more about you. Your entire application should illustrate your compelling journey toward becoming a doctor. Highlight how your experiences make you an asset who will contribute uniquely to the medical school.

It’s not enough to simply check off the boxes. The admissions committee wants to know your story.

Learn How to Develop a Cohesive Narrative for Medical School Applications .

6 | Create an Outline

After taking the time to reflect on the experiences and traits you want to include in your personal statement, create an outline to structure your approach .

You do not need to stick to it, but this is the general structure of most personal statements:

• Introduction (A strong hook to catch the reader’s attention—usually an anecdote or reflection that introduces the theme of your story. Hook the reader with the opening sentence.)
• Experience 1
• Experience 2
• Experience 3
• Conclusion (Tie your story back to the opening hook/theme. Summarize why you want to be a physician and what your future goals are.)

Remember, this is not a list of your accomplishments. The personal statement must read like a cohesive narrative, not a resume.

Establish a theme in the introduction that’s central to your desire to become a doctor. Each following paragraph will illustrate how your personal experiences have shaped that desire and prepared you for your journey. In the conclusion, gracefully tie back to your central theme or hook to turn the personal statement into a consistent, interconnected story.

7 | Force Yourself to Start Writing

It’s understandable and common to feel overwhelmed while writing a personal statement. In fact, if you don’t feel overwhelmed, it’s safe to say that you’re not taking this seriously enough.

Start with a theme, but don’t get stuck trying to come up with the perfect opening sentence. That comes later. Once you have a general outline, just start writing. See what happens, and—most importantly—be kind to yourself.

The first words you write won’t be perfect, but they will get you started. You should fully expect the first draft of your personal statement to be terrible. That’s okay. First drafts are never perfect.

Your first draft probably won’t look anything like your final essay. Put one foot in front of the other and just start writing. Get the ideas out and worry about editing later.

8 | Keep it Concise and Direct

In your subsequent drafts, focus on cutting down your words and being concise. It’s not your use of flowery language that will impress the admissions committee. Forget about extravagant word choices and convoluted sentence structure. You don’t have the space for poetic tangents anyway.

Use your words efficiently, and favor clear language over long, complicated words. It’s easy for readers to spot when you’re using a thesaurus, and it will only take away from your end message. Find the simplest way to say something.

For example:

Hard-working over Assiduous

Compassion over Magnanimity

Agree over Concur

Use tools like the Hemingway App to keep your language direct and concise.

9 | Take Some Time Away

Take time away from your drafts. Once you complete a draft, take a break, and let it sit. Go for a walk, watch some TV, or work on a completely different activity. After your break, come back to your personal statement with fresh eyes. You may find that the fantastic opening line you came up with isn’t so fantastic anymore, or that sentence you weren’t so sure about actually works really well.

Writing your personal statement will take time. Even if you feel extremely confident in your personal statement, take time away from it and come back.

10 | Refine, Review, and Edit

We recommend using editing apps like Grammarly and Hemingway Editor , but don’t rely on bots alone to catch possible mistakes.

Ask your friends and family for their first impressions on the content of your personal statement. Tell them to be brutally honest (because the admissions committee certainly will be.) Reach out to a mentor or people who have been through this process before.

Spelling or grammar mistakes indicate carelessness on your part and are an automatic red flag for admissions committees. Read over your work carefully, and ask others you trust to do the same.

The editing process is such a critical phase for your personal statement. Learn how to edit your personal statement to impress admissions committees.

11 | Invest in Essay Editing Services

Your medical school personal statement is arguably the most important piece of your application. While an excellent essay can lock-in your interview offer, a poorly-written personal statement can ruin your chances—even with stellar grades, impressive academic awards, and a notable list of extracurriculars.

Don’t risk your acceptance. Essay editing services can provide the help that friends, family, and mentors cannot.

Med School Insiders Personal Statement Editing Services includes careful analysis of content and tone as well as helpful insights into how you can improve your essay and impress admissions committees.

Avoid the following common personal statement mistakes .

• Don’t list your accomplishments or rehash your CV and extracurriculars.
• Don’t make spelling or grammar errors.
• Don’t overuse the word I. Doing so makes you more likely to state your accomplishments instead of telling a story.
• Don’t use flowery language or words you found in a thesaurus.
• Don’t explain to a physician what medicine is all about. Talk about yourself and your experiences; the admissions committee already understands medicine.
• Don’t state the obvious or use clichés. (Every applicant likes science and wants to help people.)
• Don’t lie or fabricate your personal stories.
• Don’t make excuses for poor grades or a low MCAT score.
• Don’t speak negatively about another physician or healthcare professional.
• Don’t plead for an interview or acceptance.
• Don’t edit your personal statement by yourself.
• Don’t procrastinate.

Learn more: 20 Personal Statement: Dos and Don’ts .

It’s important to read the personal statements of matriculated students. While you won’t be able to mimic someone else’s personal statement, you can still learn a lot from them, and reading different statements can spark ideas for your own essay.

We compiled a selection of real medical school personal statements from successful applicants. These statements are for reference purposes only and should not be plagiarized in any way. Plagiarism detection software is used when evaluating personal statements, and plagiarizing is grounds for an automatic disqualification.

Be sure to read the included feedback regarding the personal statements as well, as this will give you extra insight into what admissions committees are looking for.

Read Real Medical School Personal Statement Examples .

Medical School Personal Statement Editing

Don’t write your medical school personal statement alone—we can help. Med School Insiders offers a range of personal statement editing packages , from general editing to unlimited, in-depth editing with a physician who will be there to advise you every step of the way.

Learn more about our Comprehensive Medical School Admissions Packages . Our team of doctors has years of experience serving on admissions committees, so you’ll receive key insights from people who have been intimately involved with the selection process.

Next read: Guide to Understanding the Medical School Application Process

Med School Insiders

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Medical School Personal Statement Storytelling Guide [With Examples]

Typical medical school personal statements list qualities and accomplishments in paragraph form and can be boring to read for admissions committee members. But the best personal statements demonstrate qualities through engaging stories. Those stories reveal insights into your personality, as well as interests outside healthcare and medicine (especially those that align with the medical schools you’re applying to ).

Medical school admissions committees want to learn who you uniquely are and why you want to become a medical professional. They also want to know what you are going to contribute to their school and the larger medical field.

Our in-depth guide will help you explore unique personal topics and stories to capture admission committee members’ attention and help you stand out in a sea of ordinary med school personal statements.

Table of contents

1. brainstorm topics, 2. choose stories that show your character, show, don’t tell, stay on topic, common medical school personal statement mistakes, get an expert’s opinion.

The first step in the personal statement writing process is to decide what stories and facts are most important to reveal and how to weave in your motivation for applying to a school of medicine.

When you’re ready to brainstorm, don’t just sit down to stare at a list of your premed activities like research experiences, volunteering, or shadowing. Instead, compile the fundamental personal experiences and people that helped shape you. These stories will likely translate beyond your personal statement into interviews , so be picky to choose only the most transformative.

When brainstorming your personal statement for medical school, consider these topics:

Significant or formative life experiences: something that changed the course of your life, your outlook on the world, or made you think differently about your future

• Learning to do something that leads you to excel/teach others/make a contribution (e.g., sports, science, foreign language, special skills)
• Being given a second chance
• Connecting with someone who made an impact on you
• Being out of your comfort zone (experiences with people of different backgrounds, travel, moving, doing something for the first time)

Challenging life experiences: something that forced a lesson upon you

• A mistake you made
• An event that was out of your control that nonetheless caused you suffering or loss
• Overcoming an obstacle

People that shaped your life:

• Mentor, family member, friend
• Author, actor, speaker, personal hero

Think about what each element on your list taught you or how it changed your thinking. Answer for yourself why the event or person is important. Then brainstorm how one or two medically related activities can be tied in.

With this strategy, your personal statement will develop around a narrative that is unique to you. It will also communicate to admissions officers who you are and why you want to provide medical care.

To further your thought processes, ask yourself these questions:

• What is distinct or unique about you/your life story?
• What are some specific details about your personality, values, or experiences you can share to help them get a better understanding of who you are?
• In what ways have your experiences contributed to your growth?
• Have you overcome any obstacles or difficult circumstances in your life?
• What valuable personal characteristics (integrity, compassion, diligence, etc.) do you have?
• What soft skills (leadership, teamwork, communication skills, etc.) do you have?

Next, connect those answers to medicine-specific questions:

• How and when did you become interested in medicine?
• What have you learned so far about medicine?
• Why do you want to become a doctor?
• How do you know you want to be a doctor?
• How have your experiences and your understanding of yourself confirmed your desire to do medicine?
• In what ways have you shown that you have the characteristics necessary to succeed in the field of medicine?
• How will your skills translate into being a good doctor?
• Are there any gaps or discrepancies in your academic record that need explaining? This can be an obstacle or difficult circumstance.

Though you don’t want to include the answers to all these questions in your personal statement, knowing the answers to these questions is a good starting point.

You should highlight a few unique experiences, skills, or personal characteristics and make those the focal point of your essay.

Ordinary personal statements focus on the experiences that applicants think will make them seem impressive. The best personal statements focus on the qualities that make applicants truly special.

Instead of choosing their standout qualities — character, personality traits, attitudes — many applicants simply choose experiences they think will help them stand out to admissions committees. Then, they try to force those qualities into the experiences they’ve already chosen.

Why is this an issue? Imagine you have participated in the following extracurricular activities:

• Biochemistry research for 2 years
• Clinical experience shadowing for 3 years
• Math tutor for underserved youth for 2 years
• Trombonist in the high school band and trombone instructor for 3 years
• International medical mission trip volunteer for 3 summers
• Premed organization member for 3 years (vice president for 1 year)

At face value, which of these experiences do you think would make you seem the most impressive to an admissions committee? Given these choices, most students would choose to write about clinical shadowing (2) or medical mission trips (5).

Most students who choose one of those two topics will take a very similar approach, such as starting off the essay describing some interaction with a very ill patient or one with whom they experienced a language barrier.

Typical Applicant Personal Statement Example:

“Mary was well known at our clinic by all of our doctors, nurses, and medical staff. Based on her sharp intellect and cheerful pattern of making our staff feel like we were her best friends, it would be difficult to tell why she frequently visited the hospital. Besides her use of a walker, her Parkinson’s disease diagnosis had not slowed her down much. Throughout my interactions with Mary, I wondered how she maintained such a positive attitude despite her ailments. She seemed to give our staff more joy with her beaming smile than receiving care. I wanted to give her the best care possible, whether through asking our great nurses to check in on her or offering an extra blanket or favorite snack to ensure comfort throughout her stay. However, I was simultaneously frustrated that my ability to help Mary ended there. This lingering lack of fulfillment has served as a great motivator to find ways to do more for patients like her.”

What’s wrong with this example?

Although the above example provides some insights about the applicant’s motivations (“…find ways to do more for patients…”), it is written about a common topic (a realization that came during clinical shadowing) with a typical delivery —  written broadly about interactions with a particular patient.

The best personal statement writers, on the other hand, first think of the personal qualities they want to demonstrate in their essay before choosing a situation or event to write about. Next, they think of an experience that best highlights these qualities, regardless of whether or not it seems most “impressive” at face value. Finally, the best personal statements zero in on a particular event or situation to capture the reader’s attention with a detailed personal story.

By taking this approach, the best personal statement writers are better able to demonstrate their qualities because their story was chosen expressly for that purpose. After all, schools are attracted to particular candidates because of their qualities and not a specific experience they’ve had.

Let’s suppose this same applicant wanted to highlight her community involvement and commitment to serving underprivileged groups. Returning to the list of extracurriculars above, she could choose to write about working as a math tutor (3) or being a trombonist in the school band and trombone instructor (4). By choosing the latter and zooming in on a particular event, this same student could write the following personal statement introduction:

Better Personal Statement Example:

“My palms had never been as sweaty as when I walked on stage with my trombone in front of a 500-plus member audience on June 9th, 2015. Sure, I was pretty good. But I would like to think that being invited to play Curtis Fuller’s “Along Came Betty” at the Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame had as much to do with the music skills I had honed over the past decade as it did with training the 8-member band of 10 to 13 year-olds from the inner city to join me on that same stage. I was nervous because this performance was for them; I needed to be at my best.”

Why is this example better than the one before it?

This introduction would likely stand out because it is about an uncommon topic (a musical performance) and seamlessly demonstrates the writer’s community involvement, especially with underserved youth. As a bonus, it captures the reader’s attention in 382 fewer characters.

Typical personal statements could have been written by any applicant. Good personal statements are those that can only be written by a specific applicant. The example of a typical introduction could have been written by any number of medical students who volunteered in a hospital. There simply aren’t enough unique insights and details about the applicant. On the other hand, the second introduction could have only been written by that individual.

So, how do you avoid a dull introductory paragraph? Use the approach above — first, list your unique qualities, then identify situations where you’ve expressed those qualities, and finally, zoom in to tell a detailed story.

Want to improve your chances of acceptance? Get world-class coaching from former admissions committee members for a more compelling personal statement and polished application. Students who work with us double their chances of getting accepted!

You’ve likely heard the adage “Show, don’t tell” enough already. Rarely do we receive practical advice on exactly how to demonstrate our qualities, rather than list them. When you can do this, you provide a more authentic glimpse of who you really are.

If you read the following sentences from two different applicants, which one would you think was more giving?

• Applicant #1: I am a very giving person.
• Applicant #2: I volunteer 4 hours every week to work at the homeless shelter.

You’d probably choose applicant #2, even though they never used the word “giving” in their sentence. As a reader, we extrapolate how giving that applicant is.

Going back to the intro paragraphs above, we can see that the typical one “tells” about the applicant’s qualities, whereas the better paragraph “shows” the applicant’s qualities.

More Medical School Personal Statement Examples :

Typical introductions:

• “I wanted to give the best patient care possible…” (giving)
• “This lingering lack of fulfillment has served as a great motivator to find ways to do more” (motivated)

Better introductions:

• “…the music skills I honed over the past decade…” (dedicated)
• “…training the 8-member band of 10-13 year-olds from the inner city to join me on that same stage.” (giving, empowering)
• “I was nervous because this performance was for them; I needed to be at my best.” (selfless, motivated)

Strive to let your accomplishments, approaches, and insights speak for themselves. Describe your work in an engaging way and let the reader do the complimenting for you.

Some applicants make the mistake of putting the focus on supporting characters, like a parent or patient, making them more compelling than themselves or sharing the limelight. But the best personal statements maintain the focus on the applicant.

Like any great story, your personal statement should highlight a compelling character. But that character, the star of your story, should always be YOU. There is nothing wrong with including another character in your personal statement’s story. But other characters should only be used to demonstrate your qualities, whether through an interaction you had or an insight you gained after.

Returning to our examples above:

In the typical paragraph, Mary and the applicant are co-leads in the story. We don’t even read about the applicant or her insights until the fourth sentence. Mary seems just as impressive as the applicant.

The better paragraph is all about the applicant — her concerns, dedication, and motivations. Even though she mentions the inner-city youth, they serve only to demonstrate the applicant’s qualities.

Your opportunity to impress med school admissions committees with your personal statement is limited to 5,300 characters. Strive to keep the focus nearly entirely on you.

Know ahead of time that your first draft is just that — a first draft. Once you get something on the page, you can start rewriting and revising it into the perfect statement.

Explaining the answer to “Why I want to be a doctor” can be overwhelming. Many applicants end up making the mistake of answering a different question: “What have I done that qualifies me for medical school?” The result is a tedious list of GPAs and MCAT scores that make personal statements read like a resume.

A better approach is not to focus on the question that your essay will answer, but on the personal aspects of your experiences on earth that shaped who you are — a person whose goals and values align with entering the medical profession.

More common mistakes to avoid:

• Not being concise
• Using clichés
• Breaking character limits
• Not using transitions between paragraphs and topics
• Not getting a second opinion or consulting an expert

There are some red flags to keep in mind as well. Admissions experts will not be impressed with:

• Arrogance or narcissism
• Self-deprecation or lack of confidence
• Unexplained gaps in education
• Generalizations
• Poor grammar
• Lack of passion

Read Next: A Guide To Medical Schools That Don’t Require The MCAT

What is the AMCAS personal statement prompt?

The AMCAS personal statement prompt is: Use the space provided to explain why you want to go to medical school.

How many characters are allowed in the medical school personal statement?

You can use up to 5,300 characters in the medical school personal statement sections of the AMCAS and AACOMAS applications . Spaces count as characters. You’ll have roughly 500 words to write.

How long should a personal statement be for medical school?

A personal statement for medical school should be approximately one page. It should be long enough to take a deep look at a transformative experience or concept.

What personal statement topics should I avoid?

There are no specific topics that you should completely avoid in your personal statement outside of openly offensive topics. You may receive advice to steer clear of topics like mental health, having a parent who’s a doctor, or volunteer work. But it’s not these topics themselves that are a problem; how you use these stories and experiences to show your personality and character is what matters.

Your personal statement is one of the few times in the medical school application process where your personality, experiences, and uniqueness can shine through. It’s too important to leave it to guesswork, particularly if you’re reapplying !

Work with experienced Writing Advisors and Physician Advisors to give your personal statement the X factor sure to be noticed by admissions committees. Many of our advisors are former AdComs !

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Is dentistry right for you, need for diversity, preparing for dental school, the admissions process, application to dental school, 2024–25 application cycle updates, application instructions, refund policy, re-applicants, school-specific deadlines, dental school interview, new student video stories, customer service, cost of attendance, financing options, educational debt, applying for aid, international students, practice or residency, advanced dental education programs, practice options, advanced education in general dentistry, hear from practitioners, words from your peers, financial aid advice, advice from admissions officers, tips from current d.d.s./d.h. students, health professions advisor views, upcoming events, enrichment programs calendar, past events, engage in storytelling: a fresh approach for your personal statement.

Once your letters of recommendation are submitted and your test scores are sent, it is time to draft your personal statement. Your personal statement matters. It is critical to take the time required to craft a captivating and uniquely personal story. Prehealth Career Counselor, Dana Lovold, M.P.H., and her team at the Pre-Health Student Resource Center at the University of Minnesota share helpful key tips for applicants who want to create a personal statement that is compelling and authentic. Take advantage of the proven technique she’s developed after reviewing hundreds of personal statements over the years. 

Here is how to get started.  Familiarize yourself with the main topic(s) of the essay, formatting requirements and length limitations. In this case, the main topic of the Personal Statement should illustrate why an applicant opted to pursue a dental career and should give the reader a sense for your personality and character. While many unofficial resources on the internet state the essay topic in various ways, it is critical that you rely on the official ADEA source for the most accurate and up-to-date essay information and detailed instructions with regard to dental schools that will receive and review your personal statement. Note that only plain text will translate to the application, so avoid any special formatting. To review details about the essay, simply refer to the  ADEA AADSAS ®  (ADEA Associated American Dental Schools Application Service) instructions . Once you know the essay topic and length, it is time to begin thinking about crafting your story.

Advisors at the Pre-Health Student Resource Center at the University of Minnesota employ a storytelling model to support students’ efforts to uncover and write a unique and authentic personal statement. Storytelling is an effective way of engaging with the reader because humans are natural storytellers. One critical aspect of storytelling is the concept of change. When a story lacks change, it becomes a recitation of facts and events, rather than a reflection of who you are, how you’ve learned and grown through your experiences, and what you value. Many students express concern that their experiences are not unique and wonder how they can stand out. Storytelling serves as a customized container that stores the personal qualities of an applicant and their journey, often underscoring your personal transformation over time. Focusing on changes you have experienced helps to capture the power of storytelling. Some questions you may want to consider when exploring ideas are:

• What have you learned from your experience(s)?
• How did you change as a result of your experience(s)?
• What insight did you gain, and how does it pertain to your interest in dentistry?

By conveying your preparation and motivation for dentistry, the reader (typically an admissions committee) gains a deeper understanding of who you are and what you value. If you stopped there, your story would be incomplete. The next step is to connect that insight to how it links to your future and the impact you hope to make in the dental profession. This will convey your unique insight and demonstrate how you will leverage that insight as a dentist. Admissions committee readers will begin to understand what you hope to contribute to your local community or to the world as a dentist.

When exploring additional aspects of what to write about, we also encourage students to cover these four components in the essay:

• Motivation refers to an applicant’s ongoing preparation and exploration for the health profession and can include their initial inspiration.
• Fit is determined through self-assessment of relevant values and personal qualities as they relate to the profession.
• Capacity is demonstrated through holistically aligning with the pre-professional competencies expected in the profession.
• Vision relates to the impact or contribution an applicant intends to make in the field.

Many students find that writing about their motivation comes naturally. Where admissions officers see some challenges is in how you go about conveying your fit for the profession. When covering fit and capacity in your essay, think of experiences that you have had that demonstrate qualities that are valuable or important in the profession. There is no need to restrict these to only dental or healthcare experiences; in fact, please feel free to show various dimensions of yourself by including a seemingly unrelated experience, then connecting it to its relevance for dentistry.

Take Maria’s story as one example. During shadowing, Maria learned that important professional competencies in the dental profession are communication and interpersonal skills. She saw how the dentist created a space where patients could relax and feel comfortable, and what impact this had on the patient’s experience. Maria’s personal statement reflected on this skill, noting times that she had demonstrated similar qualities in other situations. For example, she thought about her experience taking class pictures at a local middle school. Maria noted that many students were reluctant to have their picture taken, with students often visibly uncomfortable and anxious about having their photographs taken. Maria sensed this and found ways to put students at ease­­ by asking questions about their hobbies or sports, telling a joke or reassuring them that the photo would turn out the way they hoped. Through reflection, Maria recognized that she had the instincts to know when people were uneasy, discovering that she had a knack for knowing how to communicate in a way that made students feel comfortable. She recognized that helping people feel comfortable and relaxed is an aspect of dentistry of genuine appeal to her. Maria wrote about this experience to explain how she plans to leverage these skills as a future dentist, helping all of her patients have a positive experience in the dental chair. This story is effective because Maria first describes a “real world” everyday scenario when she uncovered and applied the skills, then links the skills with how they relate to her “fit” for the dental profession. What experiences do you have that could align with qualities you want to employ as a future dentist?

After you complete a working draft, go back through and see how you’ve covered each of these four components in your draft. Ask people who are reviewing your draft if they can identify whether you have covered these elements in your essay. If it is someone who knows you well, ask whether the story is true to how you are in your daily life. Often, people who know us well can help us see aspects of ourselves we don’t necessarily see as clearly. When you feel the draft is almost done, it is recommended that students ask someone to read the statement aloud to them. Listen for any missing words, confusion, unintended pauses and sentences that do not flow fluidly, et cetera, as these are useful indicators of things you may want to edit. Always conduct a spelling and grammar check, and do one last character count to ensure you are at or under the maximum.

This portion of your application may always feel unfinished—but it is helpful to provide a “point in time” view of who you are and highlight your journey! The measure of success that it is perhaps best to chart against is whether what you have written is an accurate reflection of who you are and why you chose to pursue a career in the health professions. Expect to continue growing and changing and finding new insights as your personal and professional journey continues. 

Good luck and best wishes!

About Dana Lovold, M.P.H.:

Dana Lovold, M.P.H. Prehealth Career Counselor   Pre-Health Student Resource Center at the University of Minnesota

Dana Lovold, M.P.H., currently serves as a prehealth career counselor in the Pre-Health Student Resource Center on the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota. Lovold teaches a course on writing a personal statement and has presented on storytelling for personal statements at regional and national conferences. Her work has been published in The Advisor and the Pre-Med Navigator. She believes every student has a unique and compelling story and enjoys working with students to help them find and tell theirs. 

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Telling the Story of Yourself: 6 Steps to Writing Personal Narratives

Jennifer Xue

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Why do we write personal narratives, 6 guidelines for writing personal narrative essays, inspiring personal narratives, examples of personal narrative essays, tell your story.

First off, you might be wondering: what is a personal narrative? In short, personal narratives are stories we tell about ourselves that focus on our growth, lessons learned, and reflections on our experiences.

From stories about inspirational figures we heard as children to any essay, article, or exercise where we're asked to express opinions on a situation, thing, or individual—personal narratives are everywhere.

According to Psychology Today, personal narratives allow authors to feel and release pains, while savouring moments of strength and resilience. Such emotions provide an avenue for both authors and readers to connect while supporting healing in the process.

That all sounds great. But when it comes to putting the words down on paper, we often end up with a list of experiences and no real structure to tie them together.

In this article, we'll discuss what a personal narrative essay is further, learn the 6 steps to writing one, and look at some examples of great personal narratives.

As readers, we're fascinated by memoirs, autobiographies, and long-form personal narrative articles, as they provide a glimpse into the authors' thought processes, ideas, and feelings. But you don't have to be writing your whole life story to create a personal narrative.

You might be a student writing an admissions essay , or be trying to tell your professional story in a cover letter. Regardless of your purpose, your narrative will focus on personal growth, reflections, and lessons.

Personal narratives help us connect with other people's stories due to their easy-to-digest format and because humans are empathising creatures.

We can better understand how others feel and think when we were told stories that allow us to see the world from their perspectives. The author's "I think" and "I feel" instantaneously become ours, as the brain doesn't know whether what we read is real or imaginary.

In her best-selling book Wired for Story, Lisa Cron explains that the human brain craves tales as it's hard-wired through evolution to learn what happens next. Since the brain doesn't know whether what you are reading is actual or not, we can register the moral of the story cognitively and affectively.

In academia, a narrative essay tells a story which is experiential, anecdotal, or personal. It allows the author to creatively express their thoughts, feelings, ideas, and opinions. Its length can be anywhere from a few paragraphs to hundreds of pages.

Outside of academia, personal narratives are known as a form of journalism or non-fiction works called "narrative journalism." Even highly prestigious publications like the New York Times and Time magazine have sections dedicated to personal narratives. The New Yorke is a magazine dedicated solely to this genre.

The New York Times holds personal narrative essay contests. The winners are selected because they:

had a clear narrative arc with a conflict and a main character who changed in some way. They artfully balanced the action of the story with reflection on what it meant to the writer. They took risks, like including dialogue or playing with punctuation, sentence structure and word choice to develop a strong voice. And, perhaps most important, they focused on a specific moment or theme – a conversation, a trip to the mall, a speech tournament, a hospital visit – instead of trying to sum up the writer’s life in 600 words.

In a nutshell, a personal narrative can cover any reflective and contemplative subject with a strong voice and a unique perspective, including uncommon private values. It's written in first person and the story encompasses a specific moment in time worthy of a discussion.

Writing a personal narrative essay involves both objectivity and subjectivity. You'll need to be objective enough to recognise the importance of an event or a situation to explore and write about. On the other hand, you must be subjective enough to inject private thoughts and feelings to make your point.

With personal narratives, you are both the muse and the creator – you have control over how your story is told. However, like any other type of writing, it comes with guidelines.

1. Write Your Personal Narrative as a Story

As a story, it must include an introduction, characters, plot, setting, climax, anti-climax (if any), and conclusion. Another way to approach it is by structuring it with an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction should set the tone, while the body should focus on the key point(s) you want to get across. The conclusion can tell the reader what lessons you have learned from the story you've just told.

2. Give Your Personal Narrative a Clear Purpose

Your narrative essay should reflect your unique perspective on life. This is a lot harder than it sounds. You need to establish your perspective, the key things you want your reader to take away, and your tone of voice. It's a good idea to have a set purpose in mind for the narrative before you start writing.

Let's say you want to write about how you manage depression without taking any medicine. This could go in any number of ways, but isolating a purpose will help you focus your writing and choose which stories to tell. Are you advocating for a holistic approach, or do you want to describe your emotional experience for people thinking of trying it?

Having this focus will allow you to put your own unique take on what you did (and didn't do, if applicable), what changed you, and the lessons learned along the way.

3. Show, Don't Tell

It's a narration, so the narrative should show readers what happened, instead of telling them. As well as being a storyteller, the author should take part as one of the characters. Keep this in mind when writing, as the way you shape your perspective can have a big impact on how your reader sees your overarching plot. Don't slip into just explaining everything that happened because it happened to you. Show your reader with action.

You can check for instances of telling rather than showing with ProWritingAid. For example, instead of:

"You never let me do anything!" I cried disdainfully.

"You never let me do anything!" To this day, my mother swears that the glare I levelled at her as I spat those words out could have soured milk.

Using ProWritingAid will help you find these instances in your manuscript and edit them without spending hours trawling through your work yourself.

4. Use "I," But Don't Overuse It

You, the author, take ownership of the story, so the first person pronoun "I" is used throughout. However, you shouldn't overuse it, as it'd make it sound too self-centred and redundant.

ProWritingAid can also help you here – the Style Report will tell you if you've started too many sentences with "I", and show you how to introduce more variation in your writing.

5. Pay Attention to Tenses

Tense is key to understanding. Personal narratives mostly tell the story of events that happened in the past, so many authors choose to use the past tense. This helps separate out your current, narrating voice and your past self who you are narrating. If you're writing in the present tense, make sure that you keep it consistent throughout.

6. Make Your Conclusion Satisfying

Satisfy your readers by giving them an unforgettable closing scene. The body of the narration should build up the plot to climax. This doesn't have to be something incredible or shocking, just something that helps give an interesting take on your story.

The takeaways or the lessons learned should be written without lecturing. Whenever possible, continue to show rather than tell. Don't say what you learned, narrate what you do differently now. This will help the moral of your story shine through without being too preachy.

GoodReads is a great starting point for selecting read-worthy personal narrative books. Here are five of my favourites.

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen

Jane Yolen, the author of 386 books, wrote this poetic story about a daughter and her father who went owling. Instead of learning about owls, Yolen invites readers to contemplate the meaning of gentleness and hope.

Night by Elie Wiesel

Elie Wiesel was a teenager when he and his family were sent to Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944. This Holocaust memoir has a strong message that such horrific events should never be repeated.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

This classic is a must-read by young and old alike. It's a remarkable diary by a 13-year-old Jewish girl who hid inside a secret annexe of an old building during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in 1942.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

This is a personal narrative written by a brave author renowned for her clarity, passion, and honesty. Didion shares how in December 2003, she lost her husband of 40 years to a massive heart attack and dealt with the acute illness of her only daughter. She speaks about grief, memories, illness, and hope.

Educated by Tara Westover

Author Tara Westover was raised by survivalist parents. She didn't go to school until 17 years of age, which later took her to Harvard and Cambridge. It's a story about the struggle for quest for knowledge and self-reinvention.

Narrative and personal narrative journalism are gaining more popularity these days. You can find distinguished personal narratives all over the web.

Curating the best of the best of personal narratives and narrative essays from all over the web. Some are award-winning articles.

Narratively

Long-form writing to celebrate humanity through storytelling. It publishes personal narrative essays written to provoke, inspire, and reflect, touching lesser-known and overlooked subjects.

Narrative Magazine

It publishes non,fiction narratives, poetry, and fiction. Among its contributors is Frank Conroy, the author of Stop-Time , a memoir that has never been out of print since 1967.

Thought Catalog

Aimed at Generation Z, it publishes personal narrative essays on self-improvement, family, friendship, romance, and others.

Personal narratives will continue to be popular as our brains are wired for stories. We love reading about others and telling stories of ourselves, as they bring satisfaction and a better understanding of the world around us.

Personal narratives make us better humans. Enjoy telling yours!

Write like a bestselling author

Love writing? ProWritingAid will help you improve the style, strength, and clarity of your stories.

Jennifer Xue is an award-winning e-book author with 2,500+ articles and 100+ e-books/reports published under her belt. She also taught 50+ college-level essay and paper writing classes. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, Fortune, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Business.com, Business2Community, Addicted2Success, Good Men Project, and others. Her blog is JenniferXue.com. Follow her on Twitter @jenxuewrites].

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Storytelling is a powerful communication tool — here’s how to use it, from TED

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Many of the best TED Talks are built around stories, with speakers’ personal anecdotes helping them bring their ideas to life. Here, TED head curator Chris Anderson provides us with some storytelling dos and don’ts. Plus: news about the TED Masterclass app.

After watching a great talk on TED.com , many of us have wondered: “Could I do it myself? Could I give a TED Talk?”

Now’s your chance to find out.

The new TED Masterclass app — available from the Google Play store and the Apple App store — is designed to help you develop and share your best ideas as a TED-style talk. Guided by TED head curator Chris Anderson and based on his book TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking , the app-based course features 11 animated lessons that break down the public-speaking techniques that TED speakers use to present their ideas. Developed by TED-Ed , the course also features a library of full-length TED Talks from Brené Brown, Bryan Stevenson, Susan Cain and others to reinforce its lessons.

In this post, which is adapted from the TED Masterclass app and his book, Anderson discusses how we can learn to use storytelling to elevate our speeches, presentations and talks.

The best evidence from archaeology and anthropology suggests the human mind evolved with storytelling. About a million years ago our hominid ancestors began gaining control of the use of fire, and it seems to have had a profound impact on their development. It provided warmth, defense against predators, and the ability to cook food (along with its remarkable consequences for the growth of our brains.

But it brought humans something else. Fire created a new magnet for social bonding and drew people together after dark. In many cultures, one form of fireside interaction became prevalent: Storytelling.

It’s no surprise that many of the best TED Talks are anchored in storytelling. But when it comes to sharing a story as part of a presentation or speech, there are four key things for you to remember.

• Base it on a character your audience can empathize with or ar0und a dilemma your audience can relate to.
• Build tension whether through curiosity, intrigue or actual danger.
• Offer the right level of detail. Too little and the story is not vivid; too much and it gets bogged down.
• End with a satisfying resolution, whether it’s funny, moving or revealing.

Of course, it’s all in the execution. Before speaking in front of a group, it’s really worth fine-tuning our stories — including the stories from our own lives. Many of us overstuff them with details that are important to us, but a wider audience just doesn’t need to know.

Building your talk around a single story can offer huge benefits. The personal story is the simplest, easiest-to-prepare type of talk; after all, you know your story and you know more about it than anyone else in the world. A personal story will also create empathy with your audience. Your throughline is taken care of — it’s simply the narrative arc of the story.

But there’s one trap that you must avoid. Your overall goal as as speaker is to give, yet personal stories sometimes fail to do that. They may entertain or intrigue or boost your ego. But they don’t automatically give the audience something they can walk away with — such as insights, actionable information, perspective, context, hope.

One of the biggest reasons we turn down applications to speak at TED is when they offer compelling anecdotes but no central idea that wraps their narrative together. This is heartbreaking, because the speakers are often fascinating people. But without an idea, it’s an opportunity missed.

The key shift needed is an artful edit of your journey that links together critical moments in a way that someone else can derive meaning from them. If your journey reveals something powerful you’ve learned and if each step is revealed with humility, honesty or vulnerability, it’s a journey that other people will gladly make with you.

There’s one other non-negotiable essential if you’re telling your own story: It has to be true. This may seem obvious, but people sometimes try to impress their audience by exaggerating or fibbing — precisely because they know a story can have so much impact. You must resist this temptation.

When you combine a truthful story with a desire to use it for the benefit of other people, you’ll be giving your listeners an extraordinary gift. In her TED Talk , psychologist Eleanor Longden was willing to share how she began hearing voices in her head while she was at university. It led her to being diagnosed with schizophrenia, institutionalized, and driven to the point of suicide.

Her story alone is riveting, but she builds it so people leave her talk with inspiring insights on schizophrenia, mental illness, and how we might rethink our responses to them.

Here’s part of her ending:

“There is no greater honor or privilege than facilitating that process of healing for someone, to bear witness, to reach out a hand, to share the burden of someone’s suffering, and to hold the hope for their recovery. And likewise, for survivors of distress and adversity, that we remember we don’t have to live our lives forever defined by the damaging things that have happened to us. We are unique. We are irreplaceable. What lies within us can never be truly colonized, contorted, or taken away. The light never goes out.”

In his TED Talk: How the worst moments in our lives make us who we are , writer Andrew Solomon described how he was humiliated as a child, even before he came out as gay. But he manages to turn his story into an exhilarating narrative of identity that anyone could relate to and learn from.

“There’s always somebody who wants to confiscate our humanity. And there are always stories that restore it. If we live out loud, we can trounce the hatred, and expand everyone’s lives.”

Stories resonate deeply in every human. By giving your talk as a story or a series of related stories, you can greatly increase your connection with your audience. But please: Let it mean something.

Ready to tell your own story? Download the TED Masterclass app from the Google Play store and the Apple App store . After downloading it, you’ll be able to see an overview of every lesson — including what it’s about, what you’ll learn, and a two-minute video — from the entire course. You’ll also get a preview of the library and the idea log. Full access to the course ($89.99) is available via in-app purchase, and all proceeds will go to support the nonprofit work of TED.  

About the author

Chris Anderson is the curator of TED.

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Messages and replies, applicant notifications, global notifications, important storytelling tips for your personal statement.

By Gurufi - Nov 6 , 18:25 PM Comments [0]

Over at  Gurufi.com ., we’re putting together a short series of videos on how you can use effective storytelling techniques to make your personal statement more engaging. We decided to create this series in order to combat what is the most prevalent problem that I encounter when helping people organize, write, and revise their personal statements: bland essays that feel like narrative versions of the author’s CV.

Many people resort to this style of writing because they either don’t understand what makes for a compelling essay or they’re convinced that they don’t know how to write a good story. To the first point, what I can tell you after having read literally thousands of admissions essays is that the best essays are essays that tell a story. Rather than looking to recount lots of small achievements, they go into depth on just a few (or even one) really important transformative moment. These sorts of stories, when properly deployed, can clarify your positioning as an applicant and make you memorable in a way that a list of accomplishments simply cannot.

So how do you write a compelling story? Well, there are many aspects to this, which our video series will cover, but over the next few weeks, I’ll be describing some of the most important tips and tricks. Today, I’ll start with the most important one:  have a good villain.  Now, let me be clear about what I’m describing. I’m not telling you to describe a terrible person in your essay, but rather I want you to think about what makes any adventure story or movie good: you have to believe that the good guy might fail. You create stakes by making the obstacle immense, and thus when the hero surmounts it, they  show  their qualities of strength, guile, intellect, resilience, and maturity.

To use an example, think about the recent two-part “Avengers” movie. In the first part, the villain, Thanos, had to seem invincible, and the audience had to believe that their heroes couldn’t possibly beat him. He was too strong, too smart, and was always two moves ahead of them. Then, when in the second part, the heroes managed to beat him, their story was much more interesting and engaging and the audience was left with far more awe and respect for the heroes.

So how does this apply to writing a personal statement? Far too often, applicants will write about their accomplishments without fully explaining what made those accomplishments so impressive. Take the following examples:

“I led a $15 million purchase of Company A.”

“I spent a month working with HIV orphans in Tanzania.”

“I volunteered for 18 months with a legal aid non-profit.”

If this is all you write, these would be nice additions to your application, but they wouldn’t be fantastic home runs. What these applicants need to do is ask some follow-up questions: 1) why was this work so challenging? 2) What was my hardest day on the job? 3) What was the biggest challenge I faced doing this work? 4) What was the closest I ever came to failing? 5) Why? The applicant could then use these answers to these questions to tell their story in a fuller and more interesting way. For instance:

You can flesh this out by adding some vital points that make clear how hard this was to achieve, such as:

->The deal nearly collapsed because of miscommunication

→ With a midnight deadline looming, I gathered the conflicting parties on a teleconference and worked through each of the sticking points

→ The CEO of the target company refused to budge, and the deal looked dead until I flew to Cincinnati and convinced him to have lunch with me. My coming to his home office established trust, and this laid the foundation for fruitful dialogue that let us complete a win-win deal.

These details, when added thoughtfully into the essay, will make the experience pop off the page in a way that merely describing the end accomplishment could never do.

By going through this process of really focusing on the most difficult and dire moments, you make your contributions stand out and the story becomes both more memorable and a more powerful expression of your strengths as an applicant. The reason is that the reader can feel the difficulty of this situation and recognizes that, but for your efforts, this deal might have failed.

For this reason, I often urge clients never to focus only on the accomplishment. If you feature an accomplishment in an essay, you should first try to make clear  why the accomplishment was such a big deal. Your story needs “a villain” to really allow the hero to shine. This “villain” is almost never an actual person / opponent, but rather a set of tough circumstances and unexpected occurrences that you had to overcome, solve, or work around.

Over the past decade, Gurufi.com has helped thousands of applicants get into their dream schools. Our editors all hold advanced degrees from Ivy League universities and we understand how to help you craft a powerful personal statement. Graduate admissions are complex, so leverage our years of experience and success to make your application as competitive as possible. Visit us at Gurufi.com , or contact us directly at [email protected]

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NFL Says They Do Not Agree with Harrison Butker's 'Views' in Graduation Speech, Are Committed to 'Inclusion'

Butker took aim at the LGBTQ+ community, working women, abortion rights and more in his controversial speech at Benedictine College

The NFL is batting down comments made by kicker Harrison Butker in the wake of his controversial commencement address.

In his speech at the graduation ceremony at Benedictine College on Saturday, May 11, the 28-year-old Georgia Tech alum took aim at the LGBTQ+ community, working women, abortion rights and more, drawing heavy criticism.

Commenting on Butker's speech for the first time May 15, the NFL said that his views differ from those of the organization.

“Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity,” Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, tells PEOPLE in a written statement. “His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”

During his speech, Butker opined on various “diabolical lies told to women,” and offered his take on abortion, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy, as well as President Joe Biden . He also said Pride Month represented "deadly sins."

Then, seeking out the men in the audience, the athlete advised them to “be unapologetic in your masculinity," and to "fight against the cultural emasculation of men."

Butker’s comments were met with widespread disapproval.

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Former Kansas City commissioner Justice Horn slammed Butker in a post, writing , "Harrison Butker doesn’t represent Kansas City nor has he ever. Kansas City has always been a place that welcomes, affirms, and embraces our LGBTQ+ community members."

Others took issues with Butker for referencing Taylor Swift — who has long been an ally of the LGBTQ+ community.

"One of the worst parts of this NFL player's awful speech is that he quoted a Taylor Swift song before telling women they should be homemakers and serve their man's career,” OutSports said in a post on X. 

Butker also singled out the female graduates, and then effectively put them down.

"For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment," he began. "I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you."

He continued, “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world."

Flavor Flav, who stood up as recently as last week for women by sponsoring the Olympic water polo team, had issues with the kicker’s alignment.

“Sounds like some players 'need to stay in their lanes' and shouldn’t be giving commencement speeches," the founding member of Public Enemy and longtime Swiftie wrote on X .

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What are paper bank statement fees?

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• Many banks charge you a few dollars per month for mailing paper bank statements to your home.
• You can avoid paper statement fees by opting for paperless statements online.
• If you don't like banking online, paper statements could be worth the cost.

A bank statement is a document that shows your account activity. One statement shows the activity over a "statement period," which is typically one month.

Banks are required to provide bank statements to customers for checking and savings accounts for any period in which an electronic funds transfer was made. So if you swiped your debit card, made an ATM withdrawal, or paid a bill from your account, you should receive a statement.

For many years, banks would print and mail monthly bank statements to every customer.

In an effort to reduce costs and paper waste, many financial institutions have stopped sending paper statements in favor of electronic statements — or else charging customers a small fee if they still want to receive a physical copy each month.

How much are paper statement fees?

Paper statement fees range from $0 to $5 at most financial institutions, though some will waive the fee if a customer meets certain qualifications.

Here are the paper statement fees at banks with the most branches around the U.S., as well as online banks:

*At these banks, the paper statement fee may vary depending on which checking account you open.

Depending on the bank, you may automatically be enrolled in e-statements but not paper statements or vice-versa.

Speak with a customer service representative or check your online account settings to make sure you aren't paying for paper statements if you don't want to receive them.

With e-statements, otherwise known as paperless statements, you see your transaction history on the bank's website or mobile app. There should be a menu option specifically for statements where you can sort by month.

Most banks charge a few dollars per month for paper statements, so opting for paperless statements eliminates this fee.

It's also better for the environment to receive your monthly statement electronically because the bank won't have to print and mail the paper to your home.

Some banks may also offer benefits when you opt for paperless statements. For example, a bank may waive your monthly maintenance fee or offer a cash sign-up bonus.

Paper statement fee FAQs

It depends on the bank. Some will waive the fee for customers who meet certain qualifications, such as age or minimum balance requirements, but it's not common.

E-statements are better for the environment, more cost-effective for financial institutions, and can offer better protection against identity theft .

Use unique passwords for all of your accounts, enable two-factor authentication where available, and avoid downloading your e-statements on a public computer.

If you'd rather receive paper statements, ask your bank if there's a way to reduce your banking fee for paper statements. Alternatively, consider printing your e-statements and keeping a file of them at home.

Banks may charge anywhere from $0 to $5 for paper bank statements.

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The NFL responds after a player urges female college graduates to become homemakers

Rachel Treisman

Kansas City Chiefs player Harrison Butker, pictured at a press conference in February, is in hot water for his recent commencement speech at Benedictine College in Kansas. Chris Unger/Getty Images hide caption

Kansas City Chiefs player Harrison Butker, pictured at a press conference in February, is in hot water for his recent commencement speech at Benedictine College in Kansas.

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker stirred controversy off the field this weekend when he told a college graduating class that one of the "most important titles" a woman can hold is "homemaker."

Butker denounced abortion rights, Pride Month, COVID-19 lockdowns and "the tyranny of diversity, equity and inclusion" in his commencement address at Benedictine College, a Catholic liberal arts school in Atchison, Kan.

The 28-year-old, a devout Catholic and father of two, also railed against "dangerous gender ideologies" and urged men to "fight against the cultural emasculation of men." At one point, he addressed women specifically.

Black Stories. Black Truths.

Why the nfl (still) has a diversity problem.

"I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you, how many of you are sitting here now about to cross the stage, and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you're going to get in your career," he said. "Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world. But I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world."

Harrison Butker chokes up while discussing his wife, encouraging Benedictine College female grads to embrace motherhood. pic.twitter.com/qm73MBl0Hl — The College Fix (@CollegeFix) May 13, 2024

"I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother," Butker said.

The 20-minute speech has been viewed more than 455,000 times on YouTube since Saturday and generated considerable backlash — and memes — on social media, especially from people critical of his views on women. Many pointed out that Butker's own mom is a clinical medical physicist.

Butker also drew ire from fans of Taylor Swift, who is dating fellow Chiefs player Travis Kelce, a relationship that has famously helped bring many new female fans to the NFL. Later in the speech, he quoted Swift — though not by name — while talking about what he sees as the problem of priests becoming "overly familiar" with their parishioners.

Super Bowl 2024

The swift-kelce romance sounds like a movie. but the nfl swears it wasn't scripted.

"This undue familiarity will prove to be problematic every time, because as my teammate's girlfriend says, 'Familiarity breeds contempt,' " he said, quoting a lyric from her song Bejeweled.

One Swift fan account joked about petitioning for the pop star to replace Butker as the Chiefs' kicker. A real online petition , calling for the Chiefs to dismiss Butker for his "sexist, homophobic, anti-trans, anti-abortion and racist remarks," has gained 95,000 signatures and counting since Monday.

Butker and the team have not commented publicly on his speech and the backlash to it, though late Wednesday the NFL issued a statement distancing itself from it.

"Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity," Jonathan Beane, the NFL's senior VP and chief diversity and inclusion officer told NPR on Thursday. "His views are not those of the NFL as an organization."

What else did Butker say?

Butker has been vocal about his faith, telling the Eternal Word Television Network in 2019 that he grew up Catholic but practiced less in high school and college before rediscovering his belief later in life.

Last year, Butker appeared in an ad for the nonprofit Catholic Vote urging Kansans to support a referendum that would limit abortion rights in the state (it was ultimately unsuccessful ). He's also one of several athletes who has partnered with a Catholic prayer app . And days after the Chiefs won this year's Super Bowl, Butker spent a week "in reflection" at a monastery in California.

He also gave the commencement address at his alma mater Georgia Tech last year, in which he urged students to "get married and start a family."

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This time around, Butker started his speech by suggesting he had been reluctant to give it: He said he originally turned down the president's invitation because he felt that one commencement speech was enough, "especially for someone who isn't a professional speaker."

He was persuaded, he said, in part by leadership's argument about how many milestones graduating seniors had missed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"As a group, you witnessed firsthand how bad leaders who don't stay in their lane can have a negative impact on society," he said in his opening remarks. "It is through this lens that I want to take stock of how we got to where we are and where we want to go as citizens, and yes, as Catholics."

He criticized President Biden for his handling of the pandemic and his stance on abortion, which he said falsely suggests people can simultaneously be "both Catholic and pro-choice."

Butker blamed "the pervasiveness of disorder" for the availability of procedures like abortion, IVF, surrogacy and euthanasia, as well as "a growing support for degenerate cultural values and media."

6 in 10 U.S. Catholics are in favor of abortion rights, Pew Research report finds

At one point, he referenced an Associated Press article from earlier this month about the revival of conservative Catholicism that prominently featured Benedictine College as an example.

The school of roughly 2,000 gets top ratings from the Cardinal Newman Society , a nonprofit that promotes Catholic education in the U.S., for policies including offering daily mass and prohibiting campus speakers who "publicly oppose Catholic moral teaching."

"I am certain the reporters at the AP could not have imagined that their attempt to rebuke and embarrass places and people like those here at Benedictine wouldn't be met with anger, but instead with excitement and pride," Butker said, before making an apparent reference to LGBTQ Pride Month in June.

"Not the deadly sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it," he said, as laughter could be heard from the crowd.

How are people responding?

The official YouTube video of Butker's speech shows the crowd standing and applauding at the end, though the AP reports that reactions among graduates were mixed. Several told the outlet they were surprised by his comments about women, priests and LGTBQ people.

Kassidy Neuner told the AP that the speech felt "degrading," suggesting that only women can be homemakers.

"To point this out specifically that that's what we're looking forward to in life seems like our four years of hard work wasn't really important," said Neuner, who is planning on attending law school.

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Butker's comments have gotten some support, including on social media from football fan accounts and Christian and conservative media personalities .

"Christian men should be preaching this regularly," tweeted former NFL player T.J. Moe. "Instead, it's so taboo that when someone tells the obvious truth that anyone who holds a biblical worldview believes, it's national news."

Still, other public figures — including musicians Maren Morris and Flava Flav — were quick to disagree.

Even the official Kansas City account weighed in, tweeting on Wednesday that Butker resides not there but in a neighboring suburb, Lee's Summit. The tweet has since been deleted and the account apologized for the tweet .

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas tweeted that he believed Butker holds a "minority viewpoint" in the state but defended his right to express it.

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"Grown folks have opinions, even if they play sports," he wrote . "I disagree with many, but I recognize our right to different views."

Justice Horn, the former chair of Kansas City's LGBTQ Commission, was more critical, writing on X (formerly Twitter) that "Harrison Butker doesn't represent Kansas City nor has he ever." He called the city one that "welcomes, affirms and embraces our LGBTQ+ community members."

The Los Angeles Chargers also trolled Butker in its Sims-style schedule release video on Wednesday, which ends with a shot of his animated, number 7 jersey-wearing character cooking and arranging flowers in a kitchen.

• Kansas City Chiefs
• commencement addresses
• working women
• Taylor Swift

NFL distances itself from Chiefs’ Harrison Butker’s Benedictine College speech

In response to the controversy surrounding Harrison Butker’s commencement speech at Benedictine College, the NFL distanced itself from the ideas expressed in the speech, saying the league doesn’t share the beliefs the Kansas City Chiefs kicker voiced while addressing the graduating students.

During the commencement speech, Butker referred to Pride Month as an example of the “deadly sins.” He also addressed gender ideologies and said a woman’s most important title is “homemaker.”

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“Not the deadly sins sort of Pride that has an entire month dedicated to it,” Butker said, “but the true God-centered pride that is cooperating with the holy ghost to glorify him.”

Butker spoke for more than 20 minutes to students at the Catholic school in Atchison, Kan., saying he wanted the graduating class to prevent political leaders from interfering with social issues that impact their relationship with the church.

In response, NFL senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer Jonathan Beane said in a statement to The Athletic that Butker gave the speech “in his personal capacity.”

“His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger,” Beane said. His statement was first reported by People.

The Chiefs declined to comment when reached Thursday by The Athletic .

While Pride Month, which is in June, falls outside the NFL’s season, the league participates in LGBTQ+ initiatives. On the Wednesday before Super Bowl LVIII, the NFL hosted a “Night of Pride” event in partnership with GLAAD, the LGBTQ+ advocacy organization.

The Chiefs are among the NFL teams that have a Pride selection of apparel with rainbow colors. Kansas City is also among the many North American cities that host Pride events during June, led by the KC Pride Community Alliance.

Later Thursday, legendary college football coach and TV analyst Lou Holtz took to X to thank Butker “for standing strong in your faith values.”

“Your commencement speech at Benedictine College showed courage and conviction and I admire that,” Holtz wrote, later linking to a form from America First Works for people to sign and offer their thanks to Butker for his comments.

Required reading

• Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker says Pride Month is example of ‘deadly sin’ during commencement speech

(Photo: Ric Tapia / Getty Images)

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Tess DeMeyer is a Staff Editor for The Athletic working on the live/breaking news team. Prior to joining The Athletic, she worked as an associate digital producer at Sports Illustrated. Tess attended Brown University and originates from a small town outside of Savannah, GA. Follow Tess on Twitter @ tess_demeyer

Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava resigns days after Miss USA Noelia Voigt steps down

Miss Teen USA 2023 is resigning just days after Miss USA Noelia Voigt .

UmaSofia Srivastava , who took home the 2023 title in September, shared a lengthy statement Wednesday announcing her departure because her " personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization."

"After months of grappling with the decision, I have made the choice to resign from the title of Miss Teen USA 2023. I am grateful for all the support from my family, my state directors, my sister queens, and the fans who have cheered me on since I won my state title," Srivastava wrote. "I will always look back on my time as Miss NJ Teen USA fondly, and the experience of representing my state as a first generation, Mexican-Indian American at the national level was fulfilling in itself."

In a statement shared with USA TODAY on Wednesday, Miss USA CEO and President Laylah Rose said, "Our all-encompassing goal at Miss USA is to celebrate and empower women. Our participants make a real difference in this country and around the globe."

Rose's statement continued, "All along, my personal goal as the head of this organization has been to inspire women to always create new dreams, have the courage to explore it all, and continue to preserve integrity along the way. I hold myself to these same high standards and I take these allegations seriously. Please be assured that the well-being of all individuals associated with Miss USA is my top priority."

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

In her resignation statement, Srivastava vowed to continue her philanthropy with The Lotus Pedal Foundation and the Bridge of Books Foundation as she completes her junior year of high school.

"While this was certainly not how I saw my reign coming to a close, I am excited to continue my advocacy for education and acceptance, start applying to colleges, and share some exciting new projects on That’s Fan Behavior with those of you who plan to stick around," she captioned the post, referring to her blog .

Srivastava added: "At the end of the day, I am so lucky to have had the privilege of this experience, but if this is just a chapter, I know that the story of my life will truly be incredible."

"I LOVE YOU! So proud of you my angel," former Miss USA Voigt commented.

Miss USA Noelia Voigt makes 'tough decision' to step down. Read her full statement.

Miss USA Noelia Voigt resigned for her 'mental health,' leading to fan theories

On Monday, Voigt, who was awarded Miss USA in September 2023,  announced her resignation in a statement  on Instagram. The former title holder wrote, "In life, I strongly value the importance of making decisions that feel best for you and your mental health."

Her decision to relinquish her Miss USA crown has sparked a flurry of online speculation after fans noticed a strange detail about her statement.

In the comments of her post and elsewhere on social media, users pieced the first letter in each sentence of her statement to reveal the phrase "I AM SILENCED" — though this discounts the last three sentences, the first letters of which spell "HIP." It was not immediately clear whether the message was intentional.

Miss USA shifts: Did Noelia Voigt's resignation statement contain a hidden message?

Miss USA previously said in a statement to USA TODAY, "We respect and support former Miss USA Noelia Voigt’s decision to step down from her duties. The well-being of our titleholders is a top priority, and we understand her need to prioritize herself at this time."

The statement added, "The organization is currently reviewing plans for the transition of responsibilities to a successor and an announcement regarding the crowning of the new Miss USA will be coming soon."

Prior to Voigt's announcement, Miss USA social media director Claudia Michelle  shared on Instagram  Friday that she has resigned from her role. In a statement posted to social media, she wrote, "I have had the privilege of getting to work with Noelia closely and have unfortunately seen a decline in her mental health since we (first) met. I feel like her ability to share her story and her platform have been diminished."

"I feel the way current management speaks about their titleholders is unprofessional and inappropriate," she went on to write. "I disavow workplace toxicity and bullying of any kind."

In an Instagram story, Michelle shared Voigt's statement and highlighted the "I AM SILENCED" letters.

Miss USA Organization denies accusations of toxic environment

In response to Michelle's post, the Miss USA Organization said in a statement to USA TODAY, "We are troubled to hear the false accusations made by a former Miss USA employee. Miss USA is committed to fostering a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment, and we take these allegations seriously. Indeed, we have and will continue to prioritize the well-being of all individuals involved with Miss USA."

In the caption of her original Instagram post, Voigt acknowledged that her resignation "may come as a large shock to many," but added, "Never compromise your physical and mental well-being."

Contributing: Brendan Morrow and Erin Jensen ,  USA TODAY

Upside-down flag flew at Justice Alito’s house after neighbor dispute

Supreme Court justice says his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, flew the flag as a symbol of protest after a dispute over political yard signs turned personal.

In the fraught weeks after the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. flew an upside-down American flag at their home following a dispute with a neighbor over anti-Trump yard signs, according to a statement from the justice and interviews with neighbors.

The upside-down flag has long been used as a sign of distress as well as protest by liberals and conservatives. At the time, it had been embraced by supporters of the “Stop the Steal” movement who falsely claimed the 2020 election had been stolen from Donald Trump . Some rioters displayed it when they stormed the Capitol to disrupt the formal certification of Joe Biden’s victory.

The flying of the flag at the justice’s home, which was first reported Thursday by the New York Times, has prompted calls for Alito to recuse himself from a pair of high-profile Jan. 6-related cases that the court is set to rule on in coming weeks: whether Trump has immunity for his efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 election, and whether it was proper for the Justice Department to use an obstruction statute to charge the more than 300 who rioted that day.

Neighbors and acquaintances of Martha-Ann Alito said they have never heard her espouse election disinformation or support for the Jan. 6 attack. But they also said the flag was displayed on the front lawn of the Alitos’ Fairfax County, Va., home soon after a dispute that appeared to have political dimensions.

Neither of the Alitos responded to a request for comment through the court.

“I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” the justice said in a statement to the Times. “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”

A woman who lives down the street from the Alitos, who like other neighbors spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their privacy, said her adult daughter had brought home some signs from a protest and propped them up against her bushes in the front yard. Another neighbor, who said the signs appeared in late 2020, said that one had Trump’s name on it with an expletive and that the other carried a message along the lines of “you are complicit.”

The house sits at the entrance to the quiet suburban cul-de-sac that the Alitos have called home for more than a decade. The neighbor who described the placards said they didn’t mention the Supreme Court justice explicitly, but the wording of the latter one prompted some residents to wonder whether it was a dig aimed at Alito, a staunch conservative who has frequently sided with Trump’s position in cases before the court.

At the time, the Supreme Court was deciding whether to take emergency action on a case related to Trump’s efforts to block Biden’s victory , and passions were running high about the election and Jan. 6.

In an interview Friday, the mother of the woman with the signs said Martha-Ann Alito was passing by her home one day and made comments to her daughter about them. A heated back-and-forth ensued, but the mother said she did not know what was said. The daughter, who does not live in the Washington area, did not respond to requests for comment.

Alito told Fox News reporter Shannon Bream on Friday that the sign with the expletive was about 50 feet from a school bus stop. He said his wife spoke with the neighbors about the signs shortly after Jan. 6, but the conversation did not go well, Fox reported Friday. The neighbors then put up a sign directly attacking his wife and blaming her for the Jan. 6 riots, Alito alleged. He did not say what the sign said, according to the news station.

Alito told Fox that someone living on the property got into an argument with his wife and called her a crude, derogatory word for women. He said his wife was distraught afterward and wanted to make a statement, so she hung the flag upside down.

Alito said he couldn’t tell his wife what to do, and the neighborhood has been “very political.”

One neighbor interviewed by The Washington Post said she first noticed the upside-down flag in late January 2021, and it remained up for two to five days. The neighbor said she never saw anyone raise the flag or lower it when it came down, and Martha-Ann Alito never told her what message she was trying to send.

The Times obtained a photo of the flag flying upside down Jan. 17, 2021.

The incident has once again plunged the Supreme Court into controversy, two years after revelations that Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, pressed Trump White House officials to overturn the 2020 election results and said the contest had been stolen. Clarence Thomas has refused subsequent requests from Democrats and experts on court ethics to recuse himself from Jan. 6-related cases.

Some Democratic politicians and court accountability groups made similar calls Friday for Alito to recuse, arguing that the upside-down flag at his house raised questions about his impartiality and created the appearance of bias.

“[Alito] must recuse himself from cases involving the 2020 election and former President Donald Trump,” Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. “Congress should immediately consider legislation to impose an ethical code of conduct on a runaway Supreme Court.”

Asked at the White House briefing whether the president believes Alito should recuse, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that “that is something for the court to decide.” She emphasized that Biden believes the American flag is sacred and that “we should be making sure that it is respected in that way.”

The federal recusal statute that applies to all judges and justices requires a justice to “disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned” or “where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party.”

The court’s new code of conduct, adopted in November in response to ethics controversies , separately prohibits justices from engaging in political activity and directs them to “act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.”

Court employees are regularly reminded that they may not publicly support or oppose a partisan organization or candidate, including through the display of “signs or bumper stickers, or stating positions on social media,” according to the court’s human resources manual.

Rakim H.D. Brooks, president of the liberal advocacy group Alliance for Justice and a former law clerk to Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh during his D.C. Circuit tenure, said in a statement Friday that it does not matter whether it was Alito or his wife who flew the flag on the couple’s property so long as the justice knew it was being flown and did nothing to stop it.

“Supreme Court justices are supposed to be the ultimate guardians of our Constitution,” Brooks said in a statement that called on Alito to recuse from any case related to Trump or the Jan. 6 attack.

But Stephen Gillers, an expert in judicial ethics at New York University’s law school, disagreed, noting that the test in the recusal statute is based on the perspective of a fair-minded person who has all the facts.

“I don’t think such an objective observer would question Alito’s impartiality based on this incident,” Gillers said in an email. “I find it impossible to believe that Alito knew the flag was flying upside down or, if he did know, that he knew the relationship to ‘Stop the Steal.’ I don’t believe he would have allowed this to happen otherwise.”

Gillers added that while Alito’s explanation for how it happened is “hard to believe, it is more credible than the view that he knowingly chose to fly the flag upside down knowing its political message.”