Personal Statement and MD Application Tips
Why medicine? Why MD specifically? These can be daunting questions for students when it comes to applying to professional schools. Not only is there a pressure to answer with something authentic to the individual but also with an answer that demonstrates your capability as an aspiring physician. It can be hard to take the passions and values you hold as a multi-dimensional human being and translate them into an eloquent yet concise 5,3000 characters. Hopefully, our interview today will help you navigate this process along with the other parts of the application process.
We are thrilled to have a recent UMD alum, Chinmayi Pamala, here with us today! While at UMD, Chinmayi was part of the Gemstone Honors Program and graduated last Spring of 2021 with a degree in Neurobiology and Physiology. She is currently in her first year of her MD at Tufts University School of Medicine. With her love of Biology and taking classes as an undergrad, she knew medicine was the right path for her. Being that she is fresh out of the application cycle, she will explain to us her process for drafting her personal statement and other tips for navigating applications.
Chinmayi started her personal statement drafting through her Writing for Health Professions (ENGL395) course as part of her Professional Writing General Education requirement. She took this class the Spring of her Junior year, so it was helpful in learning the technical structure of a personal statement and in getting feedback from her professor. Readers, try to squeeze this class in your schedule before you apply!
“If you don’t have a lot to say about a particular activity, don’t bring it up in your personal statement”
One mistake she made in her initial draft was regurgitating her resume. Chinmayi was advised to stick to only activities she could talk a lot about and kept it to less than five activities mentioned in her personal statement. The other activities were talked about later in her primaries, secondaries, and AMCAS activities section. Another technique she used was starting with the “why medicine” question on the HPAO Prehealth Packet and using her response to that for framing her personal statement.
Also, if you are worried about not having a speciality chosen already, no worries as Chinmayi didn’t hone in on a certain discipline for her personal statement. She did mention that if you do have a particular passion (like being an academic or working in rural areas) and have experiences to back that up, that is a way to write your personal statement.
“I tried looking at the feeling I had when I learned about a new disease or how when I hear about something medically related, I want to look it up right away. Also, the feeling I get when I help someone directly. Focus on the feelings surrounding your experiences and how that can point towards medicine....Think about what makes you happy about getting into this field and how that connects with what you are currently doing.”
Another technique that Chinmayi used when trying to figure out ideas for her personal statement was to look at her emotional reactions to certain experiences (like in her courses at UMD, service, research, clinical). In terms of editing her writing, she advises applicants to ask any mentor/professor they are close with. It is also a good idea to have a close friend look it over to see if it reflects the applicant’s authentic personality and values.
Chinmayi gave some advice on primaries and secondaries as well; she said “start and submit early because that will only work to your advantage with getting interviews.” In other words, stick to the two-week (if not sooner) turnaround time for secondaries! For the AMCAS activities section, she mentioned she didn’t end up using all 15 but chose around 9 activities. She advises to make the descriptions for this section more narrative and not too dry. If possible, try to sneak-in an anecdote for each activity you mention.
Lastly, Chinmayi shares her advice on interviews. She says try to not be nervous (yes, easier said than done), as the interview is pretty conversational and you don’t want to sound rehearsed. Chinmayi advises to do a lot of mock interviews-- not with just the HPAO office but with mentors and friends. She also recommends keeping track of other requirements like the Casper test, as many schools nowadays require it and says it would be good to take it by early June!
So many helpful tips to keep in mind Chinmayi! Thank you for reading this week. Hopefully, folks have a better idea on personal statements and the application process-- start brainstorming now!
See you next Tuesday!
With care,
Gus
Editor: Grace Suh