AACOM Personal Statement Length?

[PublicHealth]

Anyone know the word limit for the AACOM Personal Statement? I'm applying for 2004 admission, and want to get a jump start on writing my personal statement.

Thank you!

PH

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[deebee]

For 2003, I believe it was 500 words. That was an increase from the previous year, which was 300. Who knows if they'll increase the length this year.

 

[box29]

Last cycle it was 500 words or 3000 characters with spaces. I had 489 words and 2889 characters including spaces and the program said it was over the limit. I had to edit twice and thankfully it fit. I went down to 467 words and 2758 or something charaters and it fit. The program was finicky for me but I know that other people didn't have that problem.

Good luck in the process!

 

[jkhamlin]

That's weird. I was wondering about that myself. AACOMAS currently has taken it off of their site until May 1, so I checked the AAMC site to see what they require assuming it would be similar. Apparently it is not, they allow for 5300 characters.
Go figure.

 

[jekel]

this is just my opinion on personal statements. it could be totally off, but i think that keeping it short and to the point is best. don't use a lot of filler just to make it 500 words. admissions committees read tons of these things and from what i have heard, it gets a little boring. so i think get in, get out but make it pop.

 

[Luwi25]

I've basically written my AAMC personal statement which is 5300 characters and I had trouble explaining "why I wanted to pursue medicine" within those parameters. With AACOMAS...I have 500 words! What do you suggest I focus on?

Basically, do I answer Why osteopathic medicine? Can anyone tell me where to even start? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[sacroiliac]

I agree with jekel...making your statement poignant may be a great advantage although it is certainly more difficult for most. I revamped mine many times (obsessively?) and got it down to < 300 words. To tell you the truth, I found this to be an challenging exercise that really helped me scrutinize my thoughts, feelings, and motives for medicine. I really got wrapped up in the whole process... I also tried to keep in mind that the people screening my essay have seen perhaps hundreds of these things, therefore, I thought "short and sweet" would be refreshing. Good luck!

 

[box29]

The question about "why osteopathic medicine?" will come up on your secondaries so it's up to you how much you want to elaborate on that one.

This is a personal statement and I know how difficult it is to write about you within those parameters but it can be done. It took me a while to think about what really moves me and why I decided to pursue medicine in the first place. I had to think about how I got to this point in my life and what I learned from all these experiences.

Good luck and keep at it!