Changing Activity Descriptions/Personal Statement

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lifelonglearner1

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Hello all,

I applied to over 20 MD schools this cycle with a LizzyM of 71-72 (high GPA and solid MCAT) but am still on 3 waitlists from the 3 schools I interviewed at and thus am preparing to reapply this cycle and submit on June 1.

That being said, the parts of my application I was told are the weakest are volunteering (which I've improved), shadowing (which I've improved), and LOR (which I've improved).

However, I am not sure if I should change the descriptions of the activities in my activity section that have remained the same from last cycle. Anyone have advice on this?

In regards to my personal statement, I want to keep the same general themes, however would it be sufficient to keep the essay generally the same while incorporating my new activities in, including how they've impacted my thoughts about medicine and impacted me personally? (In addition to editing some wording throughout)

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In a similar situation, would like to hear what others say.
 
In a similar situation, would like to hear what others say.

In the same boat here.
I would like to think that editing the descriptions of older activities should be done if you were not happy with those you used last year. If you see something you do not like, why not change it?

With the PS, if you have a good feeling that it was not your problem the first time around, then why rewrite it completely from scratch? I was happy with my PS the first time around and will be cleaning it up and adding to it this time around. I do not see the need in deleting or rewording things that I thought worked really well.

Then again, I am only an applicant. I would like to hear what others have to say as well ;)
 
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However, I am not sure if I should change the descriptions of the activities in my activity section that have remained the same from last cycle. Anyone have advice on this?
If those activities accurately descriptor your position throughout and you're content with the way that you described them, then I'd say keep them the same.

In regards to my personal statement, I want to keep the same general themes, however would it be sufficient to keep the essay generally the same while incorporating my new activities in, including how they've impacted my thoughts about medicine and impacted me personally? (In addition to editing some wording throughout)
Generally people like to see that reapplicants truly worked to improve their application from the previous cycle - that means that they've attained new experiences that have further convinced them that medical school is the path, etc. Granted, experiences don't walk right up to you and present themselves, so write what you think is right. If you had an experience from 4 years ago that was life changing and another experience this past year, that was not mentioned in your PS, then I'd consider writing about the more recent one as it demonstrates your growth as a person in the year between application cycles.
 
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I've talked to a few med school adcom members and the message i got from pretty much everywhere is that if you felt something was good before and you are confident in it, you can keep the message the same BUT it should NOT be identical. Med schools have all of our apps on file (if you're a reapplicant to that school) and they can compare the 2 apps side by side - which apparently *some* schools do! Especially if you have a solid app the 2nd time so they might wonder what happened the first time around and a take a look back.

So i would highly suggest changing everything - not drastically if it works - but rewording a little. This is especially true if your, let's say, GPA was low so you did a postbac/smp/whatever to show improvement. It's not the PS or activities that needed changing it was your GPA which you clearly worked to change :)
 
This happened to me a few years back.

Things to change:
PS - Don't just re-hash your old essay. Find a new way to engage the reader. Look back on your old essay and be honest about what parts worked and what didn't. The theme can be the same. Also, don't time stamp your essay by differentiating the ECs you did recently. Hopefully you're applying to new programs as well. This will be their first time seeing you.

ECs - It's fine to keep old descriptions in there.

LORs - make sure you have new current letters. Even if its just a 2017 vs. 2016 date, make sure you have up to date references.

2nd Essays - many schools aren't that creative and you'll see the same prompts this year. Don't copy paste. Re-write. If it's something like "Name a time in your life when...." you can use the same experience, but still re-write.
 
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