How many changed the focus of their personal essay?

[Amy B]

Here's a question..... How many of you changed the main focus of your personal statement essay?

I did. Although I got raves about my essay I wanted to become a pediatric oncologist. My essay reflected things about why I wanted to do it and why I thought I would be great at it, ie: my best friend died of cancer which made me want to be a doctor, I am a mother and therefore feel very prepared and handling sick kids,etc....

I was told during an interview... That there was a lot time between med school and becoming a peds oncologist and lots could happen, and I didn't really know what I wanted to be, etc.... I told her I was an older student who knew what I wanted. That I was able to plan and lay out my future. She said she totally disagreed.

That made me question the tunnel vision of my essay. I thought about it for a year and a half and then deceided to change my focus to rural family practice. I completely changed my essay and had more interviews and acceptances this time around.

Is it do to my essay??........ who knows, but it is the only thing I changed since I applied the first time. I didn't apply to any of the schools I applied to the first time though.

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[dtreese]

I absolutely did. I would hate to think that after being denied admission, I had simply continued without making any changes. Since I did make changes, it was necessary for me to reflect that in my application.

 

[allmightylong]

That made me think now, AMy, about my first personal essay that I will be writing for next year's application. I planned a tunnel like vision in mind in writing my essay but perhaps I should reanalyzed my approach.........hmm....

 

[Amy B]

Originally posted by allmightylong
That made me think now, AMy, about my first personal essay that I will be writing for next year's application. I planned a tunnel like vision in mind in writing my essay but perhaps I should reanalyzed my approach.........hmm....

Yikes......

Don't forget, it sometimes seems like there is no rhyme or reason to why somethings work and some people get in over other more qualified applicants. Don't second guess yourself because of what I had happen to me.

Maybe I should do a survey on how many people have a tunnel-like vision in their essays and how many don't really go into what they are thinking about specializing in.

 

[allmightylong]

Not knowing suckS!!

 

[PublicHealth]

I think your best bet is to focus your essay on why you want to be a physician in general, and more specifically, an osteopathic physician. At your interview, you may want to mention the field of medicine that interests you the most. For osteopathic schools, you're probably better off telling them that you're interested in a career in primary care, as the osteopathic profession prides itself on producing primary care doctors.

 

[Monkeyguts]

Not me, I didn't change my personal statement one bit. I left it verbatim and applied to many of the same schools as I did the year before.

you're probably better off telling them that you're interested in a career in primary care

This was my strategy last year and it didn't work out because I was basically lying. I have been asked specifically again this year what specialty I wish to go into and I say that I'm open to pretty much anything because I haven't really been exposed to all fields of medicine yet.

 

[camstah]

totally changed my essay around this year....last year i did it the way i thought it was supposed to be, played it safe, etc....but this year i just went with how i really felt about things, wrote it the way I wanted to, which was not in perfect paragraph/grammer form, and was more of a stream of consciousness type of essay, and i had one interviewer tell me it brought tears to her eyes....there you go....my lesson was to just be myself, even if it wasn't the way it "SHOULD" be.........

 

[Monkeyguts]

my lesson was to just be myself, even if it wasn't the way it "SHOULD" be.........

Very well said and right on target. I also learned the same lesson last year.

 

[Yosh]

Thinking back to my re-applying pergatory....I called the schools that I really liked...and asked them directly what was wrong with my app..."What can I do to make myself a more competitive applicant?"
Most programs note when you call and what you ask....and ask specifically if they can look at your file..and see what is weak or lacking...

I did...and got multiple acceptances...