Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Sample Personal Statements I Found for Medical School Application

PICK YOUR FAVORITE

(1) Hello! My name is Bob! Hooray, I want to be a doctor! Lucky for you reading this essay. It is quite enjoyable, don't you think so? At least, it's different from the other essays, which are all so serious. WHY SO SERIOUS!?? Which brings me to my point: The Joker is my motivation for medicine. It is a doctor's responsibility to keep such accidents from happening by any means necessary. Just think of all the weapons--I mean tools--that could be in my arsenal, were I to become a physician. Scalpels, clamps, forceps, bandages, thread, microscopes, biology, RADAR, etc. I could go on, but I think you know what I'm talking about. Mmmhmm!

(2) When I was twelve years old bad men came to my village and cut off both of my hands. So then how am I writing this essay, I bet you are wondering... Good question! It is not with the aid of an aide, as you might suppose. No, it is merely with the power of my mind. Through years of training, concentration, and perseverance I have come to master the ancient and sacred art of telepathokinesis. I believe this struggle has prepared me well for the hardships I will undoubtedly endure in medical school and beyond. Also, because if you knew how many processors my mind had you would be scared, I have a clear advantage against normal human doctors, who can only use two hands to operate. In fact, I have been volunteering at the zoo, where I am the only one able to pull thorns out of lion paws. The lions love me because I am such a great patient advocate.

(3) Medicine is the best profession, which is why I want to be one. Doctors save people every day and change their lives forever. If I am elected MD, I promise to try my best every day to make people feel better and heal the sick like Jesus. Jesus had special divine powers of healing that none of us can ever hope to have, even as doctors, but still we have to try. I think that I understand this makes me more realistic than other candidates, who may think that being a doctor is all candies and rainbows. It is not. I have talked to doctors before and some of them are very sad because they don't ever fully cure anyone. But that is because you need to infuse medicine with the power of worship and spirituality so as to bring complete healing to the people of the world. Drugs and needles can only heal the body, but what is more important is the soul. When I am a doctor, I will mend souls not just wounds.

(4) After graduating valedictorian from Phillips Exeter Academy, I cast away the cheap trophies of academia, swapped my formal attire for a more earthly garb, and headed to the land of Africa for what would become the greatest experience of my life. As soon as I arrived I felt a great magnetism with the place, exuded both by the people and the nature. The simple beauty of their lifestyle brought tears to my eyes as I realized the life I had lead had clouded my vision of my purpose in the world. For in the midst of this earthy realm was a natural and ancient clashes between the forces of man and nature, each giving and taking from the other. It was not the type of pernicious clash that exists in the West but a healthy one--the one that arises when a species struggles within its environment rather than against it. I immersed myself in this culture and lived for weeks knowing both the bliss and the blight of this most real existence. But eventually I grew ill, my body too weak to sustain the meager rations and cruel weather the African people thrived in. The Western doctors gave me many medicines, but none of them made me better. I had almost given up hope when the chief brought the medicine man to see me. He made me drink a pungent concoction of herbs and within three days I was strong enough to be evacuated. The medicine man gave me some of the herbs to take with me and showed me how to prepare his potion. I imbibed most of them but saved a few strands, which I analyzed in my years at Harvard. The herbs turned out to be an unparalleled immune booster, which may prove pivotal in the fight against cancer. My only hope is that I am given the opportunity to continue my work with a more thorough training in the medical field. And to be given the chance to open the eyes of other future doctors, who must be taught that medicine is a fusion of all wisdoms--that the greatest wisdom is the ability to recognize more.