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Some Tips for Personal Statements and Interviews

Gene BickersVice Provost For Undergraduate Programs

46th Annual Southland Pre-Health Conference

January 29, 2012

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SUMMARY

• Personal statements and interviews are ways to express to an Admissions Committee who you are – what makes you unique

• There are many resources at USC, on-line, and in print to help you get ready

• It pays to be prepared

SOME NUMBERS TO SET THE STAGE

• Total number of applicants to US medical

schools (allopathic) in 2011: 43,919• Average number of applications per applicant: 13.9• Average total GPA of applicants: 3.53• Total number of matriculants: 19,230• Average total GPA of matriculants: 3.67

• Number of applicants to USC Keck in 2011: 6,741• Number of matriculants to USC Keck: 178

(From aamc.org/data/facts/ ) 3

There are two stages to the typical medical and dental application process, and each has an essay portion –

PRIMARY• Application submitted through AMCAS, AACOMAS, or AADSAS• Includes a general personal statement• Try to submit in summer before your final year if possible

SECONDARY• Requested by individual schools – you’ve cleared the first

hurdle!• Essays should be customized school-by-school to show why

you’re a good fit 4

PERSONAL STATEMENT

Dr. Daniel R. Alonso

Associate Dean for Admissions

Cornell University Medical College

“We look for some originality because nine out of ten essays leave you with a big yawn. ‘I like science, I like to help people and that's why I want to be a doctor.’ The common, uninteresting, and unoriginal statement is one that recounts the applicant's academic pursuits and basically repeats what is elsewhere in the application.”

Tip: Tell the reader something that would not appear in a standard job resume. Explain why you love what you love.

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Some Examples:

“My family moved to Kathmandu, Nepal in 1995, where we spent a year together while my mother, an OB/GYN, taught modern surgical techniques to the local doctors for USAID. Kathmandu was where I was exposed to the true mortality and fragility of humans for the first time on a large scale…”

“ ‘Nunca he visitado a un doctor en los Estados Unidos,’ she said. She was apprehensive; this was her first visit to an American doctor. Like many of the other patients at the Los Angeles Optometry Clinic in South Central Los Angeles, Ana only spoke Spanish. I met her in my third month with the clinic, while I was volunteering as an interpreter…”

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John Herweg

Chairman, Committee on Admissions

Washington University School of Medicine

“We are looking for a clear statement that indicates that the applicant can use the English language in a meaningful and effective fashion. We frankly look at spelling as well as typing (for errors both in grammar and composition).”

Tip: Take your time preparing the statement – your composition and organization should be perfect. Get someone to help you edit.

(From Stewart, Mark Alan. Perfect Personal Statements. New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1996. On-line at owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/642/04 )

10. Use conventional fonts, typeface, spacing, and margins

9. Proofread carefully for grammar, syntax, punctuation, and style

8. Evaluate experiences, rather than describe them

7. Focus on the affirmative in the personal statement

6. Address the school's unique features that interest you

5. Get creative and imaginative in the opening remarks

4. Be yourself, not the ‘ideal’ applicant

3. Provide the reader with insight into what drives you

2. Try to tell the reader something no other applicant will be able to say

1. Strive for depth rather than breadth. Narrow focus to a few key ideas

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TOP 10 RULES

This is the last stage of the admissions process – you’ve now cleared both written application hurdles

• Interviews are conducted by admissions staff, physicians, and medical students

• Decisions are usually communicated soon after the interview• Decisions can be immediate acceptance, placement on a waiting

list, or non-acceptance

The main question for the committee is whether you as a person would be a good fit for the curriculum and organization of their school

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ADMISSIONS INTERVIEW

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Some Interview Resources from Outside USC

colorado.edu/aac/PreMed_interviewquestions.pdf

University of Colorado Career Services

(100 possible interviewer questions and 31 applicant questions)

udel.edu/CSC/pdfs/MedSchoolInterviews.pdf

University of Delaware Career Services

(a primer on how to succeed in the interview)

careercenter.umich.edu/students/interviewing/index.html

University of Michigan Career Center

(a step-by-step guide on how to prepare)

(By Scott Parazynski, Stanford University Premedical Association)

10. Prepare yourself

9. Be yourself

8. Be clear and concise

7. Be enthusiastic and confident

6. Don’t monopolize the conversation

5. Be prompt and dress accordingly

4. Don’t be pushy about scheduling

3. Take a tour

2. Try to relax

1. Don’t leave home without your American Express Card

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TOP 10 GOLDEN RULES OF INTERVIEWING

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR APPLICATIONS!

Gene Bickers (bickers@usc.edu)Office of Undergraduate ProgramsGFS 227undergrad.usc.edu

Ken Geller (kgeller@dornsife.usc.edu)Office of Pre-Health AdvisementFIG 107dornsife.usc.edu/pre-health

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