In this post, I'll be giving a few tips for writing a personal statement as UCAS applications for 2022 entry have opened. Personal statements are the best opportunity to really make yourself shine, and show your wonderful accomplishments! At the start it may seem overwhelming, especially if you haven't composed your first rough draft. Trying to start writing the personal statement on a blank sheet may be difficult, but once you set off, you will feel much more confident.
The first thing to do would be to create a mind map and split the mindmap into different sections:
Academic: Any work experiences you've obtained, any medical books you've read
Social: Extracurricular activities you're interested in e.g swimming, dancing, any roles you've had within the school community and lastly volunteering experiences you've obtained.
Motivation: Personal reasons to want to study Medicine, show interest in specific areas of Medicine via research
Research some exemplary personal statements to look at- it's even better if you can find personal statements that have feedback written, and personal statements you can compare with each other. Here are a few links you can look at: https://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/medicine/pre-clinical/applying/anatomy-of-ps https://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/medicine/pre-clinical/applying/ps
Take note of how most personal statements are structured, and you can research trustworthy websites that give you an idea of how to structure the personal statement. https://www.themedicportal.com/application-guide/personal-statement/
Pick one or two pieces of information from each section in your mind map to expand on in your personal statement. It's best to show that you can effectively reflect on your experiences as this is something you would be needing to do through medical school and your career; overloading your personal statement with all of your accomplishments won't give you enough space to reflect on them and might not flow as well.
Have a go at writing your first draft! It's best to start off the personal statement with your motivation to study Medicine.
My Personal Statement
To give you some ideas, I've inserted my own personal statement below! Some phrases have been covered for my own confidentiality purposes.
(Click on the document to see some comments I've added)
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