If you’re considering applying for your place at university, hopefully, you’ve started brainstorming ideas for your personal statement. All university places are competitive, so you should always present yourself in the best way possible to increase your chances. This is particularly important if you want to study at medical school.
So how much time and effort should you put into your personal statement? The answer: a lot! Do universities check personal statements? Yes, and in great detail.
What is a personal statement?
A personal statement forms the first impression you make at a university, so it’s crucial to get it right. Your personal statement will form part of your application, and it should give the reviewer a clear insight into who you are. A good or exceptional personal statement increases your chances of getting an interview and being accepted into your chosen university.
If you’re considering a medical career, making your personal statement stand out is even more important. Because of the NHS workforce crisis, even more people are considering a career in medicine, so the competition has never been higher.
A personal statement is your chance to tell the reviewer why you want to study, why you’d be suited to it and why you have chosen that specific university. Essentially, you’re telling them why they should choose you. Last year, 2022, was considered the hardest year to enter medical school. We don’t intend to put you off, but to stress the importance of getting it right if you’re set on becoming a medical professional.
Your personal statement should follow this structure:
- An introduction
- The main body- the longest part
- A conclusion
Within this structure, you should include the skills and experience you possess, which will help you at university, and what attracts you to a career in medicine.
What makes an excellent personal statement?
So, how do you write a successful medical school personal statement that will get you noticed? Here are our top 5 tips for writing an excellent personal statement.
- The first thing you need to do is brainstorm ideas that you think would suit your personal statement. Think about why you want to work in the medical profession and what experiences, skills and qualities you have that will mean you will be successful as a student and a qualified professional.
- Be honest in your personal statement and write about your true authentic self. Don’t try to be someone else or use cliches, as the reviewer will have read hundreds of personal statements, so similar ones will blend into the background.
- Start strong and end stronger. You want to make sure your opening statement is something that will grab the reviewer’s attention, and you want to end it with something they will remember so you leave a lasting impression.
- Your passion for medicine and the subject area you’re applying to study should ooze off the page. Discuss your interest in medicine and why you’re motivated to embark on a challenging profession.
- Include any relevant work experiences and skills but don’t simply list them, as this doesn’t tell the reviewer much about you. Explain why you think your skills and experiences are relevant to the subject you’re applying to study.
How to make your personal statement stand out
There are several ways you can make your personal statement stand out. Being authentic to yourself is the best way to ensure your statement is different from others, and coping with good examples from Google is a great example of what not to include. But most importantly, you must start strong and end stronger.
Remember that the length of your personal statement is only around 500-1000 characters, so you must make every word count. Here are some tips on using your word count wisely by starting and ending on a high.
Starting your personal statement
Knowing how to start a personal statement can be challenging. Like an author beginning a novel, they have all the ideas, the passion and the motivation to write it, but many spend hours staring at a blank page, unable to start. The introduction is usually the hardest part of writing anything, especially your personal statement, so here are a few tips to get you started with a strong opening.
- Choose your strongest points and open with it
- Back up your claims in your introduction with evidence
- Open with why you are so passionate about medicine
- Avoid generic terms and common reasons.
First impressions matter, so start as you mean to go on. Intrigue the reviewer and make them believe in your ability right from the beginning. If you don’t, it’ll be an uphill struggle from there.
How to end your personal statement
Knowing how to end your personal statement can be equally tricky, but you have so much material to use by this point. The ending should be a conclusion so everything you have discussed. You shouldn’t simply repeat what you have said in your introduction or main body, but it should be a closing statement that brings everything together.
Here are some great tips on how to end your personal statement for medical school:
- Consider the current situation in medicine and bring everything together in your personal statement about your experience and skills and how this can contribute towards current medical practice, and how you can be an asset to the field.
- Don’t make any new points in your conclusion, as these points will be devalued anyway if you leave them to last, as though they are an afterthought.
- Create a powerful statement that draws attention to the passion for medicine that you have portrayed in your personal statement.
What support is available to me?
As you now know, your personal statement is a very important (if not the most important) part of your application to a university. Getting into university has never been more competitive, so it’s more crucial now than ever to write a medical school personal statement that stands out and ticks all the boxes. But fear not, as there is support right at your fingertips with The Future Medic.
The Future Medic
Our team of doctors have read through thousands of personal statement for medical school as part of the admissions process and knows precisely what is required to make your personal statement special and unique. We’ve got some amazing support options to help you craft the perfect personal statement.
Our tutors sit on medical school interview panels and have vast experience in medical education- this level of tutoring is not guaranteed elsewhere! Our Personal Statement Coaching Services provide wonderful benefits for any aspiring medical student:
- Access to experienced British doctors, medical education specialists, and tutors who have coached and interviewed thousands of applicants.
- 24/7 access to your tutor doctor through a dedicated WhatsApp group.
- Tailor-made feedback on your personal statement which is specific to you.
- Help even if you need to write your personal statement from scratch.
- Personalised 1-1 lessons, with all the attention on you.
- A relaxed tutoring environment- our coaching isn’t like a classroom, where only one teacher has to cater to 30 students!
- You can use our tutoring service from the comfort of your home without having to travel to a physical location.
- The option is unlimited coaching hours or between 1-20 hours.
- Quick turnaround for feedback, within as little as 24 hours or 1 week.
- Guidance on how to make your medicine application stand out.
- Improved confidence for the interview stage at your dream medical school.
- It saves you time and stress, allowing you to focus on your A-Levels, UCAT admissions test and other commitments.
To conclude, do universities check personal statements? Yes! In fact, not only do they check them, but they help the reviewer to form an opinion about the applicant and their suitability for the course they’re applying for.
It’s very important to get your personal statement right, particularly for medical school, and to get the help and support you need to increase your chances and being accepted into your chosen school.
