Medical School Personal Statements

The personal statement allows you to demonstrate the thinking, strengths and values that are the foundation of your choice of a medical career and make you a strong candidate.  When someone finishes reading your statement, that person should sense that you have the potential to be a great clinician and want to talk to you more about your experiences and career plans.

AMCAS limits the statement to 5,300 characters, including spaces.

Graduate & Professional School Advising at Career Services offers Personal Statement presentations in the spring to help you get started and go over the basics.

Before drafting your essay, review:

After completing a draft of your essay:

  • Read it one last time to proofread, check for word choice, and assess the tone.
  • Submit your draft in into the documents section of your Handshake profile by clicking on your name.
  • Schedule a “Pre-Health Personal Statement Review” video appointment with your advisor via the “Appointments” section of Handshake.

Important Notes:

  • BlueJeans: at the time of your appoinment, please visit the BlueJean video conference room with the appropriate advisor: Ariana Alexander: bluejeans.com/arianaa; Carol Hagan: bluejeans.com/chagan; Caroline Wilky: bluejeans.com/cwilky; Mia Carpiniello: bluejeans.com/miacarp.
  • Select “JOIN WITH BROWSER” at the bottom of the page to open the meeting within your web browser. It is YOUR responsibility to initiate a call at the time of your appointment.
  • Each applicant is allowed a maximum of two reviews of their personal statement by a Pre-Health Advisor.
  • The last day to submit your draft and schedule an appointment is May 22. These appointments will be available until the end of May.
  • If a draft is not received before you schedule an appointment, your personal statement review request will be declined.
  • These reviews cannot be rescheduled but if you need to cancel your appointment, the cancelled appointment will count as one review.
  • To maximize the quality of our feedback and your opportunity to write an effective essay, we will not “proofread” or “edit” your draft — we will provide you with a focused reader response to assist you with your revision process.