OldPreMeds Podcast

41: Should I Write About Red Flags in My Personal Statement?


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Session 41

In this episode, Ryan tackles a question about personal statement specifically about whether or not you should mention red flags in your personal statement. Is it safe to mention that you’ve been partying too much? Listen in to know more about Ryan’s take on this.

Each week, Ryan pulls out a question directly from the OldPreMeds.org forum and answers it here on the podcast. If you haven’t yet, join the positive and collaborative community of nontraditional premed and medical students by signing up at the OldPreMeds.org.

OldPreMeds Question of the Week:

Poster is currently writing his personal statement and has seen from different sources that red flags should be brought up in the application. His first two years were not good years academically and wanted to talk about it. If he did bring it up, should he say that he was getting lost partying too much over those first two years or should he give a vague reasoning?

Here are the insights from Ryan: Should red flags be mentioned in your personal statement?

Yes and no.

Two important analogy questions to consider:
  1. What was it that planted the seed in your head to become a physician?
  2. What experiences watered that seed?

Do you mention too much partying in a personal statement?

No. Partying too much can be too much of a negative and plays too much into your personality of not caring too much and picking one thing over the other.

What can you mention in a personal statement?

Here's an example:

Even though you got off to a slow start academically, you have course corrected and showed your strength as a student in the last two years and during your postbac.

  • Write it down in one or two sentences.
  • Just lay a little hint that something happened and then move on.
  • Once you're there for the interview then you can explain things in more depth.

Major takeaway from this episode:

The goal of your personal statement is to lay down why you want to be a physician, what experiences have you had that have strengthened that desire. Do not dive too much into red flags as they're a waste of space and the admissions committee would not want to hear about those at this point.

Links and Other Resources:

www.mededmedia.com

The Premed Years Podcast Listen to The Premed Years Podcast Session 161: 5 Biggest Medical School Personal Statement Mistakes

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OldPreMeds PodcastBy Ryan Gray

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