Am I nuts or is it possible?

Hey everyone, please can you take a few minutes to think and help me with this situation I am in?

So I am applying for Medicine, and deadline is 15th October. I have had a very busy summer and that, and next week I have a Neuroscience residential and my personal statement is incomplete and in terrible state. I haven't even completed my first draft yet.

My question is this, can I make the personal statement look absolutely golden even in a space time of a week from the deadline, or does it have to be worked and twitched on from ages ago until it sparkles? So considering I will work hard on it after the work experience week i.e. from 9th October onwards, do you think it's possible to still produce a masterpiece of a personal statement with just 5 days?

PLEASE guys I am freaking out like mad!! All of Universities I am applying to require a very strong personal statement and for some (Leeds) it counts as 50% of score.

Any input into this situation would be highly appreciated.

Reply 1

jetbackwards

Hi f.loco!

Firstly, don't panic! Even now I remember what it was like applying to medical school - it honestly felt like an all-or-nothing situation. As I've progressed it is more clear thay medical careers are a lot more fluid and you have plenty of time to apply across decades if necessary! (I work with 3rd-year postgraduates in their 40s).

That being said, you're doing the right thing getting plenty of experience before applying - and there's no reason why you shouldn't be successful this time around.

Try semi-drafting it in your head. There will be skills and experiences you will know you want to talk about even now, so you can come up with ways of phrasing yourself whilst sat on the bus or in the canteen.

All-in-all, my personal statement took about two nights of redrafting once I had my first draft. I remember sitting in the kitchen with a laptop, a highlighter pen and my parents. Many failed drafts littering the place!

I honestly think with a calm frame of mind, a bit of forward planning and a couple of happy helpers a week should be plenty of time.

And if its not, who cares? There's always next year!

Hopfully that all helps,
Tom

Reply 2

louieja

Yh, I done mine on the day, I handed my UCAS application in with 3 minutes to go. Your grades are probably way more important. Can you get a parent to help you?

Reply 3

Ghotay

Original post by louieja

Your grades are probably way more important

Depends a lot on where you're applying

Reply 4

f.loco

Original post by jetbackwards

Frankly this is the most helpful piece of advice and message I've been given in this situation, all my teachers are panicky about the situation saying I've left it too late, your running out of time etc. all negative.

I know it depends on the person, but how long do you think of a time is put on good personal statements on average?

BTW Tom, can I ask how you got into Med school and what you are doing now and what you applied to Med schools with?

Thanks an awful lot once more!
Farid

Reply 5

f.loco

Original post by louieja

Yh, I done mine on the day, I handed my UCAS application in with 3 minutes to go. Your grades are probably way more important. Can you get a parent to help you?

I haven't got very academic parents, they hardly speak English so nope. May I ask what course you applied for?

Reply 6

louieja

Original post by f.loco

I haven't got very academic parents, they hardly speak English so nope. May I ask what course you applied for?

ah ****, can't you get a teacher to help instead? I applied for zoology

Reply 7

Muttley79

Original post by f.loco

Start this weekend and e-mail the drafts to a teacher for feedback.
Presumably you can take some sort of laptop to the course? Work on your PS every evening ...

Reply 8

TAgirl

Original post by f.loco

What i will say is that making a strong ps can take a lot of time but i definitely depends on the person too. It took me over a month to produce a strong ps and even after that I was still finalising things. Perhaps don't apply to ps strong unis if even near the deadline you feel that it isn't good enough? As for your teachers, they are right to a certain extent because in a short space of time it becomes increasingly difficult to produce a strong ps for one of the most competitive courses around but do ignore them for now as you need to be in the right state of mind when writing this document. What grades did you achieve in GCSEs/AS? I can help you a lot more with uni choices in your situation with that info. There are however a number of people who can produce a outstanding ps within a couple weeks so it does come down to individual capabilities but don't spend your time worrying as someone already said, try mentally planning your ideas?

Reply 9

f.loco

Original post by TAgirl

Thanks a lot for the advice!
You are right with everything you say I will comply by those suggestions
My stats are:
5A*3A1D*1B(English - cuts down several Uni's already lol)
AABB
UKCAT: yet to be done
lots of work experience and volunteering

Where do u think I should apply to, here are my current thoughts:
Nottingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Queen Mary's London.

Reply 10

TAgirl

Original post by f.loco

No worries, i hope what i said helped!! I agree with most of your choices apart from QMUL as they focus very heavily on academics from my experience. I would try Keele with your grades however they are very subjective with personal statements so if you do many to polish up your ps to the absolute best that it can be then try out Keele. King's would be a good choice if you achieve a VERY high score on the UKCAT as that is a huge focus for them. As for your other choices I think they are good choices for you, just remember than you can only apply to 4.