Jerome's Opinion
The unfortunate thing about the personal statements is that universities across Canada all have different requirements for their personal statement. Just looking at Ontario medical schools, UofT requires one personal essay detailing why you should be in medicine, McMaster requires you to answer 5 questions, and Western, Ottawa and Queens don’t require one at all. In fact, Queens, just 2-3 years ago, required students to answer 5 essay questions. Today they do not require any at all. If there are questions you have to answer, it is almost guaranteed that no two schools have the same questions.
So while I cannot give a specific approach to the personal statement/essay/questions, I can give some tips on how to write them.
Stand out – there is no point in giving a mediocre response, or a response similar to what other people are probably putting down. You want the admissions committee to remember you after they have finished going through their pile of answers. Take a bit of a risk, and show them your personality in your answers.
Make a connection – One really good way of getting the admissions committee member on your side is to make a connection with them. One way that people achieve this is by telling a story. This is often more relevant for the personal essay, but can also be done to answer essay questions. Think of the last good fiction book you read. Why were you so captivated by it? Or what about that last fictional TV show you watched, why did you keep watching? It is because you made a connection with the story and the characters in the story. You essentially want the admissions committee to be rooting for you, to want to know what happens next in the story, and maybe, just maybe, the only way to do that is to give you an interview.
Proofread, proofread, proofread! – This point should be self explanatory. You should proofread it, your friends and family should proofread it, and anyone else (professors, medical students, etc.) should proofread it too!
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