Re: Thanks, personal statements, and a request for help

["Carol P. Haviland" <cph@wiley.csusb.edu>]

Steve, Jo, Katherine--I'm glad to see this topic, for I suspect that many 
wc folk see these students, and if they don't, they should because 
they're among the most interesting to work with.  They present as bright, 
motivated, successful students who often are paralyzed by this one part 
of the application.  Also, they often are students we had in composition 
courses who wrote up organic chem labs during class but now see why 
writing is relevant to their lives.  They're willing to work hard, to 
revise as often as it takes, and they're very appreciative.

These essays once functioned to determine whether students could write 
well, but they increasingly have lost that function as students 
collaborate on their essays--now I think they show whether students know 
how to value the essay and get help with it, as well as what they say 
about themselves.  Indeed, the MCAT has added two short essays to the 
exam itself to cross-check what students can produce "by 
themselves"--also an interesting but separate question of what  "writing 
by oneself" means.

The single greatest impediment I see to good essays is that students who 
fear writing try not to extinguish themselves as canditates rather than 
to distinguish themselves.  They try to write essays that won't hurt them 
rather than will help them, but those essays just bury them in the 
middle.  To use the essay of augment the application is a real risk, so 
they work out those "I love science and I want to help people" 
soporifics.  In our workshops, I try to get them to think about two 
questions:  What on the  application do you need to elaborate--change of 
major, time lapses, unrepresentative academic work, etc., and What would 
you say in two minuites that you think would help you get the first-phase 
interviews?  Finally, I try to get them to work together, to recognize 
that no one will really "steal" their ideas because  each applicant can 
write only his or her own essay--they and their essays will be different 
if the essays really represent them.

An additional source I'd inquire of is AAMC; they have a huge data bank 
and a great deal of info about the history, success rates----and they're 
nice people.  Also, you might inquire of the nat med st org--could get 
its address from your dean's office or from JAMA.

If you do write on this topic, I'd be interested in collaborating.  For 
me too, it's a significant secondary interest area.  I'm the outander in 
a family of med sch faculty with a son whose just beginning med sch--and 
wrote his essay not long ago.  I'll be interested in what you learn; we 
might want to put together some resources to post on the NWCA Web page.

Carol Haviland