THE MOST IMPORTANT ESSAY OF YOUR LIFE – YOUR PA SCHOOL PERSONAL STATEMENT
GUEST POST BY FUTURE PA, GABY DE VITA
Who would have thought that explaining to some strangers why you want to go into the career of your dreams, and on top of that convincing them that you are worthy of this opportunity, would be so hard? After all, we are our own best advocates, and we all love talking about ourselves… Well, maybe the majority of people do.
If you are applying to PA school, or are considering doing so, you probably know that you have to write an essay explaining your motivations to become a physician assistant. This essay is your personal statement. Along with that explanation you should also let them know, with supporting evidence of your past experiences, that you have both passion and what it takes to survive PA school. Oh, and if that isn’t enough pressure, let’s just add that you have to successfully address all of this in no more than 5000 characters.
Throughout our years in high school and undergrad we were required to write several essays that we were later graded on. Sometimes we would choose the topic, other times a topic was assigned to us. Either way, we would usually have a set of requirements to fulfill and the guidelines to write a complete essay. If you know how to follow instructions, do your homework, and visit the writing center, you would usually end up with a passing grade on that essay. Little did we know that the most important essay in our lives would have very little instructions. While it can be frightening to have no guidelines other than answering the main question for the PA School Personal Statement, it can also be the best opportunity to showcase your unique journey.
Prior to writing the first word of my essay for PA school Personal Statement, I thoroughly researched how to do it. I wanted to know how other people writing their personal statement, what things to keep in mind, what to say, what to avoid, and so on. When I sat down to start writing my personal statement, I had so many ideas in my mind. There was so much I wanted them to know about me. I created my own guidelines based on my previous research on personal statements. I made a list of all the things I considered important about my academic and professional life, as well as my background, skills, and other aspects of my life that made me who I am today. Then, I grouped experiences together by topic, and created an outline of my future essay that would be my personal statement. Finally, I started to type what I thought was a good introduction.
Many drafts followed my initial attempt to create a worthy personal statement that was all about me and why I wanted to become a PA. Even though I was happy with how it was turning out and several people thought it was great, I still had insecurities about it. They say that an exceptional essay can land you an interview, and having chose to apply to two schools only, I needed to maximize my chances at getting an interview. Eventually, when I felt my essay was pretty good but knew it wasn’t perfect yet, I decided to seek help from the experts, even if that meant an additional cost to the already pricey process of applying to PA school. I contacted the team over at myPAresource and purchased one of their services. And boy! Could I be any happier that I did, because they were fantastic!
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The team at myPAresource did an incredible job at helping me write a truly winning personal statement. Even though I knew I would receive suggestions for improvements, I still was shocked when I got their feedback. For a minute it felt like I had to start all over, but when I read it a second time I realized I was in the right direction but needed more help than I thought to make my personal statement perfect. The way they edited and commented on my personal statement was very specific, easy to understand, and relevant! I agreed with most, if not all of their comments and suggestions. I worked on my essay with all their suggestions, submitted my CASPA application to two programs only, and a few months later guess what happened? Yes! I got my interview invite, followed by the best call ever, an acceptance call!
So, if you also think that the PA school personal statement is probably the most important (and most challenging) essay of your life, know that there is help available and you can ask for it at any point. Choosing to go with professional help for my personal statement is a decision that helped me tremendously in crafting a winning essay, and it also helped boost my confidence in my overall application. The people you are explaining to why you want to become a PA, have the power to grant you an interview, but you have the power to convince them with an exceptional personal statement! Don’t let that chance slip by.
You are welcome to follow my journey through PA school on Instagram @healthymode.pa while I also do my best to help and inspire pre-PAs on their own journey!
