PA School Reapplicant Personal Statement Checklist

PA School Reapplicant Personal Statement Revision Checklist

Are you reapplying to PA school and wondering if you should update or rewrite your PA school essay?

There are a few reasons to update your personal statement as a reapplicant.

For one, AdComs at the schools where you've previously applied can compare your essay with the prior year's personal statements.

Secondly, after a year of time, your experiences have hopefully broadened and/or deepened. You definitely want AdComs to know that, right?

Lastly, if you didn't get into PA school on your first try, it could be due to a variety of reasons including a lackluster personal statement that didn't hit the right notes. In that case, you definitely want to take a fresh look at your personal statement.

Below I've condensed this recent blog post into a simple checklist for what to update in your personal statement this go around.

PA School Reapplicant Personal Statement Revision Checklist

1. ______ Get input from outside sources. Have them identify strengths and weaknesses in your essay.

2. ______ Rewrite your introduction. There are lots of options for opening your essay. Try for a new theme (AKA reason for why PA) or a new story about a patient or PA encounter that shifted or enlightened your perspective related to one of your reasons for why PA.

3. _____ Revise the details that have changed from your last application. If you focused on improving your application over the last year, highlight your purposeful choices like starting in a new role, volunteering, and gaining more shadowing. You don't have to say, "Since last applying..." because if you're applying to new schools, it may work against you to note you've been rejected before. But you can say, "In the last year..."

4. _____ Write a new patient story. These will be memorable and hard to let go of, but it's important to show that you continue to make significant connections with patients.

5. _____ Write a new conclusion. If you updated the opening, be sure to connect the new opening to the conclusion. Summarize the main points of your essay, reiterating your why PA. End strong with a vision for your future career as a PA that identifies what quality of care you want to provide, to whom, and for what purpose!

6. _____ Update your writing style/language. Aside from the sections mentioned above, the remainder of your essay likely won't change much, but you can and should update the writing style and language to look fresh. Consider trimming down your back story to tell how you got interested in medicine. Change up your topic and conclusion sentences. Adjust sentence structures. This will give your essay a fully dusted-off feel!

There you have it, your personal statement is ready for its next dance!