The Personal Statement is your opportunity to demonstrate to an admissions committee the personal side of your application. The committees want to know what motivates you to pursue this profession, how you’ve explored the profession, what you’ve learned from these experiences and what impact the experiences have on your desire to be a healthcare professional. This gives you an opportunity to go into more depth about experiences that aren’t found in other areas of the application or the opportunity to elaborate on certain parts in more detail.
Some questions to reflect on before you begin writing:
- You volunteered a lot of hours, what did you experience?
- How did your experiences motivate you even further to pursue this career?
- What unique qualities/experiences do you have that you would like the committee to know about?
- What did you learn about your profession?
- What did you learn about being a patient?
- What did you learn about the clinician/patient relationship?
Each application service requires a personal statement, and each has its own instructions. See table below for specific personal statement information.
| Profession | Application Portal | Personal Statement Question | Character Limit (including spaces) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical | AMCAS | Some questions you may want to consider while writing this essay are: Why have you selected the field of medicine? What motivates you to learn more about medicine? What do you want medical schools to know about you that hasn't been disclosed in other sections of the application? In addition, you may wish to include information such as: Unique hardships, challenges, or obstacles that may have influenced your educational pursuits, and/or Commentary on significant fluctuations in your academic record that are not explained elsewhere in your application. |
5,300 |
| Medical (Texas) | TMDSAS | Explain your motivation to seek a career in medicine. Include the value of your experiences that prepare you to be a physician. | 5,000 |
| Medical (Osteopathic) | AACOMAS | Write a brief statement expressing your motivation or desire to become a DO. You cannot exceed 5,300 characters, the system will not save your statement. | 5,300 |
| Dental | AADSAS | Explain why you want to pursue a dental career | 4,500 |
| Dental (Texas) | TMDSAS | Explain your motivation to seek a career in dentistry. Discuss your philosophy of the dental profession and indicate your goals relevant to the profession. | 5,000 |
| Pharmacy | PharmCAS | Address why you selected pharmacy as a career and how the Doctor of Pharmacy degree relates to your immediate and long-term professional goals. Describe how your personal, educational, and professional background will help you achieve your goals. | 4,500 |
| Physician Assistant | CASPA | Write a brief statement expressing your motivation or desire to become a physician assistant. | 5,000 |
| Occupational Therapy | OTCAS | Address why you selected OT as a career and how an Occupational Therapy degree relates to your immediate and long-term professional goals. Describe how your personal, educational, and professional background will help you achieve your goals. | See OTCAS |
| Physical Therapy | PTCAS | What is professionalism in the context of being a student in a doctor of physical therapist degree program? | 4,500 |
| Veterinary Medicine | VMCAS | Discuss briefly the development of your interest in veterinary medicine. Discuss those activities and unique experiences that have contributed to your preparation for a professional program. Discuss your understanding of the veterinary medical profession, and discuss your career goals and objectives. | 5,000 |
| Veterinary Medicine (Texas) | TMDSAS | Discuss your personal understanding of the roles of a veterinarian as it relates to your career goals. What do you have to offer the profession? | 5,000 |
| Podiatry | AACPMAS | Explain why you are interested in becoming a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine. Provide information about your development for a career in Podiatric Medicine. | 4,500 |
| Chiropractic Medicine | Apply Directly to Programs | See individual program websites for essay requirements | See program sites |
| Optometry | OptomCAS | Please describe what inspires your decision for becoming an optometrist, including your preparation for training in this profession, your aptitude and motivation, the basis for your interest in optometry, and your future career goals. | 4,500 |
| Naturopathic Medicine | NDCAS | See NDCAS | See NDCAS |
Let several people who know you well and several people you don’t know as well read what you’ve written. Have them tell you if they can identify your motivation and passion clearly. To ensure a more effective evaluation and feedback, please make an appointment with the Pre-Health Professions Advisor to discuss your personal statement evaluation. You can send a copy of your personal statement to vbanuelo@nmsu.edu for evaluation. You can choose to either receive feedback in an email response, or choose to schedule an appointment to discuss your personal statement in person.
Use your own words: Plagiarizing any part of your essay is a violation of the code of conduct and may subject you to sanctions.
Each school reserves the right to require additional essay responses as part of the supplemental application process.
