graduate studies

personal statement

letters of recommendations

I went through this entire process starting in July 2015.

THE APPLICATION



PharmCAS

Applicant Information

Additional Information

University of California, Irvine

THE PERSONAL STATEMENT

4500 characters





"Why Pharmacy?"

[ N O T E to future pharmacy students reading this, every school I interviewed at posed this question ]





personal statement

TAKE-HOME MESSAGE

E A R L Y !

I would recommend brainstorming ideas in early June. This gives you ample time to write a draft and make multiple edits of your statement.

S E C O N D O P I N I O N

Don't be shy! I asked my research mentor of 5 years, who happens also happens to be a Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Surgeon, to read over my statement. He gave it a quick read along with some suggestions however, since he is highly demanded in clinic/OR and time is of the essence to him, I got help from his Physician's Assistant. I ended up revising my statement a few times before sending it off.

3. R E R E A D your statement !

Make sure to re-read your statement at different times of the day over the course of a few weeks! I chose to fully edit my essay about 8 times until I was content. Although I still wanted to work on my essay, it was September and I wanted to be done. Print out your personal statement - I'm an old school kind of girl. I love hard copies since it allows me to do some real color damage to my paper. I also like this method since you can keep track of what you're changing. 4. S T A N D O U T !

Easier said than done, right? Out of thousands of essays the committee goes through, you want to be the one that sticks, the one they'll discuss with their colleagues, the one they choose to interview. I cannot give you advice here since everyone has their own story but make sure to have a powerful ending. Here's some wisdom from my PA friend that I'll be passing along to all you Pharm youngsters:



Instead of telling the admissions committee why you want to go to their school, tell them why the school needs you (i.e. what can you bring to the school, what unique attributes do you have?). Just don't sound too cocky!









Oh, how applications suck the soul and life out of students. As if school and extracurriculars weren't enough, if one wishes to advance into, another round of grueling applications awaits. That means writing awith the ability to jerk some tears out of the admissions committee or making yourself stand out with a unique voice, gathering gloriousfrom professors/mentors/employers etc., answering a gazillion questions such as "why do you want to be a student at this school" and/or "where do you see yourself in 10 years?", and possibly having to take standardized tests.Trust me, it's not that bad.I was fortunate to be accepted to every school I applied so I am now in the process of looking for housing near theI will be attending this coming Fall. I decided that I will be detailing the most important (if not all) aspects of the application and interview process on my blog to help give insight to future applicants. When I applied, I did not receive any guidance since I did not know anyone applying to pharmacy school, let alone graduate school. I was in my own bubble but I kept myself in the loop by reading(otherwise known as SDN) religiously.Do remember to take what you read on SDN with a grain of salt. Some information may be dated and requirements for acceptance into schools change yearly [G.P.A., prerequisite courses, required testing (PCAT)]. DO NOT let another members' comments or stats deter your decision to apply to any school. I sure didn't let anything get to me.Whenopened in July, I decided to get ahead of the curve by filling out everything I could. I went through two categories in a jiffy:and. The one category that I found the most tiresome wasLike many of you, I took a ton of classes therefore, sitting in front of my laptop, typing everything from my transcript onto this program, was beyond tedious.I attended theduring my undergraduate years and we ran on a quarter and units system. In the PharmCAS manual, there was asection about converting units to credits but I disregarded that little blurb. I entered my units, as printed on my transcript, under the credits section. I did not experience any problems with PharmCAS or the schools. Mind you, as I was pounding away at my keyboard, I still had yet to complete my personal statement... Actually, I didn't even a working draft (ERROR #1).Though I finished all the "easy" things within two days, I stared blankly at my laptop for a couple hours before I managed to type up my personal statement. It took me about three days to have something I was content with, that fit the character requirement, but then I left it there for a week. I'm the type of person who likes looking at important things with a fresh set of eyes. If I were to continuously read and edit my essay, I would probably memorize it and skip over any grammatical errors. I waited a bit too long before I began editing my statement so you can imagine the panic that engulfed me when August came (ERROR #2).With only(including spaces), I felt that it was difficult to tell my full story. But after seeking help from my mentor and a fellow colleague, I was able to develop an essay I believe was able to resonate with members of the admissions committee. I was fortunate enough to be able to draw upon past experiences though I know it may be difficult for some to come up with ideas. If you're stuck in a rut and don't know what to write, speak from the heart. If you REALLY need help, I'm pretty sure you could GOOGLE examples of personal statements but don't be tempted to plagiarize!The broad question to answer in your own unique voice is:A lot of my classmates used to joke about how thewas a competition - it's all about the essay that proves to be the most heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, relatable, compelling story. Roll your eyes and laugh all you want but I bet there's some truth to it. Do pour your heart into your essay and tell the admissions committee how you fell upon pharmacy but don't try to weasel your way into their hearts with a fake story. Think about all the essays they've read over the years - I'm sure they can pick out the fabricated statements. Don't give them a sob story. Make your voice unique. Make a bold statement. Make yourself memorable.1. Start your personal statement2. Get a