 Do not use cliches. Don't use cliches. Don't use, um, you know, I love people. I want to save lives I love helping people. I love helping those in need like we get it Okay, we know that you love helping people What's up you guys? It's Adana. I am back with another video for you guys So I've been doing these little consultation sessions and then I've also been responding to emails and such people just asking for advice about their personal statement or You know asking me. Hey, how did I do my personal statement? And if you haven't already done so go ahead and check that video out I talked about that with my husband So I will leave a link for that in this video and in the description box But that is like I feel it is the number one thing that will help you get into PA school Like if your personal statement does not say this is me. This is who I am This is what you're gonna get. You're gonna get an amazing bomb person that you want in your school Then it shouldn't be your personal statement because your personal statement is in your own words I mean you know yourself the best, right? I mean come on out like you know yourself So you should be able to highlight those aspects of yourself that you want highlighted Especially when you're trying to get into PA school. So that's what this video is gonna be about The common mistakes made in people's personal statement I know I made a lot of them when I did my first personal statement And so that's why I've kind of come up with this little list of common mistakes So the main one that I did initially was I made mine too long. So don't make your personal statement too long I always say stick to one page at least one page. No, you know, you don't need two pages and Do it kind of a single space I don't like that whole double space because then that makes the two pages. So stick to one page Single space 12-point font and when you're trying to actually upload it into CASPA You can only have 5,000 characters. So you have to be mindful of that. Use your word count use a character count Try to see make sure how many characters you have in your personal statement so that it will fit so that Parts of your personal statement won't be left off Because you only have 5,000 characters to fit into that personal statement slot in the CASPA application So definitely definitely be mindful of that when you are writing your personal statement Keep it to one page and under 5,000 characters. Okay. Okay. Now. I got it. Okay. I got it Okay, I got it. All right. I got it. Next mistake that people usually make is rambling. I'm guilty of it guys I'm guilty of rambling sometimes they do that sometimes I might be doing it right now But I'm guilty of rambling and we all are at one point in our lives And it's not there's no place for it in your personal statement. Do not ramble get straight to the point. Okay Say I don't need to know. Hey, um, you know, I was married in 2009 I had a beautiful wedding. We bought a dog and that put us back so I had to get a job And now I'm working as a MA when I used to be a CNA because I went to school for that And like nobody needs to know we don't need to know all that first off That's gonna just jack up the number of pages that you have and then secondly Like I don't really care about your dog and your marriage I care about you and what you're gonna bring to the table to my school What asset are you gonna fit in? With respect to the PA profession and then my school. That's what I care about So get to the point go ahead and make sure that you paint a nice little picture We did that in my personal statement again with my husband and you guys can see that we took them on a magic carpet ride Right and that was cool because Aladdin was my favorite Disney cartoon in When I was younger, so we took him on a magic carpet ride and I I mean I enjoyed myself and I'm pretty sure Whoever read my application enjoyed themselves as well because that was a really good Imagery and so you can go ahead and do that paint a small picture, but get straight to the point That's literally all you need thirdly Do not use Cliche's don't use cliches. Don't use um, you know, I love people. I want to save lives I love helping people. I love helping those in need like we get it Okay, we know that you love helping people. We know that you want to save lives Unless you don't unless you're just in it for the money then Like stop right here, you know, like don't even don't even continue Because that's not gonna carry you through the career when your days are long and your heart and hard But you know, that's just a little soapbox box moment for you guys. Sorry about that But no, so we get it though back to back to our regularly scheduled video We get that you want to help people I don't need to hear that you want to help people come with something different come with something original come with something new um Say that in a different way Without saying that I want to help people help me understand that this is in you that this is in your character and in your bones But don't explicitly say it because I mean I get it. You're applying to pa school. I know that you want to help people. Okay. Don't use too many eyes I it's your personal statement. Like I know that so I don't need to hear you say I like to do this I did this get away from so many eyes use other pronouns use other adjectives when you're trying to describe things So that it's not your paper is not riddled with eyes. Check your grammar and your spelling. Oh my gosh This is on some of the uh, the actual schools that I went to their website it talks about grammar and spelling mistakes So definitely make sure that you proofread that thing a million and one times go ahead Yes, you can use word But hey, you know, sometimes you may smell something that uh, you may spell something that is actually Close to the word that you were trying to spell so you misspelled it You spelled another word word is not going to pick up on that. Okay. It only picks up on Like actual like wrong words spelled and then, you know, you're common grammatical errors So definitely go ahead you proofread it at least I don't know three or four or five times Then have somebody else proofread it and then have somebody else proofread it and then have somebody else proofread it because you you don't want to be Going up and saying like I'm trying to get into pa school But I don't know how to spell like no that is not that's not That's not the person that you want to be okay So definitely go ahead and make sure that there are no Grammatical errors and that there are no spelling errors in your person statement. All right, do not This is my personal thing just because um, I guess my school has kind of ingrained it into me But do not continue to use physician assistant and don't use physicians assistant because we're no longer that was never like That's no longer the thing. You know, we're not physicians like that possession is not there. So no, we're not physicians assistant We're not the physicians. We don't belong to them. We are physician assistants Um, and then just continue after that. I mean if you want to say it once great Go ahead and do that and then from there Use pa you're applying to pa school. They know that you know what the term means Uh, just continue to use the term pa because you know, it's It's touchy for different people. Some people feel that there needs to be a name change so constantly seeing physician assistant physician assistant might be a little Unnerving to them. I don't know. So this is my personal thing I feel like you can use it once and then from there just continue to use the acronym We get it. You you're you're applying to pa school. We know, okay? So just use pa. All right, you guys big big big big like flashing red sign do not I Repeat Do not lie. Do not lie on your personal statement Don't make things up that you just you let you did that you didn't do Don't make experiences up that you've had that you hadn't have Do not lie. Don't make jobs up. Don't lie, okay? Because what is done in the dark will be revealed in the light at some point So you can lie about things you can go ahead and say, you know what? I saved 500 Cattles in india. I went to zimbabwe and we were doing a lot of Health clinics out there. No, you can say all of that but If I'm reading that, you know, I might want to verify that and if you are the one that they choose To verify and then they come in they see that you lied. Yo, not good. Not good at all I don't know if they got like a little black ball section that they can be like, hey Do not allow this person to be in your pa school because they are dishonest and therefore Since they're dishonest and trying to get into pa school. They're probably going to be dishonest pa's and practitioners and that's not who we want representing our profession If somebody saw that you were a dishonest person and a dishonest pa, that's a reflection on the profession So definitely don't lie. Just be honest and I know that there's something there that you have to like Admit that. Yes. Everything that was written in here is truthful and honest. Please be honest. Y'all, okay? Don't lie about anything. Just go out and get the experience All right If you need to take a little extra time to go out to india to help save some cattles or go out to zimbabwe To set up some clinics then do that. If that's what you want to write about do that But actually gain the experience. Don't sit up here and lie. So like this is for my Reapplicants if you're a re-applicant do not use the same personal statement especially If you're applying to the same schools that you applied to the last cycle because trust me, I'm gonna be like What didn't I hear this before did? Did I not read this did they use the same Personal statement that didn't get them in the last time. There's been no growth like Take them on that journey knowing that. Hey, yes, you know what? I have bettered myself There's been growth in my life in my personal life You know in terms of I don't know I'm more mature in my actual work life I've gotten more experience take them on that journey Make sure that they understand that there has been some trending upward movement and that there has been growth In you as an applicant. So rewrite your personal statement. I know I know who wants to do that I didn't necessarily want to do that But I had to and because and actually at the end of the day after a while I did want to because I wanted to show that hey, I am better than I was last year I'm a better applicant and you you didn't take me last year But you should definitely take me this year because I'm so much better than the person that I was nine months ago 10 months ago when I originally applied So definitely don't use that same personal statement. Okay. Um, so again when I was talking about the grammatical stuff And I said, you know revise it rewrite your personal statement when we were doing our personal statements from med school The personal statement person who came and talked to us about I guess it was just like an english teacher But they came and spoke to us about writing personal statements. They told us to rewrite it at least three times So, um, that was something that I kind of stuck within a helmet Rewrite it three times make sure that you can write it once you look at it You read it and then you come back and you tweak it again A second time and then a third time just to make sure That anything that has happened like visited over the course of a month or two months anything that has happened new experiences that you had Um, you know new things that have occurred in your life You can add that in or take certain things out tweak it make sure that it is Prime and in pristine condition for when you're ready to put it in your casp of application because that is important it's important to be able to see it with fresh new eyes and to Actually be able to augment it in such a way that will show you in the best possible light Okay, so definitely do that and in with respect to rewriting it Again, take them on a journey Take them on a ride of the life of adana the life of insert your name here Okay, so take them on that journey make sure that they're able to Experience what drove you to the pa profession and then now where you're at now in life Like the steps that you've taken to get to the point where you're at right now to apply to pa school And then lastly like I feel like this is really important as well Make sure that you are distinguishing Why you chose pa? Why do you want to be a pa as opposed to an md? An np an ot a pt you know and A rt respiratory like make sure that I can actually distinguish that because There are a lot sometimes I've read personal statements where it's like. Oh, okay. Like I want to be in health care I've always want to be in health care. I love helping people You know all the cliches and then I'm like, well, why pa? Why did you choose pa? I have no idea why you chose to become a pa or why you want to become a pa as opposed to um a nurse or a cna or uh an md or an ot so be Specific in what has driven you to the pa profession. Um, because that will help me understand as an adam adam As an admissions counselor that will help me understand. Okay. Yes, this person really knows about the profession They really know what they want and they definitely are someone that I want to add to the ranks So, um, hope these help. I hope these help If you have any other questions about personal statements Go ahead and head on over to my other video that I did with ant It will show you guys my old really cringy Watt personal statement and then my reviewed bomb personal statement that he helped me with And then um, if you have any questions for after watching both of those Just leave them in either comment section and I'll be sure to get back to them as soon as I possibly can I thank you guys so much for watching and joining me on this journey Please please please if you haven't already done so subscribe and join me on my journey and on instagram at adana the pa And um like this video. Thank you guys so much for watching. I will talk to you guys next time