It's personal statement time!
Hi! I'm Mely. I'm one of those crazies applying to clinical psych programs. I've done so twice before, but I did my applications rather last-minute and didn't have enough research experience to really be a competitor. I'm determined to go about it properly this time, though!
So now I'm drafting my generic personal statement. I'll adjust it for each program, of course; I just want to get the bits I need for all the programs written down. Two questions:
1. Should I include/base the statement around a quote? One of the statements I read did, and I do have a good one about research that I can use. I'm worried that using a quote is trite, though.
2. Should I account for time I spent not getting relevant experience? The one hole in my history is 4 months of last year, when I was in Berlin, doing an internship with the German government. It has nothing to do with the programs I'm applying to, so I don't really want to mention it. But if programs will wonder why I'm not accounting for all of my time, I probably should.
Any insights would be welcome. I'll definitely be back as I continue to write, compile, and freak out!
So now I'm drafting my generic personal statement. I'll adjust it for each program, of course; I just want to get the bits I need for all the programs written down. Two questions:
1. Should I include/base the statement around a quote? One of the statements I read did, and I do have a good one about research that I can use. I'm worried that using a quote is trite, though.
2. Should I account for time I spent not getting relevant experience? The one hole in my history is 4 months of last year, when I was in Berlin, doing an internship with the German government. It has nothing to do with the programs I'm applying to, so I don't really want to mention it. But if programs will wonder why I'm not accounting for all of my time, I probably should.
Any insights would be welcome. I'll definitely be back as I continue to write, compile, and freak out!