Admissions Straight Talk

Is There Such a Thing as Too Many Drafts? Writing a Standout Med School Personal Statement [Episode 612]

• Dr. Valerie Wherley • Season 2 • Episode 612

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In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, host Dr. Valerie Wherley sits down with Accepted Admissions Consultant Alicia Nimonkar, an expert writing coach with a background in composition and rhetoric, to unpack one of the most important – and often most intimidating – parts of the medical school application: the personal statement. Alicia explains how applicants can use the AAMC’s premed competencies as a framework to craft authentic, focused narratives that highlight their strengths. From creating a timeline of formative experiences to developing an outline that connects recurring themes, she shares how to identify what makes your story uniquely yours – and how to make it resonate with admissions committees.

Alicia also offers practical insight into the writing process itself: how many drafts it really takes, when to stop editing, and how to avoid the “too many cooks in the kitchen” trap of excessive feedback. She and Dr. Wherley discuss the power of resilience, effort, and voice – exploring how applicants can address challenges without sounding apologetic and how to write from a place of strength and advocacy. Whether you’re starting your first draft or polishing your final version, this episode will help you approach your personal statement with clarity, confidence, and purpose.


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Dr. Valerie Wherley

Did you know it takes 10 ideas to get one great one? My guest today, accepted consultant Alicia Nimonkar, talks about that concept. If you can write too many drafts of a personal statement, and how to tell when your personal statement is done. Well, I'm looking forward to this conversation. So today we are talking about the all-important personal statement. Most medical school and other healthcare graduate programs use a holistic review process. So, in your opinion, does the personal statement still carry the same amount of weight or importance that it used to?

Alicia Nimonkar

Yes. One thing that I want to bring students' attention to is the pre-med competencies that the AMC uses. So these are incredibly helpful, and I recommend that you keep these in mind as you're writing your personal statement. Obviously, it's not possible to cover all of them, but you do maybe want to look at is there one, two, or three that really stand out as a theme for you that come up again and again throughout your life and throughout your experiences. And I'm going to read those out. I hope that's okay. That's great. Yeah, so the competencies are cultural awareness, cultural humility, empathy and compassion, ethical responsibility to self and others, interpersonal skills, oral communication, reliability and dependability, resilience and adaptability, service orientation, teamwork and collaboration, and the last two sections are for science, human behavior, and then living systems, and then thinking and reasoning. So critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, scientific inquiry, written communication. So you want to look at how these things have come up for you throughout your life, throughout your activities, which of these can you feature or highlight in your personal statement?

Dr. Valerie Wherley

I think that's great advice. And I mean, really, when somebody is reviewing their entire application, they should be looking at those competencies both in their personal statement and in their work and activities to make sure we see those everywhere. But we we do want to start at the personal statement to make sure, as you suggest, one, two, or three are really evident.

Alicia Nimonkar

Yeah, and I mean I think they they'll come up again and again. It'll be clear to people. And sometimes it's helpful, I think, to talk it through with someone like us, right, experts in the application process, because we can help you more clearly see maybe these trends or patterns in your own life that you might not see.

Dr. Valerie Wherley

Right. Great advice. Well, when I first start working with clients, I'm not sure if it's the same with you. I'm often asked, this is a hypothetical quote, how many drafts do you think it will take until my personal statement is done? So I'd like to hear how do you answer that question.

Alicia Nimonkar

So typically I do have a master's degree in composition and rhetoric as well as English literature. So I love um the writing piece. I love, love, love that. I love helping other people with their writing. I love doing my own writing. Um, so typically with the students I work with, we do an outline first. And that outline is basically us looking at the competencies, looking at what are the patterns, the themes in your life. Sometimes I'll have people do a timeline, and that's fun of important things that have come up over time. Um, just more data points, right, the easier it can be to see a pattern like that. And just talking it through. Um, once we come up with an outline, typically my clients do on average two to three drafts. So, I mean, you wouldn't build a house without a blueprint, right? Like that house wouldn't stand.

Dr. Valerie Wherley

Right, right.

Alicia Nimonkar

Absolutely, yeah. So if you've got an outline, and I personally do not write without outlines, you're right, you know what you're doing, you have a plan, you know what you're building. Um, and that can give you, right, the way to provide strategic details, to provide anecdotes that fit within your theme or themes, right? It gives you that strategy so that the writing is um as strong as possible. Um so I would say two to three drafts is typically what I see.

Dr. Valerie Wherley

And I think that outline is so important, especially for the clients and applicants who start off by saying, I have so many ideas, and I think with the character count or the word count, there's no way they're all going to fit. And so that outline can be helpful to decide what's going to make the cut and what probably won't make the cut.

Alicia Nimonkar

Well, I so usually the homework before we do the outline is we come up with 10 ideas. It takes 10 ideas to get to one really great idea, right? So I'm one of my favorite quotes, all-time favorite quotes, um, is Carol DeWec, the psychologist who wrote Mindsets. Um, and her quote is the secret to life is effort. I'll say it again. It's so good. The secret to life is effort.

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Right?

Alicia Nimonkar

Did you think you were gonna get the secret to life during this podcast?

Dr. Valerie Wherley

I did, but I I think that's amazing. Absolutely amazing. So it takes 10 ideas to come up with one best idea or one idea that's really going to stick.

Alicia Nimonkar

So, what we do is so for homework, they'll come up with the 10 ideas, and it could just they could just jot down like a few phrases. It doesn't have to be like a paragraph or anything, and we'll go through. So I'll have the student describe to me each idea, and there's something like I can hear it in their voice. Like they get really excited and passionate, and um I can I can just tell, like when we get to that one idea that's gonna work, you can tell. Because right, you have to write a whole personal statement. So you've got a page and a half. Um, and if it's an idea you're not sure about, or you're like, oh, this is probably what they want to hear, right? Often it's it's not gonna work as well.

Dr. Valerie Wherley

Right. I I agree with that so much. I've worked with clients before who have been writing, and you can feel the struggle in the writing. You can feel them pulling and forcing, and it the writing almost feels painful. And when they hit on a topic that either brings them joy or or they are familiar with, the writing absolutely flows. And it's a pleasure to read. And I think it is, I don't know if I would say it's a pleasure for them to write. Writing for some people, it's very difficult, but but you can tell when you have hit on that topic.

Alicia Nimonkar

Yes. And I've had people cover things like um one guy wrote the most amazing personal statement about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in his intro. And you're like, what on earth? Right. But it was like he was the kind of student who was like, Oh, I don't have anything, I'm not interesting. Very humble and very kind. And I was like, let's just come up with a list of 10 ideas, right? And he came to one where it was like, Well, I really love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And my mom, you know, who's a healthcare provider, made one for me every single day in school. And I was like, oh gosh, that's kind of that could be good. That's um, and then he done volunteer work about feeding, you know, the homeless in other countries, and he connected, he did some research on um food and health. And so it ended up being this silly idea at first, and the intro, it was very funny. It was a dialogue, and it had you like laughing. It was very funny. In comedy, you want to be careful with in the personal statement, but it was funny, and it connected to this larger theme of food and health and culture and human connection. Um, and it's ended up, I have to say, it's probably one of my favorite personal statements that I've seen. But you can do anything as long as you do it well.

Dr. Valerie Wherley

I agree. I agree. Moving on to the next question, um, which is really answering the title of today's podcast. Is there such a thing as too many drafts of a personal statement?

Alicia Nimonkar

Yes. Yes. What I find is that when people say, Okay, final draft, I love it. And my goal for every client is that they feel like their personal statement represents them and that they just love it, right? And that they're excited to submit it. It's like when people get to that final draft and then they decide to show it to a bunch of other people, right? And they get all this different feedback and oh, I need to change this, change that. And, you know, if if in my opinion, like, hey, that was ready for submission, it's authentic, it's gorgeous, it represents what you've done, what you've accomplished, um, right, to go and get all that feedback and then to make changes, then you can end up with a kind of Frankenstein situation. Right. Right. Where you know you've asked a lot of different people, and oftentimes it's not people with admissions experience or backgrounds. So maybe it's a family member who loves you and is like, hey, why don't you want to talk about that thing that happened with grandpa? Right. Or an advisor who's, you know, doesn't have medical school or medical admissions experience, saying, Oh, you know, this part doesn't sound as it doesn't flow as well, or, you know, says something that kind of um gives them an idea that, oh, this whole thing needs to be changed when, you know, it was strong.

Dr. Valerie Wherley

Right. Right. And I've I've also had that happen to me. Um, and I've talked about the concept of too many cooks in the kitchen. Yes. Right. And so um while I can suggest that we are at final copy, and the client can feel as if we are at final copy, if you show your personal statement to 10 other people, the likelihood is you will get 10 new opinions. Yes. And things can get complicated and feel complicated, and um you could never get at final copy if you continue to show that personal statement to more and more people. Um, it's okay to continue to get other people's eyes on your personal statement, but know that you will continue to get new opinions. And so there's got to be some point where the client and the consultant or whoever is mentoring this process has to make a critical decision and a personal decision to say, this is what I want to say, this is how I want to present myself, and this is my personal statement, right?

Alicia Nimonkar

I agree. Yeah.

Dr. Valerie Wherley

Um, here's a different question. Can someone start writing their personal statement too early, as in too far in advance of their application date?

Alicia Nimonkar

So I, yeah, I do think that that is possible. Um if somebody starts like a year early and say they go on and get some incredible clinical experience that you know really um inspires them. But this older draft of the personal statement, you know, doesn't have that. So it's it's helpful, I think, to wait till you're about, I would say like six months is kind of the sweet spot. I don't know about you, but I think like eight to six months, like starting maybe that fall of the you know, year that you're planning on applying. That way you give yourself enough time to really do your best work to not be stressed out or doing things at the last minute. Because it is this is the first chance you have in the personal statement to introduce yourself in your own words to the selection committee. That's huge, right? So that's such an important piece of the application. And because if you, I mean, you know, if you've come across a personal statement where there's a red flag or something alarming or something where it's unfocused or you don't understand what they're trying to say, it's like pass on to the next one, right? So yeah, that statement does hold quite a bit of um of power. So I would say starting eight right months, six months um before, and then that way you've probably had those experiences already that you want to talk about, right?

Dr. Valerie Wherley

Yes, yes, I couldn't agree more. Um I'm gonna ask you a question that I hadn't pre-planned, but I'm sure you're going to navigate it beautifully. Should people talk about, should applicants talk about deficits or missteps they've had in their journey in their personal statement, maybe academic deficits or um something like a nonlinear path?

Alicia Nimonkar

I would cover only the things that you have addressed. Because you don't want to come across as a pawn, right? I have my chest came out. Yes. You don't want to come across as a pawn, right? Or a victim, or somebody who doesn't, you know, who is disempowered, right? Because you're introducing yourself for the first time in your own words. So you're telling your story you want to come across, right, as the most powerful powerful piece on the board. Um yeah. So you just want to make sure, if you can repeat the question again.

Dr. Valerie Wherley

So the question was do you recommend that applicants talk about academic deficits, particular challenges, whether it was health challenges, financial, financial challenges, or moments of a nonlinear path in their personal statement?

Alicia Nimonkar

Yeah, so it's it is about portraying yourself as someone who overcomes things, someone who um is persistent, someone who meets challenges as opportunities. And there's an incredible book I can recommend. Um, The Obstacle is the way. Have you heard of this one? I haven't. I believe it's Robert Holliday, is the author. I think I know his last name's Holliday. Okay. Um, but the obstacle is the way. So portraying yourself right in a position of power as having overcome those obstacles, as you know, maybe you got a low grade or you had some low grades one term or semester or quarter, but you turned things around, right? You came back and were victorious. Um, so you want to demonstrate your the challenges you've overcome because that itself is a strength, right? But if you're just using this space in the essay to complain or to show yourself as a victim, or in my experience in the 18 years I've been doing this, I've never come across a statement where, for example, someone's talked about being bullied. And I haven't seen anybody get accepted with like that kind of any kind of a victim mentality, any kind of a well, this thing happened to me. And while I'm certain that that thing did happen, right? I'm sure like that thing happened. But if, for example, you go on to um overcome the thing, you know, that was the challenge, and that you helped other people who had to overcome that challenge, that's what I see the most successful. Um, I think the most powerful example I could come up with is a student who had been a victim of sexual assault. And she later went on to become a victim advocate. Um, and so she would go to hospitals and support women who were going through like right, the exam that's required after an assault. And, you know, she became a leader in several organizations um to support education, to bring um awareness to to prevent sexual violence. And she just did amazing things. And so she did not portray herself as a victim. You know, she portrayed herself um as someone powerful who had the ability to help others overcome you know the challenges and to educate and prevent those things from happening in the future. So she came at it from a place of power and um advocacy and finding ways to support others and to empower others and and improve conditions. It was amazing to work with her.

Dr. Valerie Wherley

Yeah. That is a very, very good story. And I do hope everyone who is listening who is asking the question, can I talk about X can take the example that you just gave and apply it to their own situation, whether it's a personal health challenge, the loss of a family member, and think, okay, if I talk about it, can I come at it from a place of resilience, power, and advocacy? Because that's those are really some key pieces. So thank you for sharing that particular story. And the final question today is when does someone know their personal statement is done?

Alicia Nimonkar

I think you get that feeling when you read it. So one thing I always do with clients or I offer it, um, and almost everybody actually does it. Um, because I I don't know, I just love this process of working with students and helping them see what is amazing about themselves, right? Because it's hard to see it in yourself, right? Um, I just love reading through the final draft. So usually like the outline is fun, it's just a bunch of questions talking, us doing strategy, thinking through things, um, figuring out how to represent things in the most positive way. Um, and then right, there's the drafts, which are so if you use the outline, the hard work's already been done of strategy of strategic detail of you know what you're gonna cover and how you're gonna cover it. So the the drafts are just fun um through email. And then the last part of the personal statement is I recommend that we read through it together. And you just get that feeling, you know, like when you're reading through it, of like, wow, and you can hear like their excitement. And most people are surprised that they they didn't think it would be as good as it is. Um it's like you know, when they're excited to submit it, that is such a good feeling.

Dr. Valerie Wherley

Yes, yes, that is part of the satisfaction of the work that we do, um, which is helping clients and students tell their story and tell it in a way that they didn't think was possible, and that is authentic and creative, and that they're really proud of. Yeah. Yep. Well, I think this has been very helpful. I learned a few things too, which will um help me, and I'm sure that will help the listeners. So thank you so much for your time today. Thank you. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day, everybody. Okay, thanks. To connect with Alicia or get free resources helpful for pre med or pre health students, please check the link in our show notes. And thank you to everyone for tuning in. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe, rate, and share this podcast. We'll be back soon with more conversations to help you get accepted.