Comments Regarding Plagiarism
The essays contained within this document were written by current Stanford medical students and have been carefully read and reviewed by file reviewers, interviewers, and admissions staff and officers at Stanford Medical School as well as dozens of other medical schools across the country. We must emphasize that you need to be honest in writing your personal statements. If you borrow material or use quotes from other sources, make sure to credit them appropriately. Not giving credit where it is due is not only disastrous to your essay, but it is also illegal. Admissions officers read hundreds, and even thousands of personal statements each year, and have developed a fine tune sense for detecting plagiarism as well as remembering the essays they’ve read. You owe it to yourself to be hones, open, and sincere in writing your personal essay as it is a reflection of yourself and what is important in your life and your decision to pursue a career in medicine.
Stanford Essays
The following essays were written by real Stanford medical students in preparing their applications. We suggest that you read through all of the essays to get a diverse view of the types of themes and styles which have been successfully used for personal statements. Each personal statement is exactly that, personal. No one format or style will work for everyone. However, there are structures and themes which are common throughout. These essays are meant to give you an in depth look inside previous applicants’ writing and what has gone into their decisions to enter the field of medicine. All essays are presented in their original format, unaltered. In certain cases, personal identifiers have been removed to protect the privacy of the essay writer. These essays are meant to be a learning tool for you as well as a source of inspiration, not a source for copying or imitation. Plagiarism from these or any