Advice for Reapplicants
From Write for Success: Preparing a Successful Essay for Your Application to Health Professions School, published by the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions
"If you are reapplying to health professions school, you may be curious whether or not you should change your personal statement. The simple answer is 'yes.' It has been our experience that it is difficult for students to rewrite an old essay. It is going to be easier to start with a blank page. You are not the same person you were when you applied previously. Permit yourself to speak as the person you are today.
Place yourself in a position of hiring someone and reviewing that person's credentials. How would it make you feel about the candidate for the position if the letters of reference were a year old? Similarly, admissions committees will want to know who you are at present and what you have done since your last application.
Should you say anything about your unsuccessful application? We suggest that you could consider the following:
• Your initial reaction to the letter of non-acceptance
• Your subsequent reaction after the 'shock' of the letter
• Whether or not you asked for a post interview with the admissions officer
• Your reaction to the interview and behavior subsequent to the interview
• What you have done since the post interview
• Progress made during the time between applications
• Significant changes in your grades, orientation to classes, work experiences
• Reasons you are now a better candidate than you were twelve months ago
Significant attention should now be on the last item mentioned above. Why are you now a much better applicant than you were previously?"
