by tkaprowy | Oct 15, 2024 | Uncategorized
Well, I’ve just had my first submission from a student who used ChatGPT. I’d helped her develop her personal statement, so I knew her writing ability. Now she’d submitted supplementals for me to look at. And the writing was so smooth I nearly slid...
by tkaprowy | Jul 7, 2022 | Uncategorized
The top tip I give to students writing personal statements always involves me picking on the word “embark.” By now, I have read hundreds of statements, and I cannot tell you how much “embark” shows up. Same with “endeavor.” And...
by tkaprowy | Jun 18, 2022 | Uncategorized
When I was a newspaper reporter, I once had an editor named Joe Dill, who minced exactly one word the entire time I knew him. If you wanted the truth and you wanted it fast, he was the guy who was going to give it to you. When it came to sympathy, though, he had a...
by tkaprowy | Apr 10, 2022 | Uncategorized
A little secret about me: I might be the only person on the planet who loves going to the doctor. I go every year, whether Dr. Horn wants to see me or not, and when I’m in her office, I relax so deeply I might as well be having a massage. Her nurse takes my...
by tkaprowy | Jan 14, 2022 | Uncategorized
Listen, I’m just going to be honest and hope you’ll thank me later. If I have to read another law school personal statement that starts with a quote from Ruth Bader Ginsberg, I’m going to scream. In fact, the fastest way to get an admissions officer...
by tkaprowy | Oct 27, 2021 | Uncategorized
After reading the prompt for your occupational therapy personal statement, you may be tempted to take a long nap. At the very least, you will become drowsy. At the very most, you’ll think, “No, thanks. I’m putting this off for a month.”...
by tkaprowy | Oct 1, 2021 | Uncategorized
Let’s face it: asking for a recommendation letter can be awkward. You know you’re asking someone to invest time and effort on your behalf, and that can be uncomfortable. But these letters — usually two from teachers and one from a guidance counselor are...
by tkaprowy | Sep 7, 2021 | Uncategorized
Oh, Common Application prompts, you beastliest beasts of beasts, you. Why do you make us self-introspect so? Why can’t we just write about something simple, like quantum physics or the tax code? I can hear these wails from Alaska to Wyoming as seniors bump...
by tkaprowy | Apr 23, 2021 | Uncategorized
I’m going to start (as you should likewise start your residency personal statement) by being brutally honest. I love to work with doctors. I shouldn’t play favorites and I’m not proud of it, but there it is. I just couldn’t possibly have more...
by tkaprowy | Apr 14, 2021 | Uncategorized
Before I dive in, I need to say a few words about physician assistants. I live in a very rural area of Kentucky (think: our newspaper invariably publishes pictures of unusually large cabbages in the summer). In turn, we have difficulty recruiting healthcare...
