I was raised by a pair of doctors in Uzbekistan, my mother is a cardiologist, and my father is a neurosurgeon. I was always encouraged to believe that becoming a doctor was the most natural course in the world, especially since four out of five of my aunts are also MDs and a fifth has a Ph.D. in Microbiology. I have become most accustomed over the years to medical discussions whenever our family has been together.
Since our permanent relocation to America four years ago, when I was sixteen, I studied the university system to learn how to best make my dream of becoming a physician a reality. XXXX University is my first choice to prepare myself for medical school since I admire your interdisciplinary course offerings, breadth, and vast creativity.
I put a lot of special effort into my science classes in high school because I knew that biology would be the focal center of my university studies. II finished high school at 16, right before moving to America. My favorite course so far has been molecular genetics. I am enthralled by scientific learning.
Medicine represents my moral heritage, my most prized possession; it is what my family has bequeathed me. I have learned from day one that the epiphany of human satisfaction is only found in service to others. Doctors in Uzbekistan are not well paid as they are in America. While few medical professionals in my home country are pleased about their miserable salaries, this does help to foster and perpetuate a high caliber of a physician, someone who finds caring for others to be their natural destiny and spiritual calling rather than simply one of the most lucrative options available. Long before my mother had any idea that she would end up immigrating to America, she was the only member of the family who ever had much to say about the low pay of our doctors. She once suggested that I might want to consider another career choice that would be better paid. She would tell me that medicine was the best, but we live in the wrong country.
My devotion to a life of service to humankind runs in my family. On moral, emotional, and social levels, I enjoy helping people. I am programmed to excel in this area because it represents the compelling center of my interests as they come together. I believe I can succeed even in a competitive environment such as XXXX, which draws many of the best young minds in the world, because of my intense passion for science. This is why I have my heart set on attending what is the finest university in the world.
A profound love and a determination to do everything I can to care for my community's health and well-being is the social and professional role for which I have long been groomed. I am a young man who always strives to bring joy to those around me. I have always imagined that my destiny would be that of a doctor. These days, I have the everyday concerns of someone 20 years old, and I have traveled much of the world and speak four languages. But it is biology that gets my attention. It is my favorite mystery, the world where I have felt most intellectually at home for some time. My parents divorced when I was still a child. Things were difficult for my mother, a single mom in a patriarchal Muslim society. Nevertheless, she managed to invest a great deal of time and energy in the education of her two children; this is why I was able to graduate at only sixteen. I was also a competitive swimmer who met with some success in high school.
I have become a walking celebration of diversity over the last four years. My sister decided to study in Slovenia and invited me to join her. I was able to spend almost two years learning Slovene; it is now my fourth language after Uzbek, Russian, and English. And I met fascinating people from all over the world while exploring much of Eastern Europe. Along the way, I visited numerous hospitals. I only regret that I could not volunteer because I kept moving, wanting to see it all. During this period, my dream of becoming a doctor in the USA began to gain steam. America has the best medical technology. And I want very much to be trained in a state-of-the-art institution.
Before leaving Uzbekistan, I was afflicted with my health issue, a rare skin abnormality that doctors did not seem to know how to identify, much less cure. I do not know precisely what it was; thankfully, it went away. The important thing has been the incredible learning experience of visiting dermatologists in several countries.
While I was living in Europe, my mom moved to the U.S. One year later, I joined her. As new immigrants, the first thing that we had to do was get jobs. Naturally, I looked for something that was health care related. I was anxious to learn about the American system. Soon, I found myself working as a pharmacy technician, where I learned a great deal about the challenges facing patient care in the US. Soon, we were stable enough economically so that I could enroll at XXXX County College.
I have become increasingly enamored with molecular biology and biochemistry. I also enjoyed my chemistry classes and have developed a passion for learning how chemical pathways work in humans. I think my professional interests may well come to rest in the study and practice of gene therapy—the primary area I have identified as holding promise for our medical tomorrow. I have been amazed at how this new field of genetics has grown over the last few years, and I am excited about how much that is still awaiting discovery. I want to concentrate on my studies at XXXX in biochemistry. Along with genetics, I hope to make my mark in this area.
Living in New York City has been another of my long-standing dreams and another reason I have chosen to apply to XXXX University. Most of all, however, it is the fact that many especially renowned genetic researchers are XXXX graduates, such as Thomas Hunt Morgan and Walter Sutton. They have contributed much to genetics and changed the face of modern medicine. I see XXXX as a springboard to scientific greatness, and I would be proud to count myself among its alumni.
Helping to cure AIDS has been my daydream since early adolescence. Part of that dream has entailed an elevating consciousness concerning the need to make these treatments available to all who need them. I follow AIDS in Africa closely, and this struggle inspires me to look forward to volunteer work on an international level in the future. I also plan to stay connected for many years with the academic world. I hope to teach at some point in my career. It would be a special honor for me at some point to be able to teach introductory biology and chemistry courses at the university level. I am sure that I will remain engaged as long as I live with research that has life-saving potential.
I hope to be one of the fortunate students from XXXX to transfer to Columbia each year. Our college has a special arrangement with Columbia permitting students to share fifty credit hours. For me, XXXX is a big step. It is a symbol of the ideal that nothing is unreachable. I love everything about NYC. XXXX’s campus is my favorite spot to visit. There, I feel a sense of balance and purpose in life. I would love to make XXXX the center of my world, taking full advantage of surrounding resources for learning about developments in medicine. I am also most impressed with the research trajectories of XXXX faculty, and I keenly look forward to attending lectures by renowned researchers from all over the world.
The first University in the United States to offer the M.D. program, I appreciate how research is the lifeblood of your institution and how you attract countless brilliant students who represent some of the best minds on earth and have won all sorts of awards. As a recent immigrant, I am hungry for achievement.
I live in Old Bridge, New Jersey but want to move to NYC. I feel strongly that the time would be better spent on campus.
I want to thank you for your attention to my application.
Pre-Medical Program Personal Statement Sample