School counsellors and English teachers from local high schools attended a workshop at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) to learn how to help their students write better personal statements for their university applications.
The workshop, hosted by WCMC-Q’s Student Recruitment and Outreach Office in partnership with members of the English department of the Pre-Medical Education Department, also offered advice to the teachers and counsellors on writing effective reference letters for their students.
Ten school counsellors and ten English teachers attended the workshop, which was opened by Dr Rachid Bendriss, Assistant Dean for Student Recruitment, Outreach and Foundation Programmes, and featured sessions by Pre-Medical Education faculty members Dr Krystyna Golkowska, Associate Professor of English; Adam Larson, ESL Lecturer, Alan Weber, Associate Professor of English, Ian Miller, Lecturer of English Writing, and Dr Rodney Sharkey, Associate Professor of English.
Knowing how to write a personal statement is a crucial skill students need to have when applying to university, explained Dr Golkowska.
“Students need to be advised to start working on them early enough that they have time to produce a statement that explains why they are good candidates. The statement should not just focus on their grades because that information is included elsewhere in the application. Instead, the statement should explain who the student is as a person and as an individual, so it is very important for the students to include details of their extracurricular activities and their motivations for studying medicine.
“Of course, personal statements also need to be well written, coherently structured and interesting to read.”
Dr Golkowska said that reference letters written by teachers in support of college applications should also give an impression of the character and personality of the student.
She added: “It is important to back up with specific examples any assertions that are made about the positive attributes of the student.”
Dr Bendriss commented: “At WCMC-Q we are very happy to offer counsellors and teachers advice and guidance to enable them to represent the skills and achievements of their students in the most effective way.”
The Peninsula
