Personal Statement Development, Editing and Evaluation Services
I have a personal statement to be developed, edited or evaluated. My goal is to advance my career.
Expert Personal Statement Development, Editing & Proofreading Services
The personal statement is essential to the success of any application for a medical residency, fellowship, master's, PhD, law or other graduate program. And it requires a lot more than simply being a good essay.
Our expert editors:
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Possess 50+ years’ combined personal statement development, evaluation, revision, editing and proofreading experience
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Interview program directors, attendings and admission committee members to know what they want—and don't want—to see in a personal statement
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Are full-time employees of DLA (no freelancers)
Want an outstanding personal statement?
RED FLAGS WE'VE HELPED OVERCOME
Everyone faces challenges, but not everyone overcomes them. We're experts in taking your "red flags" and turning them to your advantage.
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Low Test Scores / Failed Attempts
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Poor Academic Performance
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Lack of Relevant Experience
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Medical Leaves of Absence
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Years Since Graduation
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Professionalism Issues
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Disciplinary Action
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Failure to Match
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Multiple Medical Schools
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Age
PS Development
(Consultation + 3 Rounds + Final Polish)
Choose PS Development if:
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1.You want expert, one-on-one guidance for developing your personal statement;
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2.You have only a few notes, strong doubts or an incomplete draft of your personal statement; or
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3.You're feeling lost or don’t know where to start.
What the Service Covers
With PS Development, we will work one-on-one with you to guide you in developing, revising, editing, proofreading and polishing your personal statement.
Step 1: The Consultation
For the consultation, we will:
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1.Contact you within one business day to schedule your consultation;
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2.Thoroughly review your CV/resume and any drafts or notes you provide, and will research any particular details of the program you are applying to; and
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3.Guide you through a series of specially tailored questions to determine what to write, and how and where to write it.
After the consultation, we will send you a detailed outline with notes to serve as a guide for you to follow when composing the initial draft of your personal statement.
Step 2: Revision & Critique (up to 3 Rounds)
In each round of Revision & Critique, we will:
First, evaluate and critique the content of your personal statement relative to the plan established in the consultation. If any of the content needs to be replaced and for all new content that is needed, we will tell you specifically what needs to be written, and where and how to write it.
For all the other content, we will revise and edit it for:
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Tone, Style, Voice and Clarity
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Word Choice
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Conciseness
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Flow and Transitions
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Sentence, Paragraph and Overall Structure
Step 3: Final Polish
In the Final Polish, we will proofread the personal statement for any final adjustments to be made.
Supporting Information
To be able to provide the highest quality service possible, we require you provide us with a copy of your CV/resume or ERAS application, as well as additional information (e.g., Step scores) depending on the program/specialty you’re applying for.
7 Days Between Rounds
After the consultation, and after each round of revision & critique, you have 7 days to make adjustments to the personal statement and submit it for the next round. (Additional days may be purchased.)
Turnaround Times
Consultations are scheduled during our regular business hours. Total completion time averages 2 weeks with Normal Delivery and 1 week with Rush Delivery.
Total time to completion depends on your availability for the consultation and the time you take to prepare your personal statement for the next round.
Our business days are Monday-Friday (8:00 AM-5:00 PM CT). The cutoff for the next business day is midnight CT.
PS Revision & Critique
(4 Rounds + Final Polish)
Choose PS Revision & Critique if:
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1.You want detailed editing, feedback and revision of your personal statement;
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2.Your personal statement is not as concise, engaging or complete as you want it to be; or
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3.Your draft is less than 650 words or more than 750 words.
What the Service Covers
With PS Revision & Critique, we will tell you exactly the improvements needed to make your personal statement successful. We will also edit and proofread your personal statement.
Step 1: Revision & Critique (up to 4 Rounds)
In each round of Revision & Critique, we will:
First, evaluate and critique every aspect of your personal statement. The critique provides specific feedback on:
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The selection and development of your themes relative to your experiences and personality and the program or specialty to which you're applying;
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The structure, flow and development of your narrative;
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The tone and style of your narrative voice;
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The quality, quantity and relevance of your supporting details and content; and
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The strength, completeness and focus of your argument.
For all content needing to be replaced or added, we will tell you what needs to be written, and where and how to write it.
For all the other content, we will revise and edit it for:
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Tone, Style, Voice and Clarity
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Word Choice
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Conciseness
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Flow and Transitions
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Sentence, Paragraph and Overall Structure
Step 2: Final Polish
In the Final Polish, we will proofread the personal statement for any final adjustments to be made.
Supporting Information
To be able to provide the highest quality service possible, we require you provide us with a copy of your CV/resume or ERAS application, as well as additional information (e.g., Step scores) depending on the program/specialty you’re applying for.
7 Days Between Rounds
After each round of revision & critique, you have 7 days to make adjustments to the personal statement and submit it for the next round. (Additional days may be purchased.)
Turnaround Times
Total time to completion averages 2 weeks with Normal Delivery and 1 week with Rush Delivery.
Total time to completion depends on the time you take to prepare your personal statement for the next round.
Our business days are Monday-Friday (8:00 AM-5:00 PM CT). The cutoff for the next business day is midnight CT.
PS Evaluation
(1 Round, Evaluation Only)
Choose PS Evaluation if:
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1.You want a professional, forthright evaluation of your personal statement;
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2.You have a complete draft (up to 1,200 words); and
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3.You do not need any editing or proofreading.
What the Service Covers
With PS Evaluation, we will provide a thorough evaluation of your personal statement. With our evaluation, we will provide detailed feedback covering:
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The selection and development of your themes relative to your experiences and personality and the program or specialty to which you're applying;
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The structure, flow and development of your narrative;
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The tone and style of your narrative voice;
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The quality, quantity and relevance of your supporting details and content;
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The strength, completeness and focus of your argument; and
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Our overall opinion of your personal statement.
PS Evaluation does not include revision, editing or proofreading of your personal statement.
Supporting Information
To be able to provide the highest quality service possible, we require you provide us with a copy of your CV/resume or ERAS application, as well as additional information (e.g., Step scores) depending on the program/specialty you’re applying for.
Turnaround Times
Turnaround time is 2 business days with Normal Delivery and 1 business day with Rush Delivery.
Our business days are Monday-Friday (8:00 AM-5:00 PM CT). The cutoff for the next business day is midnight CT.
PS Proofreading
(1 Round, Proofreading & Light Editing Only)
Choose PS Proofreading if:
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1.You want only proofreading and light editing of your personal statement;
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2.You have a complete draft (up to 1,200 words); and
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3.You do not need any feedback on the content.
What the Service Covers
With PS Proofreading, we will provide proofreading and light editing to correct and improve your personal statement in the following areas:
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Word Choice
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Punctuation & Grammar
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Spelling & Typographical Errors
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Identification of Superfluous Text
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Light Editing for Syntax
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Verb Tense & Subject-Verb Agreement
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Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
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Singular vs Plural Agreement
PS Proofreading does not include any feedback nor detailed editing or revision, including to improve the length of your personal statement.
Supporting Information
To be able to provide the highest quality service possible, we require you provide us with a copy of your CV/resume or ERAS application, as well as additional information (e.g., Step scores) depending on the program/specialty you’re applying for.
Turnaround Times
Turnaround time is 2 business days with Normal Delivery and 1 business day with Rush Delivery.
Our business days are Monday-Friday (8:00 AM-5:00 PM CT). The cutoff for the next business day is midnight CT.
Get an Instant Quote and Place Your Order
Step 1: Select Your Service
WORD COUNT LIMITS
< 650 Words Except for applicants for medical fellowship or certain Canadian medical residency programs, personal statements shorter than 650 words likely lack needed development or important content.
650-725 Words: For 95% of applicants, this is the target word count range. In certain situations (e.g., extensive relevant personal or career experiences needing to be included and/or red flags needing to be addressed), this word count can edge higher.
> 850 Words: In most cases, a personal statement longer than 850 words is too long. At a minimum, it most likely contains superfluous content and/or vague or verbose writing and needs to be edited to streamline the text and make it more engaging to read.
Specific Requirements: Of course, if the program you are applying for has a stated word count requirement, make sure to follow it. This can apply to personal statements written for everything from a college application to medical fellowship or a PhD.
1,200 Words: No matter the program you are applying for, if your personal statement has more than 1,200 words, it has too much content. Personal statements are not intended to tell your whole life story. Go back over it to remove irrelevant content or content that is of secondary priority until it is below this 1,200-word threshold.
We require personal statements to be under 1,200 words before being submitted for our services.
WILL YOU WRITE MY PERSONAL STATEMENT FOR ME?
We do not write personal statements from scratch, but we do consult on, evaluate, revise, edit and proofread them as we guide you in writing yours brilliantly.
Not the best writer? Don't worry! No matter whether English is a second language or you simply have trouble writing, we will guide you in what needs to be written and how. And in our revisions, editing and proofreading, we'll help you with the English.
Want an outstanding personal statement?
WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR WHEN CHOOSING A PERSONAL STATEMENT EDITING SERVICE?
Among personal statement editing services, there are many options available. The personal statement editing options span the full range of budgets, experience, approaches and, most importantly, results. Choosing among these many options therefore comes down to what your goals for the personal statement editing are and how you can get the best value out of what you pay to achieve them.
Start off by asking yourself what you want to achieve with your personal statement. Are you applying for a highly competitive program or specialty and need an equally competitive personal statement? Do you have red flags in your application and want to ensure these come through in the best light possible? Do you have a very strong application and you're applying for a program or specialty where the personal statement doesn't play a significant role in admissions decisions?
Next, ask yourself where your personal statement is now relative to what you want to achieve. This will tell you more specifically what you are looking for in an editing service. Is the draft you've written well-developed and all you need is someone to check the spelling and grammar? Do you have all the content in there, but you need an editor who can help make it flow better? Do you have a rough draft that you're only partially sure about? Do you have only a few ideas and don't know where to start?
Using the answers to these questions, narrow down the list to include only those services that are aligned with where your personal statement is now and where you want it to go. The best editing service will be the one that can take your personal statement as it is currently and achieve your goals for it.
Once you've narrowed down your list, ask yourself further questions. What are the finer details that distinguish one editing service from the other? What approach does the personal statement editor take? Do they strive to maintain your voice, or will your personal statement come across as if someone else wrote it? How much experience does the editor have? Have they worked with applicants in positions like yours, and have those applicants gotten accepted in the specialties or programs you are applying for? What is the acceptance rate? Are there verified reviews of their services on the Internet?
Answers to these questions will help you determine the exact value you will get from each of the editing services. Once you have done this, look at how much the services cost. And when looking at the cost, if you find one that is very low, ask yourself why it would be so low. For services with higher prices, ask yourself what greater value you would gain for the additional money you would be paying.
If after going through the above you are still debating which service to choose, give each of them a call. How comfortable do you feel with them after talking to them on the phone? The best personal statement editing service for you will be the one that achieves the goals you have at a competitive price and with an editor you can feel confident in.
HOW DO I KNOW WHICH SERVICE TO GET?
When deciding what service to get, ask yourself three questions: (1) What is my goal for the personal statement? (2) Where is my personal statement now relative to that goal? and (3) How much time do I have?
Some people have as their goal to achieve the most competitve personal statement possible for their applications. For those applying to programs that do not place as much importance on the personal statement, they may simply desire a respectable personal statement to include with their applications.
If you're struggling with coming up with what to write, then you'll want to choose PS Development. If you have any doubt about the content or for any other reason you want to work one-on-one with one of our experts, then you'll want to choose PS Development.
If you don't need a consultation and already have a good working draft, then PS Revision & Critique is the way to go. PS Revision & Critique is the service to choose if you want personal statement editing, revision, proofreading and critique and feedback on the content.
Both PS Development and PS Revision & Critique take about two weeks to complete with Normal Delivery or one week to complete with Rush Delivery, so you'll want to keep that in mind as well when choosing a service.
If you are short on time and have more concern about the content than about personal statement proofreading and light editing, then choose PS Evaluation. This will give you a thorough critique of your content and can be completed in two business days with Normal Delivery and one business day with Rush Delivery.
If you are less concerned about the content and do not need in-depth editing, then choose PS Proofreading. PS Proofreading includes both personal statement proofreading and light editing. This valuable service is also one to consider if you are short on time, as it can be completed in two business days with Normal Delivery and one business day with Rush Delivery.
No matter which service you choose, it should be one that will result in a personal statement you feel confident in showing to an admissions officer or program director.
Want an outstanding personal statement?
HOW DO I KNOW YOUR SERVICE ISN'T A SCAM?
We take earning and maintaining your trust seriously. How do we do that? It starts with making and keeping promises, admitting and making corrections when we make mistakes, and being held accountable.
One step we take to achieve that is to maintain an active membership in the Better Business Bureau, where our years of devotion to providing an excellent customer experience have earned us an A+ rating, the Better Business Bureau's highest rating given to businesses.
Another step we have taken is to partner with TrustPilot. TrustPilot is a third-party review service that collects only authenticated reviews from our customers. They invite all our customers who have completed a service with us to leave a review. There is no discrimination based on whether a customer has had a positive or negative experience with our services.
WHAT IS THE TURNAROUND TIME OF YOUR SERVICES?
Our turnaround times are two business days with Normal Delivery and one business day with Rush Delivery per round of review.
CAN YOU ALSO HELP WITH MY CV/RESUME, ERAS APPLICATION, MSPE OR OTHER APPLICATION DOCUMENTS?
Absolutely! We offer professional Editing & Feedback and Proofreading services for CVs/resumes, ERAS applications, MSPEs, letters of recommendation (LORs), letters of intent/interest (LOIs), CaRMS CVs and the CaRMS application, cover letters, application essays, AMCAS work & activities and med school secondaries.
We also offer professional Application Review & Strategy and Interview Coaching services.
CAN YOU EDIT YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT AFTER SUBMITTING THE COMMON APP?
Yes, but not for an application you've already submitted. What you can do is edit your personal statement, or make a new one, for sending to other colleges.
CAN YOU EDIT YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT AFTER SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION IN ERAS?
"Yes, Personal Statements can be edited at any point during the application season – even when assigned to programs applied to." See the MyERAS Documents section of the AAMC's ERAS® Residency Applicants FAQ for more.
Want an outstanding personal statement?
DO YOU GUARANTEE YOUR EDITING?
Yes! We guarantee that we will provide you with high-quality, affordable editing and proofreading services, and that we will finish our work by the due date and time we've promised.
We guarantee we will use our unique experience and expertise to help you achieve the most successful personal statement possible, and that we will not withhold any recommendation we see will improve the personal statement.
See our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee for additional details.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN BUSINESS?
We've been in business since 2008.
How Our Service Works
Step 1: Get Started
Whether you’re just looking for a free instant quote or are ready to purchase our services, start with Get Started, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week:
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Under Select Your Category, choose Personal Statements.
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Next, select your project type (Personal Statement), program type (e.g., Medical Residency – U.S.) and service (e.g., PS Revision & Critique).
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Now, depending on the service you have selected (PS Development does not require a file to be edited), upload your file to be edited, or skip uploading a file if you would like only a quote. The fee is a flat fee and the turnaround time displayed is for one round of the service.
To purchase a service, upload your file to be edited (for PS Development, uploading a file to be edited is optional), if you have not already done so, as well as your CV/resume (for applicants for medical residency in the U.S., you can upload your ERAS application in place of the CV/resume) and any other supporting documents (e.g., letters of recommendation).
We accept MS Word files for the file to be edited. We accept MS Word or PDF files for the requested CV/resume file and any additional supporting documents.
For each uploaded personal statement to be edited, provide the additional information requested (e.g., specialty for which it is intended, the particular program or region being targeted, and a unique name).
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To finalize your quote, select Normal Delivery or Rush Delivery for your delivery option.
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Confirm your quote. To order the service, ensure you have uploaded a file to be edited (optional for PS Development), provided the additional details requested for the file and uploaded your CV/resume and any other supporting documents; add any comments; check the box next to the client agreement and click Add to Cart.
If you would like to purchase additional services (e.g., for your CV/resume, ERAS Application or letter of recommendation), repeat the above for each service you wish to add to the cart.
Step 2: Check out
Once you have added all the services you wish to purchase to the cart in Step 1, proceed with clicking Checkout.
In the checkout process, you will:
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Log in to your account or create an account if you do not already have one.
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Enter your goals for the service(s) you are purchasing.
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Depending on the program type, provide additional relevant information (e.g., Step or COMLEX scores).
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Verify the delivery dates for the service(s) in your order. If you are purchasing multiple services, you can customize the order in which we complete them.
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Complete your payment for the deposit, which is the total order amount. We must receive the total fee up front before we begin our work. We accept credit/debit cards and PayPal.
Step 3: Track Your Order in My Account
As soon as we receive your deposit, we will start working on your order. While we are working on your order, the status will display as In Progress in My Account.
Step 4: Receive Your Completed Review or Consultation Notes
As soon as we have completed our review or our consultation notes, you will receive an email notification, and the status of your service will be updated in My Account. If there is a remainder due, your next step will be to pay it to receive your completed review or consultation notes.
Edited documents, evaluated documents and consultation notes are released once the total fee for the service(s) in your order has been paid. They are both sent by email and made available for download directly from My Account.
The email containing your completed review or consultation notes will provide the name and contact information of the editor or consultant who completed the service for you. It will provide a link to instructions on how to review our feedback and recommendations, including how to accept and reject track changes and to remove sidebar comments.
The email will also provide a link for submitting your personal statement for the next round of review, depending on the service you have selected.
Editor or consultant name and contact information along with the link for submitting for the next round of review will also be posted in My Account.
Step 5: Follow up With Any Questions
If after reviewing our recommendations or consultation notes you have questions about the suggestions we have made, please contact your editor or consultant directly by email. You may expect to receive a response to your email within 1 business day.
If after following up with your editor or consultant, you still have questions, feel free to email our editor in chief, David Lombardino.
Step 6: Leave Us a Review
We are passionate about helping you achieve your goals, and hope through our editing, evaluation or consultation and answering any follow-up questions we will have helped you get one more step closer to doing so. We are proud of the work we do and would love it if you shared your honest experiences, positive or negative, for future clients to see.
We partner with TrustPilot, a third-party review service that sends email invitations to leave a review to all verified customers a few days following completion of the service. We hope that if you have any concern remaining when you receive this invitation, you reach out to us first so we can address your concern, prior to leaving a review.
Our goal is a five-star experience for every customer, and we look forward to achieving this for you.
KAI TUBB, APPLICANT, MEDICAL RESIDENCY - U.S.
Kai Tubb, an IMG, talks about using DLA's services to overcome low Step scores and match into emergency medicine.
View more client interviews in Our Stories.GET 50% OFF ADDITIONAL PERSONAL STATEMENTS
Applying to multiple specialties or programs? Each personal statement after the first one gets a 50% discount when submitted for the same service. And they don't even have to be submitted at the same time to get the discount.
Get Started to see your fees and turnaround times for all your personal statements.
Whether you're an international medical graduate seeking to overcome cultural barriers, or someone seeking a competitive edge or who simply doesn't know where to start, we know what details are needed and how to get them right.
Still have questions? See a list of our frequently asked questions or give us a call at 877-454-4957.