How to Write a Personal Statement
Internships | Scholarships| Youth Leadership Program

Introducing Yourself:

This is first time you expose yourself to your future university. Through a personal statement you are introducing the university to the way you think and express yourself. It is serving as a reflection of your personality and intellect.

There are two types of personal statements or essays, general and specific questions. It is important that you read each question carefully and make every effort to understand it and respond to it. All essays should be composed with well-considered and in a persuasive manner to hold the reader's interest.

Understand and Explain Yourself:
One of the main problems when writing is that applicants fail to take a very thorough, probing, and analytical look at themselves and their objectives. Admission committee members are looking for interesting, insightful, revealing, and non-generic essays that suggest you have successfully gone through a process of careful reflection and self-examination.

Set Yourself Apart:
A personal statement must be written by ONLY you in order not to closely resemble what all other applicants are likely to write. The committees are looking for PERSONAL and ANALYTICAL. This means by sharing information you rarely share with others and assessing your life more critically than usual. This approach is key to a successful personal statement.

An Important Exercise:
In order to begin writing your personal statement - your story - you'll need to answer some basic questions to prepare yourself.

Questions:

1. What's special, unique, distinctive, or impressive about you or your life story? What details of your life (personal or family problems/ history, any genuinely notable accomplishments, people or events that have shaped you or influenced your goals) might help the committee better understand you or help set you apart from other applicants?


2. When did you originally become interested in this field and what have you since learned about it - and about yourself- that has further stimulated your interest and reinforced your conviction that you are well suited to this field? What insights have you gained?


3. How have you learned about this field - through classes, readings, seminars, work or other experiences, or conversations with people already in the field.


4. If work experiences have consumed significant periods of time during your college years, what have you learned (leadership or managerial skills, for example), and how has the work contributed to your personal growth?


5. What are your career goals?


6. Are there any gaps or discrepancies in you academic record that you should explain (great grades and mediocre LSAT scores, for example, or a distinct improvement in you GRA if it was only average in the beginning?


7. Have you had to overcome any unusual obstacles or hardships (e.g., economic, familial, physical) in your life?


8. What personal characteristic (integrity, compassion, persistence, for example) do you possess that would enhance your prospects for success in the field or profession? Is there a way to demonstrate or document that you have these characteristics?


9. What skills (leadership, communicative, analytical, for example) do you possess?


10. Why might you be a stronger candidate for graduate school - and more successful and effective in the profession or field -- than other applicants?


11. What are the most compelling reasons you can give for the admissions committee to be interested in you?

Tell a Story:
Be truthful and stick to the facts; yet, think of your personal statement in the terms of writing a story. You want to write as fresh, lively, different - not to mention articulate - to put yourself a head of the other applicants. A personal statement MUST be MEMORABLE. One of the worst things you can do with your personal statement is to bore the admissions committee, yet that is exactly what most applicants do.

Find an Angle:
If your like most people, however, your life story might well lack significant drama, so figuring out a way to make it interesting becomes the big challenge. Finding an angle is vital. Brainstorm for ideas which emphasize your exceptional qualities, goals, past performances.

Concentrate on Your Opening Paragraph:
Keep in mind when composing your statement that the lead or OPENING PARAGRAPH IS generally the MOST IMPORTANT. Here you either GRAB the readers attention or lose it. If you are telling a story you will use this first paragraph to introduce the elements most relevant to that story - and the ones that will hold greatest interest for the reader.

 

Tell Who You Are:
The committee needs to get a sense of who you are, what makes you tick, and how you are different from other applicants. They should be interested in you by now, eager to hear more, impressed that what you're saying to them - the story you're relating - is not simply what they've read a thousand times before.

Sometimes a personal statement can be perfectly well written in terms of language and grammar, but disastrous in lacking punch or impact and in being totally off the mark concerning what it chooses to present about the applicant.

Remember, the most important thing about your personal statement is what you say and how you say it! Be selective about what you tell the admissions committee.

What you choose to say in your statement is, again, very much a reflection of you because it shows the committees what you priorities are, what you consider to be important. The personal statement is often an indication, too, of your judgment, so be careful and give a great deal of thought to what you write. Think about yourself, you background, experiences and abilities - as well as what you know about the profession--- and develop a strategy.

Review Your Personal History:
Review your life very carefully (get help from family or friends if necessary) for facets or experiences that reveal an unusual dimension, related to your professional goals, or could serve as evidence of your suitability for a certain career.

What NOT to Include:
References to experiences or accomplishments during your high school years or earlier are not a good idea. There are exceptions, extraordinary achievements or traumatic event that had a significant impact on your development or career plans. You sound very young and immature if this information does not have a big impact on your life.

 

Do not Mention Subjects that are Potentially Controversial:
It is impossible for you to know the biases of members of various admissions committees. Religion and politics normally don't belong in these statements, although, again, there may be exceptions. Any views that might be interpreted as strange or highly unconventional should also be omitted because you want to avoid the possibility of offending any of the individuals who will be reading your application.

Sometimes there will be things you want to mention because you are proud of those achievements and experiences; however, they may not belong in your statement. You are being selective. The information you give must support your story and/or case. You will not want to talk about every achievement. Be Selective.

 

Reviewing What's Been aid (Plus a Few New Points)

• Remember that,in a general sense, what is most important is what you say and how you say it.


• Make sure you answer the question(s) being asked of you.


• Determine what you would tell an admission committee member if you had five minutes to answer the question - What is most important for us to know about you? This exercise will force you to do the type of thinking that must precede the preparation of an effective personal statement. For help, refer to the list of questions you should ask yourself.


• Don't make the mistake of trying to guess what the admissions committee is looking for, and don't just write what you think the committee wants to hear. Such ploys are highly obvious to admissions people and can be detrimental to your cause.


• When appropriate, find an angle and tell a story about yourself. If your life story has drama, use it.


• You are preparing a personal statement. Often it is appropriate and useful to include material that is quite personal in nature.


• Grab the reader's attention in your opening paragraph.


• Review your life carefully with outside help, if necessary, to make certain you are including all relevant information.


• Be selective. Don't introduce inappropriate material or get into so much detail that your judgment can be called into question.


• Try to maintain a positive and upbeat tone. While it is often useful to deal candidly with aspects of your history that might be perceived negatively, overall you still want to project confidence and enthusiasm.


• Be specific when appropriate


• Avoid potentially controversial subjects.


• Express yourself clearly and concisely.


• Adhere to stated word limits.


• Be meticulous (type and proof read your essay carefully).


• If a school wants to know why you're applying to it rather than another school, do a bit of research if necessary to find out what sets your choice apart from other universities or programs. If the school setting would provide an important geographical or cultural change for you, this might be a factor to mention.


• Think about what you're saying. (Is it interesting, relevant, different, memorable?)


• Be Honest. Are you being yourself and revealing yourself? In many instances, admissions people are interested in finding out about who you are, and they appreciate honesty.


• Are you providing something more than a recitation of information available elsewhere in the application? If no, revise!!!


• Are you avoiding obvious clichés? For example, a medical school applicant who writes that he is good at science and wants to help other people is not exactly expressing an original thought.


• Use the Evaluative Questionnaire yourself ( in addition to giving it to others) to assess the effectiveness of your rough draft.