Overview of the Personal Statement
· Personal statements are sometimes also called "application essays" or "statements of purpose."
o Whatever they are called, they are essentially essays which are written in response to a question or questions on a graduate or professional school application form which asks for some sort of sustained response.
· Some applications ask more specific questions than others.
o There is no set formula to follow in shaping your response, only choices for you to make, such as whether you should write an essay that is more autobiographically focused or one that is more professionally focused.
· From application to application, requested personal statements also vary widely in length, ranging from a couple of paragraphs to a series of essays of a page or so each.
· Personal statements are most important when you are applying to an extremely competitive program, where all the applicants have high test scores and GPA's, and when you are a marginal candidate and need the essay to compensate for low test scores or a low GPA.
· Through a personal statement, you introduce yourself to the university; it reflects your personality and intellect.
o It is important that you read each question carefully and make every effort to understand and respond to it with well-considered responses and in a persuasive enough manner to hold the reader’s interest.
Context Considerations
· Additionally, since personal statements will most often be read as part of your "package," they offer an opportunity to show aspects of yourself that will not be developed in other areas of your application.
o Obviously, it is important that personal statements are not simply prose formulations of material contained elsewhere in the application.
· It may be helpful to think of the statement as the single opportunity in your package to allow the admissions committee to hear your voice.
o Often times, committees are sorting through large numbers of applications and essays, perhaps doing an initial quick sort to find the best applicants and then later reading some of the personal statements more thoroughly.
o Given that information, you will want your statement to readily engage the readers, and to clearly demonstrate what makes you a unique candidate--apart from the rest of the stack.
Understand and Explain Yourself
· One of the main problems when writing is that applicants fail to take a thorough and analytical look at themselves and their objectives.
o 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
· Committees are looking for something PERSONAL and ANALYTICAL.
o This means sharing information you rarely share with others and assessing your life more critically than usual.
o This approach is key to a successful personal statement.
Questions:
· What is 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?
· 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? This does not mean that you should write, “Why I want to be a lawyer.” Instead, tell what insights you have gained from certain experiences that reinforce your decision to go to law school
· How have you learned about this field—through classes, readings, seminars, work or other experiences, internships, or conversations with people already in the field.
· 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?
· What are your career goals?
· Are there any gaps or discrepancies in your 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?
· Have you had to overcome any unusual obstacles or hardships (e.g., economic, familial, physical) in your life?
· 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?
· What skills (leadership, communicative, analytical, for example) do you possess?
· Why might you be a stronger candidate for graduate school—and more successful and effective in the profession or field—than other applicants?
· What are the most compelling reasons you can give for the admissions committee to be interested in you?
· What attracts you to your chosen career?
o What do you expect to get out of it?
· When did you initially become interested in this career?
o How has this interest developed?
o When did you become certain that this is what you wanted to do? What solidified your decision?
· What are your intellectual influences?
o What writers, books, professors, concepts in college have shaped you?
· What are two or three of the academic accomplishments which have most prepared you?
· What research have you conducted?
o What did you learn from it?
· What non-academic experiences contributed to your choice of school and/or career? (work, volunteer, family)
· Do you have specific career plans?
· What's the most important thing the admissions committee should know about you?
Tell a Story
· Be truthful and stick to the facts; yet, think of your personal statement in the terms of writing a story.
o You want to write something that is fresh, lively, and different, to put yourself ahead of the other applicants.
o 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 you are like most people, your life story might well lack significant drama, so figuring out a way to make it interesting becomes the big challenge.
o Finding an angle is vital.
o Brainstorm for ideas that 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.
o Here you either GRAB the readers attention or lose it.
o 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.
o They should be interested in you, eager to hear more, impressed that what you are saying to them is not what they have 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.
o Remember, what is most important about your personal statement is what you say and how you say it! Be selective about what you tell the admissions committee.
One Process for Writing the Personal Statement
· Analyze the question(s) asked on a specific application.
· Research the school and/or program to which you are applying.
· Take a personal inventory by examining the questions above.
o Write out a 2-3 sentence response to each question.
· Write your essay.
· Revise your essay for form and content.
· Ask someone else to read your essay and make suggestions for further revision.
· Revise again.
· Proofread carefully.
Other Things to Consider
· What you choose to say in your statement is, again, very much a reflection of you, because it shows the committee what your priorities are, what you consider to be important.
o 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.
o Think about yourself, your background, and your experiences and abilities to develop a strategy.
· 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?”
o This exercise will force you to do the type of thinking that must precede the preparation of an effective personal statement.
· Do not make the mistake of trying to guess what the admissions committee is looking for, and do not just write what you think the committee wants to hear.
o Such ploys are highly obvious to admissions people and can be detrimental to your cause.
· Be selective.
o 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.
o Overall, you want to project confidence and enthusiasm.
· Be specific when appropriate and use details.
· Adhere to stated word limits.
o Do not give them reason to toss your application packet
· Be meticulous (type and proof read your essay carefully and have others read it too).
· If a school wants to know why you are 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.
o If the school setting would provide an important geographical or cultural change for you, this might be a factor to mention.
· Are you providing something more than a recitation of information available elsewhere in the application?
o Do not repeat information that you have already included in other documents.
Do…
· Answer all the questions asked.
o If you are applying to more than one program, you may find that each application asks a different question or set of questions, and that you don't really feel like writing a bunch of different responses.
o However, you should avoid the temptation to submit the same essay for different questions—it's far better to tailor your response to each question and each school.
§ If you do find yourself short on time and must tailor one basic essay to fit a number of different questions from a number of different schools, target your essay to your first-choice school, and keep in mind that the less your essay is suited to an application's particular questions, the more you may be jeopardizing your chances of being admitted to that school.
· Be honest and confident in your statements.
o Use positive emphasis.
o Do not try to hide, make excuses for, or lie about your weaknesses.
o In some cases, a student needs to explain a weak component of his or her application, but in other cases it may be best not to mention those weaknesses at all.
o Rather, write an essay that focuses on your strengths.
· Write a coherent and interesting essay.
o Make your first paragraph the best paragraph in your essay.
· Develop a thesis about yourself early in the essay and argue it throughout.
o Each piece of information you give about yourself in the essay should somehow support your thesis.
· Pick two to four main topics for a one-page essay.
o Don't summarize your entire life.
o Don't include needless details that take space away from a discussion of your professionalism, maturity, and ability to do intellectual work in your chosen field.
· Use the personal statement as a form of introduction.
o Think of the essay as not only an answer to a specific question but as an opportunity to introduce yourself, especially if your program doesn't interview applicants.
· Ask yourself the following questions as you edit for content:
o Are my goals well articulated?
o Do I explain why I have selected this school and/or program in particular?
o Do I demonstrate knowledge of this school or program?
o Do I include interesting details that prove my claims about myself?
o Is my tone confident?
· Make sure your essay has absolutely perfect spelling and mechanics.
· Miscellaneous
o Write it yourself.
o Include brief descriptions of your specific achievements.
o Keep your statement focused.
o Make your statement easy for the reader to follow.
o Use spell check and proof read your statement for missing words, typos, and repeated words.
o Show the reader you have taken time writing this statement and that it was well thought out.
Don't…
· Write what you think the admissions committee wants to hear.
• You are probably wrong, and such a response is likely to make you blend into the crowd rather than stand out from it.
· Use empty, vague, over-used words like "meaningful," "beautiful," "challenging," "invaluable," or "rewarding."
· Overwrite or belabor a minor point about yourself.
· Repeat information directly from the application form itself unless you use it to illustrate a point or want to develop it further.
· Emphasize the negative.
• Again, the admissions committee already knows your GPA and test scores, and they probably are not interested in reading about how a list of events in your personal life caused you to perform poorly.
• Explain what you feel you need to, but emphasize the positive.
· Try to be funny.
• You don't want to take the risk they won't get the joke.
· Get too personal about religion, politics, or your lack of education (avoid emotional catharsis).
· Include footnotes, cliches, or long-winded and slow introductions.
· Use statements like "I've always wanted to be a…" or any other hackneyed phrases.