Writing Personal Statements
Writing a good personal statement involves writing honestly, writing with detail, and revealing who you are.
Can a personal statement make or break the possibility of you being accepted into grad school? Certainly there are other determining factors, but the personal statement is meant to do something that the numbers and letters cannot--reveal to the reader the person behind the grades and degree. Who are you? Why do you want to go to graduate school? What proof can you offer that you are determined, inventive, and able to succeed if accepted?
Like all good essays (because that's what they are!), the best personal statements are driven by an interesting, thought-provoking lead paragraph, directed by a focus or thesis statement that occurs in the first paragraph, filled with concrete, specific details as evidence or proof of your interest and skills, logically organized, and forcefully concluded, sure to leave a positive impression with the reader.
There are two basic types of personal statements:
- Personal Statements Written in Response to Specific Question(s)
- General Personal Statements
These are more comprehensive statements that ask you to write in a more autobiographical manner, to tell something about yourself that will make you stand out from the crowd.
Read a personal statement written in response to the prompt Tell us something about your background that made you decide to pursue X career.
When you write this personal statement, you must respond as fully as possible to a specific question or related set of questions asked by the graduate school. Don't skip an element of the question, but cover every dimension fully.
Read a personal statement written by an ENGL 3764: Technical Writing student in response to the prompt Why do you want to attend this particular graduate program?
Regardless of which type you are asked to write, you must produce a statement that gives the review committee a clear idea of who you are. The process is almost like writing your resume in essay form.
Get-Started Questions for your Personal Statement
As you brainstorm before writing the personal statement, you might consider including in your work answers to questions like the following:
- What is different, unique, or impressive about you?
- What kinds of influences have shaped who you are?
- Are there any adversities that have shaped your self-image, career, or education?
- How do you define yourself as an individual?
- What positive personal traits do you feel you possess, and what kinds of concrete proof can you offer of them?
- What is your major field of interest?
- How did you get interested in this field? When?
- What sorts of preparation have you made to pursue this career for the long-term?
- Are there any other ways (in addition to classes) you learned about concrete aspects of this field (work experiences, volunteering, being mentored or mentoring someone else, interviewing or shadowing someone, talking to a professional)?
- What path do you envision your career taking (short-term and long-term)? What sorts of skills do you think you possess (leadership, communication, etc.)?
- What can you tell the committee that will convince them you are a standout and that you can do the work required of graduate students?
Dos and Don'ts of Personal Statements
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Figure out an angle. Since you're going to be one of XXX numbers of students applying for grad school, the first thing you need to do is determine what approach you will take to telling your story. If you're responding to a question, then you have a ready-made angle; however, if you're asked to write a general statement, then you must find an interesting way (without fudging details) to make your life story stand out from the crowd.
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Write a solid, interesting introductory paragraph to draw in the reader. Your first paragraph must "hook" your readers, compelling them to continue reading, so make sure you spend time developing it. Make it well-focused and include in it a thesis statement.
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Tell the reader what you know about your field in concrete, specific ways. Since you'll be applying to grad school in a specific field, it's a good idea to show your readers what experience you have with that subject.
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Discuss specific things learned from classes, special projects with which you've been involved, and any concrete experiences you have had that relate to your area of study. Steer clear of vague, general statements, as well as cliches. I enjoy working with people. I am highly motivated. Anyone can say these things, but without proof, how can your reader believe you? How can you support these general assertions?
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Focus on concrete details instead of using these time-worn statements and others like them. Be straightforward and honest . . . You're not writing a novel here, so stick to the facts. Don't think you have to embellish to get the reader's attention. . . . But don't be TOO honest. . . Watch out for revealing things that could be controversia,, like personal religious or political views, or damaging, like all those pesky traffic violations. . . . And don't include the kitchen sink! You don't have to be comprehensive, so don't list every honor you achieved in high school or every activity in which you've ever been involved. Choose highlights or those that most directly speak to the field in which you're interested.
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Use a confident (not arrogant!) tone. There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and you're not going to be present to tell the reader where it is. So make sure that you're not sounding overly boastful or prideful when you speak of your accomplishments.
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Use active verbs. Active verbs are more dynamic than weak is/are verbs, so they enliven your writing.
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If a question is asked, answer it fully. The readers ask questions for a specific reason, so they want direct, focused responses. Don't omit anything from your response that is asked about in the question.
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Follow specifications. If the directions say Use Helvetica or Times New Roman, Limit yourself to 500 words, and Single-space the text, then you should do all of those things to the letter. Whether or not you can follow simple directions says a lot about how you'd be able to perform in graduate school!
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Don't get too cutesy or fancy with fonts and paper. Sure, your party invitations look beautiful in Lucida Handwriting font, but stick to more basic fonts (easy reading!). And watch out for using colored paper, too!
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Edit and proofread until you think your head is going to explode. Noting says your less prepaired for gradute levil work then writting filled with grammatical misteaks, mispellings, and puncutation errors! Did you catch the mistakes in that sentence? If you don't trust your abilities, let someone else proofread for you.