What is a Personal Statement?

A personal statement is a written description of a student regarding his or her achievements, aspirations, and interests. It is written for the university that is used for the student’s application to enter the said school. As part of the application process, the student must convince the university to accept him or her in their school. The statement can be the basis of the university to know whether the student will be qualified for their courses. In all kinds of courses, whether it will be an engineering, nursing, psychology, law, business, art, or social work course, an aspiring student should give a personal statement before being admitted to college.

A personal statement is required in many colleges. It is an addition to admission essays, standardized test scores, and transcripts. Through the personal statement, a university will have an insight into the personality of the students. They will know whether the student is inquisitive or ambitious. Their qualities will have an impact on their college experience. So, the university needs to know these things. A high school transcript is not enough to show their qualities. Through the personal statement, the university can have a good guess of what kind of character a student has.

With the personal statement, the university will also know the writing skills of the student. They can assess the level of learning of the student. Writing skills can tell whether a student will fit into college. So, in writing a personal statement, you should have ample time. Be sure that you will not have errors or typos when you submit your personal statement. If you will write poorly, you may not be admitted into college. A personal statement is also a good way for how students can explain their situation. If some things affect their grades inevitably, they can defend their reasons for the situation.

The reasons of the students for applying to the school will also be made known through their personal statement. The university will understand why will they want to take a certain course. They can express their sincere desire to enter the university where they aspired to be. The university will also see their excitement of getting into college. The personal statement can be a great start for the university and the student. The university will start to know the student. It will be a good way of the start of the journey of the students in the university. So, in your personal statement, you can share all your aspirations and how you want to conquer all the challenges that you think you may have in college.

Tips on Personal Statement

Are you looking for personal statement examples? Do you need it because you are needing some tips that you can use in writing? Well, this post can help you. We have provided you with some tips that you can use in writing a personal statement. Have the following tips:

Make a Plan: Planning for the personal statement will be a good thing. You should plan for it so that you can have a good structure for your statement. You can have a better flow of statement. Planning ahead can also make you think of the best words to say in your statement. You can think of the best idea that you can use. If ever there is something important that you can say, you can surely include it. You will not forget a single thing that is necessary for you to write. So, plan your personal statement for it to be perfect. You may not find the best things that you can say unless you plan for your statement. Planning can make you create the greatest statement you can ever have.State Your Professional Ambitions: You should tell your aspirations in your personal statement. You can tell the university about all your dreams and ambitions. Letting the university know of your ambitions can make them eager to help you. If they will know that you want to achieve something, they can have the heart to make you get it through the university. Sharing your dreams is not a bad thing. You may never know if the university can take your side. The university is there to make people professionals. If you are aspiring for something big, you should tell the university. They will be glad to help students to attain great achievements.Mention Examples: In your personal statement, you need to cite examples. This will be a great thing because the university will understand you better. If you are applying for a scholarship, you can cite some scholars who have inspired you. By doing this, the university will see that you have great knowledge. It is better also to be definite in your personal statement. USA Today has said that it is a good strategy to use examples in the personal statement. Generalizations may not spark the interest of the readers. Showing some examples can make them interested in what you are talking about. You can also show great writing skills through this. Giving examples is one way how you can entertain your audience.Go with the Instructions: You must follow all the instructions for the personal statement. Everything will be nothing if you will not follow instructions. The committee will surely reject your statement if they will notice that you did not follow the instructions. Even if your statement is so great. By following instructions, you can show the university that you are a good student. They will know your obedience and it is a sign that you are capable of finishing your courses. Not following instructions is not good. You will have a bad reputation in the eyes of the school committee and your application may not be accepted. If you want to be sure of your personal statement, you should follow instructions so that your efforts will not be wasted.Avoid Risks: You must avoid any risks at all costs. You should ensure that your personal statement is acceptable. You should not add humor or jokes to your personal statement. By adding a joke, you may disappoint the committee if they will not buy your joke. So, you must be professional in your personal statement. Remember that you have to get the approval of the committee. So, you have to be sure about everything. Do not use a format that can be risky to use, too. Use conventional format so you can be sure that your statement will be accepted. Avoid any risk that may make the university reject your statement.Use Professional Language: You must use good language in your personal statement. Be professional in everything that you have to say. If you will not use a professional language, the committee will think that you are not suited for their school. You have to be professional to make them see that you are qualified to be a college student. You have to start with professionalism even with your personal statement. This is one way to prove to the university that you can be a student that they can be proud of.Write Multiple Drafts: You can write multiple drafts to choose among them the best. If you can have many drafts, you will have the option to choose among many things that you can think to say. You can choose the best that you will think will best impress the committee. Comparing the drafts, you can create the best personal statement with a great overall description of your aspirations and experiences. You can eliminate what seems inferior with your writing. You can only include the best things. It will be good that you will have drafts to compare. You can be sure that your writing will have great elements.Offer Moderate Praise: In telling why you have chosen the university, do not overpraise the university. Praise the university with moderation. Praising the university too much may be distasteful for the university. They may think that you are not sincere. Just tell a few things about why you think that the university is great. You can tell how you think they can help you with your future plans. Mention the strengths of the school in a good way. Do not overdo everything. The university may not approve of too much praising. Just be polite in telling why you like the university. Make the praise moderate.State Qualifications Clearly: You need to state your qualifications in your personal statement. But be sure to state them clearly. You must mention your past research projects. Include how you excel in academics. Enumerate all your achievements. Give exact identifications to each one of them. But you have to use a good tone in telling your accomplishments. You should not sound arrogant. So, politely tell your achievements.Read Aloud Many Times: When you are writing, you may not notice mistakes in your personal statement. To check your mistakes, you should read your personal statement aloud many times. Through this, you can check all your errors. You will know if there is no cohesion between your paragraphs. Thus, you can make your personal statement better.Make Someone Proofread Your Statement: Proofreading your personal statement may not be enough. Sometimes, you will not notice your mistakes. To be sure that your personal statement will be perfect, you must check it with the help of your friends and family. Make them proofread your personal statement. They can help you to eliminate your mistakes and make your personal statement perfect.

How to Write a Personal Statement

Do you need a personal statement template? Are you going to create a personal statement? If you need some steps that you can use in writing your personal statement, we can offer you the following steps:

1. Start to Be Personal

Remember that it is a “personal” statement. You have to tell your personal story. You should share about your journey. What has brought you to the university? What makes you want to study in it? What are the stories behind your achievements? You have to make a description of the things that are personal about you.

2. Speak of Who You Are

The university has to know who you are. So, you must describe yourself. Make an introduction to the things about you. There is no wrong tone for this. Just represent yourself. You do not have to show off. Just be sure that the university will have an idea about your character.

3. Consider Your Audience

In writing your personal statement, you have to ensure that your audience will have to be impressed with it. You have to consider them in your writing. Think of the things that you want to relay with them.  Will they align with the culture of the school? How can you support the mission statement of the school? You have to ascertain that the audience will like your personal statement.

4. Share a Story

You should tell a story in your personal statement. Include an anecdote. Then tell why the anecdote is important to you. Then connect the story on why you want to study at the university. Include the information about why you want to study in that school. Be specific about why you are interested to study at their school.

5. Hit the Length

You should follow the required length of the personal statement. Be sure that you can hit the length. The usual length of a personal statement is 500 words. Though some may require to have a statement of 600-650 words.

6. Edit Your Statement

After you have written your personal statement, you should edit it. Be sure that you have written everything that you want to say. If you think that it lacks something, you can add it to your personal statement. Be sure also that it has the required length. If it is more than the required length, you can edit it to be exact with the required length of the personal statement.

7. Submit Your Personal Statement

After you have edited your personal statement, you can read it a couple of times. This will be the final stage where you can proofread your statement. After you have ensured that there are no grammatical errors in your statement, then you will know that your personal statement is ready. You can hit the “submit” button in your application. Then wait for the response of the university.

FAQs

Why is a personal statement important?

A personal statement will reveal the character of a student. It can make the university see if they are qualified to be a student in their school.

How many characters is a personal statement?

A personal statement is usually 4000 characters long. This is the length of the personal statement which you have to make an outstanding piece.

A great personal statement can make you enter a university. If you can impress the school committee with your statement, your application can be accepted. So, you have to be great at writing a personal statement. Well, do you need a template for a personal statement? This post has 20+ SAMPLE Personal Statement in PDF | MS Word. They can help you to create the best personal statement. Wait no more. Download now!