39+ Sample Personal Statements

What is a Personal Statement?

A Personal Statement is an essay that is made for college admission applications and scholarship grants, it explains why you should achieve what you are aiming for. It is explaining who you are. What you stand for. What you believe in; to get others to believe in you too. A college admission nor a college scholarship isn’t something to take for granted; as only those chosen as eligible by completing all the requirements such as tuition payment and grading quotas get accepted. It comes with personal integrity. Opportunity to get ahead and facilitate your dreams. According to the standards of the university. Ensure you’re well-equipped to compose a personal statement.

Using a Personal Statement for a Scholarship

A Personal Statement for scholarship applications: Show that your hard-earned success would fit the criteria for you to stand out amidst the competitive roster for scholarships. There are three factors that determine a scholarship grant: GPA, Letters of Recommendation, Your Personal Statement. Despite being documents that are descriptive of who you are academically, your work ethic, and as a potential candidate–it is said that the contents of your Personal Statement hold the most impact. Aside from presenting yourself as a good candidate with your academic record, you can make your application worthy of their attention by making it impressive enough to focus their interest.

1.) Briefly describe why you need this scholarship.

2.) Let them know why you are deserving of the scholarship, and what you will do to work towards what it entails. How does it fit into your long-term goals?

3.) Pattern your essay’s content to the scholarship grantor’s goals.

4.) The career goals you plan to undertake, which make your profile suitable for that particular scholarship.

Characteristics of a Personal Statement

Writing about yourself is exactly what a Personal Statement Essay requires you to do. It’s not all that easy. You will be reminiscing and going back to the days that made you the person with the goals of today. This isn’t a logical nor technical exam, it’s a piece of writing that narrates the best-selling you in order to capture the attention of an employer, a university head, or a scholarship grantor. The trick is to get up and get going–into reliving all those memories of your accomplishments in your past, and let them shine in a Personal Statement Essay.

1.) Be honest, but clear and concise.

You will always have to remember to be honest–as it isn’t someone else entering the gates of your desired college, university, or even workplace. As a personal statement is essentially a narration of why you have the strength to succeed, you must step up to the plate and be as genuine as possible–be yourself. All in all, your talents,  skills, and passion to succeed have your back.

2.) Precise and Complete

You must make sure beforehand that you get all the facts and info right–from who? From yourself, of course. Look back at your educational and professional documents, those certifications from seminars; and take a peek through your journals or any written documentation that you presently use. Get a reminder of who you are at this stage of your life, what you are working towards, and what you want to become. You can also ask outside sources such as those who have helped you on your journey to achieve what you have and are.

3.) Let your strengths shine through

Hold onto that optimism that drives the hope behind the possibility of you getting a chance to enter whatever institution this Personal Statement is addressed to. As far as the Psychology of words goes, you will have a far greater chance of entering that desired university or workplace if you use positive keywords. Keep it positive by avoiding words that negate your positive qualities. You failed, but you’re better for trying even harder. If you’ve failed in one thing, you may have directed anger at yourself for a long time, but highlight how you dug yourself out of it and saw the light at the end of the tunnel again. Be it written or spoken, words reflect who you are. If you are aiming for the best possible chance of a slot for your dreams, you might want to show them the best possible side of yourself—what kind of ambitious—yet imperfect individual they will be employing or admitting.

4.) Self-Representation

You will also give your prospective career superiors an idea of how you express yourself as a person. Your tone of writing will be evident, your optimism, and even how passionate you really are towards this project or goal you are working for—even without you articulating it. You are the subject of the Personal Statement. Give your best self-representation. Make sure to infuse self-confidence to let your self-determination shine through.

5.) Resonance

Make sure your Personal Statement Essay forms a connection to its reader by making them resonate with it. Since you are writing a personal essay, it helps to be honest and direct with your experience. You aren’t going to get through the heart of it if you just make a laundry list of what you’ve achieved and how many medals you’ve earned; it takes being honest about the experiences you went through and how they shaped you. How the failures have molded you into the strong person you are, asking for their consideration. As loyola.edu said, an essay that reads like a resume of accomplishments and goals tells the reader nothing that they could not glean from the rest of the application. It reveals little about the candidate and is a wasted opportunity.

6.) Coordination

It becomes difficult to get your goal or point across when you have too many topics of interest in mind. Being that Personal Statements do not exactly have a particular format, it can lead to writing in freehand. One second, you’re talking about your educational history, and the next, you’re talking about your grandmother. It’s alright to fuse topics and several important people in our lives, but make sure that the topics have associations with each other. A Personal Statement must complement the other parts of your application such as the forms that you answer.

How To Write a Personal Statement

1.) List down your goals

What are you really going for? Make sure that this will be a great stepping stone in your career. Have you thought it through and analyzed if its benefits fit in with your plans for the future? If yes, then you’re all set. Having awareness of the goals that you want to run to give you a better chance of being led to the finish line. Your goals help you define the direction of where you want to go, and once you get a sense of your goals’ purpose, then you have your why–and now you can focus on the how.

2.) Self-Representation

You will also give your prospective career superiors an idea of how you express yourself as a person. Your tone of writing will be evident, your optimism, and even how passionate you really are towards this project or goal you are working for—even without you articulating it. You are the subject of the Personal Statement. Give your best self-representation. Make sure to infuse self-confidence to let your self-determination shine through.

3.) Personal History

Craft a story of where you are today—where your achievements have taken you, and where you wish to go. Write your own personal success story; no matter how little. No matter how understated. No matter how far off it took you off the path and steered you away from the status quo. Write a story about what is important to who you are—today.

4.) Properly address your audience

Review to who you will send your personal essay. If you are taking a chance on getting admitted to the AB Journalism program of your university, you might want to express what research you’ve done on the school’s culture and how it would be a good fit for you. Express your interest in the major and why you would like to make a name for yourself during your time there. How your portfolio and the sample writings you’ve pieced together can benefit their department. The media professionals that inspire you and magazines you look forward to working with after they grant you a slot. If you are addressing it to your potential scholarship grantor, how can you show them that you properly align with their cause? Since they are going to give you a huge career boost—make the big gesture beforehand. Make sure that these align with your goals and commit to them. And most importantly, show gratitude. It will show that you value their time and cause—even if they haven’t begun to admit you yet.

5.) Core Values

It makes sense to let your seniors know what your core values are. Apart from you doing your own research on their background, do they match yours? Will this endeavor really be right for you in the long run?

If you’ve got your goals in a list, your future in your mind, and the drive to push through new career heights—then what can we say, you’re all ready to write your very own Personal Statement. Don’t be shy. This is your chance. It’s right in front of you and you are about to hand it over to the right person’s hands.