a personal statement writing

a personal statement writing

Mastering the Art of Personal Statement Writing: A Comprehensive Guide

1. Introduction to Personal Statements

A personal statement is a 400 to 800-word document that acts as a written account of a person’s experiences, dreams, and career aspirations. It is a form of narrative that is almost always used to accompany a person’s application to a college, university, scholarship, internship, or job. This application material is written by the applicant him/herself and plays a profound role in influencing a reviewer’s decision when it comes to said application. Warm, genuine, and unimposing personal statements allow a reviewer a closer look at how the applicant handles their own narrative, the moments or experiences they most treasure in their lives, and the ways they are capable of melding their fully realized selves to an often pre-existing space or opportunity. All in all, the personal statement is a necessary skill to master when constructing applications to the aforementioned because a personal statement serves as the gateway for deeper relationships and connections to form between the applicant and the applicant’s reviewers.

Personal statements vary in importance and prompt across the numerous applications an individual may stumble upon in their lives. For example, personal statements in college applications might be a significant determinant on whether or not you will receive admittance into said college. Personal statements for a college transfer require a marker to see whether or not you have demonstrated enough life experience and growth in being a part of another university. In job applications, these pieces of writing allow a company to see what other companies you have worked for, what values you hold and how your work is informed by those values.

2. Understanding the Purpose and Importance

Writing personal statements is indeed a challenge. Thus, as a good rule of thumb, it is important to allocate enough time for this task. This is possible if personal statements are started as early as possible and written over several days or weeks. This will provide time for reflection and several revisions. Yet, this guide is intended to help writers make the universe of writing personal statement a more manageable one.

There is no doubt that writing personal statements is time consuming and stressful. One important question is: are they really worth the time and stress? The answer is certainly “yes”. At a broader level, everybody writes that “it is important to dedicate time and effort to craft a good personal statement”. But, why? Well, personal statements are written for people who want to apply for different types of positions. For instance, we write PhD personal statements when applying for a PhD position, resume and/or curriculum vitae (CV) when applying for any job, teaching statement when applying for academic positions, and the Personal Statement for medical residency application. This list could go on for and on. As such, personal statements are used to communicate to the reader the key reason one should be interested in a position and make them remember the candidate in a favorable way.

3. Crafting a Compelling Narrative

We all know that the purpose of a personal statement is to tell your reader something about you that your transcript and list of accomplishments cannot. The statement should touch on intellectual and personal experiences that have shaped your decision to become a professional psychologist. Topics that are afforded such interpretation are those that were important to you, not simply which jobs you have held or why you want to be a psychologist, nor a personal history that does not relate to your desire to become a psychologist. One of the most important things you can do with your statement is to tell a really nice story. We are better able to interpret and store meaning from a list of facts when they are presented in some coherent narrative arrangement.

Narrative gives meaning to the facts and figures we encounter by enabling us to provide a beginning, middle, and end. Narrative is composed of a causal progression of the events, characters, and ideas of the story. Fluent narrative writing provides readers with the necessary context and cues they need to understand how each fact and detail flow together. Providing an interpretation, an insight, a revelation that is made possible by the series of events is also a primary consideration when crafting one’s statement. Most everything you write that requires you to present and defend an argument has a narrative element. Even if you have an assignment that directs you to list facts and not make a series of statements, you’re still fashioning a narrative. This should not be a newsflash, though for some people, it may be revelatory that they’ve been writing narratives for the whole of their careers. This is an aids discussing a way to approach constructing a compelling and meaningful narrative.

4. Showcasing Your Unique Qualities and Experiences

Your personal statement is one of the most important aspects of your application! It is here where you can sing your own praises. You will definitely want to have someone else read the personal statement after you have written it to see if the representation they compile matches your perception of what you wanted to get across. Also, make sure that you will be able to meet any claims that you make. By that, I mean, don’t say that you have done a wide range of clinical work if you haven’t. Likewise, clients should be sure that they can back up their claims for what are unique qualities or experiences. Students should not just give a stream-of-consciousness narrative of a good experience that they had but should dissect why it held personal significance.

People reading applications know that there is a significant amount of overlap and that a lot of students have accomplished a great deal. These days, it is much more challenging to get into graduate programs. However, if they have unique experiences or qualities, that will highlight their personal statement. Imagine an underserved, rural healthcare community where all of the patients have attended services and have only seen one doctor there, and then two weeks later, the doctors leaving that town to go to the other underserved town. They need to see how you are unique to make you interesting and desirable. Personality: Good personal statements emphasize their positive attributes; prove that they truly are good caregivers. Personality traits and abilities: Many students underestimate the significance of interpersonal skills. A personal statement should illustrate these to the school. Family: Schools are interested in a sense of family and a commitment to your family.

5. Structuring and Editing for Impact

If you have prioritized the right details and have gathered them in a draft, you will now have to focus on two things: structuring your piece and editing it for conciseness and impact. Make sure that once structured, your essay still makes sense and that your writing maintains coherence.

Structure There are no hard and fast rules about how best to structure a personal statement, but there are some conventional elements that could help you plot a beginning, middle, and end: your interest in your field; experience in your field; a plan for your future. This structure may seem tenuous, but when planning the relevant content of each paragraph, a clear structure should present itself. It is crucial that as you make this plan, the central motifs and relevant experiences are explained and analyzed—any evidence needs to be framed or ‘signposted’.

Editing It is useful to view personal statements as reality checks. The scrutinizing eyes of the admissions tutors will be on your work; make sure it’s human. Does your introduction capture the reader’s attention? Do your paragraphs link together? Is your conclusion or future purchase simple for the reader to find having read your entire personal statement? Are there little explanations and signposts for the reader so that they can follow you? Nothing in the piece should be a mystery; sell yourself, but make it clear and simple. This will require redrafting. Try to be as economical with your writing as possible. Use punctuation and division of the statement into paragraphs to make key points stand out; bullet points are not needed. For the sake of fluency, essays are a preferred method of communication for the admissions tutors who will be grading your entrance essays, so delete any bullet points from your editing. Finally, check for spelling and grammar errors. This is your final submission. Meticulous editing is paramount, but this should not be the primary purpose of your statement.