What is a Personal statement?
A personal statement supports your application to study at a university or college. It’s a chance for you to articulate why you’d like to study a particular course or subject, and what skills and experience you possess that show your passion for your chosen field.
What Should you write about?
You. You’re telling admissions staff why you’re suitable to study at their university or college.
How should you go about writing a personal statement?
- Look at course descriptions and identify the qualities, skills, and experience it requires – you can use these to help you decide what to write about.
- Tell the reader why you’re applying – include your ambitions, as well as what interests you about the subject, the course provider, and higher education.
- Think about what makes you suitable – this could be relevant experience, skills, or achievements you’ve gained from education, work, or other activities.
- Include clubs, societies, relevant work experience, skill-building programmes, summer schools, etc.
What are universities looking for?
Look through university websites and course descriptions. Try and find things that the places you’re applying to share in common. Try and tailor your personal statement to demonstrate those qualities. For example, let’s say you’re a management student looking at top-tier universities like LSE and Oxford. Take a look at the descriptions on the next page. What do these have in common (bold)? Where do they come apart (italics)?
LSE:
For this programme, we are looking for students who demonstrate the following characteristics, skills and attributes:
– an ability to think and work independently
– aptitude for future career in management
– an ability to follow complex lines of reasoning
– good communications skills and an ability to solve problems
– motivation and capacity for hard work and a willingness to work as part of a team
– an ability to develop and apply further quantitative skills
Oxford:
We are looking for candidates with an interest in and a motivation for studying the organisation of businesses and the economy; a capacity to construct and critically assess arguments; and a willingness and an ability to express their ideas clearly and effectively both on paper and orally. Successful candidates will also show independence and flexibility of thought and an ability to analyse and solve problems logically and critically. The interview is not primarily a test of existing knowledge and, in particular, is not a test of any economics or management studied previously.
The process:
1. Write out a list of qualities or make a mind map.
There are three main questions you need to answer in this personal statement:
Why do you want to study economics and management?
Why are you well-suited to a degree in economics and management?
What do you hope to get out of studying economics and management?
2. Plan out a structure.
The easiest way to structure your personal statement is as a story. By definition, every one of these has a beginning, middle, and an end.
Your introduction should sum up your answers to each of the questions in (1) in 3-4 sentences. It is important to make sure that your first line functions as a hook. This keeps the admissions officer interested.
It is important to demarcate your sections in the order in which your introduction deals with them.
Each paragraph should cover one point relevant to one of the questions put forth in (1). This helps for two reasons. First, it makes sure that your essay isn’t confused. Second, it allows you to have the freedom to cut paragraphs rather than individual words when editing.
Your conclusion is a reminder to the university of why you’re suitable, not a place for you to introduce new points.
3. Write without a word count.
You want to get all your ideas into your essay before you decide what to cut. Even if your first draft is 2,000 words long, cutting it down to about 600 is a lot easier than trying to fit 2,000 words worth of ideas into the same space.
4. Edit and redraft.
Only after you have finished writing as much as you want to should you begin editing. If you structure your essay appropriately, this will be the easiest part of the process. One of the best ways to edit is to pretend as if you’re an admissions officer; suspend your disbelief that you wrote what you’re reading and comment on it from an objective point of view.
5. Proofread.
Once you’ve got your personal statement down to a length you’re satisfied with, the proofreading process can begin. When proofreading, try to read the statement aloud (preferably to people). This slows you down to the point where you can identify mistakes, and also helps with listening to make sure that the sentences logically follow one another and make sense.
