4 tips to help you write a compelling personal statement for graduate school

It's the moment you've been waiting for. You're ready to start applying for graduate school.

You've done your research on the best schools in your field, you asked your professors to write letters of recommendation for you, you received high scores on the GRE, and your CV is ready to be sent!

Only one thing left to do: finish up your applications.

As you sit in front of the computer, you look at the screen, where you see this prompt:

"Please write a personal statement describing yourself to the admissions committee."

After staring at that computer screen for a long period of time, you may be wondering, "Why am I being asked to do this?!"

Graduate applicants are asked to write a personal statement for the following reasons, including:

1. To get to know the person (you) behind the application, exclusive of GPA (grade point average) and other academic qualifications.

2. To make your case as to why you should be admitted to their program.

   

Some graduate school applications ask you to write either a Personal Statement or a Statement of Purpose, while other graduate school applications ask you to write both!

So, what are the differences between these two forms of statements?

A Statement of Purpose:

• Why you want to attend graduate school

• Focuses on career and research goals

• How you are academically prepared for graduate school (classes, papers, conferences)

A Personal Statement:

• Who you are as a person

• Focuses on personal goals

• How your personal experiences prepared you for graduate school (volunteering, hardships)

Now that you know what a personal statement is and why you are being asked to write one, let's learn the 4 tips for writing a personal statement to get you into the school of your dreams!

1. Read the directions

2. Brainstorm

3. Build a theme

4. Mind your tone

You need to know what you're writing about!

Some schools provide you specific prompts and questions to answer, while other schools provide word limits on how long your personal statement should be.

Reading the directions will help you make sure you're on the right track and help you customize your personal statement to what the committee wants to read!

Although tempting, you can't write about every personal experience! It's best to focus on 2-3 key pivotal moments.

Do the following:

• Take out a piece of paper.

• Time yourself for 10 minutes and write down every personal experience that comes to mind. USCOnline has a list of questions that you may want to look at.

• Circle 2-3 topics you can write about.

  Photo by Per Lööv on Unsplash

You've narrowed down your topics, and now you can start writing!

Try to build a specific and clear theme that can drive the personal statement forward.

For instance, if your love of science came from visiting a science museum as a child, talk about how that love of science has impacted you in your life and life choices!

Sometimes we can disclose very personal topics in personal statements, but you want to make sure that you remain professional.

As Becca Van Sembeck from USCOnline reminds us, you SHOULD NOT:

• Overshare

• Reveal too personal or intimate details

• Make sexist or racist comments

• Use jokes that can be misinterpreted

Take a look at some examples of personal statements and see how they follow the four tips described.

Ready to write? Follow these steps to write your personal statement for your dream school: