Personal statement for colleges: structure and recommendations

When applying to many colleges and universities, a correctly composed personal statement is half the success. It will demonstrate the applicant’s strengths and make the commission interested in him. A boring message, full of clichés and empty phrases, on the contrary, will hopelessly ruin the reputation of a future student. The recommendations in this article will be useful to you.

Purpose of personal statement

Personal statement is a document that must demonstrate the applicant’s motivation, determination, and readiness to achieve success. The letter has a rough structure, but the presentation format can be free. The personal statement should convince the admissions committee that you have good potential and are a suitable candidate for a place in the faculty or department.

Structure of a personal statement

Educational institutions are very attentive to the epistolary genre. At the beginning of any letter, polite addresses to the addressee listing his academic degrees and titles are welcome. At the end of the letter, you must indicate the date and place of its writing.

Introduction

Personal statement needs a strong start. It is very important that your essay is simple, clear, and engaging. Write about your interest in attending a specific college, but be sure to illustrate your interest with specific real-life examples.

In your introduction, try to answer the following questions:

• Who are you? What environment did you grow up in that influenced your personality?
• Why are you interested in this specialty?
• What influenced your choice?
• What incident made you think about this profession?
• What have you done or are planning to do to get into college?
• How do you see your future?

Formulate your thoughts clearly and meaningfully. Be sincere, don’t be deceitful.

Main part

This is where you should explain why you chose this particular college. Remember everything you have learned about college and convincingly tell the commission that you are created to study there. Emphasize your positive character traits and skills that may be useful during your major or are especially valued by the college. If you played sports professionally in school, write about how it shaped your character and taught you how to overcome adversity. Describe your work experience (even if you think it is minor).

Remember: one paragraph – one topic. Avoid long, convoluted sentences, cliched phrases, and generalizations. You are a unique individual, and you must show this to the admissions committee. Be mindful of language and style, but don’t over-complicate your expressions.

Forget about colloquialisms, jokes, and jargon. The style of a personal statement should be neutral. Write about your future plans, dreams, and goals. Explain your motivation, be open and optimistic: don’t just say, “I dream of becoming a journalist so I can tell people the truth.” Mention stories and reporters that struck you, give an example of a story you would like to write, and explain why. The ability to see the future and make plans is highly valued in the modern world.

Conclusion

In this section, the emphasis lies on articulating why the applicant is an optimal candidate and outlining their aspirations for the training. A personal statement should refrain from excessive praise towards the institution or specific educators, as the sincere commitment to pursuing education suffices. It is imperative to underscore program aspects perceived as instrumental in fostering professional excellence. 

The personal statement’s purpose is to persuade educators of the applicant’s potential contribution to the college’s development, as distinguished graduates who evolve into highly skilled specialists are a source of pride. Concluding the letter with gratitude towards the committee for their time and consideration is fitting.

How to write a personal statement without errors

Year after year, applicants make the same mistakes when preparing personal statements and lose their chances of admission.

We have collected the top 10 mistakes that students make when writing a personal statement:

1. One letter for all educational institutions. Each college has its own characteristics that you need to consider before applying. In one, your sporting achievements will be assessed, in the other, your socially useful activities. Take your time and create a unique personal statement. Don’t forget that teachers from different higher schools may know each other and, in informal conversations, share their impressions about the personal statements of applicants.
2. Duplication of information. Do not repeat in your personal statement what you have already written about in your resume or email to a specific teacher. Try to showcase different sides of your personality.
3. Boring text. Work on presenting information. Text that “catches” is remembered better. At the same time, do not overdo it with originality or emotions: the tone of the personal statement should not be boastful but respectful and restrained.
4. Lack of structure. Structured text is always better perceived. Break the text into paragraphs, do not forget about the introduction, and include key ideas in it. It’s good to use a list and highlight important points in bold. Remember that teachers will have to read more than a dozen personal statements, and your unfinished text canvas may be put aside and forgotten about.
5. Lie. Make sure that everything you write is true: it will be awkward if, during the oral interview, it turns out that you appropriated other people’s achievements or made up tall tales. There is no need to exaggerate: for example, if you do not speak French well, you should not lie about the opposite. It is better to attach a recommendation from your teacher with whom you are learning this language to your personal statement.
6. Volume. Too long a text is tiring to read (see above about dozens of similar messages). Look through the examples of personal statements and try to fit them into one sheet. Pay attention to the college’s formal requirements when formatting your letter (font, size, line spacing).
7. Excessive modesty. Sometimes, talented and smart people miss out on the chance to go to the college of their dreams because they are embarrassed to describe their own achievements or do not attach importance to their personal qualities. Healthy self-criticism is necessary, but in a personal statement, you need to evaluate and present your abilities and achievements correctly.
8. Sloppiness. Don’t forget to check your personal statement before sending it. Spelling, punctuation, and stylistic errors hopelessly spoil the impression of even a meaningful text. Have the letter reviewed by a professional who is fluent in the language and knows the formatting requirements.
9. Lack of meticulousness. Contact students already enrolled in your chosen major and faculty representatives. Find out which teachers you will work with if you are admitted, select the department and professor whom you most want to study with. Write about it in a personal statement: mention your interest in the academic achievements of a particular teacher and the prospects of working with him. If you want to participate in his scientific or creative project, try to articulate how your contribution will be useful.
10. Failure to meet deadlines. It’s trite but true: you can create the perfect personal statement and send it on time. Therefore, the first and most important step in the process of preparing for admission is to make a list of higher schools where you are trying to enter, deadlines for submitting important documents, and dates for entrance exams.

What should you do before sending a personal statement?

Try to write a personal statement in advance. Set it aside for a few days, then return to the text, re-read it with fresh eyes, and check whether your opus meets the following requirements:

1. Personal statement meets all formal college requirements.
2. There are no banal, cliched phrases in the text.
3. Your story sounds unique and creates exactly the impression you want to make.
4. The text does not contain logical, stylistic, grammatical, punctuation, or other errors or inaccuracies.
5. The personal statement matches your goals and objectives.
6. In this personal statement, you demonstrated all the skills, abilities, and successes that you need to be admitted to Faculty Y.
7. The introduction immediately makes it clear that it is worth spending 5-10 minutes of precious time carefully reading the letter.
8. After reading the personal statement, it is clear what kind of person you are and why you want to go to college X and study at faculty Y with Professor Z.