Personal Statement

What Is a Personal Statement?

Graduate and professional schools often require a written statement as part of the application process. Some require specific information while others use an unstructured format that allows the applicant to determine the focus. Schools/programs will ask you to submit a one- or two-page document (sometimes with a character limit) in an essay format, rather than a business letter format (which reflects a key difference between a personal statement and a letter of intent). Personal statements include several paragraphs about experiences and interests that led you to pursuing a professional field, how the organization’s focus will help you achieve your personal and professional goals, how your skills and experiences have prepared you to succeed in the program, and how the program fits with your long-term professional goals.

Graduate and professional schools are interested in learning the following:

• Why are you interested in graduate study?
• What area(s) of study do you want to specialize in?
• What is your intended future use of your graduate study?
• What unique skills, extracurricular experience, and/or academic background led you to this field and program and make you a good fit for it?
• Why do you wish to attend this specific school?

General Tips

• Before writing a personal statement, take time to think about why you are interested in graduate and professional school.
• Emphasize everything from a positive perspective and use specific examples. If your resume or transcript contains a potential weakness, acknowledge it as a past difficulty and then succinctly explain how you are working to strengthen the deficient area or how you have overcome the obstacle. This shows self-reflection and work ethic.
• Research the program/school in advance and reference this research when writing your statement.
• Provide concise and relevant answers to specific questions. An ideal essay is approximately 500 to 1000 well-selected words (one to two single spaced pages in 11- or 12-point font), unless the school/program lists other specific requirements.
• Maintain cohesion between paragraphs. If you have an anecdote at the beginning, be sure to return to it later in the essay to connect your background’s relevance to the opportunity you seek.
• While personal stories may be engaging, the document’s overall purpose is to demonstrate why you are a good fit for the opportunity you seek. By the end of the first paragraph, you should have stated your argument for why you are an excellent candidate and mentioned the school or desired position by name.
• Be an individual. Admissions committees read many essays. What makes you different from all the others who are applying to the same program? Avoid simply repeating all the information in your resume and transcript. The goal of the personal essay is to tell the application reviewer more about yourself as a person, so take the time to relate experiences.
• Don’t self-proclaim. Rather than saying you are smart, savvy, a leader, and so forth,
• show the committee that you are smart and savvy by giving examples of how you’ve applied key strengths or attributes to positive effect.
• Avoid phrases like “This internship will give me …,” which implies passivity. Instead, demonstrate how, by actively seeking ways to enhance your skills, you will fit in well with the school/program and be set up to reach your professional goals.
• Also avoid passive voice, slang, controversial topics, plagiarism, repetitiveness, and gimmicks.
• Have your personal statement reviewed by a career advisor and/or faculty member before sending it.