Let’s see: you want to apply to the university (or to any other kind of educational institution), and among all the necessary things to do, there is an effective personal statement writing task. And, even though it may seem to be an easy job, you do realize that it should be done professionally. And this is our guide’s mission — to let you know how to write an amazing personal statement. With us, you will easily learn how it’s done.
Personal Statement Definition
First of all, it has to be clear to you what the personal statement actually is. Precisely speaking, it is an essay, which is needed to check the author’s personal writing skills and overall education level. The educational institutions demand such statements, also known as application essays, to be sure that their authors, who strive to become students, are able to learn successfully and participate in all aspects of the forthcoming educational activities.
So, it is quite obvious that personal statements are pretty important and should be done right. That is why we are eager to share the secrets of excellence with you.
The Structure of Personal Statement
Let’s begin with defining the approximate structure of a personal statement. This will help you understand where to begin and what to include in your paper. Just keep on reading our article if you want to know how to write a great personal statement! That’ll be easy, just remember to include everything in the right order.
The opening sentences
This is the very first thing the examiner will read. So it is obviously essential to begin your essay with a brief and hook introduction. There you tell readers who you are, why you want to study, and why you are able to withstand the educational process. All the most important information about yourself, your strengths, and your skills should be present at the beginning of your personal statement.
What may not be obvious here is the fact that you have to make readers interested in knowing you better. You should unravel every positive trait and every set of skills that can lead you to success. In the opening section of your application essay, it is necessary to include everything about you that will exalt you in the eyes of the people who will read it.
The experience section
After the opening section, you have to point out your experience level in the field of your future studies. Sounds weird, but it basically means that if you want to study law, for example, you should prove that you are fluent in history, and so on. If it is about getting an additional degree, you just need to outline your overall experience in what you have studied to get your bachelor’s degree and also your practical experience.
When you are already working in the field of your future studies, you also have to cite the professional experience you got. If the commission sees that you did really work hard to become a better version of yourself, they will definitely let you try your luck in that.
The summary of your professional objectives
You should write a brief summary of the professional, scientific, and academic goals you hope to reach in the process of your education to end your personal statement the right way. Your hopes and dreams have to be described in a stately and reserved manner, so you will look completely sure about your future success. That’s what makes a good personal statement.
Check everything you wrote before the summary to be sure there will be no contradictions; also don’t forget to point out the overall usefulness of your studying objectives to other people and the world around. Your essay should describe you as a strong, willful, and courageous person that is eager to get to the top against all odds. This is necessary to remember if you want to know how to write a strong personal statement.
Word Counting
When it comes to defining the overall size of your application essay, you have to base it on the academic task you are about to fulfill. In simple words, if you want to get a master’s degree at the university, your essay should be no less than 450 words and should contain more than just facts about your past — such a paper should prove that you are the best of the best and will change the world to make it a better place to live. Among any existing tips on writing a personal statement, you will find the same advice.
All your skills and talents should be included in your application essay if you want it to be good. The amount of words used relies completely on the task you are about to undertake. When the institution you are applying to doesn’t demand a lot from you as from a specialist, your statement should be brief and neat.
In the case of a job application, your statement should outline and summarize your experience and the professional tasks you have completed successfully. This is the case when the statement also must be brief since the HR specialists actually look for the information that proves the high quality of your working skills. Any other unnecessary personal information may work against you when you apply for a job.
So, these personal statement guidelines are there for you to learn how to make everything right.
Doing It Right
There are things that can make the process of writing an application essay a lot easier, and will also lead you to a better result. We will gladly share the secrets with you since we like when our readers get applied successfully to where they want to study. Here are some tips for writing a personal statement.
Don’t be hasty
Give yourself enough time to write your application essay. It takes longer than expected to gather all the information you need and to compile it into a good and readable statement. Always remember that you have more than just tell about yourself — your task is to make other people believe your words and trust you. It’s always difficult to decide what to write in personal statements, but this job should be done well.
You need to accurately point out all your talents, all your accomplishments, all your valuable skills, and what you are eager to do to make the world a better place. About making the world a better place: it basically means that if you apply to an educational institution you have to admit that you will use your knowledge to benefit the people of your state.
It is also essential to thoroughly check your application essay when it’s done — and it’s also rather a time-consuming thing to do. That is why you need more than just a couple of hours before bed to write it. Be ready to spend a day at least writing a good personal statement.
Keep it simple
Do you know what to write for a personal statement? Your application essay should be easy to read and understand. No matter who will read it to know you better, the difficult and rare words will not play in your favor. Strong personal statements need to be informative, brief, and clear. That is why you have to avoid wasting your time and words describing any unnecessary details.
Keep every sentence relatively short and use only the words that everyone knows. Readability sometimes can define the overall success of your application essay, since it makes the first impression, and if an examiner, for example, will have to dig the important information about you out of countless sophisticated sentences, they might just end up getting bored. And that will mean that your statement won’t be defined as the best, compared to others.
Do not try to write too smartly. Write in an easy and friendly manner, and avoid difficult words and very long sentences, that’s a pretty simple thing to remember.
Be yourself
You are unique. Thus, when it comes to describing your personal traits, talents, skills, and accomplishments you have to avoid using phrases and cliches that can make you indistinguishable from others. Everything you can say about yourself should sound like it’s you who does the speaking, not some generic person with a set of generic traits and such. Writing a great personal statement is hard but also very rewarding job.
Don’t be afraid to point out your talents. Don’t be afraid to define your strengths and advantages that differentiate you from the others. Your main goal is to prove that you are better than the rest and ready for a long and successful academic path. Knowing our tips for writing personal statements you will surely succeed.
A Friendly Example
There we have an example of a well-written application essay. Since you now understand how to write a good personal statement yourself, but just in case you need an example of what a personal statement should look like — feel free to explore and use it for your future essay-writing efforts. We hope our personal statement tips will be useful to you.
Computers have changed the way we do almost everything. From how we communicate, to how we shop and even how we learn, technology has revolutionized our lives in so many ways. I am particularly interested in using computers to benefit education, which is why I am applying to study at your university.
With a degree in computer science, I will be able to make an impact on the world of education by developing new software and applications that can help people learn more effectively. From interactive programs that teach basic concepts such as language and math, to educational games that make learning fun and engaging for students of all ages, there are so many possibilities for what one could create with the right kind of knowledge and expertise. With a passion for programming and a love for helping others learn, it would be an honor for me to join your university’s computer science program and use my skills to help shape the future of education.
My experience with coding began when I was in high school. I took an after-school class on web design and quickly developed a fascination with it. After completing the course, I started exploring beyond what I had learned in class by creating my own websites from scratch. This led me to discover many other languages such as HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, PHP, Python, and others. As I continued learning more about web development, it wasn’t long before I was able to build apps too. My dedication to this craft has been growing ever since then.
Not only do I have experience working with coding but also with teaching it as well. During my second year of college, I became a part-time tutor at a local community center where I taught elementary-aged children fundamental coding principles through fun projects like building their own simple websites or creating basic games using Scratch software by MIT Media Lab. Seeing the smiles on their faces when they were able to successfully build something they could call their own made me realize the true potential of technology – not only can it give us access to unlimited information but it can also bring out creativity from within us like nothing else has ever done before!
I am confident that with your help, together we can create something great – something that will revolutionize the way people learn forever! Please consider me as an applicant for your esteemed university’s computer science program – because together we can change lives!”
Now you know how to write an effective personal statement. Godspeed!