PERSONAL STATEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
A personal statement, or a statement of purpose, is a brief and
focused essay about one's career or research goals, identified
means to achieve them, and accomplishments so far towards those
goals. It is frequently required for applicants to universities,
graduate schools, and professional schools in the United States
and many other countries. Often, a personal statement is used as
a yardstick to assess the capabilities of a prospective student
in terms of critical thinking, analytical abilities, interests,
aims, and aspirations. It is a good way for an applicant to
communicate with the admissions committee. Most admissions
committees look for a short, crisp and ideologically clear
personal statement. A personal statement is sometimes called a
graduate school essay, letter of intent, letter of intention,
statement of intent, statement of intention, statement of
interest, goals statement, personal narrative, application
letter, or application essay. The name can be just a name but
often it influences the content and length of the essay. Every
university has its own regulations, but most of the time it will
be 1 page.
GENERAL GUIDELINES
Though the requirements differ from application to application,
the purpose of this type of writing is to represent your goals,
experiences and qualifications in the best possible light, and to
demonstrate your writing ability. Your personal statement
introduces you to your potential employer or program director, so
it is essential that you allow yourself enough time to craft a
polished piece of writing. Your statement may include the reason
why you wish to study your chosen subject, your past study
experience related to your chosen subject, your related
employment experience, the reasons you wish to study in the
United States (or another country where the educational or
research institution you are applying to is located), your
ambitions, goals, and expectations, personal and other areas of
interest (hobbies, sports, social or leisure), any other
information which you feel will support your application.
PREPARATION FOR WRITING
Before you sit down to write, do some preparation in order to
avoid frustration during the actual writing process. Obtain
copies of documents such as transcripts, resumes and the
application form itself; keeping them in front of you will make
your job of writing much easier. Make a list of important pieces
of information, in particular the names and exact titles of your
former employers and supervisors, the titles of jobs you have
held, the companies you have worked for, the dates of appropriate
work or volunteer experiences, the duties you have performed,
etc. In this way, you will be able to refer to these materials
while writing your personal statement in order to include as many
specific details as possible.
ESSENTIALS
After you have collected and reviewed these materials, it is time
to start writing. The following is a list of concerns that
writers should keep in mind while writing a personal
statement.
ANSWER THE QUESTION:
A major problem for all writers can be the issue of actually
answering the question being asked. For example, an application
might want you to discuss the reason you are applying to a
particular program or company. If you spend your entire essay or
letter detailing your qualifications with no mention of what
attracted you to the company or department, your statement will
probably not be successful. To avoid this problem, read the
question or assignment carefully both as you prepare and again
just prior to writing. Keep the question in front of you as you
write, and refer to it often.
CONSIDER THE "I" PROBLEM:
This is a personal statement; using the first person pronoun "I"
is acceptable. Moldovan writers often feel rather self-conscious
about using first person excessively, either because they are
modest or because they have learned to avoid first and second
person ("you") in any type of formal writing. Yet in this type of
writing using first person is essential because it makes your
prose more lively. Using third person can result in a vague and
overly wordy essay. While starting every sentence with "I" is not
advisable, remember that you and your experiences are the subject
of the essay.
AVOID UNNECESSARY DUPLICATION:
Sometimes a writer has a tendency to repeat information in his or
her personal statement that is already included in other parts of
the application packet (resume, transcript, application form,
etc.). For example, it is not necessary to mention your exact GPA
(grade point average) or specific grades and course titles in
your personal statement. It is more efficient and more effective
to simply mention academic progress briefly (e.g., "I was on the
Dean's List" or "I have taken numerous courses in the field of
forestry") and then move on to discuss appropriate work or
volunteer experiences in more detail.
MAKE YOUR STATEMENT DISTINCTIVE:
Many writers want to make their personal statements unique or
distinctive in some way as a means of distinguishing their
application from the many others received by the company or
program. One way to do this is to include at least one detailed
example or anecdote that is specific to your own experience -
perhaps a description of an important family member or personal
moment that influenced your decision to pursue a particular
career or degree. This strategy makes your statement distinctive
and memorable.
KEEP IT BRIEF:
Usually, personal statements are limited to one typed page, so
write concisely while still being detailed. Making sure that each
paragraph is tightly focused on a single idea (one paragraph on
the strengths of the program, one on your research experience,
one on your extracurricular activities, etc.) helps keep the
essay from becoming too long. In addition, spending a little time
working on word choice by utilizing a dictionary and a thesaurus
and by including adjectives should result in less repetition and
more precise writing.
FORMAT
The requirements for personal statements differ, but generally a
personal statement includes certain information and can follow
the format presented below. Please note that these are only
guidelines and are not intended to stifle your creativity. Our
purpose in giving you these guidelines is to give you a sense of
direction in terms of the required content.
INTRODUCTION
Many personal statements begin with a catchy opening, often the
distinctive personal example mentioned earlier, as a way of
gaining the reader's attention. From there you can connect the
example to the actual program / position for which you are
applying. Mention the specific name of the program or company, as
well as the title of the position or degree you are seeking, in
the first paragraph.
BODY
Subsequent paragraphs should address any specific questions from
the application, which might deal with the strengths of the
program/position, your own qualifications, your compatibility
with the program/position, your long-term goals or some
combination thereof. Each paragraph should be focused and should
have a topic sentence that informs the reader of the paragraph's
emphasis. You need to remember, however, that the examples from
your experience must be relevant and should support your argument
about your qualifications. The body may contain the following
bits of information:
YOUR EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND:
In chronological order, mention all of your academic achievements
with the respective dates. Mention the medium of instruction in
school / college. Include those research projects, internships
and training undertaken during your period of study connected to
your proposed area of study. Mention your academic strengths,
highlighting achievements and receipt of any awards, rank and
scholarships in the relevant field if applicable. Explain shifts
in education interests, if any. If there is a similar course /
program available in Moldova, elaborate your reasons for not
wanting to enroll in it. Concrete and substantial links must be
established between your previous academic background and your
proposed course of study.
YOUR EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:
In case of relevant work experience, a connection must be
established with the proposed course of study. If you are working
with the family business, highlight the scope and application of
the proposed course of study in relation to the family's business
interests.
REASONS FOR TAKING THE PROPOSED COURSE OF STUDY:
Mention the actual reasons for taking the proposed course,
properly indicating your wish to specialize in the particular
field as applicable. Highlight the reasons for choosing the
United States (or another country where the educational or
research institution you are applying to is located) as well as
the particular institution of study.
CAREER GOALS:
Explain explicitly why you want to pursue your chosen course of
study (do include an outline of your course) in the institution
in the United States (or another country where the educational or
research institution you are applying to is located) and how it
will help you in your career pathways. This point is absolutely
essential and it must be explained very clearly. Mention your
career aspirations, both short-term and long-term, and how the
obtained qualification will help you achieve them. Also, mention
your plans upon your return to Moldova, whether you have a family
business to return to or if you wish to join a firm or set up a
business of your own. Please remember that your goals should be
concrete and realistic and based on sound inferences.
CONCLUSION
Tie together the various issues that you have raised in the
essay, and reiterate your interest in this specific program or
position. You might also mention how this job or degree is a step
toward your long-term goal(s). Conclude by requesting the
institution to admit you into the program of your choice. Do not
forget to date and sign your statement.
REVISING YOUR PERSONAL
STATEMENT
Since this piece of writing is designed to either get you an
interview or a place in a graduate school program, it is vital
that you allow yourself enough time to revise your piece of
writing thoroughly. This revision needs to occur on both the
content level (Did you address the question? Is there enough
detail?) and the sentence level (Is the writing clear? Are the
mechanics and punctuation correct?). While tools such as
spell-checks and grammar-checks are helpful during revision, they
should not be used exclusively; you should read over your draft
yourself and/or have others do so. You can ask your TOEFL
instructor to proofread your personal statement.
USEFUL INTERNET RESOURCES
WRITING THE PERSONAL STATEMENT by the Writing Lab
& the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University, IN,
USA
WRITING A PERSONAL STATEMENT by Studential.com,
UK
THE
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE by Statementofpurpose.com, USA
PERSONAL STATEMENT by PersonalStatement.info, UK
APPLICATION ESSAYS by The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
NC, USA
PERSONAL STATEMENTS AND APPLICATION LETTERS by
Writing Tutorial Services at Indiana University, IN, USA
PERSONAL STATEMENT / APPLICATION LETTER by Career
Development Services at Auburn University, AL, USA