Personal Statement Guide

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Introduction Getting Started 1. Read the Question Carefully 2. Interview yourself 3. Analyze the results of your self-interview 4. Get another perspective 5. Make use of academic resources	Shaping Your Personal Statement 6. Categorize the responses to your self-interview that you plan to use 7. Write a preliminary draft 8. From preliminary draft to a second draft 9. From second draft to final draft 10. The final draft


INTRODUCTION

The personal statement is your opportunity to give the admissions committee a sense of the person behind all the grades and test scores. Many of the other applicants are likely to have similar academic credentials, but none has your particular experience, background, or outlook. A strong personal statement can set you apart from other candidates. Remember, the admissions committee is looking for reasons to accept you, and you can make a strongly favorable impression with a thoughtful, well written statement. While it may seem to you like an afterthought or a chore to be dispensed with as quickly as possible, nothing could be further from the truth. This is your best opportunity - short of a personal interview - to convey a sense of who you are, what is important to you, and why you would be an outstanding graduate student. It is highly advisable, then, to approach the personal statement as you would any important academic writing project.

With this in mind, we've created a brief guide to help see you through the process. This guide is intended to supplement, not replace, other potentially helpful sources, such as advisors, your school's placement office, faculty in your field, and personal statement workshops.
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GETTING STARTED

1.Read the question carefully. While most schools want to know about your goals, qualifications, and background, they may emphasize one more than the other. Some directions may be highly specific, while others may be more general. Some may specify a maximum length. It is absolutely essential to follow the assignment/instructions, which means responding to the specifics. Here are two representative assignments for comparative purposes:

A) In an essay of no longer than two typed pages, please state your purpose in applying for graduate study, your particular area of specialization within the major field, and any additional information that may aid the selection committee in evaluating your preparation and potential for graduate study. Describe your plans for future occupation or profession after graduate study.

B) Please discuss your past education and experience, academic and professional plans, and reasons for wishing to undertake graduate work. Include some details about intended specialization in your field, your preparation for that specialization, and anything else you consider important for a judgment of your abilities (including articles, theses, books, or any other material published, or any inventions patented; academic honors, prizes, or honorary scholarships; reasons for transferring from one institution to another; etc.). Additional pages, if needed, should be 8 1/2" x 11" in size and attached to this application form.

Note that example A emphasizes the applicant's purpose and future plans, and then leaves it to the student to provide any "additional information." Example B, on the other hand, specifically asks the applicant to discuss his or her "past education and experience," and since this is the first part of the assignment, one can assume that the admissions committee considers it an important part of the essay. Note also that they ask you to discuss both your education and your experience (which can mean both work and/or personal experience). As in example A, the last part of the assignment allows you to discuss "anything else you consider important," but unlike A, they provide suggested areas of response in parentheses. Finally, A limits your response to a specific number of pages. (As a general rule, your essay should not be more than about 1,000 words, unless specifically requested.)

The point is that you should always respond to the specifics of the assignment, and to do this it is essential to read the instructions very carefully. You can then craft your response to feature your strengths, while making sure that you address the committee's areas of concern.
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2. Interview yourself. For purposes of the personal statement, there are generally three types of experience: educational, work (including internships and volunteering), and personal. Therefore, you should ask yourself about your experiences and strengths in each area. This is a process that takes time and thought, and no two applicants will proceed in exactly the same way. As a general rule, though, it's a good idea to begin with a series of basic questions for each area of experience. You should write at least one or two sentences in response to each question, and it is essential for you to be honest with yourself in your responses.

Education How and when did you become interested in the field? Why are you interested? What are your career goals? What have you learned? How? (in class? through independent reading? hands-on experience?) Which classes, books, ideas, or individuals have been most influential, and why? (be as specific as possible) Has there been a single "turning point" experience that has led you to pursue graduate study? If so, what was it, when did it occur, and how did it change your career goals? How have you prepared for success in graduate school? How will your education thus far benefit you in graduate school? Work Have you been employed in any capacity in your chosen field? If so, what specifically have you learned from that experience? (This is especially important if the work experience was a "turning point" experience.) Have there been other particularly meaningful work experiences? How so? Personal Has a particular experience, situation, or person influenced your decision to pursue your career goals? (This can be a particularly compelling aspect of your essay. For instance, if you are pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology andyour brother/sister or parent has suffered for years from bouts of debilitating depression, tell the committee how that has influenced your life and career goals. Similarly, if a relative or family friend is in the field you have chosen and that person has influenced you or served as a mentor or role model, let the committee know, and be as specific as possible.) Have you overcome special circumstances or obstacles, whether physical, familial, or economic? If so, what are they, and how has your experience affected you relevant to pursuing graduate studies? (Don't assume that the committee is uninterested in your personal "problems." They want to know something about your character, and describing how you have overcome obstacles tells them something useful about your resolve and commitment.) Is there a "bump" in your academic road (such as an uncharacteristically poor semester or weak GRE score) that you feel you should account for? (Consult an advisor before including this material in a final draft. Depending on the circumstances it may be more effective for one of the professors writing a letter of recommendation on your behalf to address this.) What do you consider your most significant accomplishment thus far? Why? (This may be a personal, professional, or academic accomplishment.) These are not the only questions you can ask yourself, and they may well lead to other questions particular to your experience.
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3. Analyze the results of your self-interview. As you no doubt realize, the self-interview process will produce the material that you will then shape into your essay. You cannot possibly include everything, though, so it is important to determine which responses and topics are most important and show you in the best light. The specifics of the assignment will play a part in which material you choose, but you should also do a general analysis, since a particularly compelling anecdote or experience can always be worked into your essay.
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4. Get another perspective. Show your questions and responses to people who know you well and have known you for some time. Ask them if you've overlooked anything important.
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5. Make use of academic resources. Talk to your advisor, the placement office, and professors who know your work. Get feedback on the material you have and ask for sample essays from successful candidates.
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SHAPING YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT

The raw material is there in front of you. Now is the time to select, develop, and shape that material into an effective essay. Read the assignment again to make sure you know exactly what information the committee seeks and the length parameters (if given). Remember to be honest and specific in creating your essay.

6. Categorize the responses to your self-interview that you plan to use. This can be done in two ways: a) by area, i.e., education, work, personal; or b) by priority, from those you consider most important to develop to those which you may or may not use. You may also wish to write a preliminary outline at this point.
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7. Write a preliminary draft. Your focus at this stage should be on content. Develop each response that you've chosen to use into a coherent paragraph (or two, if necessary). Try not to edit yourself too much; write whatever you think is relevant. You can always revise and edit later. But do try to avoid empty generalities and "cute" phrases in favor of specifics. Remember, writing is a form of thinking. We often discover what we want to say by putting it on paper.
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8. From preliminary draft to a second draft. After writing a preliminary draft, you should assess the material for content, focus, and clarity. It can be very useful at this point to objectify, to step back from the material and to begin to put yourself in the position of a reader. Ask yourself the following questions:

What are the most compelling aspects/topics of the essay? Does each point speak to the assignment? How so? Does each paragraph have a specific purpose and make a specific point? Does each paragraph relate logically to the others? Would each point be clear to someone who doesn't know you? Is each point absolutely necessary? Would the essay suffer without it? Is there something missing, something essential that a reader would still want to know about you?

Now is also the time to think seriously about the sequence and general structure of your essay. (You may have already done so in selecting which material to develop into a preliminary draft. If so, revisit those decisions.) This may be dictated in part by the assignment, and you may have to adapt to the demands and emphases of different assignments. Without question, the introductory paragraph is the most important part of our essay. Because admissions officers read hundreds of essays, you must draw their attention to your "story" quickly, which means it may be a good idea to open with a strong, compelling anecdote. You might begin, for instance, with a "turning point" experience that led to your current career goals and sense of purpose. However you choose to begin, remember that your words should engage the reader's interest and make him or her want to know more about you.

Obviously, each paragraph should address an aspect of the assignment. The order in which you do this, and the extent to which you develop each particular point, will vary according to each individual's story, strengths, and the demands of the assignment. Here are a few pointers to keep in mind in terms of sequence:

Since you are creating a narrative, you should be aware of temporal sequence. Are you beginning in the past, moving to the present, and then addressing your future? Are you beginning with your future goals and purpose and supporting that with incidents and information from your past? Are you proceeding point by point, creating a mini-narrative for each aspect of your story? Whichever way you proceed - and there is no one right way - you should be aware of the time line and you should try to be consistent in your approach.

While each paragraph may well develop a particular point or aspect of your essay, the paragraphs should function together, which is to say that they should follow logically from each other.

Be aware of transitions from paragraph to paragraph. Simple signal phrases such as in addition, on the other hand, as a result, and so on, serve to connect paragraphs and create a more cohesive essay.
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9. From second draft to final draft. After completing your second draft you should ask yourself the same series of questions you asked after writing your preliminary draft. Examine your draft for paragraph unity, coherent sequence, and transitions. Go back to your self-interview to make sure that you have not omitted essential material.

It would now be a good idea to attend to matters of grammar, punctuation, usage, and spelling. This is particularly important if you know that you have specific areas (such as commas) that are troublesome.

Finally, show your essay to your advisor, to other professors with whom you've worked closely (especially if they have served on graduate admissions committees), and if possible, to a placement officer. You are not obliged to accept and incorporate all of their input, but you would do well to consider seriously any specific questions and suggestions. After all, they have your best interests in mind and they have had experience with personal statements.
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10. The final draft. Your final draft should incorporate useful input from people who have read your essay, as well as any changes you have seen fit to make upon review of your draft, outline, and notes. Now is the time to pay particular attention to matters of structure, grammar, punctuation, and spelling. After you have completed the draft it is absolutely essential to do the following:

Read the essay aloud. This is the best way to discover typos, repeated and/or omitted words, and awkward sentences. Read your paper for punctuation mistakes. If you are not sure about a particular comma or semi-colon, make a note of it for later consultation (see below). Read your paper once for each area of grammar that you know you find a bit troublesome: subject-verb agreement; tense consistency; verb endings and forms; and so on. Read your paper once for spelling and soundalikes (its-it's, there-their-they're, affect- effect). Never, ever rely on spell check. It will not tell you whether you have the correct form of to or their. After all, you want to be accepted, not excepted, and these sorts of errors stop a reader, distract him or her from your content, and raise questions about you as a writer and as a student. Read your essay for logical and clear transitions from point to point and paragraph to paragraph. Have several other people read your paper. If you know that you have grammar or punctuation problems, one of your readers should be a professor or writing tutor. In any event, show your essay to your advisor, each of the people writing recommendations, and, if possible, to a placement officer. Make sure that you have the right name of the institution and program to which you are applying. This is particularly important if you are using the same essay for different schools. Nothing is more embarrassing than to write about how much you would like to attend Princeton when you are writing an essay for Columbia.

After following this procedure and making any necessary changes, read the essay aloud again and have at least one other person proof it as well.

Now, finally, you have completed your personal statement. It is important to remember, though, that you should go through this draft, editing, and proofreading process for each version of your essay, even if you are making only minor changes for each school.

We can't guarantee that following this guide will get you accepted to the graduate school of your choice, but we can guarantee that it will substantially increase your chances of writing an effective, persuasive personal statement.
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