Writing a personal statement is an important step in enrolling in a school, university or a specific programme of study. What should it tell? A typical personal statement tells about the matriculant’s life and knowledge, their motivation, their goals in life. People often confuse a personal statement and a statement of purpose – https://university.which.co.uk/advice/personal-statements/10-things-to-put-in-your-personal-statement . A statement of purpose is brief and focuses on matriculant’s academic and professional experience and goals. A personal statement is longer and more, well, personal, it provides a more detailed description of the entree not just as a potential professional, but a human being as well. A personal statement typically contains the following essential parts:
- Introductory paragraphs;
- The story of the entree’s choice of profession;
- The explanation of why the entree chose this particular school or programme;
- The entree’s academic background;
- The entree’s intentions and goals in life.
Let’s focus on each of the parts specifically.
Writing the introductory paragraphs
The introductory paragraphs should be the most well-written part of the language standpoint. Remember that initially only these first paragraphs are read when there are dozens of essays to read, and the first lines must captivate the reader’s attention. Here you should avoid stock phrases and cliches, and represent “yourself” (your client) in the most concise and at the same time interesting manner possible. Do not write banal truisms such as “Medicine is a noble profession” or “Chinese is a challenging language to learn”.
Explaining the entree’s choice of profession
Here you should define the connection between “your” personality and the chosen field of study. This paragraph must continue seamlessly from the previous one. In the previous one, the client was introduced briefly as a person, where the client’s personality must be expanded upon. Why this particular John Doe or Jane Doe is interested in learning medicine, law or the Chinese language?
Explaining the choice of school or programme
In this paragraph, you should write why the applicant chose this school and not any other. Avoid too much flattery, do not write “I chose El Armpito University because it is the best, greatest, absolutely godliest university in the world”, you know it’s not true. Try to find a connection between this school and the applicant’s personality.
Describing the entree’s academic background
This paragraph should be devoted to the previous academic successes of your client, and, for this, you should know the facts. You, as a worker in personal statements writing services, must have an idea who your client is and what they achieved. Contact the client and ask to provide some data. If you are not in direct contact with the client, you should still contact them somehow, because this information is crucial for the paragraph in question.
Describing the entree’s intentions and goals
This one is where you can be creative and flatter your client. Your mission is to present the supposed author of the statement as a business-like, no-nonsense person deeply interested both in academia and in using the acquired knowledge in their future professional life. Remember that every training programme is an investment, and the person making decisions must be completely sure that this student is a safe, reliable investment. You have already described the reasons why the applicant would want to study the chosen subject, yet here you have to prove that they will be actually good at their chosen profession. Avoid too ambitious, far away goals such as becoming President of the United States or inventing pills of eternal youth; this may seem childish or not entirely sane, disrupting the image of a serious professional.
Checklist for a good personal statement
Your personal statement is good if it fits the following criteria:
- It captures attention from the very first lines;
- It describes the applicant in a compelling and memorable way;
- The statements are clearly understandable;
- The applicant is portrayed as a future professional.
If your initial text does not meet some of these criteria, you should think about rephrasing the weak part, writing this statement in a different way.
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