Introduction
The personal statement is an integral part of your university application. It represents your aptitudes, talents, goals and personality to the universities you wish to attend. Your personal statement needs to look professional, and the English language (your paragraphing, punctuation, grammar and spelling) should all be perfect. Therefore it is best to begin writing it, with the help of your tutors, as early as possible because it can take a lot of thought and several drafts before it looks as it must, like a professional application. Do not worry if at first you are not sure which course you will apply to, because if you write as if you are applying to one of your possible courses, large amounts of what you write will end up in your final version.
This guide is here to help you write your personal statement for your university application in two ways:
I. It gives you ways to think about what to write about in your personal statement.
II. It suggests sentences you could adapt for your own purposes.
To do so this guide discusses seven key aspects that must be included in your personal statement:
1. Why You Want to Study Your Chosen Subject
2. Your A Level Subjects
3. Work Experience
4. Community Service
5. Your School and College Experience
6. Extracurricular Interests
7. The Conclusion
1. Why You Want to Study Your Chosen Subject: First, you must think long and hard about why you want to study for your chosen course. It is vital that you covey your enthusiasm and interest in your chosen subject so if you are not sure if you can, then use the following chart to help you plan what you want to say. On the left some good reasons are listed. If you think that that reason applies you, then use the questions on the right to develop your explanation:
Reason
Explanation
Enjoy the subject
Why?
Enjoy a particular aspect of the subject
Which?
Look forward to studying in greater depth
Which aspects?
Work experience confirmed your interest
How?
Look forward to putting theory into practice
What particular theory? And how?
Possess the skills required for the course
Which skills?
The course will help your post degree aim or career
Why? how?
Another experience confirmed your interest
What? And how?
By thinking of how these reasons apply to you, and answering the explanatory questions you should develop many thoughts that describe why and how you chose your course of study. Once you have some ideas of what you want to write about, you need to construct a paragraph for your personal statement that shares this information.
Here are some examples of sentences that might be helpful to get you started:
1. Describe the event/person/thing that began you interest in the subject. For example:
“I have always wanted to/ had the desire to...”
“Since studying ________ at A level, I have found the subject ever more fascinating and would welcome the chance to take further...”
2. A statement about the degree subject and about your suitability for it. For example:
A statement about the type of career your degree would lead on to.
“In order to be a _____, it is very important to have a solid background in ________.”
“What fascinates me about _________ is _________...”
“The role of __________ in ___________ has been brought home to me by _____”
“Since reading _____ I have thought a great deal about _________.”
“My interest in ________ stems from.”
“I have always loved _____, and my favourite subject at school has always been __.”
3. Start with a quotation relevant to our degree. for example:
“My choice of degree was confirmed for me when I saw/read ________.”
“______ has always been my strongest academic subject and the field of study I have found most engaging is ______.
2. Writing about your A level Subjects
Before you start to write about the subjects that you have studied at A level, you will need to gather some information and think about how you feel about them. On a separate piece of paper, follow these simple steps:
Step 1: Look back over your files, text books and homework to remind yourself which topics you have covered.
Step 2: Write down descriptions of the themes, topics, problems, and debates you have found most interesting.
Step 3: Think about whether you have done further research or reading about any of the topics that you like most.
Step 4: List any of these topics you would look forward to exploring further at university, especially if it is a topic that is outside of the syllabus.
Step 5: If you have done coursework as part of your A level, add how it has deepened your appreciation of the subject to this sheet.
Now look at the chart below and circle which skills you think you have learned while studying for your A levels:
Problem solving
Detail orientated
Analysis
Making judgements
Interest in ideas
Understanding humanity
Writing good arguments
Perseverance
Organization
Dexterity
Listening
Initiative
Imagination
Teamwork
Research
Creativity
Independence
Persuasive writing
Once you have some ideas of what you want to write about, you need to construct a paragraph for your personal statement that shares this information. Here are some examples of sentences that might help you get started:
“The ___ side of the A level course is an area I find especially interesting.”
“I am also studying...”
“Studying ________ requires ______ skills. My work on ___ involved _____.”
“For me, the attraction of studying ____ lies in _____.”
“During my study of ____at A level I have become especially interested in ___.”
“I take pleasure in many aspects of my A level course: ____, ____ and ____.”
3. Work Experience
Not everyone has formal or organized work experience so you may think you have no information to add to this section. Before you despair, think about what experiences you could consider work experience. Have you participated in an organization? Had a boss or supervisor? If you have held a job, or had organized work experience, answer the following questions:
1. What organization did you work for and why?
2. How long did you work there?
3. What sort or duties did you have, and how often did you do them?
4. What skills did you use? Did you learn new skills?
5. Compare yourself before and after, did work experience change your expectations? Feelings about your future career?
Work experience can cultivate different skills than your academic experiences; often these can be more practical. Try to decide which skills are best represented by your work experiences and which skills are best represented by your academic experiences so that you do not repeat yourself. Some skills you might not think of:
Communication
Computing
Trustworthiness
Reliability
Adaptability
Managing others
Commitment
Patience
Working under
Pressure
Problem-solving
Diplomacy
Organizational
Skills
Once you have some ideas of what you want to write about, you need to construct a paragraph for your personal statement that shares this information. Here are some examples of sentences that might help you get started:
“Being involved in a _______ company allowed me the opportunity to ________.”
“Working part-time in a _____ has enabled me to develop my skills in ____ by __.”
“I enjoyed working as a ______ because it gave me valuable insight into_____.”
“Working voluntarily as a _____ provided rewarding and valuable experience in __.”
4. Community Service
In the UK, it is considered very beneficial to have done some voluntary work to benefit others in your community. Examples of this type work are helping a charity, working with children or elderly people, or participating in a Church group. These types of experiences enrich your character by demonstrating your compassion, bravery, fortitude, and humanitarianism.
Look over the following skills and think about if you have had an experience that cultivated any of them.
Dedication
Teamwork
Sensitivity to others
Patience
Responsibility
Selflessness
Now, think about the reasons why you chose to do community service.
Think about how the community service has changed your perceptions of the world.
Think about a particular event or instance that is a good example of how this experience influenced you.
Once you have some ideas of what you want to write about, you need to construct a paragraph for your personal statement that shares this information. Here are some examples of sentences that might help you get started:
“Studying _______ requires ________ and these are qualities I possess (or have developed) because of my experience at _______.”
“My interest in _______, has led to an interest in ______.”
“I believe that an individual can make a great contribution to society, so I am an active volunteer at __________.”
“My local community has always been very important to me and in this regard I have _________.”
“I firmly believe in putting something back into the community of which I am a privileged member, therefore I __________________.”
“I involve myself as much as possible in ___.”
5. Your School or College Experience
University admissions tutors are looking for evidence that, should you join their university, you will be able to balance your academic work with other activities. All universities are interested in having academically excellent students, but most universities are also interested in having a healthy, diverse group of students that participate in the musical, athletic, and social life of the university.
The following are examples of the sorts of activities that you might have done in school or college that would be interest to an admissions tutor:
School dance productions
Musical instrument in school band or orchestra
Drama
Choir
Sport
Leadership in the school (prefect, peer counselling)
Student media/publications
Participating in college library or administration to benefit fellow students
Now, think about what you enjoyed about these activities that encouraged you to do them in addition to your studies.
It is of particular interest if your participation was for a significant length of time or if you advanced or took on more leadership rolls during your participation.
Details about your experience will enhance your personal statement. The following are example sentences using fictitious details:
Every year for the past three years I have participated in the school dance production, initially I danced in the chorus, but last year I was the lead in Sleeping Beauty.
As a member of Student Council, and as Student Council president in 2010, I worked to help make my fellow students’ academic experience better. I especially led a campaign to raise money to update our computer lab.
Rugby is my favourite sport. I have played Rugby all my life, but it was as the rugby team captain in 2009-10 that I had the best experience with this sport. Not only was I able to achieve my personal fitness goals, but it was also very rewarding to lead other members of my team and help them realize their goals.
Playing the oboe is a passion I have had since I was 11 years old. By performing with my school orchestra I am able to share my love of music with the community. This year we even held a charity Christmas concert to raise money for earthquake victims in Pakistan; it was great to be able to use my talent to help others.
6. Extracurricular Interests
Not every school offers the activities or sports that you are interested. If you sought musical, lessons, sports, or social activities outside of you school or college, discussion of them could be a valuable addition to your personal statement. The most important thing about extracurricular activities is that they amply illustrate your personality and character because they are not mandatory and they can be very diverse. Your interests can lie in any direction--children, art work, collecting, reading, traveling, and sports. Since these activities are outside of school, the fact that you chose to do them will show just how interested and self-motivated you were.
The following are some common interests and activities that you might not even realize you could discuss in your personal statement:
Duke of Edinburgh Award
Dance lessons
Musical Instrument lessons
Reading (which books or types of books in particular?)
‘Appreciating’ (watching) films (which types and why?)
Local theatre
Visiting museums
Traveling
Cooking
Church activities
Think about what you do in your leisure time and why. It might not have occurred to you that mentioning you hobbies and interests would enhance your personal statement, but if your activities say something about you and your personality then you should try to include them in your personal statement.
The following are some examples (again fictitious) of the types of sentences you could add to your statement:
Watching Spanish language films, such as Amores Perros and Habla con Ella, has been a favourite hobby of mine. It has helped me learn the language and led to an interest in the language and culture of the Spanish speaking world. Last year, while traveling through Indonesia, I developed an interest in the local music.
Ever since I returned to England after my gap year I have participated in the Shropshire Gamelan Orchestra.
In my spare time I enjoy experimenting in the kitchen, my family and I love world cuisine and cooking meals from different regions brings us closer together. My favourite thing to cook is curry, and I have found that learning to cook the food of a region can tell you a lot about the area and culture.
7. The Conclusion
After planning and writing the bulk of your personal statement, it can be difficult to come to a conclusion. The end of your personal statement should perform several functions:
1. The conclusion must tie together the various activities and studies you have done into some general themes. For example, you can draw conclusions about your character - hard working, fun loving, dedicated or adventurous - whatever you are like should shine through the specific examples you have given.
2. The conclusion must reassert or remind the reader of the original purpose of the personal statement, which is to express your interest in a suitability for studying a particular course at university.
3. The conclusion should be positive and looking toward the future, drawing attention to your future plans.
There are several techniques to ensure that your concluding paragraph accomplishes these functions. You can:
Pick a task that you are doing or hope to do this summer, and relate it to your interests and your chosen course
Reflect on the qualities that you have discussed in the earlier paragraphs, and how they will shine in the university setting.
Explain how you will pursue your interests, academic or otherwise, at university.
Finally, the nature of the personal statement predisposes it to be very self-centred.
You may find yourself writing a lot of sentences that begin with “I” and “my” and are about “me”. You want to go to university to get a degree and a great experience for yourself, but what you will bring to university, give to the university community and contribute to society is just as important to admissions tutors. They know that they have a desirable commodity, and many students hope to study with them, so it can benefit your personal statement to emphasize how you will use your enthusiasm, skills, and interest to contribute to the university’s prestige, diversity, community or athletics.
Good luck!
Glossary
Words in this guide might be new to you but they also could be useful for your personal statement.
Aptitude
Predispose