The personal statement required as part of the application to most four-year colleges and universities can be one of the most important, and most interesting, portions of the application package. It gives the applicant, as an individual, the opportunity to make his or her application unique. A good personal statement won't make up for bad grades or test scores, but a great personal statement may make up for grades and test scores that aren't the best the admissions personnel have ever seen. Learn write a good personal statement and you make getting into almost any school easier.
Why do you want to go to college, university or graduate school anyway?
The truth is that you don't need a degree, much less an advanced degree, to do great things. You don't need to go to college to get a great job. Most college students, or their parents, spend upward of $100,000 paying for a four-year education. Can you be sure that investment is a good one? Do you know what you plan to do with your degree when you have it? Someone who plans to be a doctor can say she needs a solid foundation in biology and chemistry in order to save lives. An engineer can describe how the education he gets from a given school will translate into equipment that makes the lives of ordinary people easier. Someone who plans to be a teacher can describe how she will change lives with what she learns. A good personal statement connects education at a given school with a specific benefit to society.
When writing a personal statement, it is critical that you address why attending the school you are applying to is so important to you. It helps if you can name specific areas of research the school excels at. It also helps if you can be very precise in what you admire about the school and its history. There are many colleges and universities you could atten; your personal statement for a given application should address why you are applying to a specific school as opposed to all the others.
Be very honest and concise in your response to specific questions
Many applications ask you for a general personal statement and then go on to ask you to answer specific questions. These questions may be as specific as: "How will a master's degree from our marine biology program help you achieve your career objectives?" or as general as "What will you be doing in five years?"
Your responses to these questions need to be very concise. Admission teams at colleges and universities read hundreds of answers to these questions every week. What will impress them is a reply that is honest, concise and interesting.
"In five years, I plan to be teaching Afghan children read and write through the Peace Corps. My father worked there five years ago, and I look forward to following in his footsteps" is the kind of answer that needs no embellishment.
Writing a personal statement is a transformational process
Many young people see writing a personal statement as just another hoop they have to leap through on their way to getting a college degree. In truth, the questions are specifically designed to make you think about your future and about the usefulness of a degree in pursuing that future. If you take the time required to carefully consider the questions and to come up with very truthful answers, you will find the process changes your focus. Getting a four-year degree stops being an end to itself; it becomes a stepping stone to your life's work.
The transition from childhood to adulthood occurs in the transition from high school to college. Your personal statement should reflect more than your interest in a high-paying job. Instead, it should reflect your desire to play an important role in society. It should reveal what you value most, as well as the people you plan to help in the years to come.
Tags: personal statement, colleges universities, five years, good personal, good personal statement
