Personal Statements are quite often a key element of any application process. Whether you are applying for a job, internship or a place at university it is highly likely that you will have to make some type of personal statement.

The nature of a personal statement differs greatly from the other parts of a written application in that it requires a degree of creativity that is not required elsewhere on the application form. Most of the form requires you to provide different types of factual information in the most concise way possible.

A Personal Statement requires you to provide a wide range of information about yourself in an interesting and convincing format. Remember that this is the area of your UCAS application where you really get to sell yourself to your prospective university. (In fact you are selling yourself to all the universities that you are applying to in one single application form!)

Getting Started
Start by brainstorming - what do you want to include in your personal statement?
A list of key points will suffice at this stage. Start by covering the basics:

About You
– The person behind the form
– Include your hobbies and interests
– Your skills and strengths
– Your personality traits and motivations.
 

Why you are interested in your selected courses – Include your previous experiences – Your achievements and relevant academic qualifications, – Your ambitions and ideal career path that have led you to this decision. (Remember do not be too specific as all universities you are applying to will read what you have written). It is likely that you will end up with a long list of points covering all the above points and more. Now you need to start taking this list and begin constructing paragraphs and an overall format for your Personal Statement. A word of caution here: Do not be over-reliant on examples of Personal statements that you may have seen elsewhere. Most universities have software in place to check for plagiarism and no-one wants to get caught out like this. However (and more importantly) the Personal Statement is a written representation of YOU so make it so.

Admission tutors prefer well laid out statements in paragraph format – under no circumstances produce a list of points on your personal statement. It is important to try and provide a key message for each paragraph you write. If you bear this in mind it will prevent you from being repetitive throughout your personal statement.

What Makes an Effective Personal Statement?

In short, an effective personal statement will cover the following points:

Why you selected your choice of course

How well suited you will be to university life

How you will benefit from the course

How you will benefit from life at university

How you are an interesting personality

Suggested Paragraph Format Please remember that this is only a suggested layout. It may be that you prepare your personal statement in a different order or format. If it reads well then keep your existing format but ensure you have covered all key points. Your selected courses Provide reasons for your choice of course. Do they relate to a natural interest in the course subject? Was this interest sparked from studying a similar previously? Does the course offer a path to a particular career? Have you got any relevant work experience related to the course subject matter? Was the structure of the course relevant to your decision to take it? Be enthusiastic about your choices..

Long term Career Path
Do not be concerned if you are still unsure of your precise career path. You can address this issue in broader terms at this stage. It is important to include some ideas regarding your career as the admissions tutor may discover that your selected course precludes you from certain careers choices. It is in your interest to know about this ASAP.

The person behind the form
Finish your personal statement on a positive. Try and give the admissions tutor a flavour of the person you are. Define your positive personality traits and your key strengths. Generally you want to be telling the universities what a fantastic person you are

General Tips

- Write clearly in the case of paper applications
- Start by preparing draft copies to consider
- Start preparing your personal statement well ahead of any deadlines.
- Check thoroughly for spelling and grammatical errors
- Provide evidence of your communication skills
- Save all copies of all draft application forms and preparation work that you have undertaken.
- Before sending your application form to your referee photocopy it again (just in case!)
- If you are planning a Gap year, include this in your personal statement along with what you hope to gain from such an  experience.

Personal Statements are such a crucial element of the UCAS Application Form that they are worthy of further comment.

Comments from Admission Tutors

In a recent discussion with Admission Tutors several important points were made. Here we present a condensed version for your reference.
 

- Personal Statements are incredibly important at all stages of the Application process. They generally present the basis for deciding course offers and aid in the selection of whom to interview. Furthermore, personal statements will also determine the nature of questions during the interview. Perhaps the most important role of the Personal Statement is that they are re-evaluated should a candidate narrowly miss a conditional offer and they may tip the balance in your favour at such an important stage. - The main purpose of a Personal Statement is to present information about a candidate beyond their academic qualifications. However do not be mistaken; Admission Tutors do expect reference to academic abilities within your Personal Statement. In addition, a Personal Statement provides a useful insight into the motivation behind an applicant as well as their personality and interests etc…Fundamentally; a Personal Statement will show if a candidate is genuinely interested in the course they are applying for. - The most important part of the Personal Statement is the reason why a candidate has applied for a particular course and what they hope to gain from undertaking that course. It is essential that candidates use this opportunity to exhibit their enthusiasm for their chosen course. References to future career plans are interesting but not fundamental to this part of the Personal Statement. - It is worth pointing out that Admission tutors do appreciate the predicament that candidates face when writing a Personal Statement applying to a number of different universities. Don’t sweat about this too much! - Personal Statements are generally the weakest part of the UCAS application. There are a number of simple issues that generally appear on many personal statements which should be addressed to ensure your personal statement stands out from the crowd:

a) poor presentation
b) poor structure
c) poor grammar
d) poor spelling
e) too much waffle with no apparent direction
f) lack of understanding of what content to include
g) lack of appreciation that this is the most important part of your application.
h) Too much general information without being specific

Writing Tips

The most important writing tip we can give you is:

Do NOT start every sentence with the word ‘I’.

This makes your personal statement appear repetitive and can suggest an inability to write well – something you do NOT want to suggest in your Personal Statement.

Reduce the number of times you use the word I by considering some of the subtle changes below.