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How to Write a Personal Statement
The first paragraph of your personal statement, one or two sentences,
should make clear the purpose of your writing: to present an
interpretive summary of your background, academic interests, and future
goals as justification for your admission to a program of graduate
study.
The second paragraph interprets your background for the graduate
admissions committee. This paragraph should establish your academic
preparation for the program to which you have applied. If you have been
a strong student throughout your undergraduate years, you may call
attention to what you believe have been strong combinations of courses
which seem to fit your prospective graduate program well. If you have
had ups and downs as an undergraduate, you may call attention to
progressive improvement in your studies: i.e., the difference between
your junior/senior GPA and your freshman/sophomore GPA or your record in
selected course work that is directly related to the kinds of course
work that you will undertake as a graduate student. If you scored well
on whatever graduate examination that you took, you may want to cite
that fact as well. Keep in mind that graduate admissions committees want
assurance that you will be a successful student. If you have had
relevant experiences, you may mention them here, too. Some graduate
programs such as applied sociology or social work or resource
development, etc. look for evidence that you have already sought out
ways to translate your academic background into practical,
professionally oriented applications. In short, this paragraph should
assure the graduate admissions committee that you have matured during
your undergraduate years, that your intellectual and professional
interests have taken shape, and that you have begun a conscientious
progress toward professional development.
In this example format, the third paragraph will be a description of
your professional goals. (This paragraph and the next, however, could be
reversed.) Though your letter takes the general shape of a summary of
your interests and background, it also builds an argument for your
admission to a particular graduate program. The logic of this argument
runs this way: I know what interests me; I know that I would like to
engage in this work as my profession; and I believe that the necessary,
most logical way to assure me of success in this profession is to earn
this graduate degree. This paragraph describes what you know about the
professional careers to which this course of graduate study may lead.
Generally, people who pursue graduate degrees tend toward any of four
professional occupations: academic, public service, private industry, or
self-employment (i.e., writers, lawyers, physicians, etc.). Though you
do not have to commit yourself to one career only, you are best served
by presenting to the admissions committee as specific as ideas as
possible about what you intend to do with their degree. If you know that
you would eventually like to be a business consultant specializing in
labor market analysis, say so. Such a statement indicates to the
committee that you are goal oriented, that you are capable of
identifying what you want and of developing a systematic means to attain
it. This paragraph, in conjunction with the previous one, assures the
admissions committee that you are an applicant with a purpose.
The fourth paragraph, which describes what you intend to study in
graduate school, should tighten your argument. Now that you have made
clear your interests, background, and professional goals, you must make
the case that the best way for you to bridge your undergraduate years
and your successful performance as a professional is to study what this
particular graduate program offers. Be as specific as you can. Learn
what courses this graduate program offers. Identify its faculty members
and what research they are conducting. Know the program's reputation,
its strengths and its weaknesses. Your undergraduate professors can be
of very great assistance in this regard. If, say, you are interested in
pursuing advanced work in cognitive psychology, your application will
not be most appropriately sent to a department that is trying to make
its name in industrial/organizational behavior. As you describe your
reasons for applying to this particular program try to link your
interest with what you know is available through that program and its
parent college or university. If you know that it encourages practicum
experience, something you want, say so. If some of your undergraduate
texts or assignments have utilized materials produced by that program,
say so. Offer suggestions about combinations of courses or faculty
advisors that you think might be especially imaginative or productive.
This paragraph, thus, accomplishes two ends: you place this graduate
program in the continuum of your own professional development and you
demonstrate that you have applied to it as the result of an informed,
reflective selection process of your own.
Your personal statement should close with a brief summary of your
background and goals, again just a sentence or two. This last statement
reaffirms both your preparation and your confidence that your choice of
this graduate program is right.
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