Personal Statement for
Graduate School

Before you start writing your personal statement, understand what you are to prepare for by taking note of specific questions that may have been asked. In general, writing a personal statement becomes easier when you know certain basic rules and have a topic you can actually write about. You should factor in a few tips and best practices before you get down to writing your personal statement. Here are a few that serve as guidelines; not all of them need to make their way into your personal statement:

1. Pick an uncommon topic with uncommon connections
   Topics about or relating to “telling the truth,” “not cheating others,” and such are best written by School Students. While applying for college, you should think of a topic that is hard to come by or has not been written about often. Avoid typical ‘morals’ that your parents would have spoken to you about in your pre-teen years. Search your life to date and choose a topic that you found most interesting, unusual, and evocative, which left its mark on your life and brought about some change. Then, connect to this topic or event – again, connections are rarely made and not so evident at first sight.
2. Make a plot, write a story
   A story is always intriguing and exciting to read over a usually boring traditional essay of yourself. Try and write a series or sequence of events around your topic. Introduce a plot if there’s a chance of doing so. This will provide you with ample room to stretch your imagination and create a piece that will be easier to write all the way.
3. Speak and be spoken to
   Writing a narrative as paragraph text is standard practice, no doubt. But turning that narrative into a perceivable incident by throwing in all the people involved will stir the reader’s imagination. For example, replace could replace a mundane “I was scared of the dark” with:
   
   “What’s stopping you, Tim?” asked Susan with a hint of irritation. “Nothing,” said I, as if to say it was a stupid question. “Go on then,” she said, tugging at my sleeve. But how could I tell her that I was scared of the dark?
   
   In this example, the author’s simple fact of being scared of the dark was enucleated by some simple dialogues. Granted, the incident may not have occurred as explained, but try to recollect what happened and introduce a second or third person to spice it up a bit.
4. Don’t lose sight of the theme
   Throughout your essay, always keep your eye on the ball; that is to say, never lose sight of what you are trying to convey. The theme of your piece should run like a scarlet thread from start to finish. Of course, you can step off track when there is reason to do so, but don’t get carried away and end up with another theme or topic altogether!
5. Laughter – the best medicine
   Remember the age-old saying “laughter is the best medicine”? Even if your topic or connections are ‘deep’ and insightful, explore ways of lightening the mood or see how you could sprinkle some light humor across your essay. However, a Personal Statement is not meant to be humorous from any conceivable angle, so do not dilute it and sully it with off-hand jokes and cheap one-liners. They won’t help one bit!
6. Go easy with the intellect
   Don’t attempt to sound over intellectual or profound if it is not you. Making a pretense of thinking and acting like a hermit or sage may convince only cursory readers, not serious ones. Be who you are and be true to yourself. Don’t cause the reader to believe you are far less than you claim to be. Experienced readers can spot your pretense and set aside the rest of your essay to be read as entertainment on unusually boring evenings by the fireplace.
7. Portray independence and resilience
   Try to show your strengths, individuality, independence, and resilience through your essay. Convey how you may or may not have stood your ground in a certain situation, how you were unshakable in your suppositions or otherwise, how you did what you thought best at the time, and so on.
8. Create a twist to the tale
   Catching the reader off-guard is an excellent way to make your essay even more interesting than it may already be. Without losing sight of the theme and going astray too far, introduce a twist in your ‘story’ if an opportunity presents itself. An unexpected turn in events in your narrative will add intrigue and stimulate the reader’s interest further.
9. The devil is in the detail
   It is always a good idea to enucleate key points in your essay. As the saying goes – “the devil is in the detail,” so make sure you have not left the reader hanging for want of understanding what you were trying to convey in the first place. Try and be precise with the time, people involved, the situation, the circumstances, and factual data (if any) to add legitimacy to your article and help the reader paint the entire canvas in their mind.
10. Present the right context
    Avoid going off-topic and out of context when clarifying certain points in your personal statement. Be careful to make contextual swerves when adrift from exacting points. The context keeps the reader engaged with the topic rather than going astray and even disconnecting when off-context.
11. Pose a dilemma
    Depending on what you are writing about, try and introduce a dilemma you faced and expound how you dealt with this dilemma. The point here is not whether what you did was right or wrong; the point is to show your decision-making abilities despite the odds or adverse situations.
12. Be specific – it’s about you!
    A Personal Statement’s whole objective is to reveal your true self to the reader beyond the information you provide in an Application Form. Therefore, you need to link any situation, event, or anecdote you may write about to yourself and your life. The reader needs to know how you were impacted and the outcomes.
13. Turn a perceived weakness into a critical strength
    Turning a perceived weakness into a critical strength is one of the best ways to persuade the reader to see and understand your pliancy when your back is to the wall. Making this point lends heft to the idea that you can use a difficult situation to your advantage.
14. Fill it up, but cut it short
    Writing endless pages does not get you anywhere. Strike a fair balance between what you want to convey, how much you want to convey, and how long it would take to do so. Please don’t make the Personal Statement long enough to make it overkill or boring. Stick to your topic, relay your points, and leave the reader with something to take home.
15. Get to the bottom-line
    It is always good to conclude your entire essay in a nutshell, if possible. The end of the Personal Statement should ideally rehash your article’s essence and give the reader some ‘takeaway’ point, or points, that highlight your true self and spirit. Avoid vague and loose endings that leave much to discern.

Last but not least, in your essay, it should be evident that you have attained ample growth and insight and grown in stature over time. Make the content visceral and evocative to convince the reader that it is palpable, revealing what you think and how you think. On the other hand, if your university has asked for a more technically inclined Statement, see that your writing is more academic-oriented, answers specific questions, and targets your future at the college.