Personal Statements & Statements of Purpose
Personal statements and statements of purpose are carefully crafted essays for academic applications, like graduate schools or fellowships, meant to effectively communicate to the admissions committee who you are, your motivations, your goals and how you prepared for graduate school.
Personal Statement vs. Statement of Purpose
While the terms might be used interchangeably, the two are subtly distinct from one another.
A personal statement is commonly written for scholarly fields in academia and professional fields like medicine and law. While it includes information about academic and career goals, it typically includes information about yourself as a person and your motivation for your chosen field. A strong personal statement demonstrates how much genuine motivation you have to pursue this field of study and that you have the necessary skills and background to be successful. It is typically a personal narrative.
A statement of purpose is written largely for science-oriented disciplines and typically describes your preparation to pursue your chosen field, your academic and research experience, and your career goals. A strong statement demonstrates how you have advanced your academic interests and how you plan to successfully pursue your goals. When writing a statement of purpose, you are making a case that you are a preferred candidate. Be logical, concise and clear in your writing for the best results.
Basic Content
Regardless of which version you are requested to write, a basic framework can be a good starting point. Keep in mind that your essay should be a reflection of your goals and illustrate your ability to write well. Take time to refine your personal statement and be sure to include transitional sentences between paragraphs. A good flow to your essay and story is essential to keeping your reader’s attention!
A personal statement or statement of purpose should answer the following 5 questions:
- Why do you want to go to graduate school?
- How have you prepared for graduate school?
- Why will you be a strong and successful graduate student?
- What are you career goals and how will this degree help you achieve them?
- Why do you want to attend this particular graduate program? Make sure you personalize your essay for each program and describe why the particular program or faculty is a good fit for you.
Getting Started
Do you feel like you don’t know what to focus on or don’t have experiences that will help you stand out? Try these activities to help you get started.
Brainstorming Activity
Select one of the following prompts and free write on the topic for 5 minutes.
- Think about a time you overcame an obstacle.
- Write about a person who inspires you. What qualities do they possess?
- Write about a time you acted as a leader.
- Think about key moments when you realised you wanted to pursue graduate school.
- What qualities do individuals in your field of study possess? Write about how you have demonstrated one of these qualities.
Once you have finished your free writing, have a friend read over the statement and highlight the one sentence that most interests them. Then free write for five minutes on that sentence. You will find this may help you narrow down your focus.
Call a Friend
Some people have a harder time writing than they do talking. If this sounds like you, have a conversation with a friend or family member about why you want to go to grad school and how you have prepared. Make sure to make an audio recording of your conversation and then type up when you said. This will give you some content you can start shaping for your statement.
Diving Deep into the Components
Committee members will read through hundreds of applications — How will you help yours stand out? Make sure to put significant thought into every section of your essay and that you’ve answered the 5 basic content questions above.
Introduction
Learn how to write in an engaging fashion that will bring your story to life. Avoid clichés like “ I have always wanted to be a... ” and instead paint a picture that creates connection to the reader.
The opening paragraph for a personal statement typically introduces the reader to your personal and/or professional motivations. Here are two examples:
For twenty-three years, my grandmother (a veterinarian and an epidemiologist) ran the Communicable Disease Department of a mid-sized urban public health department. The stories of Grandma Betty doggedly tracking down the named sexual partners of the infected are part of our family lore. Grandma Betty would persuade people to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases, encourage safer sexual practices, document the spread of infection and strive to contain and prevent it. Indeed, due to the large gay population in the city where she worked, Grandma Betty was at the forefront of the AIDS crisis, and her analysis contributed greatly towards understanding how the disease was contracted and spread. My grandmother has always been a huge inspiration to me, and the reason why a career in public health was always on my radar.
The brain, to me, is such a complex and sovereign organism that has influence over the internal mechanisms and this has always allured to me. My true fascination has manifested from observing the external factors that can affect the function of the brain. From a young age I have been exposed to addiction; a factor which I believe has incited a passion within me to pursue a neurological career. I have witnessed the physical and psychological effects that an alcohol addiction has over an individual, and in my seventeen years the greatest thing that I have observed is the pattern of habits that relapse and evolve with an addiction. Although this can be a truly upsetting environment to have been around, I have learnt that people and their minds are incredibly resilient. This is something I wish to delve deeper into in during a Master’s in Counseling.
On the other hand, opening paragraphs for statements of purpose should grab the reader’s attention in a straight-forward manner, since the reader is not expecting that you stray too far from your academic or professional field. Openings involving research experience, classroom experience or other specifics related to the field of study are common. Here are two examples:
I might not have learned about Professor Norman Roland’s lab if it had not been for the Freshman Research Initiative. This innovative program at The University of Texas at Austin introduces high-achieving freshman to university research. As a result, I worked for two semesters with Professor Roland’s team on the mutation rates and genetic interactions of bacteria. As a young Texan from a very “business-oriented” family in El Paso, I found myself in new territory. Those first two semesters were pivotal in defining my career direction. They gave me the foundation to pursue undergraduate assistantships in two additional research labs at UT Austin, which helped me identify my own specific research interests and the motivation to pursue a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology.
While assisting in field biology research in Prince William Sound, Alaska, I was intrigued to see that when a colony of 16,000 blacklegged kittiwakes was flushed by a predator, they made a particular descending warble vocalisation. In fact, this distinct call seemed to be the only coordinated activity in which I ever saw them participate. Later that afternoon, I practiced making the “flush call” for hours. Finally, I climbed onto the colony and did my best imitation. The thunder of the entire colony lifting off, as other birds picked up the call, cemented my long-held intention: I want to work with sound. My purpose for undertaking doctoral work in acoustics and animal behaviour is twofold. First, my professional goal is to contribute to the existing research on biological systems, which use sound. Second, my personal goal is to convey in-depth understanding and love of these systems to the students I teach.
Experiences
Admissions committees want to know where your interests originated, how they have evolved over time, and what experiences you have had in college to prepare you for success in their program. Don’t try to cram every experience on your resume into your statement. Instead, pick 2-4 of the most impactful experiences you had to describe in greater detail and how each of those experiences prepared you for graduate school.
Research or Academic Experiences
If you have had research experience or school-related activities (e.g., projects, papers, presentations) that have been influential to your goals, focus more on what you learned from these experiences if you are writing a personal statement, and more on describing the project or research study in detail if you are writing a statement of purpose. This paragraph would also be the place to mention any personal qualities that would make you a successful student in their program. Be sure to back up those statements with specific examples documenting your abilities in these areas.
Internships & Work Experience
Internships and work experience is extremely valuable when applying to graduate school. Make sure you include these in your statement especially if they are related to your field of interest.
Co-curricular Activities
Involvement outside the classroom can offer valuable experiences to your personal and professional development. This may be particularly important in business and law, where leadership qualities are given priority. For instance, being an officer in a student organization or editing the college newspaper can show programs the leadership qualities you possess. Again, do not simply describe your experiences. Thoughtfully analyze your activities and look for ways to set yourself apart from the crowd.
Career Goals
Although you do not need to have your life mapped out in detail, be able to identify some general career goals and indicate how you plan to use your graduate training. Admissions committees want to see that you can conceptualize your future. Point out how your goals are congruent with the training you would receive from that program. Keep in mind that no one in the graduate program will remember what you put for your career goals in your admissions essay so it is okay if these goals change in the future.
Goodness of Fit
Before making their admissions decisions, the committee first needs to determine if you are a good match for them and if they are a good match for you. Your academic record and exam scores, reference letters and personal statement all help them assess if you could be a successful student in their program. By pointing out what attributes about their program appeal to you and/or how the research by certain faculty is in line with your interests, you demonstrate to them your motivation to learn from their specific program. This is most appropriate when applying to a scholarly or research program and not for applied fields like law. Here is an example:
During my graduate training, I want to enhance my research skills, further my knowledge of pharmacology, and learn how to successfully and independently investigate complex research questions. I believe UTSW will provide the necessary training and resources to achieve my goals because of cutting-edge technology and a collaborative work environment. Outstanding faculty research, like the efforts to understand mechanisms of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases by Dr. Maria Chahrourand and Dr. Gang Yu, respectively, support my research interests and career goals of working in neurological diseases. Acceptance into UTSW’s graduate school would be the first step in achieving my career goal of becoming a successful research scientist.
In your final paragraph of the essay, briefly summarize your main points and remind the committee members that you are eager to be a part of their graduate program. Be mindful to not sound repetitive. A nice touch could be to return to the theme of your catchy intro and have your story conclude full circle.
Extenuating Circumstances
The statement can also provide an opportunity to explain extenuating circumstances or particulars about your background. Clarifying the reason you had a low GPA, for instance, can help the admissions committee understand your application better. The important thing is to explain, not make excuses for, your situation. We strongly recommend making an appointment with a CNS Career Coach to talk about the best way to frame your situation in your statement.
Tips and Mistakes
Our CNS Career Coaching team reads hundreds of essays each year. Here are our top tips and most common mistakes to help you be successful writing your admissions essays.
- Focus on you : Graduate school committees are interested in knowing more about you as a person and whether or not you’re a good fit for their program.
- Follow word and/or character limits .
- Proofread : Keep in mind that these essays are a sample of your communication skills. Triple check for grammatical errors, typos and unclear passages before you submit your essays.
- Be concise and relevant : Admissions committees read hundreds of application each cycle. Keep their attention with concise and relevant writing.
- Finish before the deadline : Give yourself time to draft, revise and edit multiple times. Your recommendation letter writers will likely want to see a draft of your statement as well — another good reason to start early!
- Consider your audience : Most admissions committee members are professors in the department of the program you are applying to.
- Create a holistic picture : Your statement should complement your resume/CV, but both documents should be understandable without the other.
- Have multiple people review your draft : CNS Career Coaches, faculty, graduate students and the University Writing Center can all provide feedback.
- Only you will know when you are done .
Common Mistakes
- Breadth over depth : Focus on in-depth description of 2 or 3 key experiences as opposed to briefly mentioning everything you have done.
- Telling your life story : Instead, selectively mention key experiences that are most relevant to the application and you future field of study.
- Dramatic generalizations : These usually take the shape of “I always knew...” Don’t proclaim your passion. Demonstrate it.
- Not focusing on you : Make sure you hone in on what makes you uniquely qualified for this particular graduate program and how you can be an asset.
- Incomplete : Make sure your essay answers the question(s) or prompt provided by the application committee. If there is no prompt, then review our 5 questions your statement should answer at the top of this page.
- Dishonesty : Don’t just say what you think the admissions committee wants to hear. You don’t know what they want to hear. They will sense dishonesty and you lose credibility.
- Be careful with quotes: Admissions committees want to hear your story in your words. Avoid quotes unless there’s absolutely no way to tell your particular story without it.
- Mixing up schools : This usually happens when applying to more than one school. Carefully check which statement is going to whom and that any mention of the program you’re applying to is correct in the essay.
Want Help with Your Statement?
Visit the University Writing Center
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