Advice For a Successful Personal Statement
The personal statement is your opportunity to tell universities and colleges about your suitability for the course(s) that you hope to study. You need to demonstrate your enthusiasm and commitment, and above all, ensure that you stand out from the crowd.
The personal statement is capped at a maximum of 4,000 characters or 47 lines of text. You should complete your statement as a word-processed document initially, before pasting it onto the UCAS system. Don't waste space by unnecessarily repeating information that appears elsewhere on the form. It is likely to take time and several drafts to produce a statement that is suitable, so allow time to work on it and try not to get disheartened.
The entry criteria listed on the website or in the prospectus are the minimum entry requirements. In selective institutions with far more applicants per place, meeting the minimum requirements alone is unlikely to guarantee admission. The personal statement is a chance for you to stand out.
Points to consider:
The personal statement is capped at a maximum of 4,000 characters or 47 lines of text. You should complete your statement as a word-processed document initially, before pasting it onto the UCAS system. Don't waste space by unnecessarily repeating information that appears elsewhere on the form. It is likely to take time and several drafts to produce a statement that is suitable, so allow time to work on it and try not to get disheartened.
The entry criteria listed on the website or in the prospectus are the minimum entry requirements. In selective institutions with far more applicants per place, meeting the minimum requirements alone is unlikely to guarantee admission. The personal statement is a chance for you to stand out.
Points to consider:
- Explain why you want to study the course you are applying for - 70 to 80% of your personal statement should focus on this.
- Try to link your hobbies and interests to that course. Use them to demonstrate the skills you have which will help you to succeed at university.
- The personal statement could be used as the basis for an interview, so be prepared to answer questions on it.
- Make sure spelling, punctuation and grammar are correct.
- Try not to mention a university or college by name, remember you are using ONE personal statement for all the colleges you are applying to.
- If you are applying for a joint degree you will need to explain why you are interested in both aspects of this joint programme.
- Make sure you have a look on the university websites for any specific advice on what they want to see in your personal statement as different universities may have different things they want you to include.
- The statement will be checked for content as well as for the standard of writing. Admissions tutors may look at whether the statement and the academic reference match; is the referee describing the same person as the statement?
- The piece needs to be analytical, not just descriptive; for example, what you have learned from your experiences rather than simply what you have done. Back up any assertions with examples.
- If you are applying for a joint honours course, it is important to balance the amount of space dedicated to each subject. Note the difference between "Psychology with X" and "Psychology and X"; the first implies a 67/33 split between psychology and the other subject, while the second implies a 50/50 split. The amount of space in your PS spent talking about each subject should be adjusted accordingly. You should if possible avoid mixing choices of straight psychology and psychology joint honours. Any indication that you are not 100% committed to the course admissions tutors see you applying for can count very strongly against you. Think carefully about what you want to study for the next three years before you apply! You also need to show a link between the two - answering the question 'why do you want to study them together?'. Remember you will most likely have to do a dissertation that covers both, and while you don't have to have an idea about what you'll do at this stage, you need to show interest in both and how they link together.
Writing style:
Aim to answer the following questions in your statement:
Do's and Don'ts of writing a psychology personal statement (from The Student Room):
Note: Although this personal statement is aimed towards psychology, many of the pointers are applicable to ALL personal statements.
References
Advice for a successful personal statement, The University of Exeter.Evans, C. (2011)
Studying In The UK: A Guide For International Students, pp.77-79. Surrey, UK: Trotman Publishing
Writing A Personal Statement - http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Writing_a_Psychology_Personal_Statement
- Keep your sentences varied - don't start all your paragraphs/sentences with the same format (e.g. 'I did X/I did Y' or 'My A Level in...'/'My studies of...'), as it doesn't flow very well and sounds very boring. Also, one sentence (or even two) do not make a paragraph!Don't have ANY sentences that put yourself down- even if you try to turn it round, it's better not to say anything negative to start with.
- You are writing formally- “Can’t” should be “cannot”. “Doesn’t” should be “does not” etc. Do not include digit numbers- write them out. "I did two weeks..." not "I did 2 weeks". Do not include brackets- (...), they are too informal. Be careful not to miss out words like "have", "I", and "that", like most people do in spoken language. It is safer not to use exclamation marks at all. Look up 'how to use commas and semi-colons'. Spelling and grammar can make or break a PS.
- Some words and phrases are extremely cliché: Passion, fascination, love, aspiration, intrigued by, broadened my knowledge, enhanced my skill, affirmed/confirmed my decision. Use these words with caution. If you're using alternatives, be careful not to sound like a thesaurus.
- Using phrases such as "quenched my thirst for" or "sparked up my interest" also don't read anywhere near as well as you think they do.
- There's a tendency to use "also" all the time, when it's not needed. Be concise! Unnecessary linking words like "Futhermore" and "As a result" get used too often. A few of them are OK, but only a few. Remember to use commas after these linking words and phrases.
- Don't use complex words in extremely long and convoluted sentences. People lose interest (and it makes you look somewhat pompous). Keep it short and make it flow.
- Capital letters: NOT needed for subject names, psychologist, counsellor, secondary school, etc. Be careful where you use them.
Aim to answer the following questions in your statement:
- Why do you want to study this subject? Why are you interested in the subject? What do you know about it? What does the course entail? What are you most looking forward to learning? Do you know where you want your studies to lead?
- What makes you a suitable candidate? What have you done that demonstrates that you are right for this course of institution? Provide examples from your academic experiences and from elsewhere; perhaps you have read widely around your chosen subject or you can reflect on your work or volunteering and your interests.
- What else do you have to offer? What else will you bring to the university and the department? Are you a well-rounded person with a well-balanced life? You can reflect on hobbies, sports, achievements, positions of responsibility and so on. Consider how the skills you have developed in these other activities will help you at university.
Do's and Don'ts of writing a psychology personal statement (from The Student Room):
Note: Although this personal statement is aimed towards psychology, many of the pointers are applicable to ALL personal statements.
- All personal statements (PS) will have an introduction in some form. This needs to start in an interesting way, to draw the reader in straight away. Remember that admissions tutors will read hundreds, if not thousands of them! 'I am applying to study BSc Psychology' for example, is (a) a waste of characters, as the admissions tutors will be from the psychology department and (b) a very boring way to start a PS.
- Do not begin your personal statement either with 'I am Vanessa Fong, I am a student at VSA. The subject I am currently studying in the IB Diploma are Math HL, Physics HL, English A Lang & Lit HL, EVS SL, History HL and Visual Arts SL'. This information is redundant and appears elsewhere in your application.
- Avoid cliches such as 'I have always been interested in' - technically that can't be true, as it would have not been the case as a baby!
- Use the introduction to possibly talk about HOW you got interested in psychology (although don't say 'studying AS Psychology has made me want to study this subject further,' as it will bring up the question 'well why did you choose to study AS?'). Also, don't make it too vague, by saying things like 'I am interested in how people interact' or the cliched 'I am interested in finding out more about myself'. A psychology degree is an academic qualification, and this is not what you will cover. Instead, mention an area or two and say WHY it/they interest you, albeit briefly. You can go into more detail in the subsequent paragraphs.
- Do not try and link everything to psychology, no matter how tenuous the link. Try and avoid saying 'Studying English literature has improved my essay writing skills and helped me construct concise arguments'/'Mathematics has helped with my data analysis skills'. These will be pretty self-evident and a waste of characters. Instead, talk about what in your A Levels (related to psychology) has interested you and why. If you found it particularly interesting, you may want to briefly talk about any experiments/studies that you did during A Level Psychology. Don't just explain what different areas of psychology/studies etc are about - reflect on them, say why they were interesting. Admissions tutors will be familiar with what (e.g.) cognitive psychology is about!
- The extra-curricular section is for anything that is not specifically related to your interest in psychology. This part should be short, a maximum of 1/3 of your PS. It can include things from school/college as well as in your free time (including a part time job). For school/college, you may want to talk about peer mentoring, prefects. Remember to keep your sentences short and snappy. If they're long, people get bored and stop reading. Cut out all unnecessary words. Don't start your sentences with verbs unless absolutely necessary (e.g. “Being a prefect” is too informal). Say what you did/do, then what you learned from it, and sometimes explain why that is useful, but not at the expense of it being interesting. Don't repeat things you learned- you only need to demonstrate characteristics once each throughout the statement. You don’t need 3 examples of how you can handle responsibility! Other characteristics you can talk about are team work, communications skills, leadership, confidence, etc. Don’t worry if you don’t include them all. If it is just going to sound fake and boring, it’s probably better not to bother. You do not need to relate everything to psychology - you are allowed to have a break from it, even at university!
References
Advice for a successful personal statement, The University of Exeter.Evans, C. (2011)
Studying In The UK: A Guide For International Students, pp.77-79. Surrey, UK: Trotman Publishing
Writing A Personal Statement - http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Writing_a_Psychology_Personal_Statement
Additional resources
Sample Personal Statement - http://www.studential.com/bio/getps.asp?ps=1677&view=subject