Personal Statements
Every dream to achieve great academic success begins with adequate preparation. From a young age, your parents and teachers play a crucial role in molding the person you become in future.
By elementary school, every one of us already has an idea of who they want to become. Ask an elementary-school child about their preferred career path and they will quickly tell you, ‘I want to be a pilot so I can fly around the world!’, ‘I want to be a doctor so I can save the sick children who suffer without care or cure.’ Or, ‘I want to be a businessman, so I can buy all the candy at the supermarket and share it with all the children in my class.’
You get the drift. That we start thinking about what we want to become or do once we grow up very early in life.
These early decisions play a critical role in defining our approach to school programs, our choice of subject combinations, and our relations with fellow students, teachers, mentors, and even friends. Then we spend a significant part of our early education following in the guidelines of our teachers, parents, and mentors.
Once in High School, we create an image that reflects our initial aspirations. This reflects in the way we engage with other students, teachers, and the society at large. Before joining college, we are often asked to write a personal statement that affects the decision on whether we are a good fit for the program we have applied for.
From experience, many students struggle writing personal statements for various reasons. Some find it hard to summarize their journey through school into just 1000 words while others struggle with what to include and what to leave out for that impactful personal statement. Even so, personal statements are a very important part that everyone should know how to go about it.
Why a Solid Personal Statement is so Important for your college admission
A personal statement is your story. It highlights your personal journey, academic achievements, career goals, and why they all make you a perfect fit for the program you are applying for.
Personal statements matter because they show admissions panels or committees who you are.
“When reading your personal statement, admissions tutors are looking for evidence that you’re passionate and knowledgeable about the subject area you’re looking to study further and have the relevant skills, experiences, and potential to be a great student.” - Ucas
A strong personal statement makes the difference between a dedicated student and one who is just trying to get into any course they have to. Between two students with similar qualifications, admissions committees will often select the one whose personal statement is authentic, motivated, and carries a vision for future career practice. The statement must be a perfect fit for the program you are applying to.
For highly competitive courses such as Engineering, Law, and Medicine where acceptance rates are less than 10 percent, expressing a deep-rooted passion in your field can be a game-changer.
A great personal statement demonstrates:
- A proven track record of success
- An outstanding academic journey and how it has been shaped
- Strong analytical skills and critical thinking
- A commitment to advancing knowledge in your field of choice
- The potential to make meaningful contributions to industry practice and innovation.
It goes without saying that your personal statement should demonstrate how your journey prepared you for the program, your readiness and determination to advance the field.
Writing a personal statement is a unique opportunity to tell your story beyond any statistical data or scores you have (GPA, position in class). As such, it is important to insightful and precise as some personal statements have a 500-word limit.
A good statement can change your entire life, so you need to be keen on what you are required to write about. A winning personal statement is honest, properly structured, and carries your persona. This applies for Engineering, Medicine, Pharmacy, Project Management, Statistics, and any other program you are interested in.
Let’s jump into the best practices for a winning personal statement.
The Do’s - What Makes a Personal Statement Stand Out
1. Show, Don’t Tell
An outstanding personal statement does not just tell who you are. It demonstrates why you are a perfect fit for the program.
Make it about showing who you are so instead of saying;
“I’m passionate about Medicine”, you can demonstrate how passionate you are in the field. For example, you can say – “My passion for medicine was revealed when I volunteered at my local community health center where two doctors served over 500 patients a day. Watching their dedication and attention to details made me realize the compassion and skill needs I needed to bridge the disparities between local health centers and the number of patients in need.”
This statement gives life to your submission. A statement like this brings your story to life. It uses sensory details, reflects on your journey, and shows how you realized your passion for medicine in a memorable way that will impress the selection panel.
2. Connect your Experiences to the Program
You need to demonstrate how your experiences through your journey align to your long-term aspirations in your career. For instance, you can say; “Building on my foundational knowledge of human anatomy and cultural awareness, I am drawn to the hands-on instruction in this program which emphasizes on evidence-based care and patient-centered care for improved health outcomes.”
You might have set your eyes on different programs in different universities so each personal statement should be tailored to a specific program for a specific school. It helps one mention specific teaching models, curricula, and what genuinely attracts you to such program or professor. This shows effort and interest in your desired program.
3. How you’ve grown through challenges
Your personal statement must show your growth. It should be guided by self-awareness and resilience. The admission panel should see how you’ve overcome different challenges in life to prepare you for the program and life you are seeking. For instance, you can share how you had to balance between work and study while adapting to a fast-evolving work environment. In the medical field for example, you can share how you had to learn about the working of a heart-diagnosis machine. In doing so, it is important to mention how the experience motivated you to learn more about different diagnosis machines and how to operate them in the absence of your supervisor or mentor.
4. Your Personal Statement should be Well-Structured and Focused
Your personal statement must have a central theme. In most cases, the theme of your statement is always guided by defined instructions. In doing so, the theme must always reveal who you are, your drive and motivation, and your background guarantees your future aspirations in the program. You can apply transitions such as “this experience reinforced my commitment to the deeper study of medicine to bridge the gap between healthcare access and quality, evidence-based care provision for patients.”
5. End with Purpose
A confident finish shows your preparedness for the program. You can conclude your statement by stating how your journey makes you a perfect fit for the course you have applied for. You can choose to integrate your career aspirations to current practice. For example, “My long-term goal is to lead projects that integrate data science and public policy to create evidence-based solutions for global healthcare.”
This is an ambitious, clear, and focused conclusion that guarantees you a spot in the shortlisted candidates.
The Don’ts
We have explored the best practices. It is time we caution you against the common mistakes that many applicants make. These mistakes can deny you a chance at that coveted program – despite your academic qualifications.
First, avoid statements that sound generic. Generic statements are plastic at the face of it. They are commonly used and the admissions panel will quickly point them out. This means that your application may not go through. Avoid overused phrases such as ‘it has always been my dream to help people.’ Instead, anchor your sentiments on how your experiences make you the unique candidate to advance the profession. -simply just avoid cliché!
The admissions committee have already perused your CV, so don’t repeat its contents in your personal statement. Your CV shows your academic qualifications. However, your personal statement should interpret your experiences to complement your worldview and career aspirations.
The use of AI is a sure ticket to rejection. Most admissions now deploy AI checkers for personal statements before they even read them. Take time to write as humanely as you can as this will show your intellect and emotion. Write as if you are talking to someone so that you don’t include words that you wouldn’t utter in an interview.
Lastly, every personal statement has a unique set of instructions that must be adhered to the letter. Stick to the provided word limit and answer the questions as provided. Be accurate and precise paying specific attention to details. You won’t achieve this when you wait until the last minute to start writing. It is recommended that you start your statement early so you may have enough time for editing, and revisions where necessary. Be authentic in your writing.
If you are struggling to find your authentic voice, our experts are always ready to help where necessary. You can join
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