As part of your college applicant, you’ll almost certainly be required to submit a personal statement.
However, before looking at some of the best personal statement samples, it’s important to understand what a personal statement is and what authors should include in their own personal statement.
Some institutions will advise you on how many words you should compose. The majority, on the other hand, do not. A university personal statement should be no more than 500 words long as a particular guideline. If you’re enrolling for a Master of business administration or a Doctor of philosophy, you might have to write a 1000-word essay because these degrees want you to demonstrate past research or study.
So.
What Is A Personal Statement?
The Common Application and most other application systems need this essay as the primary one. It boils down to answering the question, “Who are you, and what do you value?” As universities depend less and less on standardized test results, the major Common Application statement has grown more significant in the selection process.
You may be wondering, “What’s the point?”
As part of our work with students, we frequently suggest that they look at examples of strong personal statements to get an idea about the kind of essay they can expect. We also encourage them to look at various topics, structures, and writing styles to understand what they can accomplish when composing their essays.
What Should Be Included In A Personal Essay?
Your statement must demonstrate how you’ve developed the traits, abilities, and values that will help you succeed in college. You may learn more about this in my free 1-hour tutorial, which I’ve spent the past 15 years addressing this topic.
We believe that a good personal statement example contains four characteristics. By asking yourself these questions, you can determine whether or not your essay or subject demonstrates each of the four characteristics.
Insight: What are the author’s main values, in your opinion? A wide range of numbers or a recurring pattern?
Does the article come across as largely analytical or originating from a more vulnerable place?
Vulnerability: In your opinion, does it seem like the author wrote it with a lot of heart and gut? How much do you now know about the author, and how much closer do you feel to them after reading the essay?
Values: How many “So What?” instances can you find in the essay? The question is, do these revelations come as a surprise, or are they predetermined?
Craft: Is the essay’s reasoning clear but not apparent to becoming tedious? How much time and effort did the author put into rewriting this essay? Can you see that it reflects a sequence of well-considered choices?
Your personal statement should explain why you’re pursuing it, why you’re qualified for the degree, and how this will assist you in the future. You will have created an excellent personal statement if you can explain these three issues persuasively. The emphasis of the bachelor and master statements will alter significantly.
It’s Good To Know: Personal History Statement Example
Tips
Students often have difficulty with college application essays because they aren’t familiar with the genre’s fundamentals. Because they lack the necessary abilities and knowledge, they cannot produce a quality essay. Experts in the field of personal statements provide the following advice to help you craft an effective one.
Pick a topic that interests you and to which you can readily connect. The most critical component of an essay is the question, which has the power to create or break the overall impact of your work. As a result, choose something you’re most interested in and have something to say about it.
1) Think About Yourself
Students must think about their skills and what they’d like to communicate to admission officers before starting to write. According to Radunich, pupils must focus on what makes them unique. “Take some time to consider your personal brand. What skills do you bring to a group of graduate students that somehow this program isn’t aware it requires?” When students are confident in their positive aspects, it is easier to persuade admissions officers of something like the value they can contribute to any graduate program.
2) Keep It Up To Date
The primary focus should be on why the student is qualified and needs to develop to that specific program. Admissions officers want to get to know their candidates, but they also want to ensure they select students who are passionate about the program and have clear reasons for applying. For example, a student may be attracted to a program because one or two faculty members perform research that is relevant to their interests. That is something that deserves to be mentioned in a statement. Anecdotes and stories add a personal touch, but practical, intellectual, and career-related details should also be included.
How To Write a Personal Statement For Transfer Students?
3) Address Any Potential Flaws
The personal statement is a fantastic opportunity for candidates with poor metrics to stand out and make their case. “(The student) can include some background in the personal statement if indeed the student received less-than-stellar grades throughout their undergraduate study,” Radunich says. Although students may not believe it is essential or comfortable, it is an alternative. Applicants should be mindful of how they handle any flaws; answers also shouldn’t sound like excuses but rather should be worded in a way that displays perseverance, development, or the knowledge that occurred as a result of those problems.
4) Grab Reader’s Interest
Begin your essay by grabbing the reader’s interest and enticing them to read on. Start each paragraph with a scenario or an intriguing tale to pique the reader’s attention.
5) Ability To Resolve The Issue
Demonstrate to your reader that you are capable of resolving issues. An admissions committee is more likely to accept you if you impress them.
6) Show Your Qualities
Describe anything that makes you and your life stand out from the crowd.
7) Make A Draft
The best way to get started is to compose a rough draft without the aid of a word count. You can always polish it up later. This is only a first draft, so don’t be alarmed!
8) Focus On Your Ideas
Stick to the strategy and focus on your ideas, and you’ll succeed. It’s important to find just the right words to communicate your views.
9) Use Your Voice
To create an effect, you may utilize literary quotations, pertinent instances, and facts. You should, however, use your voice, thoughts, and effort.
10) Proofread
Make sure your essay is proofread by a third party. If you’re looking for errors, this will help you catch them.
Hopefully, you will find these guidelines and examples useful while writing your personal statement.
The Analysis of Essays
Personal statements, including your own, might benefit from using certain questions to evaluate their effectiveness and provide suggestions for development. Is it obvious at the beginning of the statement what the candidate is looking for, whether it be an internship, a place in a graduate school, or something else entirely?? To determine whether the candidate is a good fit for the position, one must look at their statement. Are there specific ways the candidate will help the sponsoring organization, graduate program, or field? It is important to think about what is important to the reader. Does the statement link previous experiences with future goals? If so, what examples does the applicant use to show that they are qualified to take the suggested path? Do you get a feel of the applicant’s motivations in both their professional and personal lives? No, it doesn’t include any typical resume/CV material, such as GPA, transcript data, or club participation. Is the statement readable and logically structured?
Dialogue between two friends about holiday
1000 Word Personal Statements Examples
Sample#01
My life appears to be readily dissected at first glance, with my events neatly divided into geographic locations: Michigan, Mississippi, Texas, Colorado, Washington, Japan, Colorado once again, and now Wisconsin are all on the list. My
The frequent movements of location are due to my father’s work as an Air Force pilot and English professor at the airforce academy. Despite the unpredictability of different cultures, schools, and friendships, I have been very happy. I am blessed to have the stability of a loving family that provides excellent support and supports personal development. It fosters intellectual curiosity as well as a humanitarian spirit. My parents instilled in me a strong work ethic from a young age. I have a strong desire to learn something new and to study more.
My father was an English teacher at the Air Force Academy during my elementary school years, and my mother was pursuing a bachelor’s psychology degree at that time. I recall reading and debating short stories with my family at the dinner table, as well as accompanying my mother to lectures and laboratories after school. This increased my habit of learning. Throughout my high school years in Okinawa, Japan, my interest in natural sciences blossomed. A passionate project teaches me a world of cells, tissues, and the various sea life that surrounded the subtropical island, as well as the ethical implications that come with studying life. This inspires me a lot. I found beauty both in the form and color of living systems, and I realized that science is a dynamic ocean of concepts and thoughts, not just a string of facts. I was employed part-time through college and completed my studies in just over 3 years because I was a dedicated and hardworking individual. I loved my liberal education at Colorado College, where I studied African American folklore, Chinese art, and transmission electron microscopy, among other disciplines. Small classrooms created an environment where I learned to take the right steps, articulate my views, and support my ideas since they were quiet and reflective by nature.
I also worked as a researcher for a genetics professor for a summer, polishing my bench skills and learning about the devotion, skepticism, and time required for such undertakings.
Throughout college, I also volunteered at a nearby hospital, which gave me my first taste of medicine. I spent two years as an assistant to medical professionals in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation after graduating from university with a degree in biology. I gained a lot of knowledge through chatting with individuals who had typical problems like low back pain and carpal tunnel syndrome, as well as discussing these instances with the doctors. This hands-on clinical experience enabled me to make an educated decision when applying to medical school.
Like most of my classmates, I went into medical school unsure of which specialty I wanted to pursue. Because of my previous experience with work-related injuries, I was initially interested in Preventive Medicine. I, on the other hand, discovered my specialty during the first day of my junior Internal Medicine rotations.
I learned that being at the bedside with patients, the task of managing many medical conditions, and trying to keep up with each individual’s general health, and the privilege of engaging in long-term care provided me with immense satisfaction. My interest in Internal Medicine was further fueled by subsequent rotation in outpatient Internal Medicine & my sub-internship. During these rotations, I learned that I had a passion for instructing. I enjoy sharing my knowledge with others, whether interpreting a patient’s test result, bringing out noteworthy clinical examination findings, or talking with junior medical students about the art of study projects. Although I am exploring a future in academic medicine, I am convinced that my passion for treating will benefit my patients regardless of where I practice.
“Wherever the skill of medicine is adored, there is also adored humanity,” Hippocrates wrote.
In my future profession, I would like to devote myself to caring for people with many medical concerns and those whom I can accompany through life’s transitions. My passion for patient care has earned me multiple awards from various specialties, including the title of “Best Intern of the Year” after my internship. This acknowledgment gave me a boost of confidence and encouraged me to continue on my path to internal medicine. Thad discovered that medicine is all about collaboration. During my clinical years, I was involved in generic vancomycin surveillance research. Our effort includes gathering patient information as well as serum trough levels as well as evaluating the efficacy of several generic medications. Finally, we noticed that several generic medicines have quality incoherence, resulting in variable bioavailability. But, till we linked up with many other investigators to present an assortment of research to both the health authority, wherein we, as a large team, eventually expressed the need to establish a post-marketing surveillance program on generic pharmaceuticals, this published result had a minor impact on society. I learned about one’s limitations and also the limitless potential that can be realized when we work collectively.
I think that I should walk through the twisting and searing hot corridors in Petra to become the physician that I aspire to be. Internal medicine appeals to me because of its capacity to translate the science and art of extensive debate and commentary into tailored patient treatment, allowing me to apply evidence-based medicine to a single patient in the clinic or at the bedside. Internal medicine will enable you to study, reflect, and solve problems, as well as teach, touch, and empathize with patients. I hope to have a lifetime full of such opportunities and confidence. In the future, I see myself operating in a medical center with effective case management in inpatient and outpatient settings, striking a balance between different communities and our healthcare system. It will be a great opportunity for me to work in the medical field, graduating from a well-reputed institution.
Sample#02
As a kid, my inherent curiosity about how things function got me into a lot of trouble. My destructive fiddling destroyed numerous remote controls, toys, and even home phones. My parents kept me busy with various community service activities via the church we visited every week to take my hands and, more importantly, my hands engaged. I eventually quit dismantling things and began to use my hands for more productive purposes. My hands are becoming the cornerstone of my attempts to serve others, from providing hot meals to the elderly to building and restoring low-income people’s homes throughout the Appalachian Mountains. My participation in MOUNT, the University of Toledo’s service and leadership-based scholars program, has allowed me to maintain my community involvement while in college.
After a week of service in Guachochi, Mexico, where I first aided my father in providing dental treatment in rural mountain settlements, I first explored dentistry as a profession. Coming from a family who had never seen a medical professional before, the grateful grins and tears of delight changed not just my perception of dentistry but moreover my perception of serving others with my hands.
Each tooth in a man’s mouth is worth more than a diamond.” Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes I grew up in a family of family doctors, so I learned early on about the rewards of healing and making a difference in people’s lives. I wanted to work in the medical field, and I had a strong desire to deal with people one-on-one during the healing process. My scientific aptitude and meticulous attention to detail only added to my boyhood fantasy.
I started to consider dentistry more of a life commitment than a job. I decided to alter people’s lives via dentists in those isolated mountains of Mexico. As a result, during my undergraduate studies, I investigated all healing options. I got the opportunity to observe General Practitioners, physicians of different specialties, and, very important for my immediate and long-term goals, a dentist. Each experience was beneficial, and I carefully weighed the advantages and disadvantages of each potential profession. Dentistry remained my persistent fascination, the passion I intended to discover. I wanted to work in a field where I could interact intimately with patients from the outset to the last phase of their treatment, and dentistry fit the bill perfectly.
General practitioners get the opportunity to be part of the entire patient process. Still, I discovered that in some circumstances, even GPs must refer patients to specialists for effective diagnosis and treatment. It’s all hands on deck for dentistry, both for you and the patient. This is just what I needed.
I started working both in private health insurance and Medicaid offices after finishing high school to diversify my dental experience. While my time in Mexico made me acutely aware of the world’s disadvantaged, the hours I spent observing Dr. Michael Richards at the Medicaid office brought home the underserved in my own neighborhood.
Aside from a lack of access, the group with which I started working too was underserved due to a lack of health promotion. Most of the patients I met at the Medicaid office had been in pain or had major dental problems, which could have been averted if they had known about many preventative measures available. I quickly understood how important it was to take the time to discuss the necessity of frequent check-ups, proper cleanliness procedures, and how dental health affects the overall health of each patient.
I studied how to care for and communicate to patients in a way that was sensitive to various languages and economic backgrounds, in addition to teaching the particular business model of a Medicaid practice.
As I seek a future in dentistry, Dr. Richards’ interactions with patients and also his devotion to care services continue to inspire and motivate me.
My community service and passion for dentistry continued to grow as I entered college. Still, the unfamiliar structure of college revealed the need to establish new work habits and manage time abilities. Although I did not have a bad first year,
It was not until the middle of my sophomore year that I realized that I needed to excel in attaining my ambition of becoming a dentist.
I started to develop the habits which I believed would be important for success in dentistry school by establishing a regular sleep routine and daily reviewing after classes. The next spring, I received higher grades, indicating that I had improved. In addition, I participated in Case Western Reserve University’s Summer Medical and Dental Education Program SMDEP, which provided the academic support I required as I dedicated myself to developing successful study habits. The 3.72 GPA of my scientifically junior year put my time effectively and studying skills into action and proved successful.
I’m convinced that with these new skills, I’ll be able to succeed in dentistry school. And become a dentist, I will be able to continue to use my time to help others and put smiles on someone’s faces regularly. My ambition is to one year operate my own Medicaid office, where I’ll be capable of treating & educating the people in my neighborhood. In addition, in the very same way that my father, Dr. Richards, and others have been to me, I intend to be a role model for other students interested in dentistry.
Family nurse practitioner personal statement sample
FAQ’S
How Do You Write A Powerful Personal Statement?
An effective personal statement might be difficult to come up with.
Only by writing in your own unique voice can you make a distinctive remark.
Do You Write Your Name In A Personal Statement?
No, I don’t write my name on my resume.
In the absence of specific instructions to the contrary, you should provide your complete name, the title of the paper, and the name of the institution or university for which you are making the statement.
How Many Words Should A Personal Statement Include?
The typical word count is between 150 and 250.
Is It Possible To Lie In A Personal Essay?
Do not lie in your personal statement at all. They’ll see right through your lies, which won’t work to your advantage.
References
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/1060374394900183
Author & Editor Team:: Adila Zakir, Alexa Smith
Our review panel has been working in academic and non-academic writing for more than 1 decade.
