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How to Write a Personal Statement

A personal statement can be a key part of your college application, and you can really make yours shine by following a few tips.

When you're applying to college—either to an undergraduate or graduate program—you may be asked to submit a personal statement. It's an essay that gives you the chance to share more about who you are and why you'd like to attend the university you're applying to.  

The information you provide in your personal statement can help build on your other application materials, like your transcripts and letters of recommendation, and build a more cohesive picture to help the admissions committee understand your goals.

In this article, we'll go over more about personal statements, including why they're important, what to include in one, and tips for strengthening yours.

What is a personal statement?

A personal statement—sometimes known as a college essay —is a brief written essay you submit with other materials when applying to college or university. Personal statements tend to be most common for undergraduate applications, and they're a great opportunity for an admissions committee to hear your voice directly.

Many colleges and universities in the US, especially those using Common App , provide prompts for you to use. For example, "Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea" or "Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time" [ 1 ]. If the school you're interested in attending doesn't require prompts, you will likely want to craft a response that touches on your story, your values, and your goals if possible.

In grad school, personal statements are sometimes known as letters of intent , and go into more detail about your academic and professional background, while expressing interest in attending the particular program you're applying to.

Why is a personal statement important?

Personal statements are important for a number of reasons. Whereas other materials you submit in an application can address your academic abilities (like your transcripts) or how you perform as a student (like your letters of recommendation), a personal statement is a chance to do exactly that: get more personal.

Personal statements typically:

Permit you to share things that don't fit on your resume, such as personal stories, motivations, and values

Offer schools a chance to see why you're interested in a particular field of study and what you hope to accomplish after you graduate 

Provide an opportunity for you to talk about past employment, volunteer experiences, or skills you have that complement your studies 

Allow colleges to evaluate your writing skills 

Bring life to a college application package otherwise filled with facts and figures 

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How to write a personal statement.

As we mentioned earlier, you may have to respond to a prompt when drafting your personal statement—or a college or university may invite you to respond however you'd like. In either case, use the steps below to begin building your response.

Create a solid hook .

To capture the attention of an admissions committee member, start your personal statement with a hook that relates to the topic of your essay. A hook tends to be a colorful sentence or two at the very beginning that compels the reader to continue reading.

To create a captivating hook, try one of these methods:

Pose a rhetorical question. 

Provide an interesting statistic. 

Insert a quote from a well-known person.

Challenge the reader with a common misconception. 

Use an anecdote, which is a short story that can be true or imaginary. 

Credibility is crucial when writing a personal statement as part of your college application process. If you choose a statistic, quote, or misconception for your hook, make sure it comes from a reliable source.

Follow a narrative.

The best personal statements typically read like a story: they have a common theme, as well as a beginning, middle, and end. This type of format also helps keep your thoughts organized and improves the flow of your essay.

Common themes to consider for your personal statement include:

Special role models from your past

Life-altering events you've experienced

Unusual challenges you've faced

Accomplishments you're especially proud of

Service to others and why you enjoy it

What you've learned from traveling to a particular place

Unique ways you stand out from other candidates

Be specific.

Admissions committees read thousands of personal statements every year, which is why being specific on yours is important. Back up your statements with examples or anecdotes.

For instance, avoid vague assertions like, "I'm interested in your school counseling program because I care about children." Instead, point out experiences you've had with children that emphasize how much you care. For instance, you might mention your summer job as a day camp counselor or your volunteer experience mentoring younger children.

Don't forget to include detail and vibrancy to keep your statement interesting. The use of detail shows how your unique voice and experiences can add value to the college or university you're applying to.

Stay on topic.

It's natural to want to impress the members of the admissions committee who will read your personal statement. The best way to do this is to lead your readers through a cohesive, informative, and descriptive essay.

If you feel you might be going astray, ensure each paragraph in your essay's body supports your introduction. Here are a few more strategies that can help keep you on track:

Know what you want to say and do research if needed. 

Create an outline listing the key points you want to share.

Read your outline aloud to confirm it makes logical sense before proceeding. 

Read your essay aloud while you're writing to confirm you're staying on topic.

Ask a trusted friend or family member to read your essay and make suggestions.

Be true to your own voice.

Because of the importance of your personal statement, you could be tempted to be very formal with structure and language. However, using a more relaxed tone is better than you would for a classroom writing assignment. 

Remember: admissions committees really want to hear from you . Writing in your own voice will help accomplish this. To ensure your tone isn't too relaxed, write your statement as if you were speaking to an older relative or trusted teacher. This way, you'll come across as respectful, confident, and honest.

Tips for drafting an effective personal statement.

Now that you've learned a little about personal statements and how to craft them, here are a few more tips you can follow to strengthen your essay:

1. Customize your statement.

You don't have to completely rewrite your personal statement every time you apply to a new college, but you want to make sure you tailor it as much as possible. For instance, if you talk about wanting to take a certain class or study a certain subject, make sure you adjust any specifics for each application.

2. Avoid cliches.

Admissions committees are ultimately looking for students who will fit the school, and who the school can help guide toward their larger goals. In that case, cliches can get in the way of a reviewer understanding what it is you want from a college education. Watch out for cliches like "making a difference," "broadening my horizons," or "the best thing that ever happened to me."

3. Stay focused.

Try to avoid getting off-track or including tangents in your personal statement. Stay focused by writing a first draft and then re-reading what you've written. Does every paragraph flow from one point to the next? Are the ideas you're presenting cohesive?

4. Stick to topics that aren't controversial.

It's best not to discuss political beliefs or inappropriate topics in your essay. These can be controversial; ideally, you want to share something goals- or values-driven with an admissions committee.

Polish your writing skills on Coursera.

A stellar personal statement starts with stellar writing skills. Enhance your writing ability with a writing course from a top university, like Good with Words: Writing and Editing from the University of Michigan or Writing a Personal Essay from Wesleyan University. Get started for free to level up your writing.

Article sources

1. Common App. " 2022-2023 Common App Essay Prompts , https://www.commonapp.org/blog/2022-2023-common-app-essay-prompts." Accessed January 9, 2024.

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How to Write a Personal Statement (with Tips and Examples)

Hannah Yang

Table of Contents

What is a personal statement, 6 tips on how to write a personal statement, personal statement examples (for college and university), faqs about writing personal statements, conclusion on how to write a personal statement.

How do you tell someone who you are in just a few hundred words?

It’s certainly no easy task, but it’s one almost every college applicant must do. The personal statement is a crucial part of any college or university application.

So, how do you write a compelling personal statement?

In this article, we’ll give you all the tools, tips, and examples you need to write an effective personal statement.

A personal statement is a short essay that reveals something important about who you are. It can talk about your background, your interests, your values, your goals in life, or all of the above.

Personal statements are required by many college admission offices and scholarship selection committees. They’re a key part of your application, alongside your academic transcript, standardized test scores, and extracurricular activities.

The reason application committees ask you to write a personal statement is so they can get to know who you are. 

Some personal statements have specific prompts, such as “Discuss a period of personal growth in your life” or “Tell us about a challenge or failure you’ve faced.” Others are more open-ended with prompts that essentially boil down to “Tell us about yourself.”

No matter what the prompt is, your goal is the same: to make yourself stand out to the selection committee as a strong candidate for their program.

Here are some things a personal statement can be:

It can be funny. If you have a great sense of humor, your personal statement is a great place to let that shine.  

It can be vulnerable. Don’t be afraid to open up about hardships in your life or failures you’ve experienced. Showing vulnerability can make you sound more like a real person rather than just a collection of application materials.  

It can be creative. Candidates have got into top schools with personal statements that take the form of “a day in the life” descriptions, third-person short stories, and even cooking recipes.

Now we’ve talked about what a personal statement is, let’s quickly look at what a personal statement isn’t:

It isn’t a formal academic paper. You should write the personal statement in your natural voice, using first-person pronouns like “I” and “me,” not in the formal, objective language you would use to write an academic paper.

It isn’t a five-paragraph essay. You should use as many paragraphs as you need to tell your story instead of sticking to the essay structure you learned in school.

It isn’t a resumé. You should try to describe yourself by telling a clear and cohesive story rather than providing a jumbled list of all of your accomplishments and ambitions.

Here are our top six tips for writing a strong personal statement.

Tip 1: Do Some Serious Self-Reflection

The hardest part of writing a personal statement isn’t the actual process of writing it.

Before you start typing, you have to figure out what to write about. And that means taking some time to reflect on who you are and what’s important in your life.

Here are some useful questions you can use to start your self-reflection. You can either answer these on your own by writing down your answers, or you can ask a trusted friend to listen as you talk about them together.

What were the key moments that shaped your life? (e.g. an important friendship, a travel experience, an illness or injury)

What are you proud of? (e.g. you’re a good listener, you always keep your promises, you’re a talented musician)

How do you choose to spend your time? (e.g. reading, practicing soccer, spending time with your friends)

What inspires you? (e.g. your grandmother, a celebrity, your favorite song)

Doing this self-reflection is crucial for figuring out the perfect topics and anecdotes you can use to describe who you are.

Tip 2: Try to Avoid Cliché Topics

College application committees read thousands of personal statements a year. That means there are some personal statement topics they see over and over again.

Here are a few examples of common personal statement topics that have become cliché:

Winning a tournament or sports game

Volunteering in a foreign country

Moving to a new home

Becoming an older sibling

Being an immigrant or having immigrant parents

If you want to make a strong impression in the application process, you need to make your personal statement stand out from the crowd.

But if your chosen personal statement topic falls into one of these categories, that doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t use it. Just make sure to put a unique spin on it so it still delivers something the committee hasn’t seen before.

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Tip 3: Show, Don’t Tell

One common mistake you might make in your personal statement is to simply tell the reader what you want them to know about you, such as by stating “I have a fear of public speaking” or “I love to cook.”

Instead of simply stating these facts, you should show the committee what you’re talking about through a story or scene, which will make your essay much more immersive and memorable.

For example, let’s say you want the committee to know you overcame your fear of public speaking. Instead of writing “I overcame my fear of public speaking,” show them what it was like to be onstage in front of a microphone. Did your palms get clammy? Did you feel light-headed? Did you forget your words?

Or let’s say you want the committee to know you love to cook. Instead of writing “I love to cook,” show them why you love to cook. What’s your favorite dish to cook? What does the air smell like when you’re cooking it? What kitchen appliances do you use to make it?

Tip 4: Connect the Story to Why You’re Applying

Don’t forget that the purpose of your personal statement isn’t simply to tell the admissions committee who you are. That’s an important part of it, of course, but your ultimate goal is to convince them to choose you as a candidate.

That means it’s important to tie your personal story to your reasons for applying to this specific school or scholarship. Finish your essay with a strong thesis.

For example, if your story is about overcoming your fear of public speaking, you might connect that story to your ambition of becoming a politician. You can then tie that to your application by saying, “I want to apply to this school because of its fantastic politics program, which will give me a perfect opportunity to use my voice.”

Tip 5: Write in Your Own Voice

The personal statement isn’t supposed to be written in a formal tone. That’s why they’re called “personal” statements because you have to shape it to fit your own voice and style.

Don’t use complicated or overwrought language. You don’t need to fill your essay with semicolons and big words, unless that’s how you sound in real life.

One way to write in your own voice is by speaking your personal statement out loud. If it doesn’t feel natural, it may need changing. 

Tip 6: Edit, Edit, Edit!

It’s important to revise your personal statement multiple times in order to make sure it’s as close to perfect as possible.

A single typo won’t kill your application, but if your personal statement contains multiple spelling errors or egregious grammar mistakes, you won’t be putting your best foot forward.

ProWritingAid can help you make sure your personal statement is as clean as possible. In addition to catching your grammar errors, typos, and punctuation mistakes, it will also help you improve weaknesses in your writing, such as passive voice, unnecessary repetition, and more.

Let’s look at some of the best personal statements that have worked for successful candidates in the real world. 

Harvard Personal Statement Example

Love. For a word describing such a powerful emotion, it is always in the air. The word “love” has become so pervasive in everyday conversation that it hardly retains its roots in blazing passion and deep adoration. In fact, the word is thrown about so much that it becomes difficult to believe society isn’t just one huge, smitten party, with everyone holding hands and singing “Kumbaya.” In films, it’s the teenage boy’s grudging response to a doting mother. At school, it’s a habitual farewell between friends. But in my Chinese home, it’s never uttered. Watching my grandmother lie unconscious on the hospital bed, waiting for her body to shut down, was excruciatingly painful. Her final quavering breaths formed a discordant rhythm with the steady beep of hospital equipment and the unsympathetic tapping hands of the clock. That evening, I whispered—into unhearing ears—the first, and only, “I love you” I ever said to her, my rankling guilt haunting me relentlessly for weeks after her passing. My warm confession seemed anticlimactic, met with only the coldness of my surroundings—the blank room, impassive doctors, and empty silence. I struggled to understand why the “love” that so easily rolled off my tongue when bantering with friends dissipated from my vocabulary when I spoke to my family. Do Chinese people simply love less than Americans do?

This is an excerpt from a personal statement that got the applicant admitted to Harvard University. The applicant discusses her background as a Chinese-American by musing on the word “love” and what that means within her family.

The writer uses vulnerable details about her relationship with her grandmother to give the reader an understanding of where she comes from and how her family has shaped her.  

You can read the full personal statement on the Harvard Crimson website.

Tufts Personal Statement Example

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver. I saw it in my favorite book, Richard Scarry’s “Cars and Trucks and Things That Go,” and for some reason, I was absolutely obsessed with the idea of driving a giant pickle. Much to the discontent of my younger sister, I insisted that my parents read us that book as many nights as possible so we could find goldbug, a small little golden bug, on every page. I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon. Then I discovered a real goldbug: gold nanoparticles that can reprogram macrophages to assist in killing tumors, produce clear images of them without sacrificing the subject, and heat them to obliteration. Suddenly the destination of my pickle was clear. I quickly became enveloped by the world of nanomedicine; I scoured articles about liposomes, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, targeting ligands, and self-assembling nanoparticles, all conquering cancer in some exotic way. Completely absorbed, I set out to find a mentor to dive even deeper into these topics. After several rejections, I was immensely grateful to receive an invitation to work alongside Dr. Sangeeta Ray at Johns Hopkins.

This is the beginning of a personal statement by Renner Kwittken, who was admitted into Tufts University as a pre-medical student.

Renner uses a humorous anecdote about being a pickle truck driver to describe his love for nanomedicine and how he got involved in his field. You can feel his passion for medicine throughout his personal statement.

You can find Renner’s full essay on the Tufts Admissions page.

Law School Personal Statement Essay Example

For most people, the slap on the face that turns their life around is figurative. Mine was literal. Actually, it was a punch delivered by a drill sergeant at Fort Dix, New Jersey, while I was in basic training. That day’s activity, just a few weeks into the program, included instruction in “low-crawling,” a sensible method of moving from one place to another on a battlefield. I felt rather clever for having discovered that, by looking right rather than down, I eliminated my helmet’s unfortunate tendency to dig into the ground and slow my progress. I could thus advance more easily, but I also exposed my unprotected face to hostile fire. Drill sergeants are typically very good at detecting this type of laziness, and mine was an excellent drill sergeant. So, after his repeated suggestions that I correct my performance went unheeded, he drove home his point with a fist to my face. We were both stunned. This was, after all, the New Army, and striking a trainee was a career-ending move for a drill sergeant, as we were both aware. I could have reported him; arguably, I should have. I didn’t. It didn’t seem right for this good sergeant, who had not slept for almost four days, to lose his career for losing his temper with my laziness. Choosing not to report him was the first decision I remember making that made me proud.

These are the first three paragraphs of an anonymous personal statement by a Wheaton College graduate, who used this personal statement to get into a top-25 law school.

This statement describes a time the applicant faced a challenging decision while in the army. He ended up making a decision he was proud of, and as a result, the personal statement gives us a sense of his character.

You can find the full essay on the Wheaton Academics website.

Here are some common questions about how to write a personal statement.

How Long Should a Personal Statement Be?

The length of your personal statement depends on the specific program you’re applying to. The application guidelines usually specify a maximum word count or an ideal word count.  

Most personal statements are between 500–800 words. That’s a good general range to aim for if you don’t have more specific guidelines.  

Should Personal Statements Be Different for Scholarships?

Many scholarship applications will ask for personal statements with similar prompts to those of college applications.

However, the purpose of a personal statement you’d write for a scholarship application is different from the purpose of one you’d write for a college application.

For a scholarship application, your goal is to showcase why you deserve the scholarship. To do that, you need to understand the mission of the organization offering that scholarship.

For example, some scholarships are meant to help first-generation college students get their degree, while others are meant to help women break into STEM.

Consider the following questions:

Why is this organization offering scholarships?

What would their ideal scholarship candidate look like?

How do your experiences and goals overlap with those of their ideal scholarship candidate?

You can use the same personal anecdotes you’d use for any other personal statement, but you’ll have a better chance of winning the scholarship if you tailor your essay to match their specific mission.

How to Start a Personal Statement

You should start your personal statement with a “hook” that pulls the reader in. The sooner you catch the reader’s attention, the more likely they’ll want to read the entire essay.

Here are some examples of hooks you can use:

A story (e.g. When the spotlight hit my face, I tried to remind myself to breathe. )

A setting description (e.g. My bedroom floor is covered with dirty laundry, candy wrappers, and crumpled sheet music. )

A funny anecdote (e.g. When I was a little kid, my friends nicknamed me Mowgli because of my haircut. )

A surprising fact (e.g. I've lived in 37 countries .)

There you have it—our complete guide to writing a personal statement that will make you stand out to the application committee.

Here’s a quick recap: 

A personal statement is a short essay that shows an application committee who you are

Start with a strong hook that pulls the reader in

Tell a story to engage the reader 

Write in your own voice, not in a formal tone

Good luck, and happy writing!

Hannah is a speculative fiction writer who loves all things strange and surreal. She holds a BA from Yale University and lives in Colorado. When she’s not busy writing, you can find her painting watercolors, playing her ukulele, or hiking in the Rockies. Follow her work on hannahyang.com or on Twitter at @hannahxyang.

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How to Write an Amazing Personal Statement (Includes Examples!)

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Zach Skillings is the Scholarships360 Newsletter Editor. He specializes in college admissions and strives to answer important questions about higher education. When he’s not contributing to Scholarships360, Zach writes about travel, music, film, and culture. His work has been published in Our State Magazine, Ladygunn Magazine, The Nocturnal Times, and The Lexington Dispatch. Zach graduated from Elon University with a degree in Cinema and Television Arts.

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The personal statement. It’s one of the most important parts of the entire college application process. This essay is the perfect opportunity to show admissions officers who you are and what makes you stand out from the crowd. But writing a good personal statement isn’t exactly easy. That’s why we’ve put together the ultimate guide on how to nail your personal statement, complete with example essays . Each essay was reviewed and commented upon by admissions expert Bill Jack. Let’s dive in!

Related: How to write an essay about yourself  

What is a personal statement? 

A personal statement is a special type of essay that’s required when you’re applying to colleges and scholarship programs. In this essay, you’re expected to share something about who you are and what you bring to the table. Think of it as a chance to reveal a side of yourself not found in the rest of your application. Personal statements are typically around 400 – 600 words in length. 

What can I write about? 

Pretty much anything, as long as it’s about you . While this is liberating in the sense that your writing options are nearly unlimited, it’s also overwhelming for the same reason. The good news is that you’ll probably be responding to a specific prompt. Chances are you’re applying to a school that uses the Common App , which means you’ll have seven prompts to choose from . Reviewing these prompts can help generate some ideas, but so can asking yourself meaningful questions. 

Below you’ll find a list of questions to ask yourself during the brainstorming process. For each of the following questions, spend a few minutes jotting down whatever comes to mind. 

• What experiences have shaped who you are? 
• What’s special or unique about you or your life story? 
• Who or what has inspired you the most? 
• What accomplishments are you most proud of? 
• What are your goals for the future? How have you arrived at those goals? 
• If your life was a movie, what would be the most interesting scene? 
• What have been some of the biggest challenges in your life? How did you respond and what did you learn? 

The purpose of these questions is to prompt you to think about your life at a deeper level. Hopefully by reflecting on them, you’ll find an essay topic that is impactful and meaningful. In the next section, we’ll offer some advice on actually writing your essay. 

Also see:  How to write a 500 word essay

How do I write my personal statement? 

Once you’ve found a topic, it’s time to start writing! Every personal statement is different, so there’s not really one formula that works for every student. That being said, the following tips should get you started in the right direction:  

1. Freewrite, then rewrite 

The blank page tends to get more intimidating the longer you stare at it, so it’s best to go ahead and jump right in! Don’t worry about making the first draft absolutely perfect. Instead, just get your ideas on the page and don’t spend too much time thinking about the finer details. Think of this initial writing session as a “brain dump”. Take 15-30 minutes to quickly empty all your thoughts onto the page without worrying about things like grammar, spelling, or sentence structure. You can even use bullet points if that helps. Once you have your ideas on the page, then you can go back and shape them exactly how you want. 

2. Establish your theme 

Now that you’ve got some basic ideas down on the page, it’s time to lock in on a theme. Your theme is a specific angle that reflects the central message of your essay. It can be summarized in a sentence or even a word. For example, let’s say you’re writing about how you had to establish a whole new group of friends when you moved to a new city. The theme for this type of essay would probably be something like “adaptation”. Having a theme will help you stay focused throughout your essay. Since you only have a limited number of words, you can’t afford to go off on tangents that don’t relate to your theme. 

3. Tell a story

A lot of great essays rely on a specific scene or story. Find the personal anecdote relevant to your theme and transfer it to the page. The best way to do this is by using descriptive language. Consult the five senses as you’re setting the scene. What did you see, hear, taste, touch, or smell? How were you feeling emotionally? Using descriptive language can really help your essay come to life. According to UPchieve , a nonprofit that supports low income students, focusing on a particular moment as a “ revised version of a memoir ” is one way to keep readers engaged. 

Related: College essay primer: show, don’t tell  

4. Focus on your opening paragraph

Your opening paragraph should grab your reader’s attention and set the tone for the rest of your essay. In most cases, this is the best place to include your anecdote (if you have one). By leading with your personal story, you can hook your audience from the get-go. After telling your story, you can explain why it’s important to who you are. 

Related:  How to start a scholarship essay (with examples)

5. Use an authentic voice 

Your personal statement reflects who you are, so you should use a tone that represents you. That means you shouldn’t try to sound like someone else, and you shouldn’t use fancy words just to show off. This isn’t an academic paper, so you don’t have to adopt a super formal tone. Instead, write in a way that allows room for your personality to breathe. 

6. Edit, edit, edit…

Once you’re done writing, give yourself some time away from the essay. Try to allow a few days to pass before looking at the essay again with fresh eyes. This way, you’re more likely to pick up on spelling and grammatical errors. You may even get some new ideas and rethink the way you wrote some things. Once you’re satisfied, let someone else edit your essay. We recommend asking a teacher, parent, or sibling for their thoughts before submitting. 

Examples of personal statements 

Sometimes viewing someone else’s work is the best way to generate inspiration and get the creative juices flowing. The following essays are written in response to four different Common App prompts: 

Prompt 1: “Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.”

When I was eight years old, I wanted a GameCube very badly. For weeks I hounded my dad to buy me one and finally he agreed. But there was a catch. He’d only get me a GameCube if I promised to start reading. Every day I played video games, I would have to pick up a book and read for at least one hour. At that point in my life, reading was just something I had to suffer through for school assignments. To read for pleasure seemed ludicrous. Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about this proposed agreement. But I figured anything was worth it to get my hands on that shiny new video game console, so I bit the bullet and shook my dad’s hand. Little did I know that I had just made a life-changing deal. 

At first, the required hour of reading was a chore — something I had to do so I could play Mario Kart. But it quickly turned into something more than that. To my complete and utter surprise, I discovered that I actually enjoyed reading. One hour turned into two, two turned into three, and after a while I was spending more time reading than I was playing video games. I found myself captivated by the written word, and I read everything I could get my hands on. Lord of the Rings , Percy Jackson , Goosebumps — you name it. I was falling in love with literature, while my GameCube was accumulating dust in the TV stand. 

Soon enough, reading led to writing. I was beginning to come up with my own stories, so I put pen to paper and let my imagination run wild. It started out small. My first effort was a rudimentary picture book about a friendly raccoon who went to the moon. But things progressed. My stories became more intricate, my characters more complex. I wrote a series of science fiction novellas. I tried my hand at poetry. I was amazed at the worlds I could create with the tip of my pen. I had dreams of becoming an author. 

Then somewhere along the way my family got a subscription to Netflix, and that completely changed the way I thought about storytelling. My nose had been buried in books up until then, so I hadn’t really seen a lot of movies. That quickly changed. It seemed like every other day a pair of new DVDs would arrive in the mail (this was the early days of Netflix). Dark Knight, The Truman Show, Inception, Memento — all these great films were coming in and out of the house. And I couldn’t get enough of them. Movies brought stories to life in a way that books could not. I was head over heels for visual storytelling. 

Suddenly I wasn’t writing novels and short stories anymore. I was writing scripts for movies. Now I wanted to transfer my ideas to the big screen, rather than the pages of a book. But I was still doing the same thing I had always done. I was writing, just in a different format. To help with this process, I read the screenplays of my favorite films and paid attention to the way they were crafted. I kept watching more and more movies. And I hadn’t forgotten about my first love, either. I still cherished books and looked to them for inspiration. By the end of my junior year of high school, I had completed two scripts for short films. 

So why am I telling you all this? Because I want to turn my love of storytelling into a career. I’m not totally sure how to do that yet, but I know I have options. Whether it’s film production, creative writing, or even journalism, I want to find a major that suits my ambitions. Writing has taken me a long way, and I know it can take me even further. As I step into this next chapter of my life, I couldn’t be more excited to see how my craft develops. In the meantime, I should probably get rid of that dusty old GameCube. 

Feedback from admissions professional Bill Jack

Essays don’t always have to reveal details about the student’s intended career path, but one thing I like about this essay is that it gives the reader a sense of the why. Why do they want to pursue storytelling. It also shows the reader that they are open to how they pursue their interest. Being open to exploration is such a vital part of college, so it’s also showing the reader that they likely will be open to new things in college. And, it’s always fun to learn a little bit more about the student’s family, especially if the reader can learn about how the students interacts with their family. 

Prompt 2: “The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?”

I remember my first impression of Irvine: weird. It was foggy, stock-full of greenery and eucalyptus trees, and reminded me of my 5th grade trip to a “science camp” which was located in the San Bernardino mountains. Besides Irvine, that was one of the few places in Southern California where you’d find so many non-palm trees. 

Of course, perhaps my initial impression of Irvine was biased, motivated by a desire to stay in my hometown and a fear of the unknown. While that was true to an extent, Irvine was certainly still a little peculiar. The city itself was based on a “master plan” of sorts, with the location of each of its schools, parks, shops, and arguably its trees having been logically “picked” before the foundation was poured. Even the homes all looked roughly the same, with their beige, stucco walls almost serving as a hallmark of the city itself.

Thus, this perfectly structured, perfectly safe city seemed like a paradise of sorts to many outsiders, my parents included. I was a little more hesitant to welcome this. As I saw it, this was a phony city – believing that its uniformity stood for a lack of personality. My hometown, although not as flawlessly safe nor clean as Irvine, was where most of my dearest memories had occurred. From the many sleepovers at Cindie’s house, to trying to avoid my school’s own version of the “infamous” cheese touch, to the many laughs shared with friends and family, I shed a tear at the prospect of leaving my home.

Moving into the foreign city, remnants of the hostility I held towards Irvine remained. Still dwelling in my memories of the past, I was initially unable to see Irvine as a “home.” So, as I walked into my first-ever Irvine class, being greeted by many kind, yet unfamiliar faces around me, I was unable to recognize that some of those new faces would later become some of my dearest friends. Such negative feelings about the city were further reinforced by newer, harder classes, and more complicated homework. Sitting in the discomfort of this unfamiliar environment, it started to seem that “change” was something not only inevitable, but insurmountable.

As the years went on, however, this idea seemed to fade. I got used to my classes and bike racing through Irvine neighborhoods with my friends, watching the trees that once seemed just a “weird” green blob soon transform into one of my favorite parts of the city. While I kept my old, beloved memories stored, I made space for new ones. From carefully making our way over the narrow creek path next to our school, to the laughs we shared during chemistry class, my new memories made with friends seemed to transform a city I once disliked into one I would miss. 

Through this transformation, I have come to recognize that change, although sometimes intimidating at first, can open the door to great times and meaningful connections. Although Irvine may have once seemed like a strange, “phony” place that I couldn’t wait to be rid of, the memories and laughs I had grown to share there were very real. As I move onto this next part of my life, I hope I can use this knowledge that I have gained from my time in Irvine to make the most of what’s to come. Even if the change may be frightening at first, I have learned to embrace what’s on the other side, whether green or not.

One huge plus to writing an essay that focuses on a place is that you might have it read by someone who has been there. Yet, what’s really helpful about this essay is that even if someone hasn’t been there, a picture is painted about what the place is like.  Admission officers have the hard task of really understanding what the student sees, so the use of adjectives and imagery can really help.  It’s also really clever to see that the green that’s mentioned at the beginning is mentioned at the end.  It’s a nice way to bookend the essay and tie it all together.

Prompt 6: “Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?”

I like getting lost. Not literally, of course, but figuratively. Whether it be in the story of a love song by Taylor Swift, or in the memories brought back by listening to my favorite childhood video game’s background music, I’ve always appreciated music’s ability to transport me to another place, another time, another feeling. 

Alas, I cannot sing, nor have I practiced an instrument since my middle school piano class days. So, perhaps Kurt Vonnegut was right. As he puts it, “Virtually every writer I know would rather be a musician.” While I cannot speak for others, I have certainly not debunked his theory. Writing allows many, including myself, to attempt to mimic the transformative power of music – even if our singing voices aren’t exactly “pleasant.” Just as you can get lost in music, you can do so in a story. Whether it is in George Orwell’s totalitarian Oceania, or Little Women’s Orchard House, the stories outlined in novels can provide an amazing look into the lives and worlds of others, and an escape from the worries and problems of those in your own.

While I am certainly not claiming to have the storytelling abilities of the Orwells or Alcotts before me, I’ve had fun trying to recreate such transformative feelings for others. When I was nine, I attempted to write a story about a little girl who had gotten lost in the woods, only managing to get a couple pages through. As I got older, whenever I was assigned a creative writing assignment in school, I wrote about the same pig, Phil. He was always angry: in my 8th grade science class, Phil was mad at some humans who had harbored his friend captive, and in my 9th grade English class, at a couple who robbed him. 

Thus, when I heard about a writing club being opened at my school in 11th grade, I knew I had to join. I wanted to discern whether writing was just a hobby I picked up now and then, or a true passion. If it was a passion, I wanted to learn as much as possible about how I could improve. Although my high school’s writing club certainly wasn’t going to transform me into Shakespeare, I knew I could learn a lot from it – and I did. The club challenged me to do many things, from writing on the spot, to writing poetry, to even writing about myself, something that’s hopefully coming in handy right now. 

From then on, I started to expand into different types of writing, storing short ideas, skits, and more in appropriately-labeled Google Drive folders. At around the same time, I became interested in classic literature, which largely stemmed from a project in English class. We had been required to choose and read a classic on our own, then present it to the class in an interesting way. While my book was certainly interesting and unique in its own right, nearly everyone else’s novels seemed more captivating to me. So, I took it upon myself to read as many classics as I could the following summer.

One of the books I read during the summer, funnily enough, was Animal Farm, which starred angry pigs, reminiscent of Phil. I had also started going over different ideas in my head, thinking about how I could translate them into words using the new skills I learned. While the writing club helped reaffirm my interest in writing and allowed me to develop new skills, my newfound affinity for classics gave me inspiration to write. Now, I am actually considering writing as part of my future. In this endeavor, I hope that Phil, and the music I inevitably listen to as I write, will accompany me every step of the way.

Admission officers might read 70 (or more!) essays in one day. It’s not uncommon for them to start to blend together and sound similar. This essay might not make you laugh out loud. But, it might make the reader chuckle while reading it thanks to the subtle humor and levity. Being able to incorporate a little humor into your essay (if it is natural for you to do… do not force it), can really be a great way to shed additional light into who you are. Remember, the essay isn’t merely about proving that you can write, but it should also reveal a little bit about your personality.

Prompt 5: “Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.”

I learned a lot of things during the summer I worked at Tropical Smoothie. I discovered the value of hard work. I figured out how to save money. I even mastered the art of the Mango Magic smoothie (the secret is lots of sugar). But most importantly, I learned the power of perspective. And I have Deja to thank for that. 

Deja was my shift supervisor, and one of Tropical Smoothie’s best employees. She was punctual, friendly, and always willing to lend a helping hand. She knew the store from top to bottom, and could handle pretty much any situation thrown her way. She made everyone around her better. On top of all that, she was four months pregnant! I was always impressed by Deja’s work ethic, but I gained an entirely new level of respect for her one day.

It was a Friday night, and Deja and I were working the closing shift together. It was very busy, and Deja and I were the only ones on shift. We managed to get by, but we were exhausted by the end of the evening. After wiping down the counters and mopping the floors, we closed up shop and went our separate ways. I was eager to get home. 

I walked a couple blocks to where I had parked my car. Well, it wasn’t my car actually. It was my dad’s ‘98 Chevy pickup truck, and it was in rough shape. It had no heat or A/C, the leather seats were cracked beyond repair, and the driver’s side door was jammed shut. I sighed as I got in through the passenger side and scooted over to the driver’s seat. The whole reason I was working at Tropical Smoothie was to save up enough money to buy my own car. I was hoping to have something more respectable to drive during my senior year of high school. 

I cranked the old thing up and started on my way home. But soon enough, I spotted Deja walking on the side of the road. There was no sidewalk here, the light was low, and she was dangerously close to the passing cars. I pulled over and offered her a ride. She got in and explained that she was on her way home. Apparently she didn’t have a car and had been walking to work every day. I couldn’t believe it. Here I was complaining about my set of wheels, while Deja didn’t have any to begin with.

We got to talking, and she confessed that she had been having a tough time. You would never know from the way she was so cheerful at work, but Deja had a lot on her plate. She was taking care of her mother, her boyfriend had just lost his job, and she was worried about making ends meet. And of course, she was expecting a baby in five months. On top of all that, she had been walking nearly a mile to and from work every day. The whole thing was a real eye opener, and made me reconsider some things in my own life. 

For one, I didn’t mind driving my dad’s truck anymore. It was banged up, sure, but it was a lot better than nothing. My mindset had changed. I appreciated the truck now. I began to think about other things differently, too. I started making mental notes of all the things in my life I was thankful for — my family, my friends, my health. I became grateful for what I had, instead of obsessing over the things I didn’t. 

I also gained more awareness of the world outside my own little bubble. My encounter with Deja had shown me first-hand that everyone is dealing with their own problems, some worse than others. So I started paying more attention to my friends, family members, and coworkers. I started listening more and asking how I could help. I also gave Deja a ride home for the rest of the summer. 

These are all small things, of course, but I think they make a difference. I realized I’m at my best when I’m not fixated on my own life, but when I’m considerate of the lives around me. I want to keep this in mind as I continue to grow and develop as a person. I want to continue to search for ways to support the people around me. And most importantly, I want to keep things in perspective.

Too often we can be focused on our own problems that we fail to realize that everyone has their own things going on in their lives, too.  This essay showcases how it’s important to put things in perspective, a skill that certainly will prove invaluable in college… and not just in the classroom.  Another reason I like this essay is because it provides deeper insight into the student’s life.  Sure, you might have mentioned in your activities list that you have a job.  But as this essay does, you can show why you have the job in the first place, what your responsibilities are, and more.

A few last tips

We hope these essay examples gave you a bit of inspiration of what to include in your own. However, before you go, we’d like to send you off with a few (personal statement) writing tips to help you make your essays as lovely as the memories and anecdotes they’re based off of. Without further ado, here are some of our best tips for writing your personal statements:

1. Open strong

College admissions officers read many, many essays (think 50+) a day, which can sometimes cause them to start blending together and sounding alike. One way to avoid your essay from simply fading into the background is to start strong. This means opening your essay with something memorable, whether an interesting personal anecdote, a descriptive setting, or anything else that you think would catch a reader’s attention (so long as it’s not inappropriate). Not only might this help college admissions officers better remember your essay, but it will also make them curious about what the rest of your essay will entail.

2. Be authentic

Perhaps most important when it comes to writing personal statement essays is to maintain your authenticity. Ultimately, your essays should reflect your unique stories and quirks that make you who you are, and should help college admissions officers determine whether you’d truly be a good fit for their school or not. So, don’t stress trying to figure out what colleges are looking for. Be yourself, and let the colleges come to you!

3. Strong writing

This one may seem a little obvious, but strong writing will certainly appeal to colleges. Not only will it make your essay more compelling, but it may show colleges that you’re ready for college-level essay writing (that you’ll likely have to do a lot of). Just remember that good writing is not limited to grammar. Using captivating detail and descriptions are a huge part of making your essay seem more like a story than a lecture.

4. Proofread

Last but not least, remember to proofread! Make sure your essay contains no errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. When you’re done proofreading your essay yourself, we would also recommend that you ask a teacher, parent, or other grammatically savvy person to proofread your essay as well.

Final thoughts 

With those in hand, we hope you now have a better sense of how to write your personal statement. While your grades and test scores are important when it comes to college admissions, it’s really your essays that can “make” or “break” your application. 

Although this may make it seem like a daunting task, writing an amazing personal statement essay is all about effort. Thus, so long as you start early, follow the advice listed above, and dedicate your time and effort to it, it’s entirely possible to write an essay that perfectly encapsulates you. Good luck, and happy writing!

Also see:  Scholarships360’s free scholarships search tool

Key Takeaways

• It may take some people longer than others to know what they want to write about, but remember that everyone, including you, has something unique to write about!
• Personal statements should be personal, which means you should avoid being too general and really strive to show off what makes you “you”
• Time and effort are two of the most important things you can put into your personal statement to ensure that it is the best representation of yourself
• Don’t forget to ask people who know you to read your work before you submit; they should be able to tell you better than anyone if you are truly shining through!

Frequently asked questions about writing personal statements 

How do you write a powerful personal statement, what makes an amazing personal statement, how do you start an amazing personal statement, scholarships360 recommended.

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How to Write a Strong Personal Statement

• Ruth Gotian
• Ushma S. Neill

A few adjustments can get your application noticed.

Whether applying for a summer internship, a professional development opportunity, such as a Fulbright, an executive MBA program, or a senior leadership development course, a personal statement threads the ideas of your CV, and is longer and has a different tone and purpose than a traditional cover letter. A few adjustments to your personal statement can get your application noticed by the reviewer.

• Make sure you’re writing what they want to hear. Most organizations that offer a fellowship or internship are using the experience as a pipeline: It’s smart to spend 10 weeks and $15,000 on someone before committing five years and $300,000. Rarely are the organizations being charitable or altruistic, so align your stated goals with theirs
• Know when to bury the lead, and when to get to the point. It’s hard to paint a picture and explain your motivations in 200 words, but if you have two pages, give the reader a story arc or ease into your point by setting the scene.
• Recognize that the reviewer will be reading your statement subjectively, meaning you’re being assessed on unknowable criteria. Most people on evaluation committees are reading for whether or not you’re interesting. Stated differently, do they want to go out to dinner with you to hear more? Write it so that the person reading it wants to hear more.
• Address the elephant in the room (if there is one). Maybe your grades weren’t great in core courses, or perhaps you’ve never worked in the field you’re applying to. Make sure to address the deficiency rather than hoping the reader ignores it because they won’t. A few sentences suffice. Deficiencies do not need to be the cornerstone of the application.

At multiple points in your life, you will need to take action to transition from where you are to where you want to be. This process is layered and time-consuming, and getting yourself to stand out among the masses is an arduous but not impossible task. Having a polished resume that explains what you’ve done is the common first step. But, when an application asks for it, a personal statement can add color and depth to your list of accomplishments. It moves you from a one-dimensional indistinguishable candidate to someone with drive, interest, and nuance.

• Ruth Gotian is the chief learning officer and associate professor of education in anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, and the author of The Success Factor and Financial Times Guide to Mentoring . She was named the #1 emerging management thinker by Thinkers50. You can access her free list of conversation starters and test your mentoring impact . RuthGotian
• Ushma S. Neill is the Vice President, Scientific Education & Training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. She runs several summer internships and is involved with the NYC Marshall Scholar Selection Committee. ushmaneill

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How to write a personal statement

How to approach writing your personal statement for graduate applications.

If you’re applying for a grad course that requires a personal statement (sometimes also called a ‘statement of purpose’), it can be difficult to know where to start and what to include. Read on for tips from some of our masters’ students about their process and what they found helpful.

1. Before you start

The academic work is the most important reason why we’re here, but that also translates into work experiences, internships, volunteering. I think a big part of the personal statement is crafting that narrative of academic self that fits alongside your professional experiences, to give that greater picture of who you are as an academic. Lauren (MSc Modern Middle Eastern Studies)

Start by thinking about the skills, knowledge and interests you’ve acquired over time and how the course at Oxford will take them forward.

Your statement is the story you want to tell about yourself and your academic work to the department you are applying to.

Most of your application and its supporting documents communicate plain facts about your academic career so far. Your personal statement is your best opportunity to put these facts into context and show assessors how you’ve progressed and excelled.

Make sure you highlight evidence of your achievements (a high grade in a relevant area, an award or scholarship, a research internship).

Presenting yourself

When I was writing my personal statement, I went onto my course website. I looked at what they emphasised and what kind of students they were looking for, and I wrote about my experiences based on that. Kayla (MSc in Clinical Embryology)

Make it easy for an assessor to see how you meet the entry requirements for the course (you can find these on each course page ).

Don’t make any assumptions about what Oxford is looking for!

Get to know your department

You want to study this particular subject and you want to study at Oxford (you’re applying here, so we know that!) but why is Oxford the right place for you to study this subject? What interests or qualities of the academic department and its staff make it attractive to you?

Use your academic department’s website for an overview of their research, academic staff and course information (you'll find a link to the department's own website on each course page ).

I said, ‘why do I actually want to be here? What is it about being at Oxford that’s going to get me to what I want to do? Sarah (Bachelor of Civil Law)

Talk it out

Talking to others about your statement can be a great way to gather your ideas and decide how you’d like to approach it. Sarah even managed to get benefit out of this approach by herself:

“I spent a lot of time talking out loud. My written process was actually very vocal, so I did a lot of talking about myself in my room.”

2. The writing process

Know your format.

Make sure you’ve read all the guidance on the How to Apply section of your course page , so you know what’s needed in terms of the word count of the final statement, what it should cover and what it will be assessed for. This should help you to visualise roughly what you want to end up with at the end of the process.

Make a start

When it comes to writing your personal statement, just getting started can be the hardest part.

One good way to get around writer’s block is to just put it all down on the page, like Mayur.

First - write down anything and everything. In the first round, I was just dumping everything - whatever I’ve done, anything close to computer science, that was on my personal statement. Mayur (MSc Computer Science)

You’ll be editing later anyway so don’t let the blank page intimidate you - try writing a little under each of the following headings to get started:

• areas of the course at Oxford that are the most interesting to you
• which areas you’ve already studied or had some experience in
• what you hope to use your Oxford course experience for afterwards.

3. Finishing up

Get some feedback.

Once you’ve got a draft of about the right length, ask for feedback on what you’ve written. It might take several drafts to get it right.

This could involve getting in touch with some of your undergraduate professors to ask them to read your draft and find any areas which needed strengthening.

You could also show it to people who know you well, like family or friends.

Because they’re the first people to say, ‘Who is that person?’ You want the people around you to recognise that it really sounds like you. It can be scary telling family and friends you’re applying for Oxford, because it makes it real, but be brave enough to share it and get feedback on it. Sarah (Bachelor of Law)

Be yourself

Finally - be genuine and be yourself. Make sure your personal statement represents you, not your idea about what Oxford might be looking for.

We have thousands of students arriving every year from a huge range of subjects, backgrounds, institutions and countries (you can hear from a few more of them in our My Oxford interviews).

Get moving on your application today

To find out more about supporting documents and everything else you need to apply, read your course page and visit our Application Guide .

Applicant advice hub

This content was previously available through our  Applicant advice hub . The hub contained links to articles hosted on our  Graduate Study at Oxford Medium channel . We've moved the articles that support the application process into this new section of our website.

• Application Guide: Statement of purpose

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Home › University › How To Write A Personal Statement? 10 Tips + Student Questions Answered › How To Start A Personal Statement: Tips & Examples

How To Start A Personal Statement: Tips & Examples

• Published January 20, 2023

Table of Contents

We’re regularly asked the question “ how to start a personal statement ”? It’s a challenging task for anybody but worry not as we’re here to help guide you through the process. 

The introduction is the first thing the admissions committee will read. That’s why the first sentence of a personal statement should be a catchy, attention-grabbing hook or story that grabs the reader’s attention and sets up the main point of your essay.

A lacklustre introduction may lose your readers’ interest, preventing them from reading the rest of your personal statement!

But don’t worry, this article will guide you on writing a personal statement introduction, a few examples of opening sentences and how to captivate the admissions tutors. Without further ado, let’s get started.

Top Tip: Leave Your Introduction For Last

You know what they say, the hardest thing to do is  start . So skip the introduction for now and focus on the main body of your personal statement. If you’re not sure what your main content should be, read out how to write a personal statement guide.

After nailing down the main points, you’ll have a concrete idea of how your introduction can captivate the reader and stay relevant to the bulk of the writing. Go ahead and work on the rest of your personal statement.

Come back when you’re finished! And if you’re worried about your conclusion then check out our advice on  personal statement conclusions .

2. Cut To The Chase

You only have  4,000 characters  to sell yourself as an ideal student candidate. Make each character and paragraph count! That means forget about flowery words and directionless statements. When you start your personal statement, explain your motivations for choosing your course in one or two sentences.

Although you will discuss this in-depth in the main body of content, capturing your reader’s attention with a quick overview of why you’re enthusiastic about your chosen course is crucial. That’s why capturing the reader’s attention by jumping straight to the point is key to starting a personal statement.

3. Be Specific

Never give vague details when expressing why you want to pursue your course. “I always wanted to be an engineer since I was a kid,” or “I want to become a doctor because I enjoy science” isn’t advised. 

On that note, if you’re applying to medicine refer to our guide on  how to write a medical personal statement . We suggest being more specific than that, and you can include your academic achievements too. Here are a few suggestions that may help you:

• You witnessed an inspirational figure in your life solve a massive problem with a specific skill set (doctor, engineer, etc.)
• While you were at a charity event, you encountered a problem that kept people in deprivation. By pursuing this course, you’re a part of the solution.
• You’re good at, and you enjoy a specific skill set. The course you’re eyeing puts great emphasis on this particular skill.
• There was a moment in your life when you succeeded in solving a problem. You felt significant by doing so, and you want to keep doing that for the rest of your life (teaching poor children how to read)
• You watched a movie or read a book that ignited your passion for the course. After doing volunteer work or part-time employment related to your course, you’re determined to pursue it.

Craft a sentence or two that encapsulates the core of your “why.” Do this, and your reader will want to read more!

4. Demonstrate Knowledge In Your Chosen Course

An essential element of starting a personal statement is to express why you’re enthusiastic about taking your chosen course. You need to demonstrate that you’re aware of what you’re getting yourself into in the process. Answer any of these prompt questions for inspiration:

• What do you find interesting about the course?
• How do you believe the course will help you achieve your goals?
• How will you use your chosen course to contribute to society?
• What hurdles do you expect to encounter, and how will you handle them?

Decide which of these questions fits best into the main content of your  personal statement . Write your answer in a sentence or two, weave them into your application essay and think about the help you received from your tutors in the past.

5. Ditch The “Since I Was A Child” Line

We’re often asked  what not to put in a personal statement  and “Since I was a child” is a cliche statement that gets thrown around haphazardly. How many students have said this at least once in their personal statements?

Recalling your childhood passions is a weak “why” for pursuing your course. Why? Because the admissions committee is looking for a relevant and up-to-date reason.

When you were little, you had zero knowledge and little enthusiasm to become successful in your field. You had no idea what skillsets you needed or what other options were available to you.

But if you were to cite a recent event in your life that supports your determination to pursue your course, that screams “educated choice” right there. And  that  is what the admission committee is looking for after reading hundreds, if not thousands of introductions.

6. Brainstorm Several Versions Of Your Opening Lines

The desire to get it right the first time paralyses you from starting. So permit yourself to write freely. Write as many versions of your opening lines as possible.

Don’t worry about the grammar, spelling, or character count just yet. Type everything that goes off the top of your head. When you’re done, take a look at your list.

Cross out the ones you dislike, and encircle the ones you think have potential. Then start piecing the puzzle pieces together to check out if the intro lines fit with the rest of your personal statement. 

If you’ve found three potential opening statements, try reading them aloud together with the rest of your personal statement. Do they flow seamlessly into one another? Make the necessary adjustments. Play around with it until you feel you’ve hit the spot.

7. Make Your Opening Statement Error Free

Your opening statement is your hook line. Spelling or grammatical errors at the start discourage your reader from reading further. If you have errors at the beginning, you’ll most likely have them in your main content!

So make sure your English is simple, flawless, and straightforward. Run your personal statement through a tool like Grammarly to weed out most of the errors.

The Hemingway app is also a helpful tool for checking for passive voice and other writing problems. Take advantage of writing assistant tools, especially if you’re a non-native English writer.

8. Read Examples Of Personal Statements

Read as many personal statement examples as you can. Any that captivated you, keep them in your notes. Figure out  why  these statements stood out to you compared to the others. What elements can you place in  your  personal statement?

When reading personal statements that put you off, find out why. What characteristics do they have that elicit a negative reaction from you? List them down, and make sure you avoid them.

After this exercise, you should have a few more ideas about your personal statement introduction.

9. Ask For Feedback

Never underestimate what feedback can give you. Ask your family, friends, and acquaintances about your opening statement. Does your personality shine through? Is it straight to the point? Does it flow smoothly with the main content of your personal statement?

Listen to what they have to say. Jot down important points. You’ll need their feedback to get a second opinion on whether it works for you or not.

10. Give Yourself Time

Your chosen career depends on your college education. And a first crucial step is to convince the admission committee you’re worth accepting into your university. You have to give your personal statement your best shot. Give yourself enough time to brainstorm and think everything over.

You can’t finish a complete,  well-written personal statement  in a week. Much less overnight!

So make sure you set aside enough time to put your best foot forward. After finishing a complete draft of your personal statement, put it down. Forget about it for a few days. Then come back and reread it.

With a fresh set of eyes, you’ll notice details you may not have seen before! Revise as much as you need.

Do I Need To Write An Introduction For A Personal Statement?

Yes, we recommend writing an introduction for your personal statement as it provides context to the rest of your writing. The introduction is an opportunity to make a good first impression and capture the university admissions officer’s attention.

What is a good opening sentence for a personal statement?

Here are some examples of a good opening sentence for a captivating introduction. Note how it ties into the university degree almost straight away with first-hand experience:

• “Growing up in a small town with limited resources sparked my curiosity and drive to pursue higher education and make a positive impact in my community.”
• “From a young age, I have been fascinated by the intricacies of the human mind and the power of psychology to improve people’s lives.”
• “As a first-generation college student, I am determined to break barriers and pave the way for future generations through a career in law.”
• “My passion for sustainable design was ignited by a volunteer trip to a developing country, where I witnessed the devastating effects of environmental degradation firsthand.”
• “A chance encounter with a blind person and their guide dog inspired me to pursue a career in veterinary medicine, with the goal of improving the lives of animals and their human companions.”

Please do NOT use these in your personal statements, use these to guide you on how you want to start your personal statement.

Can You Open Your Personal Statement With A Quote?

It is a risky move to open your personal statement with a quote and can come across as clichéd or insincere to the university admission officers. However, there are rare occasions when it can work, just make sure the quote relates to your degree and experience you’re writing about.

Get Ready To Write Your Personal Statement

How does one start a captivating personal statement? Take the time to think about what makes an effective introduction.

Read examples of personal statements from other students to glean ideas for how yours might stand out. Once you have read through some good ones, they should be more than just two or three!–look closely at what elements made them so successful. 

Then try applying those same principles on how to start a personal statement! Don’t forget to bookmark this post for future reference.

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The time has come to write a personal statement, but you do not know where to begin. No worries, writing about yourself is no easy task. After all, there’s only so much you can fit when writing a personal statement.

What is a Personal Statement?

A personal statement is a required essay done by a prospective candidate in an educational setting whether they are applying for a scholarship, graduate school admission, studying abroad, fellowship program, etc. However, it should not be confused with being the same as a statement of purpose. A statement of purpose strictly focuses on how your achievements, such as professional or academic, can benefit the program you are applying to . In contrast, a personal statement allows more creativity and freedom to develop within the applicant. Occasionally, personal statements may come with specific questions about what to write about.

Why Should They Choose You?

Although it is important to emphasize your achievements, whether it be academic or professional, the person reading your statement wants to get to know you better through your background information and what inspired you to pursue your goals. Overall, it’s important to ask yourself these questions when considering writing a personal statement:

●  What exact moment led you to be where you are today?

●  What separates you from the rest of the candidates?

●  What personal traits or qualities do you have that will help you succeed?

●  What do your story, goals, or skills obtained bring to the table?

Are You the Right Fit?

Although the focus of a personal statement is yourself, you must consider that you’re applying to a specific institution or program that offers specific opportunities. Not everyone will be the right fit and that’s okay, there are many opportunities for you to join. However, if you truly want to get in and be accepted, you must try to make a connection with your audience. Mention how the school or program will help you succeed and accomplish your goals. This goes back to what you bring to the table.

The unique trait about personal statements is that no two are alike. Everybody’s story is different. The requirements for each application vary in length, format, and topics. Nevertheless, having a concrete idea of how to organize your thoughts and ideas before you submit your final draft saves a lot of stress and time when the deadline comes. If you need an idea of where to start, brainstorm, or organize your thoughts, below is an example of a structure for your layout that may help you in getting out of that writing block:

Introduction:

-   Introduce a memory that leads back to where your interest or passion started or motivated you be where you are today

-   Give a sneak peek to your reader in a quick summary as to what you’re going to be talking about in your body paragraph (background information, accomplishments, & future aspirations from being admitted into the school or program)

*Note: Introductions should be a brief paragraph of everything you’re going to be writing about, leave the details for your body paragraphs.

A) 1 st Paragraph (Background Information)

What’s your undergraduate major/degree or other educational history?

What part of your demographic information is relevant? (hometown, heritage, family

history, etc.)

What’s an obstacle or challenge that changed the way you viewed your life?

Make sure be able make one connection to all three, it’ll make it easier for your

reader to follow through with your story and understand your goals

If deciding to write about an obstacle or challenge, remember to not solely focus on

the negative experience of it. Instead, try thinking about what you were able to take

from the experience and how did it change you as a person.

B) 2nd Paragraph (Academic and Professional Achievements)

Any organizations you’ve joined or rewards you’ve obtained? (The more you have

done, the better)

What skills have you’ve obtained through participating in any organizations, events,

jobs, etc.? C) 3 rd Paragraph (Future Goals and Accomplishments)

What is the next step after being admitted?

What do you hope to learn or take from being part of the program?

How will you apply it to your desired goal?

Conclusion:

Restate your goals in one or two sentences

Talk about what you envision for your future, what do you hope to gain from all of this?

What will you benefit from being on the program?

What do you contribute to the program?

How will you apply everything you learned?

*Note: Your concluding/closing paragraphs are usually short with a maximum of three or four sentences, leave out any details.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, there are several things to remind yourself of when writing a personal statement: focus on answering the main questions, tell your story, and use examples of any challenge or obstacle that you faced throughout your life. If you decide to focus on a challenge or obstacle, think about the tone you will use. Writing about this challenge or obstacle focuses on the learning experience or the opportunity rather than solely on the negative parts. Remember, you’ve worked hard enough to get where you are today. Hopefully, you can get started on that personal statement you’ve been procrastinating on, and good luck on whatever path you decide to pursue.

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Writing Center

Personal statements.

How to Write a Personal Statement

We offer these examples for you to adapt to your needs and the requirements of your application(s). Don’t feel pressured to copy them exactly! Each of these examples are written by UConn students, but for different types of programs:

Undergraduate Programs

NEAG School of Education Personal Statement  (pdf)

School of Pharmacy Personal Statement  (pdf)

Graduate Programs

English Ph.D. Statement of Purpose  (pdf)

Medical School Personal Statement  (pdf)

Social Psychology Ph.D. Personal Statement  (pdf)

These various sites from other university writing centers offer additional advice on personal statements.

Indiana University

UMass Amherst Writing Center

Purdue Online Writing Lab Graduate School Application Guide

How to Write a Stand-Out Personal Statement for Your Graduate School Application

While deciding to embark on the path to graduate school is an exciting first step toward advancing your career, the application process can sometimes feel daunting and confusing.

One major part of the application that most schools require is a personal statement. Writing a personal statement can be an arduous task: After all, most people don’t necessarily enjoy writing about themselves, let alone at length.

A compelling personal statement, however, can help bring your application to the top of the admissions pile. Below, we’ve outlined what you need to know about crafting a personal statement to make your application shine.

What Is a Personal Statement?

The point of a personal statement is for the admissions board to gain a deeper understanding of who you are apart from your education and work experience. It explains why you’re the right fit for the program and a worthwhile applicant. It’s also an opportunity to highlight important factors that may not be readily available in the rest of your application.

A personal statement is different from a statement of purpose (if you’re asked for that as well). A statement of purpose will touch on your academic and career goals, as well as your past credentials. While those should also be discussed in your personal statement, it’s more about your life experiences and how they’ve shaped you and your journey to graduate school.

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Writing a Personal Statement

Before you start crafting your essay, there are a few prompts you can ask yourself to help clarify what you want to accomplish.

• What are the key points you want to communicate about yourself?
• What personal characteristics or skills do you have that make you a strong candidate for this field?
• What exactly are your career goals, and how does graduate school play into them?
• What have you learned about this field already? When did you first choose to follow this path, and what do you enjoy about it?
• What do you think is important for the admissions board to know specifically about you?
• Are there any discrepancies or causes for concern in your application you need to address? For example, is there a career and schooling gap, or a low GPA at one point? This is the time to discuss whether a personal hardship may have affected your academics or career.
• Have you dealt with any unusual obstacles or difficulties in your life? How have they affected and shaped you?
• What sets you apart and makes you unique from other graduate school applicants?
• What factors in your life have brought you to where you are today?

Top Tips for Writing a Graduate School Personal Statement

Pick a few points to emphasize about yourself . Introduce yourself to the admissions board. Select key factors about your background that you want the university to know — elements that reveal what kind of person you are and demonstrate why you’re a strong candidate for the school and field of study.

Be very specific . Again, a personal statement is all about communicating what distinguishes you from other applicants. To accomplish that, you need to share specific anecdotes that underscore your statements. If you say you’re a strong leader, present an example of a time you’ve proven that skill through work, school or your personal life. These specific, personal stories provide a deeper understanding of who you are and prove your intentions.

Do your research . Demonstrate what attracted you to the program. If there is a specific faculty member or class that caught your attention, or another aspect of the program that greatly interests you, convey it. This shows you’ve truly researched the school and have a passion for the program.

“Whatever the topic may be, I would recommend writing in a manner that reflects or parallels the institution’s and/or department’s missions, goals and values,” said Moises Cortés, a graduate/international credentials analyst for the Office of Graduate Admission at USC .

Address any gaps or discrepancies . Explain any factors that may have impacted your academic career. If you had an illness or any other personal hardships that affected your grades or work, discuss them. If there is a discrepancy between your grades and your test scores, you can also take the time to go over any extenuating circumstances.

Strike the right tone . While it’s important to give readers a glimpse of your personality, avoid oversharing or revealing intimate details of your life experiences. You should also avoid making jokes or using humorous cliches. Maintain a professional tone throughout your writing.

Start strong and finish strong . As with any piece of writing, you want to draw in your readers immediately. Make sure to start off with an interesting and captivating introduction. Similarly, your conclusion should be a well-written, engaging finish to the essay that highlights any important points.

“ For a personal statement, I think the first and last paragraphs are most important and should always relate the program they are applying to their own experiences and ideas,” Hoon H. Kang, a graduate/international credential analyst with the Office of Graduate Admission, told USC Online.

Proofread, proofread and proofread again . We can’t emphasize enough the importance of rereading your work. Your personal statement is also an analysis of your writing skills, so ensure you have proper grammar and spelling throughout. In addition, we recommend having multiple people look over your statement before submission. They can help with the proofreading (a second person always catches a mistake the writer may miss), give advice about the statement’s structure and content, and confirm it’s the proper recommended length.

Once you’ve considered all of the above and reviewed and edited your personal statement to perfection, it’s time to submit and check off any remaining application requirements, including your resume and letters of recommendation .

Personal statements are arguably one of the most challenging aspects of applying to graduate school, so make sure to revel in this accomplishment and acknowledge your successes.

For more information, visit the  Office of Graduate Admission at USC  and explore  USC Online ’s master’s degrees, doctoral programs and graduate certificates.

A guide to writing the best personal statement for your college application (with template and examples!)

Why is boasting about a best friend SO much easier than writing about yourself? Unfortunately, writing about yourself is exactly what a personal statement essay requires you to do–whether it’s for your college admissions application, or for a scholarship application to pay for college . Here’s our guide, to ensure you’re well-equipped to write a killer personal statement!

First off, what’s the purpose of a personal statement?

What topics can i write about, how do i decide what to focus on, in my college essay, okay, i’ve got my personal statement topic. but now i have to actually write it. 😱what do i do .

• Do you have personal statement examples? 

Now it’s your turn.

Your personal statement should share something about who you are, something that can’t be found in your resume or transcript.

For colleges:

• It should paint a picture for colleges to understand who we are and what we bring to the table. This is why it’s often better to tell a story, or give examples, rather than just list accomplishments.
• It should complement the other parts of your application. Consider your college application as a whole. Your personal statement, application short answers, and supporting documentation should together tell a story about who you are. This also means not being super repetitive with your personal statement and your short essays. (For instance, if you have to answer 3 questions AND submit a personal statement, maybe they shouldn’t ALL focus on music.)

For scholarship applications:

• It should indicate why you’re deserving of the scholarship. This often means making sure your essay relates to the scholarship provider’s goals. (Get more help on writing a killer scholarship essay here , and then make sure you’re applying as efficiently as possible. )
• It should showcase your strengths. This doesn’t mean it can’t acknowledge any weaknesses, but it surely shouldn’t only focus on negative aspects!

It can be overwhelming to figure out where to start. First, figure out what your choices are. Some colleges may have very specific college essay prompts. That said, many students apply using the Common App, which this year offers these 7 topics to choose from : 

• Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? ( Psst – If you choose this topic, you can sign up for Going Merry and apply for a scholarship bundle : one essay, multiple scholarships! )
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma – anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

You’ll notice that #7 is a catch-all that allows you to submit any personal statement about anything at all . 

So maybe that doesn’t help you narrow it down. 

Here’s a 3-step solution:

STEP 1. Brainstorm about your life

Dedicate 5-10 minutes each to brainstorming about these 4 sets of questions.

You can do this by yourself (writing down your thoughts), or do this exercise out loud with a friend or family member, and then jot down notes as you’re talking. If you “think out loud” better than you do on paper, brainstorming with someone else may be the way to go! 

(A) What were defining moments in your life?

How did these moments in your life changed you, what did you learn from it, and how has it shaped your future plans? Some topics might include:

• An accident or injury
• A best friend you made (or lost)
• A defining talk with a peer
• Something new you tried for the first time
• Revealing a sexual or gender identity, to friends or family
• Discovering something about your family ( e.g., see Jesus’s story )
• Moving to a new city
• Traveling somewhere, or learning about a new culture ( e.g., see Gabby’s story )
• Your first pet (new responsibilities as a fur mom or dad)

(B) What have you chosen to spend time on?

Remember to focus not just on the what , but also the why – What were your motivations? How did you feel? What have you learned? Some topics on this might include: 

• The moment you joined band, color guard, or the soccer team. 
• A time you struggled with that activity – e.g., Maybe you got passed over for captain of the soccer? Or maybe you got an injury and had to sit out on the sidelines? 
• Maybe a moment you really fell in love with that activity – e.g. Maybe the first time you investigated a story for the school newspaper and realized journalism was your calling?

(C) Whom or what are you inspired by?

How did you find out about this person or thing? Why are you inspired? In what ways are you inspired? Is there anything that inspiration has made you do (e.g. join a club, do an activity or internship on the topic)? Some topics on this might include: 

• Technology – Maybe a specific App made you inspired to learn to code? 
• Person in your life – Maybe meeting someone (or knowing someone in your family) has affected you? 
• A show, movie, book, or podcast that inspired you to look at life differently
• A dance or song that has made you interested in performing arts

(D) What are you proud of?

Make a list of all the things you’re proud of. These can be milestones, hobbies, qualities, or quirks that are what make you, you. Topics to consider might be:

• Times you saved the day – like that epic left-handed catch you made on the field
• Personal qualities – Maybe you’re really funny, or amazingly calm under pressure. What are some examples of times when you showed those qualities?
• Random life things you’re amazing at – Baking a mean chocolate brownie. Guessing how many gumballs are in a jar. Tell a story when that amazing talent was handy!

Don’t worry if some of your ideas repeat between sections. This is just a way to get ideas flowing! 

STEP 2. Shortlist your ideas

Identify your strongest ideas out of the bunch. This should probably be very few (2-4).

STEP 3. Freewrite about your possible essay topics.

Once you’ve brainstormed some ideas and identified 2-4 winners, we agree with Find the Right College – just start freewriting! Start by writing a few sentences or paragraphs about any of your shortlisted topics, and let the words flow. Write for about 15 minutes, on each shortlisted topic. Don’t worry about structure or organization – this is just an exercise so you feel comfortable getting the thoughts out of your head and onto paper. 

It will also allow you to see which of the topics seems to have the most “legs” — often, you’ll notice that your best topic will:

• Be the easiest to write about (those 15 minutes flew by!)
• Lead you to tell at least one interesting story
• Feel like it genuinely reveals something important about who you are
• Not be captured easily by other parts of your application (you’ll need a full 500 words to really be able to tackle this meaty topic)

Well, let’s start here: What makes a personal statement good or even great ?

Here are some things to keep in mind: 

1. Get personal.

Remember the “personal” in personal statement. We all have a story to tell, and we all have a different journey that led us to where we are today. We might think “someone already wrote about this” or we might think our story isn’t unique, but IT IS.

2. Speak like you.

Write your personal statement in a genuine tone that reflects who you are . There’s no right or wrong tone – just make sure your tone represents YOU. This means, in particular, not using big words just to show off. Often, this just seems like you’re trying to hard. (Or, even worse, you accidentally use the word incorrectly!)

3. Think about your audience.

Who will you be writing your personal statement for? What message do you want to convey? If it’s for to the college admissions committee, how do you show you’ll align well with the culture of the school? If it’s for a scholarship provider, how do you show you support their mission?

4. Hit the big three: Story, Implication, Connection to college/major.

Most successful college essays do at least 3 things: 

• Mention at least one anecdote or story. (“Show, don’t tell.”)
• Explain why that anecdote or story is important to who you are.
• End (or begin) by connecting this information, to why you are applying to this specific college. This may include information about the major (why you think their department/program is great), or more general information about what attracts you to the school (e.g., location, sports, extracurricular activities, Greek life). Get specific so the school knows you’re really interested in them! This is the one piece of your personal statement that probably shouldn’t be cut & paste.

Here’s an example of how to use that personal essay template:

• Story: When I was 11, my family traveled to Italy and visited museums — one specific painting made me fall in love with art. ( 1-2 paragraphs )
• Why important: After that trip, I did lots of art and studied lots of art. Mention specific extracurriculars. ( 3 paragraphs )
• Why this college: I want to apply to X college because of its excellent art program, which I can also complement by joining Y and Z clubs. Since it’s in New York, it’ll also offer my the opportunity to visit the countless art museums like MOMA. ( 1 paragraph )

5. Hit the length.

Make sure you keep within the required length. Normally if you aim for 500 words, you’re golden. Some college or scholarship applications will allow you to write up to 600 or 650 words.

6. Edit your work.

Once you’ve written your personal statement, step away from it. There was a time when we used to rely on pencil and paper to write down all of our ideas and information (including first-draft college essays). Now, we mainly rely on screens, so our eyes grow tired, causing us to miss typos and grammar mistakes.

So save that document in an easy-to-find folder on your computer. Then stepping away from your computer and taking a break helps relax your mind and body and then refocus when you come back to edit the document.

( Psst – If you’re applying for scholarships with Going Merry, we’ve got built-in spellcheck, and we allow you to save essays in your documents folder, so no work will get lost! )

We can’t stress this one enough: Don’t submit your personal statement without checking your spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.! All the grammar things! Your personal statement reflects who you are, from the topic you choose to the style you write it in, so impress colleges (or scholarship providers) with excellent structure and great grammar!

7. Then, ask someone else to edit it too.

We recommend asking a friend, counselor, or parent to read your personal statement before you submit the document. One more set of eyes will really help you get a second opinion on the tone, writing quality, and overall representation of who you are in your personal statement.

8. Be brave, and hit that “submit” button on your personal statement!

Finally, when everything is completed, click submit! Don’t hold back!

9. Remember, personal statements for your college app, can also be reused as scholarship essays.

Get double-use out of your personal statement. Going Merry is your home for all things scholarships–fill out a profile, get matched to eligible scholarships, and apply. You can even save essays so that you can easily upload the same one for multiple scholarship applications. (We were inspired by the Common App to make applying for scholarships easier.)

Register for an account here , get the full lowdown on how it works , or just sign up for the newsletter below (to get 20 scholarship opportunities delivered to our inbox each each week!).

Do you have personal statement examples ? 

Oh yes we do. First, here are some excerpts of personal statements from members of our very own Going Merry team!

Charlie Maynard, Going Merry CEO – wrote about what matters most to him and why, for his grad school application.

• The open paragraph read: “Being open to new ideas and able to take advantage of opportunities is what is most important to me. The most extraordinary times in my life have come as a result of moments when I’ve seized opportunities. This has been evident in my educational life, my travels around the world and my professional career.”
• This anchored the main topic of his essay. He then went on to explain examples.

Charlotte Lau, Going Merry Head of Growth – wrote for her college Common App personal statement:

“As a child, I was never close with my father, though we were always on good terms. He made me laugh and taught me all the things that made me into a young tomboy: what an RBI is, how to correctly hook a fish when I feel it biting, what to bring on a camping trip. But whenever I was upset, he wouldn’t know how to comfort me. He is a man of jokes and words, not of comforting motions.

But as I grew older and I too became infatuated with words—albeit in written form—our topics of conversation became more diverse and often more profound. We continued to watch sports games together, but during commercials, we’d have epistemological and ethical discussions more fitting for a philosophy class than a chat during a Knicks’ time-out. During these talks, my father would insert stories about his youth. They’d always be transitory or anecdotal, told as if they were beside the point. Still, I’d eagerly commit them to memory, and, over time, I began to get a sense of who my father was—and, in turn, who I am.”

Now, here are some excerpts from other sample personal statements:

These 3 are college essays about personal characteristics:

Essay 1: Humorous essay about getting a D and learning a lesson

“Getting a D probably isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it’s not something anyone wants to see, let alone put, on a college application. It came back to me, scrawled in red, on the first big history test of the year. The one the teacher had assured us was a third of our grade. I could already see my chances of a four-year college going up in smoke and my school year hadn’t even started yet.

What happened? I’m not a D student. I’ll get the occasional C as well as the occasional A. D’s are out of character for me, and enough of a stomach punch to really get my attention. The short version is, I didn’t study, and I don’t remember precisely why. There is always a reason not to study, isn’t there? I didn’t study and I went into a test woefully unprepared and got beaten up.

I had two options here. I could accept that I was in fact a D student despite what I had thought. Or I could study hard for the next test and try to bring my grade up by the force of the average.”

Essay 2: Why a talent (in this case, one at football) is also a responsibility

“Talent is not remarkable. It’s usually the first thing anyone compliments. “You’re so talented.” It doesn’t mean what they think it means. It doesn’t mean I worked hard. It means I was lucky, or blessed, or anything else you want to call it.

I have talent. I’ve known since I was old enough to hold a football. The game just makes intuitive sense to me. The pathways of the players, both my team and the others, where the ball has to go, and what I’m doing. In the silence before a snap, I’m already playing out what is going to happen, watching the holes in my lines, tracing the route of my receivers. […]

It is far too easy to view talent as an excuse. For me, it is a motivator. For my talent, I will accept nothing less than a dream that only a tiny percentage of people ever get to experience. To get there, I’m willing to work hard and wring every last accomplishment from myself.

Talent is a responsibility. Because you had nothing to do with acquiring it, you are compelled to achieve every last bit you can with it. While I had grown used to thinking varsity would be it, that was not the case. Now, I can focus on the goal while I accomplish the steps.”

Essay 3: On living with depression

“Before I was diagnosed, I had been told it was a normal part of growing up. I was told that teens are moody. I would grow out of it. I couldn’t imagine anyone growing out of what I was feeling. I couldn’t imagine anyone surviving.

Diagnosis and medication have saved my life, allowing me to see the world as people without my brain chemistry would. […] what I found was a place of tiny kindnesses.

It might sound bad—as though kindness can only exist in the smallest forms. This is not what I mean. There are extraordinary people out there who devote their lives to doing very large, very important things for others. I’m not talking about them, partially because they are extraordinary. They are not the norm.

What is normal are the tiny kindnesses. These do not cost a person much of anything. A slice of time, a moment of openness, and little else. They are a smile when you’re feeling down, a comforting hand on the shoulder, a moment to talk.”

And here are 3 college personal statements, about what drove their interest in their intended major: 

Essay 4: On why this applicant wants to study music

“My great-great-uncle Giacomo Ferrari was born in 1912 in Neverland, NY, the youngest of four sons. His parents had emigrated from Italy with his two eldest brothers in the early 1900s in search of a better life in America. Their struggles as immigrants are in themselves inspiring, but the challenges they faced are undoubtedly similar to those that many other immigrant families had to overcome; because of this, the actions that my relatives embarked upon are that much more extraordinary. Giacomo’s oldest brother Antonio, my great-grandfather, decided to take a correspondence course in violin, and to teach his youngest brother Giacomo how to play as well. Giacomo Ferrari eventually became an accomplished violinist and started a free “Lunchtime Strings” program for all the elementary schools in the Neverland area, giving free violin lessons and monthly concerts.

As a native English speaker who has had the privilege of studying viola and violin with trained, private teachers, I can only imagine the perseverance it took for my great-grandfather and great-great uncle to learn an instrument like the violin out of booklets and lessons that were not even written in their native language. Their passion and dedication to learning something new, something not part of their lives as blue-collar, immigrant workers, and their desire to share it with others, has inspired me as a musician and a person. It is this spirit that has motivated me to pursue an MA at Composition at the University of XXX.”

Essay 5: On why this applicant wants to be an allergy specialist

“Suddenly I started scratching my neck, feeling the hives that had started to form. I rushed to the restroom to throw up because my throat was itchy and I felt a weight on my chest. I was experiencing anaphylactic shock, which prevented me from taking anything but shallow breaths. I was fighting the one thing that is meant to protect me and keep me alive – my own body.

[…] After that incident, I began to fear. I became scared of death, eating, and even my own body. As I grew older, I became paranoid about checking food labels and I avoided eating if I didn’t know what was in the food. I knew what could happen if I ate one wrong thing, and I wasn’t willing to risk it for a snack. Ultimately, that fear turned into resentment; I resented my body for making me an outsider.

In the years that followed, this experience and my regular visits to my allergy specialist inspired me to become an allergy specialist. Even though I was probably only ten at the time, I wanted to find a way to help kids like me. I wanted to find a solution so that nobody would have to feel the way I did; nobody deserved to feel that pain, fear, and resentment. As I learned more about the medical world, I became more fascinated with the body’s immune responses, specifically, how a body reacts to allergens.”

Essay 6 : On why this applicant wants to study medicine  

“My passion for teaching others and sharing knowledge emanates from my curiosity and love for learning. My shadowing experiences in particular have stimulated my curiosity and desire to learn more about the world around me. How does platelet rich plasma stimulate tissue growth? How does diabetes affect the proximal convoluted tubule? My questions never stopped. I wanted to know everything and it felt very satisfying to apply my knowledge to clinical problems. distinct concepts together to form a coherent picture truly attracts me to medicine.

It is hard to separate science from medicine; in fact, medicine is science. However, medicine is also about people—their feelings, struggles and concerns. Humans are not pre-programmed robots that all face the same problems. Humans deserve sensitive and understanding physicians. Humans deserve doctors who are infinitely curious, constantly questioning new advents in medicine. They deserve someone who loves the challenge of problem solving and coming up with innovative individualized solutions. I want to be that physician. I want to be able to approach each case as a unique entity and incorporate my strengths into providing personalized care for my patients. Until that time, I may be found Friday mornings in the operating room, peering over shoulders, dreaming about the day I get to hold the drill.”

You made it this far. Now, it’s time to write your personal statement!

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Writing Your Personal Statements

Your personal statement must demonstrate to the admissions committee that you have considered graduate school and their specific program seriously. It’s your opportunity to summarize your academic and research experiences. You must also communicate how your experiences are relevant to preparing you for the graduate degree that you will be pursuing and explain why a given program is the right one for you.

The personal statement is where you highlight your strengths. Make your strengths absolutely clear to the reviewers, because they will often be reading many other statements. Your self-assessments and honest conversations with peers and advisors should have also revealed your strengths. But you must also address (not blame others for) weaknesses or unusual aspects of your application or academic background.

Your personal statement should focus on two main aspects: your competence and commitment.

1. Identify your strengths in terms of competence that indicate that you will succeed in the grad program and provide examples to support your claims. Start your statement by describing your strengths immediately. Because faculty will be reading many statements, it’s important to start off with your strengths and not “bury your lede.” Consider traits of successful graduate students from your informational interviews, and identify which of these traits you have. These traits could involve research skills and experiences, expertise in working with techniques or instruments, familiarity with professional networks and resources in your field, etc.

• Check your responses from the exercises in the self-assessment section. You may wish to consult notes from your informational interviews and your Seven Stories . Write concise summaries and stories that demonstrate your strengths, e.g. how your strengths helped you to achieve certain goals or overcome obstacles.
• Summarize your research experience(s). What were the main project goals and the “big picture” questions? What was your role in this project? What did you accomplish? What did you learn, and how did you grow as a result of the experience(s)?

My research examines the interplay between U.S. domestic politics and foreign policy during the Cold War. As a native New Yorker, I saw firsthand how dramatically my city changed after 9/11, which prompted my early interest in U.S. policy at home and abroad. As an undergraduate at the City College of New York, I planned to study international relations with a focus on U.S. foreign affairs. I also quickly became involved in student activist groups that focused on raising awareness about a wide range of human rights issues, from the Syrian refugee crisis to asylum seekers from Central America.

The more I learned about the crises in the present, the more I realized that I needed a deeper understanding of the past to fully grasp them. I decided to pursue a PhD in history in order to gain a clearer understanding of human rights issues in the present and to empower young student-activists like myself.

— Vannessa Velez, PhD candidate in History

Addressing weaknesses or unusual aspects

• Identify weaknesses or unusual aspects in your application—e.g., a significant drop in your GPA during a term; weak GRE scores; changes in your academic trajectory, etc. Don’t ignore them, because ignoring them might be interpreted as blind spots for you. If you’re unsure if a particular issue is significant enough to address, seek advice from faculty mentors.
• Explain how you’ll improve and strengthen those areas or work around your weakness. Determine how you will address them in a positive light, e.g., by discussing how you overcame obstacles through persistence, what you learned from challenges, and how you grew from failures. Focusing on a growth mindset  or grit  and this blog on weaknesses might also help.
• Deal with any significant unusual aspects later in the statement to allow a positive impression to develop first.
• Explain, rather than provide excuses—i.e., address the issue directly and don’t blame others (even if you believe someone else is responsible). Draft it and get feedback from others to see if the explanation is working as you want it to.
• Provide supporting empirical evidence if possible. For example, “Adjusting to college was a major step for me, coming from a small high school and as a first-generation college student. My freshman GPA was not up to par with my typical achievements, as demonstrated by my improved  GPA of 3.8 during my second and third years in college."
• Be concise (don’t dwell on the issues), but also be complete (don’t lead to other potentially unanswered questions). For example, if a drop in grades during a term was due to a health issue, explain whether the health issue is recurring, managed now with medication, resolved, etc.

2. Explain your commitment to research and their graduate program, including your motivation for why you are applying to this graduate program at this university. Be as specific as possible. Identify several faculty members with whom you are interested in working, and explain why their research interests you.

• Descriptions of your commitment should explain why you’re passionate about this particular academic field and provide demonstrations of your commitment with stories (e.g., working long hours to solve a problem, overcoming challenges in research, resilience in pursuing problems). Don’t merely assert your commitment.
• Explain why you are applying to graduate school, as opposed to seeking a professional degree or a job. Discuss your interest and motivation for grad school, along with your future career aspirations.

I am definitely not your traditional graduate student. As a biracial (Native American and white), first-generation PhD student from a military family, I had very limited guidance on how best to pursue my education, especially when I decided that graduate school was a good idea. I ended up coming to this PhD in a very circuitous manner, stopping first to get a JD and, later, an MFA in Young Adult Literature. With each degree, I took time to work and apply what I’d learned, as a lawyer and as an educator. Each time, I realized that I was circling around questions that I couldn’t let go of—not just because I found them to be fascinating, but because I did (and still do!) feel that my research could help to bridge a gap that desperately needs bridging. Because my work is quite interdisciplinary, I strongly feel that I wouldn’t have been able to pursue this line of research without the degrees and life experience I gained before coming to this program.

— Jamie Fine, PhD candidate in Modern Thought and Literature

Statement of Purpose: subtle aspects

• Think in terms of engaging faculty in a conversation rather than pleading with them that you should be admitted. Ask reviewers to read drafts with this concern in mind.
• With later drafts, try developing an overall narrative theme. See if one emerges as you work.
• Write at least 10 drafts and expect your thinking and the essay to change quite a bit over time.
• Read drafts out loud to help you catch errors.
• Expect the "you' that emerges in your essay to be incomplete. . . that’s OK.
• You’re sharing a professional/scholarly slice of "you."
• Avoid humor (do you really know what senior academics find funny?) and flashy openings and closings. Think of pitching the essay to an educated person in the field, but not necessarily in your specialty. Avoid emotionally laden words (such as "love" or "passion"). Remember, your audience is a group of professors! Overly emotional appeals might make them uncomfortable. They are looking for scholarly colleagues.

© Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305

4 Law School Personal Statement Examples + Analysis and How-to

Law school personal statement analysis by CEG Law School Admissions Specialist Amy Stein.

Dissecting a few law school personal statement examples is an excellent way to start off your law school essay writing process. You’ll better understand how to write a law school personal statement by reading some examples (like those below) that got their writers into their dream law schools. 

To set you up to write a strong law school essay, we’ll provide brainstorming exercises and content outlines to help you show your best side in your personal statement while directly addressing what law schools are looking for, and questions you may have such as how long a law school personal statement should be and what kind of law school personal statement structure to use. Each of the law school personal statement examples below take slightly different approaches to their structure.

Let’s dive in.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What are law schools looking for, law school personal statement example #1, law school personal statement example #2, law school personal statement example #3, law school personal statement example #4, how to write a law school personal statement, three-step law school personal statement writing process, further tips to revising your law school personal statement.

We’ll dive into detail in our How-to section below after we analyze some law school personal statement examples, but as you read, keep in mind that in your personal statement, there are a few key qualities to make sure to demonstrate with your story and writing:

As you look through the personal statements below, notice the different ways each essay demonstrates those three qualities. Also, pay attention to how each author chose a topic/approach that allowed them to demonstrate

How their personal values/background/story/accomplishments connect to their desire to attend law school

How they’ll contribute to the diversity of a law school (note that “diversity” is used in the broad sense here—not just diversity of race, but of thought, experience, point of view, etc.)

How they’ve already developed some of the skills necessary to being a good lawyer

We’ll talk about these things more in the How-to section after the example personal statements.

Note: Below we’ll present a successful law school essay in full, and following that we’ll break the essay into sections, with in-depth analysis piece by piece so you can best understand how to craft your own essay.

Many students do not apply directly to law school after graduating from college; admissions committees are familiar with seeing essays from so-called returning students.  This essay from a student who worked for a number of years before applying to law school demonstrates effectively how her career in the medical field led her to want to become a lawyer.

Full example personal statement:

Ever since I was a little girl, I thought that I wanted to work in the medical field. To me, those who did were superheroes. As I grew older, I began to pursue my desire to be in the medical field so that I too could one day be a superhero. When I started my healthcare career a few years ago, I was eager and optimistic. Unbeknownst to me, the field would come to drastically change, and I would uncover disheartening truths about the healthcare industry that would make me question my ambitions. In 2020, the world began to battle COVID-19, and healthcare hasn’t been the same since. By personally working on the front-line during the COVID-19 pandemic, it became quite apparent to me that the healthcare system is broken. This pandemic has shed light on just how inadequate the public health industry is. The unfortunate truth was revealed that healthcare is, at its core, a business. Providers in the private sector are often faced with the dilemma of wanting to treat a patient who truly needs their help but being limited by the rules and regulations of the corporation they work for. Even the widely utilized COVID-19 test requires insurance at most private companies. If a patient does not have medical insurance, they are forced to pay exorbitant amounts for this necessary, potentially life-saving test. Despite the fact that providers and staff are empathetic to the patient’s situation, unless the patient is able to pay the business, there is not much they can do to help. Furthermore, burnout has reached new heights among healthcare professionals in the United States since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the high patient volume that many clinics are seeing, patients are often turned away at the door due to a lack of resources and staffing. The demand placed on medical personnel during this pandemic has surpassed the expectations placed on them in the past, causing an unfortunate decline in patient care. Medical providers are asking for help from a system that will not answer their call. The healthcare industry has not only failed its providers, but it has proven to be ineffective in its ability to give adequate care to patients with nowhere else to turn. I believe that unless action is taken toward improving such an overwhelmed industry, the patients and medical providers are going to suffer. It is this new outlook on the healthcare industry that has motivated me to pursue a career in health law. I want to work to fix this fragmented, unjust system. I want to protect the patients’ and providers’ rights. Medical providers should not be forced by their employers to turn patients away because of their socioeconomic status. And, patients should not feel as though they have nowhere to turn when they are in desperate need of help. Studying health law will give me the tools necessary to construct public policy that can address the fundamental issues that are plaguing the healthcare industry today. It will allow me to  defend policies that promote greater access to more affordable and higher quality healthcare. It will also give me the opportunity to protect providers from any legal liabilities they might be subjected to due to the regulations placed on them by their employers. I know that I have what it takes to succeed in this pursuit of an education and eventual career in health law. My background in the study of biology and my direct work with patients and providers will bring a unique perspective to my future law school community, as well as the legal profession. By pursuing an education in health law, I intend to enter a profession that aligns with the interest and knowledge I have discovered and developed through real world experience. By being involved in health law, I will be able to accomplish things in healthcare I had not even imagined when I began my journey in healthcare years ago. I believe it will give me an opportunity to ensure patients receive quality care at a level that is unencumbered by the rules and regulations of the business that is healthcare. A career in health law is the solution to ensuring that a patients’ inalienable healthcare rights are respected, and that the medical providers can administer the care they know to be medically necessary. I know that as a future proponent  of health law, I can and will become the superhero I had once hoped to be.

Paragraph-by-paragraph analysis:

Paragraph One: Introduction

Ever since I was a little girl, I thought that I wanted to work in the medical field. To me, those who did were superheroes. As I grew older, I began to pursue my desire to be in the medical field so that I too could one day be a superhero. When I started my healthcare career a few years ago, I was eager and optimistic. Unbeknownst to me, the field would come to drastically change, and I would uncover disheartening truths about the healthcare industry that would make me question my ambitions.

This is a solid setup for the essay’s narrative—the writer lets the admissions committee know from the outset that she has had a significant career before applying to law school. The reader immediately knows about the author’s background and passion for healthcare. The last sentence detailing the writer’s disillusionment with healthcare foreshadows her desire to go to law school. The superhero analogy is one that resonates, especially in a post-COVID world in which those in the medical field were frequently referred to as superheroes.

Paragraph Two: Background/Preparation

In 2020, the world began to battle COVID-19, and healthcare hasn’t been the same since. By personally working on the front-line during the COVID-19 pandemic, it became quite apparent to me that the healthcare system is broken. This pandemic has shed light on just how inadequate the public health industry is. The unfortunate truth was revealed that healthcare is, at its core, a business. Providers in the private sector are often faced with the dilemma of wanting to treat a patient who truly needs their help but being limited by the rules and regulations of the corporation they work for. Even the widely utilized COVID-19 test requires insurance at most private companies. If a patient does not have medical insurance, they are forced to pay exorbitant amounts for this necessary, potentially life-saving test. Despite the fact that providers and staff are empathetic to the patient’s situation, unless the patient is able to pay the business, there is not much they can do to help.

While it has become relatively common in recent years for students to submit essays detailing how they have personally been impacted by COVID, the broad perspective that the author provides is something that an admissions committee would find impressive. First, she worked on the front lines during the pandemic, which inherently lends credibility to her statements. She nicely highlights the inherent dichotomy between the kindness and compassion of front-line workers and the business aspects of medicine, and how the former impacts the latter. This paragraph also provides further effective background information, so the reader is starting to understand why she wants to leave the medical field and pivot to law school.

Paragraph Three: Expanded Background + Values

Furthermore, burnout has reached new heights among healthcare professionals in the United States since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the high patient volume that many clinics are seeing, patients are often turned away at the door due to a lack of resources and staffing. The demand placed on medical personnel during this pandemic has surpassed the expectations placed on them in the past, causing an unfortunate decline in patient care. Medical providers are asking for help from a system that will not answer their call. The healthcare industry has not only failed its providers, but it has proven to be ineffective in its ability to give adequate care to patients with nowhere else to turn.

Here, again, the dichotomy between compassionate medical care and business concerns is highlighted.  It acknowledges the almost insurmountable problems faced by providers—“Medical providers are asking for help from a system that will not answer their call.”  This is not only good writing (a foundational legal skill), but it also continues the setup of why the author wants to go to law school.

Paragraph Four: Pivot/Bridge to Law

I believe that unless action is taken toward improving such an overwhelmed industry, the patients and medical providers are going to suffer. It is this new outlook on the healthcare industry that has motivated me to pursue a career in health law. I want to work to fix this fragmented, unjust system. I want to protect the patients’ and providers’ rights. Medical providers should not be forced by their employers to turn patients away because of their socioeconomic status. And, patients should not feel as though they have nowhere to turn when they are in desperate need of help. Studying health law will give me the tools necessary to construct public policy that can address the fundamental issues that are plaguing the healthcare industry today. It will allow me to  defend policies that promote greater access to more affordable and higher quality healthcare. It will also give me the opportunity to protect providers from any legal liabilities they might be subjected to due to the regulations placed on them by their employers.

There’s a nice initial payoff and pivot here—as readers, we see the dots connecting her shift into health law, based on her experiences in the opening section. Her interest in improving conditions for both providers and patients reflects a good grasp of the field and understanding of broad policy issues. Being able to spot issues in this way demonstrates that she has the analytical skills that she will need to succeed in law school. Again, her passion for the subject comes through. She has painted a very clear picture of herself as a thinker and healthcare advocate; this leads one to believe that she can easily transfer these skills to a career as a legal advocate.

Paragraph Four: Further Pivot/Bridge to Law

I know that I have what it takes to succeed in this pursuit of an education and eventual career in health law. My background in the study of biology and my direct work with patients and providers will bring a unique perspective to my future law school community, as well as the legal profession. By pursuing an education in health law, I intend to enter a profession that aligns with the interest and knowledge I have discovered and developed through real world experience.

Effective as it is, much of this essay has discussed the policies that have made the student want to go to law school, rather than directly discussing her attributes. This is actually the most personal paragraph in the essay, and yet the reader feels that they have learned much about who the student is in the preceding paragraphs.

Paragraph Six: Conclusion

By being involved in health law, I will be able to accomplish things in healthcare I had not even imagined when I began my journey in healthcare years ago. I believe it will give me an opportunity to ensure patients receive quality care at a level that is unencumbered by the rules and regulations of the business that is healthcare. A career in health law is the solution to ensuring that a patients’ inalienable healthcare rights are respected, and that the medical providers can administer the care they know to be medically necessary. I know that as a future proponent  of health law, I can and will become the superhero I had once hoped to be.

This student wants to use her prior career to help her in her future career as a lawyer—the essay provides a clear roadmap of where she has been and where she wants to go. Her reasons for wanting to go to law school will make compelling sense to the admissions committee. She touches on her background in biology and her interest in helping both patients and providers. She ties the essay together nicely by referring back to the superhero analogy from the opening (a technique often referred to as “bookending”), and one is left with the impression that she will easily transition from being a medical superhero to a legal one.

Unlike other graduate schools which ask you to prepare a statement of purpose that focuses on your past academic experiences and what your areas of intellectual interest will be if you are accepted to the program, the law school statement of purpose is much more focused on you as an individua l—what aspect of your character or past experiences will help you become a successful law student and ultimately a successful lawyer?  

The essay does not have to be overly complicated—a simple, clear piece of writing that gives a sense of who you are, what your values are, and why you want to be a lawyer is an effective path to take. On a technical level, a grammatically correct, well-edited piece is critical since writing is an essential skill for potential lawyers. Substantively, the piece should tell a story about who you are and what matters to you—what are you passionate about? 

The essay below is a nice example of this approach.

Law school essay example:

Filotimo . This little eight-letter, four-syllable word eludes explanation. I can’t quite put my finger on an exact definition, and neither can Google Translate or any Greek-American dictionary or translator. Nevertheless, I will do my best to define it: filotimo is a Greek word that embodies the foundational Greek principles of honor, duty, dignity, hospitality, and warmth. Living through the values of filotimo means being selfless and helping others, not in expectation of reward but in the fulfillment of a sense of duty and virtue. Prior to even knowing such a word existed, these were the values I grew up with in the Greek-American community and the pillars with which I have unconsciously structured my life. The root of my passion for filotimo comes from my parents: two natives of a small island in the Cycladic cluster of the Aegean Sea, Andros. Every summer, we vacation to Greece to relax and reunite with family on our breaks off from school. Andros is my home away from home. But in the endless summers I spent soaking in the sun and strolling through the towns, I often blissfully got swept up in the winds of oblivion, ignorant to the urgent state of affairs in my little hometown, as I was clouded by my youthful naïvité. The island was in a financial slump, not only because of the notorious country-wide recession, but also because of the island’s ongoing struggle to allure a tourist crowd and make enough during the summer months to support the locals for the entire year. With every passing summer, I slowly became more aware of the unstocked shops that no longer sold my favorite Greek chocolates, and I noticed the pharmacy disappear on one corner of the agora while the butcher shop disappeared on the next. The community and the people I grew up with who gave life to the island were packing their bags and boarding up their buildings to find jobs elsewhere. What once was my hometown’s steady breath was now a vanishing gasp for air. While others gave up, my parents took this crisis as a call to action. As board members of the Andros Society of USA, a Greek-American organization devoted to forging a community of Andriotes across the United States, they kick-started fundraising efforts and charity galas to raise money and help the locals in their time of need. Through their selflessness and passion for filotimo, they inspired me to be a part of the effort towards reconstructing the island and giving back to a cause that hit close to home. I have sold numerous raffles and ads for our society’s journal, consistently promoted and raised awareness on social media platforms, and, above all else, invested countless hours towards creating a better future for my home away from home. At our last gala alone, I was a major player in the effort that raised over $30,000 to fund medical supplies for the island’s only hospital. I have devoted myself to doing everything I can to help others, both abroad, through the Andros Society’s major philanthropic efforts and locally, through my church community, to give back to soup kitchens and natural disaster relief programs. Essentially, choosing a career in law satisfies not only my passion for academia but my drive for helping others and putting the values that I was raised with into practice. Whether it’s being the person who will stand up for a small Greek community in the middle of the Aegean or the person who will stand before a court in the state of New York to defend a client or a company, filotimo is what I put into practice in everything I do. For these reasons, I am confident that my dedication to contribute towards a greater good and my passion for living by the values of filtotimo will be invaluable in my future as an attorney.

Choosing to organize the essay around a Greek word that embodies ideas and principles that are important to the author is significant on multiple levels—she lets the reader know from the outset how important her identity as a Greek-American is to her; she also highlights the personal qualities that are important to her and that she believes she embodies. This is a little different than some of the other essays we see where the reader sets up a roadmap of why they want to go to law school. This author’s approach is refreshing and makes the reader want to continue reading to find out where her filotimo journey will take us.

She continues the journey by describing how her parents are immigrants, making her a first generation American, which is of interest to admissions committees. There is a nice contrast between her idyllic summers in Andros and her growing understanding of the economic hardship the country was facing.

As is typical in most law school statements of purpose, the first couple of paragraphs are used to set up the core idea in the essay. The next two paragraphs nicely detail what she did to help others—following the example set by her parents. Although these activities are not directly related to law, they do demonstrate a desire to help others and her ability to organize and mobilize others, both of which are skills of an effective lawyer.

This essay helped the author successfully apply to law school, but there are some ways the essay could be made even stronger: While this essay gives an excellent picture of who the applicant is as a person, it could more clearly draw the parallel between the experiences described and her reasons for wanting to attend law school. For example, she mentions her passion for academia in the last paragraph but that is not tied to anything else in the essay. While she does say she will stand up for people in court the way she stands up for her town, she could have drawn a clearer parallel between her passion for helping those in her community and whom she wishes to help as a lawyer. This would further help the admissions committee to see where her interests as a lawyer lie.

This essay was also written by a student with significant work experience prior to applying to law school.  As in the other essay by a returning student (Example 1, above), it does an excellent job of explaining what the prior career entailed and how the experiences she gained in that career are what encouraged her desire to be a lawyer working in the field of family law. This is a powerful story that is well told and would clearly grab the attention of the admissions committee.

Below, we’ll offer paragraph-by-paragraph analysis again.

Paragraph One: Intro via narrative experience

In January 2021, I spent nearly six hours sitting in Bliss County Family Court with one of my clients, a single mother of a toddler, while her abusive, estranged husband sat across the room. It was the day of their custody hearing, and my client had been agonizing for weeks about whether she would be granted sole custody of her daughter. I reassured her and reminded her that she was her child’s only caregiver and provider — and with good reason, on account of her husband’s alcoholism and physical and emotional abuse.

Lawyers are storytellers—whether you are trying to convince a judge or a jury that your client should win, or trying to negotiate with an adversary to get the best deal for your client, it is often the attorney with the most convincing story who wins. Admissions officers know this, so if you can demonstrate strong storytelling skills in your essay, that will make a strong impression because the reader will believe that you will be able to transfer those skills to your law student experience. This six-line paragraph does such an excellent job of laying out the client’s difficult situation without being melodramatic. It also clearly shows the student’s role in assisting and reassuring her. It is a very effective start to the story.

Paragraph Two: Narrative continued

When my client asked me to accompany her to the courthouse, I told her I would only be able to wait with her, because as a non-lawyer I did not have any authority to speak on her behalf. She understood, and I realized she wanted me there as a moral support. She was afraid her husband would try to manipulate her into some informal custody arrangement, and she thought that as long as I was there, he would not approach her, and she would not be tempted to acquiesce to his hypothetical demands. She was right, and the outcome of the hearing was in her favor. I was happy for my client and relieved that her daughter would remain in the right hands. And although I was glad that I could be of help to my client, I felt frustrated that I could not advocate further for her that day.

This paragraph does a really nice job of developing the narrative, especially by illuminating the author’s feelings and core values driving her decision to attend law school. Again, she clearly and effectively conveys her client’s concerns and the reasons why she wanted her there. More significantly, the student also conveys her frustration at the limitations of what she could do to help the client. This is the next step in laying the foundation for why she wants to go to law school.  

On paper, my role as a case planner for a child welfare agency is about checking boxes: assessing the condition of the child’s home; checking for suspicious marks or bruises; requesting medical and educational records; and making referrals for community-based services. In reality, the job is all that plus more: waiting with parents in courthouses, welfare offices, and schools; grocery shopping with a family struggling to make ends meet; reading mail to an illiterate mother; hugging a crying toddler; discussing the importance of safe sex with a rebellious teenager; listening to the many trials and tribulations of primarily low-income people of color dealing with generational trauma; trying to support and advocate for them in any way I can; and feeling defeated when I can only do so much for them within the confines of my position.

This paragraph continues what she had done in the prior one but through a broader lens—laying out what she can do for her clients overall and again the limitation of the position because she is not a lawyer.  This development from the specific to the general continues to tell her story in a very effective way.

I value being a point of contact for the families I have served over the past two and a half years. I believe it is meaningful work to direct a person asking for help to a resource or organization that can better support them. But I dream of a future where, when a 12-year-old tells me she wants her aunt to adopt her, I can help them on that journey. Or when a mother asks me for advice on how to respond to her abusive ex’s petition for visitation with their children, I can formulate a plan with her and advocate for her in front of a judge. Or when an undocumented parent asks me for legal assistance, I can confidently provide it to them rather than give them information for Legal Aid and hope for the best. These exchanges are real, and they reaffirm my intent to practice family law every day.

This paragraph does a really nice job of recognizing and honoring her work with families; it says much about her character that she so clearly values the opportunity that she was given, which is an important characteristic for a lawyer. She also clearly demonstrates how this social work position was the first step in a journey. The examples she gives shows the admissions committee that she has thought through very carefully the reasons why she wants to become a lawyer and what she plans to do with her legal education.  This kind of reflective approach will make this essay stand out.

Paragraph Five: Conclusion

My desire to pursue family law did not begin with my work in child welfare. It first occurred to me when I was a freshman journalism student with a vague interest in law, and it was a future I could envision for myself. On the cusp of graduating, I found an opportunity to work in child welfare through the nonprofit Fostering Change for Children. I spent July 2018 with my cohort in an intensive child welfare training at Columbia University’s School of Social Work and subsequently started my role as a case planner. This work is challenging, at times grueling, and emotional; yet above all else, it is restorative and fulfilling. Nowadays, I view family law as a vehicle to be a stronger and more effective advocate for resilient children and the parents and caregivers who work within their capacities every day to keep those children safe and healthy. I believe that an education at XXX Law and an opportunity to participate in the school’s Child Welfare Clinic would build on the strengths I have developed in my current role and provide a pathway to become the advocate I strive to be.

Remember, an important part of the essay is to let the Committee know more about you. This paragraph shares more of her history and interest in the family law field. It specifically references the Child Welfare Clinic at the school to which she is applying. Referencing specific courses or clinics or academic centers that the school offers shows the reader you have done your homework and figured out why their school is a good fit for you, rather than just submitting a generic essay. 

When I first moved to the Deep South, I was applying for a visual anthropology MA program. Armed with a DSLR and VideoMic Pro, I documented the local Black Lives Matter movement in North Carolina. But social justice work quickly drew me in, and within a few weeks, I turned from an observer into a participant. Within four months, I found myself standing arm-in-arm in a crowd of activists, surrounded by riot gear police and the National Guard, demanding change during the Charlotte Uprising following the shooting of Keith Scott. I remember marching past the towering Mecklenburg County Jail to see the long rows of rectangular cell windows. Dozens of cell lights began to flicker. The inmates seemed to be saying that they knew we were out there fighting for their rights. After that moment, I decided to dedicate my life to concrete, practical approaches to criminal justice reform through law and advocacy, insteading of pursuing visual anthropology. As a documentarian and organizer in Asheville, I worked deeply within anarchist circles to execute and document acts of civil disobedience, like police station sit-ins, demonstrations outside city officials’ homes, and road blockades. I not only learned that water-based sunscreen is preferable to oil-based sunscreen (it’s easier to clean out of your eyes if you get pepper sprayed), I also learned that having radical politics can alienate a lot of people, including those you’re trying to help.  For example, it was difficult for our “affinity group” (the building block of anarchist organizations) to collaborate with moderate black organizations in order to make improvements to the police department because many anarchist organizers I worked with wouldn't compromise their radical beliefs. This was incredibly frustrating for me. I remember one morning calling my dad, who runs a nonprofit, and mentioning the difficulty I faced. With a laugh, he told me he's spent the last 30 years of his career compromising. Footnote: I grew up volunteering for my father and stepmother’s nonprofit, which serves primarily youth of color in South Florida. I first witnessed the impacts of mass incarceration on family members by working directly with these kids (many with incarcerated parents): from teaching them acting, to accompanying them when they visited their imprisoned parents, to interviewing them about their personal stories. During this phone call with my dad I realized that he and my step-mom have to compromise often in order to effectively help people. This was a turning point for me.  My affinity group couldn’t surmount challenges we faced because we refused to work within the city’s legal framework for ideological reasons. But navigating the legal system is often necessary to help those impacted by the justice system or to work to reform it. This is why I want to attend law school. As a future public defender or lawyer working on reformative policy, the lesson in compromise I learned organizing will better equip me to work with judges and prosecutors in the courtroom or to write effective policy that reconciles the goals of seemingly disparate interest groups.  Columbia Law School is the perfect place to prepare me for this challenge. Columbia’s unique social justice curriculum (classes like “Lawyering for Change,” the “Racial Justice Litigation Workshop,” and the “Law and Organizing for Social Change Externship”) will pair well with my statistical research and programming background when creating innovative, data-backed policy solutions to criminal justice problems. In fact, scholarship by Columbia’s Philip Genty into the collateral damage of the criminal justice system on families very closely relates to the kind of independent research I hope to engage in and publish in the Columbia Journal of Race and Law. Building upon my volunteer work with the Children of Inmates program in South Florida, where I interacted with children of men facing life sentences, and my work canvassing for voter rights restoration for those with felony convictions, I am eager to participate in the “Challenging the Consequences of Mass Incarceration Clinic” where I can develop my skills in and understanding of litigation-based solutions to federal prisoner confinement and innocence claims. Because, to family members of inmates, those also impacted by the criminal justice system, criminals are much more than just flickering lights. Word Count: 696

Tips + Analysis

Connect where you’ve been to where you’re going. Ideally, your personal statement helps readers 

A) to understand some core aspects of who you are and 

B) to see how part of your personal story and experiences have set you up for the next step in your path: law school. Specifically, how certain aspects of your experiences and subsequent world view connect with the type of law you hope to pursue. 

Doing this allows a reader both to feel more connected to you personally and to understand your deeper motivations—things they can’t get from your transcripts or test scores. Notice how, in the essay above, the author’s experiences in the body paragraphs directly set up the legal focus at the end of the essay, and why the author and Columbia belong together. Speaking of which…

Show why you + [X law school] belong together. It’s a great idea* to show that A) you’ve done your homework on the program and B) that you and that particular law school fit together perfectly in values and focus. Spend time researching the school, its professors, its classes, and its mission, and demonstrate why those things fit with your goals and focus. This paragraph should change for every school you are applying to. (*Unless  you’re applying to a school with a separate essay prompt directly asking why you are applying to that particular program, in which case, avoid repetition).

From the examples above, you’ve probably noticed that there’s no single way to structure and write a law school personal statement, but that they do share certain key characteristics. Writing a personal statement for law school is fairly similar to writing a personal statement for an undergraduate application, with two big distinctions:

Stylistically, you want your law school personal statement to be more direct and less poetic. UC Berkeley Law has a few savage paragraphs of advice ominously addressed “from a past admissions committee member” that nicely summarize the stylistic approach one should take in a law school personal statement (and what not to do). 

Your concluding paragraph for your law school personal statement should be like a tiny “Why This School" statement, IF the school doesn’t have a separate “Why This School” essay. There are three reasons why this is important. 

First, it allows you to end your personal narrative by directly connecting to the school. It’s like answering the “So what?” of your story and bringing it full circle. 

Second, it helps you demonstrate interest in the school. 

And third, it shows that you are prepared and have done your research.

Writing a law school personal statement can seem more difficult than it needs to: The goal of the essay may not feel super clear, or maybe you’re unsure if you’re striking the right balance between getting personal and telling the reader why you’re awesome. The guide below will help. 

Writing your law school personal essay generally follows three main steps: topic selection, structure, and revision.

So below, we’ll explore:

Finding your topic.

Structuring your content.

Revising the details. 

Step One: How To Find A Great Topic for Your Law School Personal Statement

The best topics for a law school personal statement allow you to address four different areas: 

Your personal background and outstanding accomplishments that have driven your desire to attend law school

How you’d contribute to the diversity of a law school (note that “diversity” is used in the broad sense here—not just diversity of race, but of thought, experience, point of view, etc.)

Experiences you’ve had and obstacles you’ve overcome

Why the school is particularly suited for your career goals (but again, if the school asks for a separate essay on why you want to attend that law school, don’t repeat yourself)

Important note: If you have a unique background or are from an underrepresented population, and your experiences feel central to your personal story, we’d generally recommend saving that content for your diversity statement if the law school requires one, and focusing on another central story in your personal statement, unless you can write about it in a way that doesn’t sound repetitive. 

Another important note: You don’t need to think about why that school is particularly suited for your career goals (factor #4) when picking a personal statement topic. You can write that section afterward, by researching the school and connecting details of what the school offers to your narrative/experiences/interests/passions.

Here is an example outline of a law school personal statement (example 4, above) with a topic that hits these four goals. Notice that each of these sentences can be expanded to become a paragraph of the essay:

While applying for Visual Anthropology MA programs, I documented Black Lives Matter groups and protests. 

But I was pulled into social justice work and I found myself working as a community organizer for a racial justice campaign in an anarchist community in Asheville, North Carolina [#2 diverse and unique]. 

But we had a hard time making a difference because many folks in our affinity group were alienating the people of color we were trying to serve because of their radical politics [#3 obstacles]. 

I was only able to see the solution to this obstacle by drawing on my previous experience working in nonprofits [#1 measurable impact]. 

Through this, I learned the importance of compromise when trying to affect change [#3 overcoming obstacles], and so I want to go to your law school and study Critical Race Theory and criminal justice policy reform [#4 Why Us section] so that I can better affect change by working within the system.

Step Two: How to Structure Your Law School Personal Statement

Below, we’ll discuss two structural approaches for your law school personal statement: narrative structure, and montage structure.

Which will work best for you depends on your answer to this question:

Do you feel you have faced significant challenges and obstacles in your life, and/or is your application to law school driven by specific, chronological experiences?

If “yes”, try narrative.

If “no”, try montage.

Narrative structure for a law school personal statement

Here’s a commonly used narrative structure (used in screenwriting) that you can easily adapt for your law school personal statement. You’ll find it used in the law school personal statements above. Basic narrative structure is as follows:

Status Quo: How life was before some important catalyzing event.

Inciting Incident/Status Quo Change: Something happened that changed everything.

Raise the stakes: Other things happened that made things worse or more intense!

Moment of Truth: A key event or decision that led to a resolution of the primary conflict.

Outcome/New Status Quo: Ways that life is (and you are) clearly different from the beginning.

Now look back to that example outline in the previous section. Notice how each of those five sentences hit each of these plot points, like a micro-story. Each can be expanded to build out an essay that will maintain a clear, logical flow.

Some helpful tips:

Focus on your actions in response, not the challenges/obstacles. Your reader cares about the obstacles. Kind of. But what they really care about are the actions you took in response, the things that show your values, growth, and insight. 

Here’s another, even simpler way to think of narrative structure : 

Something happened in my life

I did something about it

I learned something from the experience/s. 

To think of this in concrete terms, each of these three steps should each comprise about 1/3rd of the essay (depending on if a school has a separate section for “Why That School”, or if you need to include it in your personal statement). Many people make the mistake of only focusing on the first 1/3rd. But law schools are most interested in hearing about the second and third parts—what did you do, who have you become, and how does this drive your desire to become a lawyer?

Haven’t Experienced Any Big Challenges In Your Life? Try montage structure

If you haven’t experienced many big challenges in life, or you don’t feel that there are clear chronological experiences that drive your interests in law, there is a different structure for the law school personal statement we call montage structure that doesn’t rely on a central conflict to tell your story. It involves writing about different parts of your life in a way that uses your career goals as a focusing lens or thematic thread, tying those seemingly disparate experiences together.

To build a montage outline, pull out a piece of paper and draw three columns on it.

Step One: In the first column, write down your career focal point (for example, corporate contract law).

Step Two: In the second column, write down the top three or four values and/or skills that you think will be important for the type of law that you’d like to go into (for example, the ability to read logically complicated texts).

Step Three: In the third column, write down as many experiences you’ve had as you can that illustrate each of those values or skills (for example, taking tons of classes in philosophy, writing a mathematics thesis, or being a programmer).

Structuring this type of essay involves thinking about your essay backwards : you first get clear on your career focal point (which you’ll put toward the end of the essay), then figure out the skills and values that fit that career, then you brainstorm experiences in your life in which you’ve already exhibited those skills and values.

In your essay, you will connect these three things (your experiences, the values/skills/insights they illustrate, and how they set you up for your chosen career path) by talking about your experiences, then the values and skills you gained from them, then your career focal point where these skills will be useful. The reason you want to write it in this order is so that you surprise the reader more as you continue to answer “so what?” to the information you are giving the reader. The paragraphs can function like this:

Paragraph 1:

I had experience A.

Specific details of experience A that illustrate/taught me lessons and values.

So what? (As in, insight you gained, ideally ones that surprise the reader a bit.)

Paragraph 2:

I had experience B.

Details of experience B that illustrate/taught me lessons and values.

Probably 1-3 more paragraphs like that (depending on your word count limits).

Then, a clear transition, that says roughly:

“These lessons/values/skills/insights above will be important in my law studies.”

Then your final conclusion paragraph:  

Essentially “This is why your law school will be perfect for preparing me for my practice in this type of law.”

A note on the power of “so what?”

The idea of answering “so what?” is both to show your reader that you can reflect deeply on your life experience and to connect this life experience to your future law study.

Here are two variations on how to structure a montage approach to a law school personal statement:

Pick one skill or lesson and then illustrate 3-5 ways that you gained or learned it.

Pick 3-5 values/skills/lessons and then illustrate how you gained or learned each.

A few tips:

Make your connections unusual and your values specific. There are lots of other people who are going to be describing how their student government experience developed their value for “leadership” or how that nonprofit internship instilled in them the value of “wanting to help people.” These values are also a little bit vague, so you’d want to refine them. But showing the reader how you learned to “compromise on policy while maintaining your values” while managing a political campaign or “learning when it’s actually healthier to quit” when training for a marathon are slightly unusual connections that can not only help you stand out but will show some depth to your personality. #dontbebasic

Don’t rehash your resume. If you’re going to offer details from an experience that you listed in your resume, then make sure that they are not already listed in that resume. We’d even go one step further and argue that, if the resume already communicates, implicitly or explicitly, that you have that skill or value, then don’t use that as a paragraph in your personal statement . For example, if you won a debate competition and listed it on your resume, don’t talk in your personal statement about how it strengthened your public speaking skills—that’s already really obvious. However, if you talked about how your debate experience taught you the importance of trust, that has potential to be an interesting and unusual connection.

Law School Personal Statement Example Structures

Here is a simple outline structure for a law school personal statement example:

Paragraph 1: The experience I had -> The lesson I learned or skill I gained. -> How this connects to what I want to study.

Paragraph 2: The experience I had -> The lesson I learned or skill I gained. -> How this connects to what I want to study.

Paragraph 3: The experience I had -> The lesson I learned or skill I gained. -> How this connects to what I want to study.

Paragraph 4 ("Why This School" section): Here are the things at your school that will help me study this.

Alternatively, you could wait to connect your lessons to what you want to study for the end. This creates a kind of “surprise!” effect, where all of your experiences and values suddenly explode with deeper meaning once you reveal the type of law you want to study:

Paragraph 1: The experience I had -> The lesson I learned or skill I gained. 

Paragraph 2: The experience I had -> The lesson I learned or skill I gained. 

Paragraph 3: The experience I had -> The lesson I learned or skill I gained. 

Paragraph 4: How these three lessons/skills connect to what I want to study.

Paragraph 5 ("Why This School" section): Here are the things at your school that will help me study this.

Here is more detailed information on how to use montage structure, as well as an example essay. (Although it uses an undergraduate applicant’s essay, the structural principles are the same.)

Regardless of which structure you choose, the conclusion paragraph (the "Why This School" section) will be the same, with minor differences to fit what comes before it in the body.

Step 3: How to Revise Your Law School Personal StatemenT

For revision, work big to small:

Is this the right overall topic/approach? (Unless you have very little time before deadlines, don’t be afraid of exploring new topics/jettisoning ideas)

Is this the right structural approach?

Are these the right/strongest examples?

Are the details effective?

Last stage: grammar/mechanics/word count.

This big-to-small approach is the best way to ensure you don’t waste time tweaking language in sentences that you end up chopping completely anyway. 

Try connecting the beginning of the essay to the end of the essay in a thematic or symbolic way. This is a literary technique called “bookending” (used in some of the examples agave) that provides a sense of closure to the reader. 

An example from the personal statements above: Example essay 4 begins with a story about being at a protest and watching the lights of the local prison flicker in response to the crowd’s chanting. The middle of the essay talks about a challenge faced, a lesson the writer learned, and then why a particular law school is suited for the writer’s goals. And then the writer ends the essay by saying that the whole reason the writer wants to go to law school is to help those prisoners flickering their lights on the night of that protest. This technique brings the whole essay full circle.

Pro tip : You can experiment with bookends after you’ve already written the essay. We’ve worked with applicants who waited until the very end of the writing process to create a bookend.

Read the essay out loud to someone. This is the best way to check for sentence flow and structure.

The best people to ask for feedback on your law school personal statement:

A law school admissions consultant. Because they will have the full wraparound expertise.

Someone who has gone to law school. Because they will have a better idea of what a law school is looking for.

Someone with writing experience. Because they will be able to help you refine your content/structure/phrasing.

Someone who knows you well. Because they may be able to pinpoint details you are missing and should include.

If you’d like to contact us about support on your law school applications, you can contact us here .

Take care, and best of luck.

Amy Stein received her undergraduate degree from Tufts University and a J.D. from Fordham Law School. She also holds a Masters Degree in Higher Education Leadership Policy Studies from Hofstra University. She has a lifelong passion for teaching and has been teaching legal writing for almost 25 years. Seeing her students succeed is one of her great joys in life. Because of her many years as a legal academic, she is very familiar with the law school admissions landscape. She also has significant experience working privately with students seeking admission to top-ranked educational institutions at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Pleasanton Weekly

Writing Your Personal Statement for Medical School Applications

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Many individuals who send me inquiries about medical school ask how I can help them build a strong narrative throughout the application cycle. Good question! I start with my criticism of the entire concept of a “narrative” which I view as something linear, something that has a start and a finish. The writing components of your medical school application should be  layered  rather than linear. Let me explain.

I like to start my applicants with a worksheet that asks them to describe all activities they believe are relevant to their medical school application. I also ask them to provide an expanded resume with dates and hours spent because often they capture experiences on the resume that are not reflected in the worksheet that would benefit their application. 

The goal of the worksheet is to capture what experiences have shaped their path and I ask many questions that serve to identify themes or character qualities that occur across multiple activities and experiences. Themes are a good way (though not the only way) to structure a personal statement. For example, an applicant may have a strong theme of community emerging from service projects, casual work experiences, and special interests within the medical field. This theme will help the candidate organically incorporate multiple examples into the personal statement without it feeling like a disparate list of accomplishments. The worksheet is also a good place for me to get to really know a candidate as it provides a complete overview of their experiences and aspirations. It’s also a good sample of their writing – Do they write with a good level of detail? Are they able to tell a story to illustrate a particular point? How deeply do they reflect? All of this helps me understand how best to coach them going forward so their writing remains authentic but develops increasing refinement. 

Once I have a worksheet, I recommend a detailed structure for the personal statement as well as a careful selection of activities and experiences to support the theme (or the character qualities). I start with the personal statement because this is the focal point of an application. It frames, informs, and contextualizes your activities and your secondaries. Although it can’t capture everything about the person you are, it provides a statement of the essentials for understanding the experiences that have shaped your aspirations as a future physician and the kind of physician you hope to be. 

Next comes the layering, I alluded to earlier. Your personal statement will likely focus on 3-5 key experiences Your activities list will name 15 experiences, including the 3-5 mentioned in the personal statement. Your “most meaningful” experiences will be present in your personal statement, so extra care must be taken to write these in a way that adds depth without being repetitive. Your secondary essays will then mention experiences on and off that list (off the list experiences usually come into play when discussing one’s own upbringing and personal diversity). All these layers will join together to create a cohesive vision (rather than a linear narrative) of you as a candidate. This vision will shift slightly for each institution you apply to, as you cannot write and submit every secondary you develop to every school of medicine. Even so, each vision will still be a true representation of you. 

Your interview is yet another layer. To ensure this layer is well executed, I advise applicants to review their application in full to remember the vision of yourself you presented to them. This is the “you” they know. I then advise applicants to be consistent with that “you” but also to limit repetition when you answer their questions. Interviews are an opportunity for depth and detail, yet another layer. To limit repetition and add depth, I advise making a list of recent things that have happened since applying: accomplishments, work experiences, awards/publications, recent events that have changed or further engrained your perspective. The more questions you can answer with recent examples, the less likely you will be to tell them things they may already know. If you know it is a closed application interview, this is not quite as critical. But they might read the application after the interview, so you want to present yourself as someone who is constantly growing and learning. Which of course you are!

Three Major Medical School Application Services:

All major application services require an  activities section ; pay attention to the slight differences in character limits and number of allowed activities.

American Medical College Application Service ( AMCAS )  is the AAMC’s centralized medical school application processing service. It permits up to 15 activities with a 700-character limit for each, except for three most meaningful activities which allows up to 1325 additional characters each.

The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service ( AACOMAS )  is the centralized application service for U.S. osteopathic medical schools. It has no limit on the number of activities (but remember quality is more important than quantity) and allows 600 characters per activity.

Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service ( TMDSAS )  is the common application service for dental, medical, podiatry, and veterinary schools in Texas. It also has no limit on the number of activities and allows a 300-500 character-limit on each (depending on the type of activity), except for the three most meaningful activities which allows up to 500 additional characters each.

A graduate education is increasingly necessary to advance careers, increase income and enjoy employer-sponsored health coverage and retirement plans, and applying successfully for a graduate or professional degree requires careful planning. Elizabeth LaScala PhD, Founder of Doing College and Beyond provides personalized guidance throughout the graduate and professional degree admissions process, whether you are currently studying at the undergraduate level or are already working in your career. Call (925) 330-8801 or visit Elizabeth at her website to learn more.

Elizabeth LaScala

I am a dedicated Independent Educational Consultant that guides college, transfer and graduate and professional school applicants through the complex and competitive world of admissions. I help students... More by Elizabeth LaScala

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Career in Nursing: How to Write a Perfect Nursing Personal Statement

Nursing is a highly dynamic sphere that requires you to monitor the most recent research and constantly take responsibility. You must learn theory and implement it into practice, and now you get the impression that you must be a professional writer! Already want to give up? Please wait, everybody can write a perfect nursing personal statement. But first, let’s figure out why we need this mysterious paper. 

Why should you care?

Besides standard application materials, most nursing programs require submitting a personal statement. Of course, there is no guarantee that the admissions committee would judge you based on this paper. However, writing an interesting personal statement increases your chances of convincing others that you are a perfect candidate. You must write a short essay for a nursing program application to tell about your dedication and work ethic. Make the committee believe that you are passionate about this type of work and sincerely want to help others. Explain why you have chosen this particular program and why it will benefit your future career. Share experiences that demonstrate your competence and prove that you are the perfect candidate. The committee must choose you without a doubt after reading your essay. 

How can you start? 

• Research! Dedicate some time to exploring the chosen program. The more details you know, the better you can filter personal information and adjust it to the program’s standards. Pay attention to the nursing program's areas of expertise and appealing teaching methods. Have you already checked the easiest states to get NP license ? Changes are always challenging, but maybe moving to another area is what you need for a fresh start. 
• More research. That’s right, usually programs have specific directions for writing personal statements. By analyzing such tips and requirements, you can convince the committee that you pay attention to details and respect general rules. Following such rules will help you cope with initial quality checks and develop a personalized strategy for applying to each program. Be careful: requirements may vary and ask you to focus on different aspects. 
• Self-reflect. Think about the experiences and motivations that have led you to this point in the present. This way was long and exhausting, and you definitely have what to say. Maybe you have been waiting for this moment, but nobody asked. Well, now is your chance! Complete a list of the topics worth sharing. Will they help others complete the first impression about you? 
• Story time. Finally, you can start! You have already convinced yourself that your life has enough exciting and dramatic moments. Others must know about them and appreciate your resilience. Make your story personal, and ensure that no AI can cope better. You have a chance to make your personal statement memorable, so please use it. Maybe you have realized you want to become a nurse in unusual circumstances. Or maybe you want to share a joke. Be careful not to overdo it, but something similar may become an element guaranteeing your success. 
• Review. Even if you are sure that you have just compiled the most genius essay in history, it may require revision. Read it one more time. And one more to ensure that it does not contain any grammatical or logical errors. You may ask a friend to check if your writing makes sense. Do not hesitate to ask for help: professional writers also rely on their trusted advisors. 

What to include?

Topics like education are usually a requirement. If not, you may add some details to complete others’ knowledge of your background. Explain why your previous academic experience makes you a perfect candidate. At first sight, you may have studied something completely irrelevant, but what if you are wrong? You attended yoga classes and witnessed the power of mindfulness techniques. You were choosing a diet and realized how often people neglect their eating habits and face adverse consequences. Am I wrong? Well, you definitely have loads of other applicable experiences! Analyze how gained skills will help you in the future. They may already have helped during your volunteering activities. Although this is not a requirement, mentioning such experiences demonstrates your dedication to helping those in need. 

Including work that you were rewarded for is just as fine. Mention work experiences that make you a perfect candidate. For instance, your previous duties required teamwork, and now you are ready to implement the same skills and approaches in nursing. Do not hesitate to mention any experiences that have prepared you for the nursing career. Maybe helping a friend to cope with a traumatic experience has inspired you to research this sphere further. You can describe such a situation or focus on the one where you brilliantly performed under pressure. Or followed strict deadlines without slowing down to panic. Write about unique traits that make you yourself and will make your statement indeed personal. I love working with children, always come on time, and get excited about everything new. Mention those in the right context, and the committee will imagine you as a perfect nurse.

To conclude, a nursing personal statement should convince the admissions committee that you are a perfect candidate for the chosen program. Last advice: balance between taking this part of the work seriously and having fun in the process. You are telling a story, remember? And a good one will contribute to your brilliant nursing career. 

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Here is what Stormy Daniels testified happened between her and Donald Trump

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Porn performer Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday in the hush money case against former President Trump, who looked on as she detailed their alleged sexual encounter and the payment she got to keep it quiet.

Prosecutors allege Trump paid Daniels to keep quiet about the allegations as he ran for president in 2016. Her testimony aired them very publicly as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee seeks to win the White House again.

Trump denies having sex with Daniels , and his lawyers unsuccessfully pushed for a mistrial midway through her testimony.

It was a major spectacle in the first criminal trial of a former American president, now in its third week of testimony in Manhattan.

Here are some takeaways from Daniels’ testimony:

Who is Stormy Daniels?

The case centers on a $130,000 payment to Daniels from Trump’s then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, in the final weeks of Trump’s 2016 campaign. Prosecutors say it was part of a scheme to illegally influence the campaign by burying negative stories about him.

Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump in occasionally graphic testimony

The porn actor’s testimony, even if sanitized and stripped of tell-all details, has been the most-awaited spectacle in Donald Trump’s hush money trial.

May 7, 2024

His lawyers have sought to show that Trump was trying to protect his reputation and family — not his campaign — by shielding them from embarrassing stories about his personal life.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, told jurors that she started exotic dancing in high school and appearing in adult films at age 23, eventually moving to direct more than 150 films and winning a roster of porn industry awards.

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Meeting Trump

Daniels testified she first met and chatted with Trump at a 2006 Lake Tahoe celebrity golf outing where her studio was a sponsor.

He referred to her as “the smart one” and asked her if she wanted to go to dinner, she said. Daniels testified that she accepted Trump’s invitation because she wanted to avoid dinner with her co-workers and thought it might help her career. Trump had his bodyguard get her number, she said.

When they met up later in his penthouse, she appreciated that he seemed interested in the business aspects of the industry rather than the “sexy stuff.” He also suggested putting her on his TV show, “The Apprentice,” a possibility she hoped could help establish her as a writer and director.

She left to use the bathroom and was startled to find Trump in his underwear when she returned, she said. She didn’t feel physically or verbally threatened but realized that he was “bigger and blocking the way,” she testified.

“The next thing I know was: I was on the bed,” and they were having sex, Daniels recalled. The encounter was brief but left her “shaking,” she said. “I just wanted to leave,” she testified.

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Payments for silence

Daniels was asked if Trump ever told her to keep things between them confidential, and said, “Absolutely not.” She said she learned in 2011 that a magazine had learned the story of their encounter, and she agreed to do an interview for $15,000 to make money and “control the narrative.” The story never ran.

In 2016, when Trump was running for president, Daniels said she authorized her manager to shop the story around but did not initially receive interest from news outlets. She said that changed in October with the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump bragged about grabbing women sexually without asking permission . She said she learned that Cohen wanted to buy her silence.

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Mistrial push

Midway through her testimony, Trump’s lawyers moved for a mistrial.

Defense lawyer Todd Blanche argued that Daniels’ testimony about the alleged encounter and other meetings with him had “nothing to do with this case,” and would unfairly prejudice the jury.

The judge rejected it, and he faulted defense attorneys for not raising more of their objections while she was testifying.

Before Daniels took the stand, Trump’s lawyers had tried to stop her from testifying about the encounter’s details, saying it was irrelevant in “a case about books and records.”

Prosecutors countered that Daniels’ testimony gets at what Trump was trying to hide and they were “very mindful” not to draw too much graphic detail. Before Daniels took the stand, they told the judge the testimony would be “really basic,” and would not “involve any details of genitalia.”

While the judge didn’t side with Trump’s lawyers, he acknowledged that some details were excessive. The objections could potentially be used by Trump’s lawyers if he is convicted and they file an appeal.

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Cross-examination

Trump’s lawyers tried to attack Daniels’ credibility, suggesting she was motivated by money and that her account has shifted over the years.

“Am I correct that you hate President Trump?” defense lawyer Susan Necheles asked Daniels at one point. Daniels acknowledged she did.

“And you want him to go to jail?” the lawyer asked.

“I want him to be held accountable,” Daniels said. Pressed again whether that meant going to jail, she said: “If he’s convicted.”

The defense pressed Daniels on the fact that she owes Trump hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees stemming from an unsuccessful defamation lawsuit, and on a 2022 tweet in which she said she “will go to jail before I pay a penny.” Daniels dug in at times in the face of pointed questions, forcefully denying the idea that she had tried to extort money from Trump.

Trump whispered frequently to his attorney during Daniels’ testimony, and his expression seemed to be pained at one point as she recounted details about the dinner she says they shared. He shook his head and appeared to say something under his breath as Daniels testified that Trump told her he didn’t sleep in the same room as his wife.

On the way out of the courthouse, Trump called it “a very revealing day.” He didn’t address Daniels’ testimony explicitly but claimed the prosecutors’ case was “totally falling apart.”

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Jarring split screen

Trump’s appearance in court Tuesday, like all other days he’s stuck in the courtroom, means he can’t be out on the campaign trail as he runs for president a third time. It’s a frequent source of his complaints, but Daniels’ testimony in particular might underscore how much of a distraction the trial is from the business of running for president.

While Trump was stuck in a Manhattan courthouse away from voters and unable to speak for much of the day, President Biden was attending a Holocaust remembrance ceremony and condemning antisemitism .

It’s an issue Trump has sought to use against Biden in the campaign by seizing on the protests at college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war .

Associated Press writer Price reported from New York, Whitehurst from Washington. AP writers Michael Sisak, Jennifer Peltz, Jake Offenhartz and Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this story.

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May 9, 2024

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How Jason Kelce built his personal brand and became a Philly legend

Associate Professor of Practice, Fox School of Business and Management, Temple University

Professor of Marketing, Temple University

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Philly icon and former Eagles star Jason Kelce has continued to make headlines since he announced his retirement from the NFL on March 4, 2024.

A few days after Kelce’s announcement, Campbell Soup unveiled its first Legend Edition Chunky can that pays homage to the former football center. One month later, Kelce surprised fans when he got in the ring at WWE’s WrestleMania XL , which was held in Philadelphia. And on April 29, ESPN announced it is working on a deal to bring Kelce on as an NFL analyst.

As marketing and branding scholars at Temple University’s Fox School of Business, we published a case study on Kelce in early 2024 that explores how he’s built such a strong and enduring personal brand over the course of his career and how this brand can help him stay relevant in retirement.

‘An underdog is a hungry dog!’

An athlete’s personal brand is how the public perceives them based on their actions, expertise and achievements. Athletes with strong personal brands can earn higher salaries and sign bigger endorsement deals . It can also help maintain fans’ support for the athlete – or their team – even if the athlete’s on-field performance declines.

The key to defining an athlete’s – or any individual’s – brand identity is to identify some key words that capture their strengths. In Kelce’s case, we’d argue that “determination,” “grit” and “hard-working” are all terms that reflect his appeal.

Fans will recall Kelce’s unscripted speech on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2018 after the Eagles won the Super Bowl. Kelce, regaled in a full Mummers costume , an elaborate outfit used in Philadelphia’s annual New Year’s Day folk parade, celebrated the team’s underdog status.

“We were a bunch of underdogs. And you know what an underdog is? It’s a hungry dog,” he said. “And that’s why we’re the first team in Eagles history to hold that freaking trophy.” The crowd roared.

Kelce has demonstrated grit since his early football career, when he alternated positions a few times before finding the right fit. He had started his college football career as a walk-on running back at the University of Cincinnati before switching to left guard and finally to center . His perseverance paid off when, after being drafted in the sixth round by the Eagles in 2011 , he reportedly became the first rookie in Eagles history to start all 16 games at center.

In his 2024 retirement speech , Kelce reminisced about his early days at Cincinnati.

“It became apparent immediately that walk-ons would have to fight harder for their opportunities than the rest of the team,” he said. “I had … no investment from the team or the coaches. I’d have to earn everything, and that’s good, because I had no clue what hard work was yet.”

This early moment of clarity dovetails directly into Kelce’s underdog mentality, which has served as the baseline for his personal brand of authenticity throughout his career.

Personal values

Personal values are another essential component of a personal brand. For Kelce, those appear to be a commitment to family, community and charitable causes.

He frequently posts social media photos relaxing with his wife and three young daughters , and he praised his parents in his emotional retirement speech . He co-hosts his “New Heights” podcast with his brother, Travis Kelce, an All-Pro tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs who’s also romantically involved with Taylor Swift . The brothers intertwine football and family throughout each recording and have garnered over 2 million subscribers on YouTube alone.

Jason Kelce is also fiercely loyal to both Cleveland Heights, his hometown in Ohio , and his adopted home of Philadelphia.

In October 2022 he, started the (Be)Philly Foundation , which provides financial assistance and mentors to Philly youth. Kelce has also donated time and money to the Eagles Autism Foundation , most notably by creating and hosting the raucous annual Team 62 Fundraiser – named for the No. 62 jersey he wore with the Eagles – at the Jersey Shore. And he partnered with local authorities in his suburban Philadelphia community to sponsor the adoption of a Labrador retriever for the Haverford Township Police Department.

Kelce is authentic, transparent and straightforward in his personal branding, which focuses on his being an elite athlete and involved family man. With this powerful brand, we believe he has the potential to follow in the footsteps of another Philly legend, Charles Barkley , who has remained a pop culture icon nearly 25 years after he hung up his basketball jersey.

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• personal branding
• Philadelphia

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Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava resigns days after Miss USA Noelia Voigt steps down

Miss Teen USA 2023 is resigning just days after Miss USA Noelia Voigt .

UmaSofia Srivastava , who took home the 2023 title in September, shared a lengthy statement Wednesday announcing her departure because her " personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization."

"After months of grappling with the decision, I have made the choice to resign from the title of Miss Teen USA 2023. I am grateful for all the support from my family, my state directors, my sister queens, and the fans who have cheered me on since I won my state title," Srivastava wrote. "I will always look back on my time as Miss NJ Teen USA fondly, and the experience of representing my state as a first generation, Mexican-Indian American at the national level was fulfilling in itself."

In a statement shared with USA TODAY on Wednesday, Miss USA CEO and President Laylah Rose said, "Our all-encompassing goal at Miss USA is to celebrate and empower women. Our participants make a real difference in this country and around the globe."

Rose's statement continued, "All along, my personal goal as the head of this organization has been to inspire women to always create new dreams, have the courage to explore it all, and continue to preserve integrity along the way. I hold myself to these same high standards and I take these allegations seriously. Please be assured that the well-being of all individuals associated with Miss USA is my top priority."

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In her resignation statement, Srivastava vowed to continue her philanthropy with The Lotus Pedal Foundation and the Bridge of Books Foundation as she completes her junior year of high school.

"While this was certainly not how I saw my reign coming to a close, I am excited to continue my advocacy for education and acceptance, start applying to colleges, and share some exciting new projects on That’s Fan Behavior with those of you who plan to stick around," she captioned the post, referring to her blog .

Srivastava added: "At the end of the day, I am so lucky to have had the privilege of this experience, but if this is just a chapter, I know that the story of my life will truly be incredible."

"I LOVE YOU! So proud of you my angel," former Miss USA Voigt commented.

Miss USA Noelia Voigt makes 'tough decision' to step down. Read her full statement.

Miss USA Noelia Voigt resigned for her 'mental health,' leading to fan theories

On Monday, Voigt, who was awarded Miss USA in September 2023,  announced her resignation in a statement  on Instagram. The former title holder wrote, "In life, I strongly value the importance of making decisions that feel best for you and your mental health."

Her decision to relinquish her Miss USA crown has sparked a flurry of online speculation after fans noticed a strange detail about her statement.

In the comments of her post and elsewhere on social media, users pieced the first letter in each sentence of her statement to reveal the phrase "I AM SILENCED" — though this discounts the last three sentences, the first letters of which spell "HIP." It was not immediately clear whether the message was intentional.

Miss USA shifts: Did Noelia Voigt's resignation statement contain a hidden message?

Miss USA previously said in a statement to USA TODAY, "We respect and support former Miss USA Noelia Voigt’s decision to step down from her duties. The well-being of our titleholders is a top priority, and we understand her need to prioritize herself at this time."

The statement added, "The organization is currently reviewing plans for the transition of responsibilities to a successor and an announcement regarding the crowning of the new Miss USA will be coming soon."

Prior to Voigt's announcement, Miss USA social media director Claudia Michelle  shared on Instagram  Friday that she has resigned from her role. In a statement posted to social media, she wrote, "I have had the privilege of getting to work with Noelia closely and have unfortunately seen a decline in her mental health since we (first) met. I feel like her ability to share her story and her platform have been diminished."

"I feel the way current management speaks about their titleholders is unprofessional and inappropriate," she went on to write. "I disavow workplace toxicity and bullying of any kind."

In an Instagram story, Michelle shared Voigt's statement and highlighted the "I AM SILENCED" letters.

Miss USA Organization denies accusations of toxic environment

In response to Michelle's post, the Miss USA Organization said in a statement to USA TODAY, "We are troubled to hear the false accusations made by a former Miss USA employee. Miss USA is committed to fostering a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment, and we take these allegations seriously. Indeed, we have and will continue to prioritize the well-being of all individuals involved with Miss USA."

In the caption of her original Instagram post, Voigt acknowledged that her resignation "may come as a large shock to many," but added, "Never compromise your physical and mental well-being."

Contributing: Brendan Morrow and Erin Jensen ,  USA TODAY