Personal Statement

Parameters
- font; spacing; margin
- word/character/page limit
- prompt
- Do they want a personal statement(or statement of intent)
Personal
who are you?(not what are you?)(don’t involve transcripts a lot) a person(not a stutent, not a worker) uniqueness, imagination, creativity thinking outside the box give them something fresh, wake them up
Plan
- find your theme, arc, “in”(a plot of story)
- take time to do this
- make a list of questions
- who, what, when, where, how, which, etc.
- ask non-typical questions(ask one more question, why you want to be rich, why do you want to help people)
- give non-typical answers, make them want to be friend with you, think what makes you stand out
Intro
find the hook
what makes you better or more qualified(introduction, hook which catch the reader’s attention)
don’t state your name, don’t state your hometown, don’t state your area of study don’t waste words and time
name -> overall theme, then talk
don’t flatter in the introduction, do not beg, don’t plead, explain
you have something to offer them, don’t make it like they have something to give you, don’t justify
take the bad, and give it into good, but don’t give an excuse. Nobody want excuses, they want results
Research
super important part let the school know that you know why you are applying to this school a particular reason
read:
- website(school and program)(the school in general, students, general place itself, campus life, where it is, why it’s famous, what’s good about it, everything about your area of study)
- rankings, reviews, news
collect keywords - make a list(show me about the understanding, don’t tell me, real concrete example, make them know you have done some research)
pride and joy(when this school promotes iitself, what the thing they concentrate on the most, what makes them most proud of themselves?) -> incorporate into your theme, connect to your personal story
your story and the school’s story, compatible the relationship need to be clear
brief, don’t include so many detail
create a sort of storyline
Adjustment
rewrite, edit, edit, edit 1st draft of many 0 spelling, grammar, usage, etc. errors(each mistake show carelessness) make evert word work for you, move the story along get fresh eyes + feedback
make sure it’s impressive determined, motivated, to be succeeded sell your self, don’t sell the resume