| General Guidelines for the Personal Statement |
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| Use these points to help you write an effective personal statement … |
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| Do... |
- Your homework. Research the school and/or program to which you are applying.
- Brainstorm. Take a personal inventory: What makes you unique? What research have you conducted? What are your career plans? What should the admissions committee know about you? Write honestly about what interests and excites you.
- Write a coherent, well-structured essay. Give your essay direction with a unifying metaphor or analogy.
- Write an interesting essay. Start with an attention-grabbing lead – an anecdote, quotation, question, or engaging description of a scene.
- End your essay with a conclusion that refers back to the lead, or completes your metaphor or analogy.
- Revise your essay at least three times, asking yourself these questions: Are my goals well articulated? Have I demonstrated my knowledge of the school and/or program? Have I answered the question(s) asked? Is my voice being heard?
- Ask someone else to critique your personal statement.
- Proofread your personal statement by reading it out loud, or reading it into a tape recorder and playing back the tape.
- Write clearly and succinctly.
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| Don't... |
- Don’t summarize your entire life. Stay away from information that doesn’t support your metaphor or analogy.
- Don’t start your essay with “I was born in…” or “My parents came from…” or “I’ve always wanted to be…” Avoid these hackneyed statements and clichés altogether.
- Avoid listing. Don’t simply reiterate your resume. Pick and choose two to four main qualifications to focus on.
- Don’t try to be funny. Gentle humor is okay, but you don’t want to risk that the admissions committee won’t get the joke.
- Don’t write what you think the admissions committee wants to hear. Be honest and yourself.
- Don’t emphasize the negative (low GPA, test scores) by giving weak excuses. Balance any weaknesses by also emphasizing your strengths.
- Don’t try to impress your reader with your vocabulary.
- Don’t rely exclusively on your computer to check your grammar and spelling.
- Don’t make things up. Remember, the purpose of the personal statement is to allow the admissions committee to get to know YOU.
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