Personal Statement - taking a stance

I was wondering whether it was advisable to state an opinion in the personal statement, or to stay neutral? I was thinking if I stated my opinion that my opinion might not agree with that of the admissions tutors, and that I might seem a bit... belligerent. Is it better to be a 'devil's advocate' in these things, or show that you have an argumentative side? :smile:

Reply 1

Noodlzzz

21

State your opinion, just not forcefully. Say why you believe e.g. after reading x book and further investigating y I've come to z conclusion.

Reply 2

hypocriticaljap

2

Original post by punctuation

I was wondering whether it was advisable to state an opinion in the personal statement, or to stay neutral? I was thinking if I stated my opinion that my opinion might not agree with that of the admissions tutors, and that I might seem a bit... belligerent. Is it better to be a 'devil's advocate' in these things, or show that you have an argumentative side? :smile:

You haven't actually written one have you?
Believe me there won't be space for such pompous posturing and if you find there is then your PS must be sadly lacking detail.

Reply 3

punctuation

OP

16

Original post by hypocriticaljap

You haven't actually written one have you?
Believe me there won't be space for such pompous posturing and if you find there is then your PS must be sadly lacking detail.

Well, if I have I wouldn't be asking, would I? :smile:

Thanks for both your help!

Reply 4

username533239

17

Original post by punctuation

I was wondering whether it was advisable to state an opinion in the personal statement, or to stay neutral? I was thinking if I stated my opinion that my opinion might not agree with that of the admissions tutors, and that I might seem a bit... belligerent. Is it better to be a 'devil's advocate' in these things, or show that you have an argumentative side? :smile:

Don't try to be cool, to tsr or them.

Reply 5

fluteflute

19

Original post by hypocriticaljap

You haven't actually written one have you?
Believe me there won't be space for such pompous posturing and if you find there is then your PS must be sadly lacking detail.

Eh? This is surely the kind of detail that shows the OP is passionate about the subject, and therefore should go in a personal statement...

But I'd say it's probably best not to come down too forcibly on one side, because the admission's tutor may be subconsciously influenced by what you say. If you do so, then make sure you show you've considered both sides of the argument carefully.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 6

punctuation

OP

16

Original post by fluteflute

Eh? This is surely the kind of detail that shows the OP is passionate about the subject, and therefore should go in a personal statement...

But I'd say it's probably best not to come down too forcibly on one side, because the admission's tutor may be subconsciously influenced by what you say. If you do so, then make sure you show you've considered both sides of the argument carefully.

Thanks for the advice! I will make sure to do that.

Reply 7

fluteflute

19

This is the challenge of PS writing: balancing giving lots detail against mentioning lots of things.

Reply 8

Language_student

12

Original post by punctuation

I was wondering whether it was advisable to state an opinion in the personal statement, or to stay neutral? I was thinking if I stated my opinion that my opinion might not agree with that of the admissions tutors, and that I might seem a bit... belligerent. Is it better to be a 'devil's advocate' in these things, or show that you have an argumentative side? :smile:

IMO it really depends what you are writing about and what opinion you are expressing, as well as how you express it.

Reply 9

sammycjones

make sure you put all the importat facts into your personal statement first! and any work experiance and things you do outside of school for the subject.

if you have any characters left at the end then maybe put a few in, but it will be tight, trust me

Reply 10

ByronicHero

20

It's a personal statement. If you want to state an opinion then state it - although I would steer clear of divisive issues and offensive opinions of course.

Reply 11

punctuation

OP

16

Original post by sammycjones

make sure you put all the importat facts into your personal statement first! and any work experiance and things you do outside of school for the subject.

if you have any characters left at the end then maybe put a few in, but it will be tight, trust me

Yes, I was referring to the facts, whether I should take an opinion. Since I'm going into psychology, I wanted to discuss some of the theories and such. I was only wondering whether I should discuss it neutrally or go at it from one side. To be specific, I was thinking of free will vs. determinism, and if I should talk about both sides or take a position.

Thanks for your help though.

I didn't mean I was going to state my position on abortion or capital punishment or anything... Haha. :smile:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 12

sammycjones

Original post by punctuation

Yes, I was referring to the facts, whether I should take an opinion. Since I'm going into psychology, I wanted to discuss some of the theories and such. I was only wondering whether I should discuss it neutrally or go at it from one side. Thanks for your help though.

I didn't mean I was going to state my position on abortion or capital punishment or anything... :P

i can imagine the response you would get if you wrote about captial punishment :P

do a few theories if there is space, ones that have application to the real world..
social leanring theory maybe? (OCR exam board)

Reply 13

KiwiIsland

8

It definitely depends on the opinion. Not all PSs have to be devoid of personality though, I had a bit of a narrative style to mine, and I got offers everywhere I applied. As long as you maintain the balance between coming across a free-thinker and and still being a valuable part of the community :smile:

Reply 14

punctuation

OP

16

Original post by sammycjones

i can imagine the response you would get if you wrote about captial punishment :P

do a few theories if there is space, ones that have application to the real world..
social leanring theory maybe? (OCR exam board)

Indeed... O_o

Thanks for the suggestion! :biggrin:

I was thinking of something along those lines. I have work experience as a ski instructor for young kids, so I wanted to tie that in. ^^

Reply 15

KiwiIsland

8

Original post by punctuation

Yes, I was referring to the facts, whether I should take an opinion. Since I'm going into psychology, I wanted to discuss some of the theories and such. I was only wondering whether I should discuss it neutrally or go at it from one side. To be specific, I was thinking of free will vs. determinism, and if I should talk about both sides or take a position.

Thanks for your help though.

I didn't mean I was going to state my position on abortion or capital punishment or anything... Haha. :smile:

Hmm, as it's a very two sided debate I'd go for an 'it's important to maintain the balance' approach :smile:

Reply 16

Lightning_Strike

I think you'll be fine, as long as you keep it in context and remember that it's a personal statement.

Basically, if you're saying how your opinion on a theory made you want to continue psychology, that's good. If you turn it into an essay about psychology, its pointless and a waste of characters.

Reply 17

punctuation

OP

16

Original post by KiwiIsland

Hmm, as it's a very two sided debate I'd go for an 'it's important to maintain the balance' approach :smile:

Thanks. I'll make sure to do that. If I have space maybe I'll go into (in)compatibilism... :P But probably not, as they'll think I only know that one topic, haha.

Original post by Lightning_Strike

I think you'll be fine, as long as you keep it in context and remember that it's a personal statement.

Basically, if you're saying how your opinion on a theory made you want to continue psychology, that's good. If you turn it into an essay about psychology, its pointless and a waste of characters.

Right, will do. Thanks for the advice!

Reply 18

SpiritedAway

17

I did. I didn't go into great detail, but it can sometime really help your PS. I'm a languages student and so I read a few books and watched some German cinema films before hand, and I put what I liked about them, and this is why I chose the course (all the courses I picked, were pretty much identical with just a couple of difference themes), because it'd allow me the learn in greater depth more about modern culture and history of Germany. Having been given a book written in middle-German made me realise I was interested in the language, the way it is formed and how it has developed, but made me realise that my love is about the language and not so much about the literature...which is great because literature is not an important part of my course.