Help with Nuffield research placement (2017) personal statement

Alice2016

I've started my application for the Nuffield research placement (ideally for something biochemistry related) but I have no idea how to write a decent personal statement. There are two sections:
-Explain below why you think you would benefit from a research placement
-Tell us more about your outside interests

I've started to write a draft but i feel like I'm saying all the wrong things...

Any tips on what to write or an example of what you would write?

Also, I need to write a general personal statement for other applications, so any advice on that as well would be much appreciated

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 1

VioletPhillippo

Hiya,

I've done quite a few science courses where I've had to write a personal statement and I've written one for uni this year to do chemistry. When I was applying for quite a few courses I structured a fairly generic one that I could then adjust specifically for each course- this saves lots of time!

I think the main thing is to be really enthusiastic about the subject/course and back this up with an example of something that you've done or planning to do to develop your interest. Write about a few key skills that you've developed (that make you a rounded person) and how you've gained those skills. Also mention any new skills you'd like to learn and how the course will help you to achieve this. It is better imo to have a few clear points that are well explained.

A good structure is: a short introductory sentence to engage the reader, a section about your academic interests e.g. topics you particularly enjoy, work experience, books you've read (this should be the main section), a short paragraph about extra curriculars and then a persuasive concluding sentence.

Hope this helps :smile: