Writing a personal statement

So you have decided that you want to go to university and you are all geared up to right your personal statement, but the problem is even though you know what you want to study, you have now idea how to write your personal statement apart saying that you love______(fill in the blank) and so want to study____(fill in the blank). Unfortunately, in this instance, love is not enough (though this is not a comment on The Beatles!)

Show your interest in the subject: show some love

You need to show that you love your chosen subject or subjects connected with the degree you would like to study by providing some ‘evidence’.

If you love someone or something there are normally some give away signs. For example, if you love football, you might regularly read how your team is doing, try to attend games, play in your spare time, and try and develop your football skills. All these things would show that you loved football, much more than ‘I love football’.So going back to your personal statement, you may want to say that you love_____ ( fill in the blank) or the subjects connected with it, but your statement will be a lot stronger if you can show that you have read around the subject/degree, have attended some event that shows your interest, that you use your spare time do something in relation to the degree and are developing or have the kind of skills you would need to be successful studying______(fill in the blank)So don’t just say you love________ (fill in the blank) show it!

Show your character: It is okay to be you!

What is it about you that may not be related to your subject/degree but shows something of your personality or character. Perhaps you swim regularly. You might not be the best swimmer but perhaps you started to swim because you want to improve your stamina so that you can take part in a swimming challenge. Perhaps this is important to you because you want to raise money for a charity, or push yourself to do something different — a personal goal) or because you recognise that it is important to look after your wellbeing and want to be better at handling stress.Talking about your hobbies is a great way to talk about other things that are important to you aside from your studies and to give the reader a more balanced view of you as a person. You are more than your studies and hobbies/extra-curricular activities are a great way to show this, so it’s okay to be interested in other things aside from your degree. Be you!

Show your commitment: be focused

You might be applying for courses which are slightly different or which vary quite a lot and there might be the temptation to try and tailor the statement a little bit for this one and a little it for that one in an attempt to appeal to them all. Unfortunately this will not make your personal statement more appealing, it will make it look unclear and even confused. It should be clear what you want to study at uni, rather than it reading as if you still haven’t made your mind up and are still considering your options. So do be clear on what you want to study before you begin to write.

Final thoughts

Writing a personal statement can be stressful. You want to present yourself in the best possible way and the pressure to get accepted on to a course can feel immense, so here are some final thoughts:

Avoid waffling (that's all I have to say on that).

If you feel like you don’t have good examples to show your interest in studying a degree then think carefully about things you have may have done over the past couple of years that you might have forgotten about. Think about what you might be able to get involved with at your sixth form or college or in your local area and think about ways you can find out more about what it is like to study your chosen subject.

Finally, write a draft and get feedback from your tutor at college/sixth form or from another person who you trust to give you useful advice.

All the best!

Oluwatosin— 3rd year student — University of Huddersfield

(edited 4 months ago)