I have been fortunate to win two scholarships so far, one for high school education and another for my MSc studies.
I can also attribute my losing other scholarships to my unpreparedness and crafting shoddy personal statements.
What I wish I had known when writing my personal statements.
Many scholarship applications involve writing a personal statement. Sometimes this is the only piece of original writing required of applicants.
Sometimes you may be required to submit additional short statements or project proposals.
Checklist for Evaluating your Personal Statement Drafts
- Does your opening paragraph quickly engage the reader? Does it convey a distinct picture or impression of you as a person?
- Is your guiding theme or idea clearly expressed? Is there a thread that runs through the essay, unifying it?
- Are your principal intellectual interests and aims clearly elaborated? Is there evidence of your intellectual engagement and of the ideas that motivate you in your work or studies?
- Are your more important commitments to community service, campus or off-campus organizations, or leadership roles effectively addressed?
- Is the closing paragraph effective? Does it leave the reader with a sense of completeness? Does it suggest to the reader something of the spirit with which you are going forward in life?
To write a winning personal statement, do this.
- Keep it simple and Keep it positive.
Use the words and language you would naturally use in writing a thoughtful, intelligent letter to a friend or trusted mentor.
- Find the “story” in your history.
Your life has been a journey, with planned and unexpected turns, with successful and frustrated goals, with hard-earned and accidental insights, with hoped-for but as-yet-unrealized achievements. Your basic challenge in writing a compelling personal statement is to tell the story that makes sense of your life as it has been, is, and could be.
- Think of the personal statement as an “intellectual autobiography.”
The statement should convey to your readers a clear, thoughtful picture or impression of you as a person who has distinct interests, motivations, accomplishments, aims and ideas.
- Welcome the reader into your life and aims.
Scholarships are looking for promising people. Say what you have done outside the classroom. Write to engage your reader, write in a way that invites him or her to want to meet and get to know you – even if your scholarship process does not involve an interview stage.
- Aim to define a central idea, impression or theme you hope to convey.
The most memorable personal statements are ones that have a clear theme or purpose that unifies the ideas and information presented.
- Use specifics.
Help your readers remember you (and your application) by using specific names, references and illustrations.
Avoid this,
- Being too general or abstract.
Do not distance your reader by using vague references or abstractions in your essay. Be specific and point out minute details and facts.
- Writing to impress.
Let your credentials and awards speak for themselves. Use your personal statement to talk to your readers about the things that motivate, inspire and shape you. Help them to understand what your specific accomplishments have meant to you, or how they have shaped you. Help them to understand why you care about the things you care about.
- Re-writing your resume in prose.
Do not make a long list of things you have done/read/watched without explaining how these developed this understanding
The selection committees are looking for the person behind the credentials. Avoid laundry lists of activities, etc., and focus on the select few experiences that have meant the most to you, or have had the greatest influence on your development and aims.
- Getting too frustrated!
Writing a personal statement is a challenging task. Think of this as an opportunity to reflect calmly and creatively on who you are, who you want to be, and what you hope to do with your life.
- Writing in clichés.Ask yourself if every sentence in your draft reflects some thought, fact, reflection or experience of your own. Avoid generalized sentences that could have been written by absolutely anyone.
- Leaving your statement to the last minute; give yourself time to draft and re-draft, and share with others for feedback.
All the best.
Ps. Go through the references below for more tips and examples.
References.
- http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/tips/personalstatement/
- https://www.loyola.edu/department/national-fellowships/resources/personal-statement
- http://www.scholarships.umd.edu/advicestudentwriting.html
- https://www.fish4.co.uk/career-advice/how-to-write-personal-statement/
- https://www.topuniversities.com/blog/10-tips-writing-personal-statement-university-applications
- http://www.scholarships.umd.edu/advicestudentwriting.html
- http://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/masters/apply/tips-for-masters/personal-statement
- https://university.which.co.uk/advice/personal-statements/10-things-to-put-in-your-personal-statement
