How to Write a Competitive + Successful Personal Statement

As you're coming around the corner on what you can only hope to be your final semester of undergrad, you may be elated, a bit anxious, and most likely confused on what comes next. Is it time to settle down and start a full-time career? Or do you aim for that extra degree? If you're one of those that choose the latter, welcome to the club!

Last fall, I felt I was being bombarded by well-meaning family and friends who persistently prodded me about where I was working after I graduated college. Of course it was a valid question considering many of my peers were posting on LinkedIn full-time offers from some swanky Fortune 500, but I knew I wasn't ready to quit the classroom just yet. I wanted to go to graduate school.

The idea was simple enough, but just thinking about how to begin made my head swim. In the end, it was a dense resume, some strong letters of recommendation, and two weeks worth of writing four pages professing 1,261 words describing my motivation, experience, and academic aspirations that landed me my offer of admission for 2022-2024 to my dream graduate program through the London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of Southern California.

Though this story may have a happy ending, the road to perfecting my personal statement was not without its challenges. To help make your experience a little less rocky than mine, I wanted to share some advice I learned along the way that will hopefully help you to craft a competitive and successful personal statement.

What is a personal statement?

Before I delve too deep into how to write one, you may be wondering what exactly I'm even talking about. A personal statement, statement of purpose, letter of intent, or call it what you will, many graduate programs, internships, and research assistantships require this type of essay as part of the already rigorous application process. The importance of and information to be included in the statement varies from program to program and field to field. Of course there is no perfect way to write a personal essay, but here are some tips I'd like to share to help make your experience a little less rocky than mine.

How to write a personal statement

1. Begin early + get organized

At the beginning of the fall semester of my senior year, I began to compile a lengthy list of schools and programs to which I planned to apply using perhaps my favorite workflow platform Airtable. I'll admit I was pretty proactive when it came to creating my resume and requesting my letters of recommendation from faculty and professors, but I kept putting off my personal essay because I felt as if I just didn’t know what to say or where to begin. By the time I got started, the clock was ticking. I was left with only two weeks until the first application opened in early October. Because it was rolling admissions, my best bet was to submit my application as soon as possible. To complete my essay, I put off other pressing assignments for my current classes and survived on relatively little sleep coupled with a whole lot of caffeine. This was the period when I wished I would have begun early. Had I done things differently, I would have created some attainable due dates for myself to complete the first few drafts and send them to my professors for review.

2. Do your research

While every program will look a little different, you should plan to personalize your statement of purpose for the program to which you’re applying. Because I originally planned to apply to 17 different universities and/or programs, I began by brainstorming my essay for the application that was opening earliest and had a rolling deadline. One of the most important questions to consider when crafting your statement is "Why?" Be sure to show an in-depth knowledge of the program to which you're applying by:

- Alluding to courses you're interested in taking,

- Faculty who share a similar research interest as yourself,

- Alumni who have inspired you,

- Extracurriculars offered by the university/organization,

- Interesting aspects about the surrounding city,

- And whatever else you believe will demonstrate to the reader that you are familiar with not only the program but the university as a whole.

As best as you can, articulate a picture of yourself as part of the program.

3. Create an outline

Some universities and organizations will offer specific or perhaps particularly vague points they would like for you to consider in your statement. Couple that with differing length requirements across the board, and this is where a brainstorm will be one of your greatest tools. If you (like myself) are applying to multiple programs, this will enable you to avoid starting from scratch by giving you a solid foundation from which to compose subsequent essays that could consider unique topics.

3. Set yourself apart

While this greatly depends on the caliber of the program and of the university/organization as a whole, it is in your best interest to assume heavy competition when writing your personal statement. With that in mind, here are a few ways you can set yourself apart from the cookie-cutter applicants:

- Extracurriculars - Correlate your extracurricular experience (sports, clubs, leadership, etc...) with your academic background to show a passion beyond the scope of the program that might inspire future study.

- Curriculum - Consider how the courses you have thus far selected tell a narrative. Have your courses been heavily theory- or practicum-based? The challenge here is conveying what you know while also expressing an opportunity to continue to learn. However, here is also where you can articulate a change of major in your benefit to demonstrate how you can bring perhaps a new perspective to the table.

- Work experience - Don't forget to leverage your professional experience pertaining to your field of study.

4. Identify your goals

The whole purpose behind a personal statement is to identify your goals in graduate study. Dedicate most of your time to considering the area of study in which you wish to specialize and the intended use of the experience upon completion of the program. Ensure you understand your professional aspirations before beginning to write your essay. While this one has thus far maybe seemed the most obvious, I believe many people tend to overlook what they hope to contribute to the program themselves.

5. Remember your "why"

Behind every sentence should be your personal motivation for pursuing your program of choice. It could be an observation, one-off experience, or anything that will convince the reader that your application isn’t some arbitrary decision. What inspired you to apply to not only this program but this university/organization? The reality is that it is often it is an unfortunate circumstance, such as an injury or death, that sets us off on an academic pursuit of purpose, but your paper should carry an overall positive tone.

6. Edit, edit again, and edit some more

As a writer and copyeditor, I'm able to avoid asking faculty and friends to review my academic papers before submission, but a personal statement is something different because you don't know who will be reading it. Once you create a rough draft, reach out to professors, faculty, family, and friends that you trust to offer constructive criticism. Seek as many different perspectives as possible because. Once you've received their feedback, create a new rough draft while retaining the authenticity of the original to avoid reverting to what has already been corrected.

7. Some optional advice to consider

What is to follow is entirely optional, but you may find it helpful when writing or formatting your statement:

- Include a title - Your personal statement should read as a narrative, so I thought adding a title to mine demonstrated cohesion.

- Include your name and title of program in the running head of the document - I was not sure if essays were read online or were printed beforehand, so I numbered my document and included both my name and intended program in the running head.

- Section your statement with bolded headings - Because some schools are specific when it comes to what to include in your statement, I had a professor who reads statements for entry to my university's graduate school suggest I section mine off with bolded headings that encompass what follows for readability. I ultimately did not because I did not like the appearance and felt mine was fluid without, but it may be beneficial to some.

Above all, remember when writing your personal statement that it should maintain you as the subject. All that the university/organization knows about you is what you choose to tell them.

Best of luck!