Essentials of Personal Statement

Remember the example of house construction we used in the previous session? The structure of a house is as important as the materials used for building it. You cannot build a house without bricks, cement or steel rods. All these materials together make a house stronger from inside and out. 

Similarly, there are certain essential elements that must be included to write the best personal statement. Let’s watch the upcoming video to learn more about this.

In the video above, you first learnt the importance of the personal statement. You should write a personal statement for the following reasons: 

• It acts as a medium to articulate your passion and interest in the chosen course.
• It convinces the admission council that you are an ideal fit for the course. 
• It reflects your enthusiasm, zeal and commitment to pursue the chosen course. 

To write a strong personal statement, you must ask yourself the following questions:

• What course(s) do you wish to apply for?
• What led to your interest in the course? 
• Are there any specifics about the subject that you enjoy the most?
• What are your takeaways from the subject that motivated you to pursue it at the university level?
• Which of your personal qualities make you an ideal fit for the course?
• What are your relevant experiences?
• What are your plans after completing the course?
• How will the skills develop while pursuing the course help in your life?

Once you have asked these questions to yourself and formed viable responses, you can start writing your personal statement. You must do the following while writing your personal statement: 

• Include the most interesting and unique aspects of your personality.
• Mention only those qualities or skills that support your application.
• Do not make it sound like a personal narrative. 
• Shortlist the most relevant and strongest points as your focal point. 
• Shortlist all your major skills, such as communication and interpersonal skills and teamwork, and mention how these skills can be useful for you while pursuing the course. 
• Mention your personal achievements, positions of responsibilities and hobbies, and what you gained from them. 
• Connect your thoughts back to your zeal. 
• Reflect your enthusiasm and potential in your PS (Universities often gauge these qualities of their prospective students). 

With this, we have reached the end of this session. In this session, you learnt about personal statements, their importance, their characteristics and the important points to include in them. In the next session, you will learn how to draft a personal statement based on your learnings from this session with the help of an example.