What to put in your personal statement?
Having just finished my degree I decided to re-read my personal statement- it made me cringe and laugh because I would never write like that now! I remember how few characters you have and how nerve-wracking it was so here are a few tips.
- Follow the ABC Method:
A is for action- tell the reader what action you took e.g. as a Girl Guide I lead …. Having read….
B is for benefit- because I lead the team I was able to… It is particularly good to say if the activity changed your opinion or reaffirmed something for you
C is for course- how would this help you on the course- would it help you on a particular module or help you bring insight to the table or is it something you would further explore on the course
2. Be specific
Lots of personal statements contain vague statements such as I am interested in law. This was particularly fascinating… I really want to do this course. Everyone can say these statements so makesure you are specific e.g. I was particularly fascinated by x which made me reconsider y and now I believe z
3. The 70/30 rule
70% of your personal statement should be about your academic interests and the other 30% about extracurricular- still, try and link the extracurricular to academic e.g. at my part-time job at Tesco I saw first hand how the economic theory of Y applied as supply and demand was not being met by the store.
4. Don’t talk too much about your A-levels
Everyone who is applying to university is doing A-levels, BTECS, or the IB. These don’t make you stand out so only give 1 line max to mentioning your A-levels.
5. Make it personal
It is called a personal statement for a reason. Think about what makes you stand out and why they should select you.
6. Show passion
The Admissions Team read thousands of personal statements and they want to see genuine passion.
Good luck with writing your personal statements feel free to message me if you want more advice or feedback about personal statements.
