The Ultimate Formula for Winning Personal Statements

By ALYSSA PARSONS

This step-by-step formula will help you write a great graduate school personal statement that is still personal.

It’s a big task to boil your experience and interests down into a dazzling graduate school personal statement. Luckily, in helping hundreds of applicants perfect their personal statements, I’ve developed an effective formula to help you write a winning personal statement.

Whether you are applying for graduate school, MBA programs, or doctorates, the outline below will help you craft a personal statement that accomplishes everything admissions committees want to see:

Impress them with your background, critical thinking, and enthusiasm
Show that you are motivated by demonstrating long- and short-term goals
Convince them you are the best candidate for their program

"Do not simply rewrite your resume as an essay"

There are a few key points to keep in mind while writing.

The strongest personal statements use experiences to create a narrative that explains how you arrived at your specific goals.

Don’t rewrite your resume as an essay. Your personal statement is an opportunity to give information that cannot be found on your CV — how did you feel about your experiences? How did they affect your interests and your goals? In what ways did they grow your knowledge and ideas?

In other words, your personal statement should be full of insight.

Insight can mean showcasing how you developed your passion and interest, or insight can be a critical perspective on the field and what you want to do to improve that. The most effective personal statement offer analysis and critique, as well as what the writer will do to address or improve those points. Make sure every paragraph offers insight.

The outline below offers a formula for personal statements, but beware of writing that sounds formulaic. Avoid this by including plenty of personal details and lively, descriptive language. A key point of personal statements is to show the personality of the applicant.

The most foolproof way to ensure your personal statement will impress your dream school is to ask someone else to read it and give feedback. If you would like us to help you with that, check out our services.

I. Introduction

Introduce yourself and why you want to pursue this degree – make sure you communicate your passion and strike a personal tone
Hint at what is to come in the essay
“I would like to pursue __ degree in __ at __ University because it will help me accomplish my goal of __ by __”

II. Body

A. Background

First, address how you first became interested in this field. If it began in childhood, great, start there. Use details and description to try to create an image in the mind of the reader.
How does your education experience relate to this field?
- Give specific highlights of skills or subjects you learned, such as favorite courses or projects
- How did these things affect your interests and shape your goals? Include a sentence that describes these insights

B. First Real-World Experience

Describe a job, internship, or project that relates to this field. Include skills you improved and goals or targets you achieved. Do not list your duties as you would on a resume or CV
How did these things affect your interests and shape your goals? Include a sentence that describes these insights
Bonus points: Give a critical perspective on your experience. Did you witness something that you would like to help change or think you can do better? Did you have any aha moments of epiphany?

C. Second Real-World Experience

Follow the same structure as the first experience, but try to give the sense that you are continuing to develop your interests toward specific goals
Note that you may list more than two real-world experiences, but aim to keep them in two or three paragraphs, and make sure to offer insight for each one.

III. Personal Goals

Clearly connect the goals and interests you mention in the body to explain why you want to go to graduate school
Mention specific short-term and long-term goals
- Which specific topics would you like to study? What questions do you want to explore in your research?
- What do you envision yourself doing after completing the program? How about 10, 20 years after that? Don’t be afraid to dream big here

IV. Connect Your Goals to the School

Why is this specific program the best fit for you? What excites you about it? Make sure you communicate your excitement
Connect your short-term goals to how you will accomplish those at this specific school. Do your interests align with specific professors or courses? The more specific you can be here, the better
Why are you a good fit for the school? What will you contribute to the school? Maybe to research, student activities, or as an alumnus

V. Conclusion

Conclude by connecting your long-term goals to how this program will help you accomplish them. Again, don’t be afraid to dream big
Restate your desire to attend this university and program — be enthusiastic

Still feeling too overwhelmed to start? Read our 5 Step Guide to Starting Your Essay for more pointers.

If you’re reading this, you’ve already taken the first step to get started, so keep that ball rolling.

Need more personal statement and supplemental essay help? Check out our services to see what we can do for you.