1. Writing Personal Statements

2. What are personal statements? Your story Your chance to show your personality to people who may not ever get to meet you A chance for you to explain your goals, your experiences, and any obstacles that may have gone through

3. Where do I begin? Read your application Consider how your statement can work with your application to tell your story Think critically about your application’s content Think about questions that your reader might ask Take your own application seriously

4. Read the prompt! Be sure that you understand what question is being asked Determine what criteria the application will be judged on, and tailor your statement accordingly Make sure your statement responds to the current situation (the scholarship, the job, the internship, etc) Example – NSF, Ford FoundationNSFFord Foundation

5. A personal statement is a story. Tell a story. Use concrete language. Use action words. Make it exciting. Make your reader understand how the events connect.

6. Be specific Don’t just talk about your dreams – tell what they are. Don’t just talk about hard work – tell what you have done. Don’t just say you want to be a doctor, tell what kind and why.

7. Write a strong opening. Your opening paragraph is your first impression. No matter how you open, make sure that your first paragraph tells what your professional and academic goals are.

8. Your body paragraphs Use your body paragraphs (the middle ones) to give specific examples of the skills/knowledge/talents you posses that fulfill the scholarship/job’s criteria. Explain these skills through your past experiences.

9. Discuss Future Goals Establish long term goals Be specific within reason “I want to be a doctor” is too vague. “I want to be perform over 1,000 surgeries and then win the Nobel Prize in medicine” is probably too specific and also unrealistic. “I would like to become a doctor and am interested in psychiatric medicine” is more appropriate.