Welcome to our Guide on Writing Personal Statements!

If you're applying to a graduate school program, you know that your personal statement is an essential part of your application. This is your chance to showcase your personality, experience, and qualifications to the admissions committee. In other words, it's an opportunity to "sell yourself" and convince the committee that you are the right fit for their program. Whether you're writing a general statement or responding to a specific question, it's crucial to follow any guidelines provided by the program and tailor your statement to each individual school. 

In this guide, we'll provide tips and advice to help you write a compelling personal statement that highlights your strengths and expresses your compatibility with the program. Remember, seeking feedback from others and reaching out to the program contact when in doubt are great ways to ensure that you're submitting the best possible personal statement. Let's get started!

Making the Most of Your Personal Statement: Addressing Weaknesses and Organizing for Success

Your personal statement is a crucial part of your graduate school application. It's your opportunity to highlight your strengths, experiences, and qualifications to the admissions committee. But did you know that your personal statement can also be a platform to address any weaknesses in your application? In this guide, we'll show you how to use your personal statement effectively, including how to address weaknesses, organize your statement, and discuss faculty and research interests.

Addressing Weaknesses in Your Personal Statement

If you have a weakness in your application, such as a low GPA or GRE score, you may be tempted to ignore it in your personal statement. However, this can actually be an opportunity to address the issue and show the admissions committee that you have what it takes to succeed in graduate school. Here's how:

Briefly identify the concern: Start by identifying the weakness you want to address, but keep it brief. You don't want to dwell on the issue or make excuses for it.

Provide context if necessary: If there is a legitimate reason for your weakness, such as a family emergency or health issue, you can provide a brief explanation. However, be careful not to make excuses or sound defensive.

Focus on your strengths: After addressing the weakness, shift the focus of your statement to your strengths and what you bring to the program. Use specific examples and experiences to demonstrate your skills and qualifications.

Organizing Your Personal Statement

There is no one "right" way to organize your personal statement, but there are some effective approaches you can use. 

Focus on 2-3 relevant experiences or characteristics: Instead of trying to cover everything, focus on a few key experiences or characteristics that are relevant to the program you're applying to.

Use an introduction, body, and conclusion: Like any good essay, your personal statement should have an introduction that hooks the reader and sets up your thesis statement, a body that develops your ideas and provides evidence to support them, and a conclusion that summarizes your main points and leaves a lasting impression.

Discussing Faculty and Research Interests

If you're applying to a program that has a research component and requires faculty mentorship, it's important to identify faculty members in your personal statement who you would be interested in working with. Here's how:

Discuss your research interests: Start by discussing your research interests and how they align with the program's focus.

Identify faculty members: Research the faculty members in the program and identify a few who you would be interested in working with. Be specific about why you're interested in their research and how it relates to your own interests.

Tie it all together: Finally, tie everything together by showing how your research interests and experience make you a strong fit for the program, and how working with the faculty members you've identified would help you achieve your goals.

By following these tips and using your personal statement effectively, you can make a strong case for why you're the best candidate for the program you're applying to. Good luck!