Structure and Format of Personal Statement

Structure and Format of Personal Statement

The secret to a high-quality personal statement is in the format.

Let’s take a look at the outline you should follow:

1. Short Introduction

At the very beginning of the personal statement, start by briefly introducing yourself, interests and motivations. This is a short paragraph that acts like a hook, it catches a reader’s attention and makes them interested in you and your personality.

2. Academic interests and achievements

Regardless of whether you’re undergraduate or graduate student, there’s always something you can write about your education so far. Focus on facts and show your interests, achievements, or plans you have for your academic life.

Graduate students can also include a description of specific classes they’ve taken and professors they’ve had.

3. Background Experiences

It’s useful to dedicate a paragraph to background experiences which aren’t directly related to academic life but have made a major influence on your life and education in general.

4. Extracurricular Activities

This isn’t about hobbies. Instead, you should focus on extracurricular activities associated with your field. For example, you can list projects where you participated, volunteer work, and other activities you joined outside the school, but greatly contribute to your choice of the study program, college, etc.

5. Publications or other Professional Accomplishments

In this paragraph, students can brieflymention publications where their works were published. This is primarily reserved for graduate students who have already participated in some academic researches.

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