{"id":10168,"date":"2017-12-19T14:41:05","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T14:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/university-advice\/?p=88"},"modified":"2023-01-05T14:39:47","modified_gmt":"2023-01-05T14:39:47","slug":"writing-a-good-personal-statement-for-university-10-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/tutors\/writing-a-good-personal-statement-for-university-10-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing a good personal statement for university: 10 tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"personal

Writing a good personal statement <\/b>can be the hardest part of your UCAS application<\/b>, and it\u2019s more often than not the thing that will help you secure a place on your chosen course at your chosen university (along with good grades, that is).<\/p>\n

But have no fear, here are 10 things to think about that will make it seem not so bad.<\/p>\n

1. Make a start by yourself<\/b><\/h2>\n

Try to write the first draft of your personal statement without reading anyone else\u2019s beforehand. No matter how self-aware you may be, it\u2019s so easy \u00a0to slip into mirroring someone else\u2019s style, and that\u2019s exactly what you don\u2019t <\/i>want to do here. It\u2019s a personal <\/i>statement, after all. Being inspired by other people once you\u2019ve got something down initially is fine, but try not to hold anyone\u2019s hand as you take your first few steps.<\/p>\n

2. Think carefully about your opening sentences<\/b><\/h2>\n

Start off right. You want it to be punchy and stand out, but probably not the best idea to dive in with a joke, because whoever is reading it miiight not have the same sense of humour as you. Quotes can be good, but only if they specifically<\/i> relate to you\/your course, for example a quote from a book you found particularly eye-opening that relates to your subject. Ideally not from Einstein or Gandhi or anything you could possibly find on an inspirational quotes poster. Essentially, don\u2019t use a quote for the sake of it.<\/p>\n

3. Be yourself<\/b><\/h2>\n

In the same way you want to inject your personality into the first sentence of your personal statement, it\u2019s great to have your voice shine through the rest of it. Whether this is through your writing style or by handpicking what parts of your academic and personal life you choose to highlight, as cliched as it sounds, stay true to yourself and be consistent throughout. Trying to project a false image of yourself is tiring, and anything contrived will definitely show on paper.<\/p>\n

4. Avoid buzzwords!<\/b><\/h2>\n

Avoid avoid avoid buzzwords and set phrases. This is probably the first piece of advice anyone will give you, but really<\/i> do. It\u2019s fine to be \u201cpassionate and have wanted to study ________ from the age of 5\u201d, but find a different way of saying this. Even better, show <\/i>it with concrete evidence of what you have been involved in so far.<\/p>\n

5. Answer the question<\/b><\/h2>\n

Show off what you\u2019ve achieved (of course with an element of modesty), but at the same time, don\u2019t just rattle off all your activities and accolades. Like any essay, make sure your personal statement answers the question<\/i> \u2013 in this case: \u2018Why would you be a good fit for [university name]\u2019?<\/i>. How exactly has being swimming captain helped pave the way for you as an archeologist? What is it about your school knitting club membership that makes you have lots to offer your university\u2019s political scene? Make sure every sentence <\/i>\u00a0contributes to answering the <\/i>main question. No fluff.<\/p>\n

6. Say something different<\/b><\/h2>\n

Ultimately, you want to be the rainbow guppy in a bowl full of, well, ordinary guppies. Not necessarily bigger or more flashy but different and desirable. Say you want to study Maths at university. So many people will have taken Maths and Further Maths when applying for Maths. Obviously. What have you done outside<\/i> of your lessons, what have you read other <\/i>than your reading lists, that shows just how enthusiastic you are about Maths and how much more you want to learn? Think about how any skills or lessons from other areas you have recognised can or should be transferred into Maths. Show that you are ready to make Maths a big chunk of your life for the next few years, because once you get in, it will be.<\/p>\n

7. Keep your options open<\/b><\/h2>\n

Unless you are writing to one directly, it is likely that your personal statement will be sent to lots of universities, some (or all) of which may have slightly different courses whether in name or content. For this reason, try to keep the appropriate areas of what you write vague enough that the admissions officers don\u2019t feel like their university is anything but your first choice. This can be particularly hard for applications to Joint Honours courses, in which case it can be handy to talk about \u2018fields\u2019 or \u2018areas of study\u2019 rather than specific courses or modules.<\/p>\n

8. Tie it up neatly<\/b><\/h2>\n

Finally, the finishing paragraph or sentence is key in making your personal statement a polished whole. If you can, try and link it to whatever you said at the very beginning. If you do, though, don\u2019t just robotically repeat what you said. (For example, if your first sentence is \u2018________ observes that \u201ceveryone is biologically beautiful\u201d\u2019, don\u2019t finish with: \u2018For all these reasons, I truly do believe that \u201ceveryone is biologically beautiful\u201d and therefore have no interest in any course but Biology\u2019). Acknowledge what you have spoken about and be as natural as possible. If you are not a confident writer, this might be a good aspect of your personal statement you could ask someone who is to check to make sure it doesn\u2019t sound clunky.<\/p>\n

9. No silly mistakes!<\/b><\/h2>\n

It should go without saying that your personal statement should not have a single spelling or grammatical mistake. Read it a hundred times if you have to, and get someone else to check for errors.<\/i><\/p>\n

10. Start early<\/b><\/h2>\n

Get cracking! The most stressful thing you can do is leave this til the last minute. It\u2019s not that long, but it does take a long time to get right. This is your first chance to present yourself to your chosen universities and have them hopefully think, yep, (s)he\u2019s definitely one we want<\/i>, so make it something you can be proud of.<\/p>\n

Good luck!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writing a good personal statement can be the hardest part of your UCAS application, and it\u2019s more often than not the thing that will help you secure a place on your chosen course at your chosen university (along with good…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":89,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[790,794],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nWriting a good personal statement for university: 10 tips | MyTutor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/tutors\/writing-a-good-personal-statement-for-university-10-tips\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Writing a good personal statement for university: 10 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