right okay so I'm applying for a scholarship at a good school and part of the application process is that you have to write a 500 word personal statement and I have zero clue how to write this thing. Mainly beginning it. Help would be appreciated as I need this written ASAP :) many many thanks
Pretend you are a salesperson, and you are trying to sell your self.
First you must tell the customer what they are buying so, begin with telling them what you are.
Then you have to tell them why they want to buy this product, it's many good features, it's multiple uses. How has this product evolved for use in different situations.
Now you must continue your sales pitch with some examples of it's use in the real world, a personal example or too.
You may include other things about your product such as, what it supports.
Treat it like a sales pitch because really you are selling yourself.
personal statements are evil and I detest writing them with every fibre of my being.
that being said, here's my advice:
- avoid spending a lot of time on things that come up in the rest of your application. You can mention them in passing if they support a point you're making ("Months of practicing [skill] paid off when I won [award] in [relevant subject area]") but try to keep it brief
- you'll want to tailor this statement as specifically to the programme/school you're applying for as you can. Spend some time researching the scholarship, the school, what kind of applicants they usually take and on what basis. It'll help you figure out what kind of things to bring up as you sell yourself to them (wow that sounds creepy. anyway)
- of course, this statement is also specific to you. what kind of relevant experiences could you talk about that would set you apart from other applicants? my goal when writing a statement was that when the reader came out of it, they'd be able to talk about me in passing and have others know what they mean. so like I could be known as "the one with the umbrella" or "the one with the archive" or "the one with the 18th century linguist" (all of these make sense in context I swear)
- I'd recommend a pretty basic structure - a short intro, two to three paragraphs [generally based around an example and then explanation of why that matters], then a short conclusion. if you want, a catchy hook in the intro can go a long way, though I'd also recommend mentioning it again in the conclusion to make sure it's relevant and consistent.
soo yeah. I hope any of this is remotely helpful - good luck with your application!
