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• Applying to graduate school
• How to Write Your Personal Statement | Strategies & Examples

How to Write Your Personal Statement | Strategies & Examples

Published on February 12, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on July 3, 2023.

A personal statement is a short essay of around 500–1,000 words, in which you tell a compelling story about who you are, what drives you, and why you’re applying.

To write a successful personal statement for a graduate school application , don’t just summarize your experience; instead, craft a focused narrative in your own voice. Aim to demonstrate three things:

• Your personality: what are your interests, values, and motivations?
• Your talents: what can you bring to the program?
• Your goals: what do you hope the program will do for you?

This article guides you through some winning strategies to build a strong, well-structured personal statement for a master’s or PhD application. You can download the full examples below.

Urban Planning Psychology History

Table of contents

Getting started with your personal statement, the introduction: start with an attention-grabbing opening, the main body: craft your narrative, the conclusion: look ahead, revising, editing, and proofreading your personal statement, frequently asked questions, other interesting articles.

Before you start writing, the first step is to understand exactly what’s expected of you. If the application gives you a question or prompt for your personal statement, the most important thing is to respond to it directly.

For example, you might be asked to focus on the development of your personal identity; challenges you have faced in your life; or your career motivations. This will shape your focus and emphasis—but you still need to find your own unique approach to answering it.

There’s no universal template for a personal statement; it’s your chance to be creative and let your own voice shine through. But there are strategies you can use to build a compelling, well-structured story.

The first paragraph of your personal statement should set the tone and lead smoothly into the story you want to tell.

Strategy 1: Open with a concrete scene

An effective way to catch the reader’s attention is to set up a scene that illustrates something about your character and interests. If you’re stuck, try thinking about:

• A personal experience that changed your perspective
• A story from your family’s history
• A memorable teacher or learning experience
• An unusual or unexpected encounter

To write an effective scene, try to go beyond straightforward description; start with an intriguing sentence that pulls the reader in, and give concrete details to create a convincing atmosphere.

Strategy 2: Open with your motivations

To emphasize your enthusiasm and commitment, you can start by explaining your interest in the subject you want to study or the career path you want to follow.

Just stating that it interests you isn’t enough: first, you need to figure out why you’re interested in this field:

• Is it a longstanding passion or a recent discovery?
• Does it come naturally or have you had to work hard at it?
• How does it fit into the rest of your life?
• What do you think it contributes to society?

Tips for the introduction

• Don’t start on a cliche: avoid phrases like “Ever since I was a child…” or “For as long as I can remember…”
• Do save the introduction for last. If you’re struggling to come up with a strong opening, leave it aside, and note down any interesting ideas that occur to you as you write the rest of the personal statement.

Once you’ve set up the main themes of your personal statement, you’ll delve into more detail about your experiences and motivations.

To structure the body of your personal statement, there are various strategies you can use.

Strategy 1: Describe your development over time

One of the simplest strategies is to give a chronological overview of key experiences that have led you to apply for graduate school.

• What first sparked your interest in the field?
• Which classes, assignments, classmates, internships, or other activities helped you develop your knowledge and skills?
• Where do you want to go next? How does this program fit into your future plans?

Don’t try to include absolutely everything you’ve done—pick out highlights that are relevant to your application. Aim to craft a compelling narrative that shows how you’ve changed and actively developed yourself.

My interest in psychology was first sparked early in my high school career. Though somewhat scientifically inclined, I found that what interested me most was not the equations we learned about in physics and chemistry, but the motivations and perceptions of my fellow students, and the subtle social dynamics that I observed inside and outside the classroom. I wanted to learn how our identities, beliefs, and behaviours are shaped through our interactions with others, so I decided to major in Social Psychology. My undergraduate studies deepened my understanding of, and fascination with, the interplay between an individual mind and its social context.During my studies, I acquired a solid foundation of knowledge about concepts like social influence and group dynamics, but I also took classes on various topics not strictly related to my major. I was particularly interested in how other fields intersect with psychology—the classes I took on media studies, biology, and literature all enhanced my understanding of psychological concepts by providing different lenses through which to look at the issues involved.

Strategy 2: Own your challenges and obstacles

If your path to graduate school hasn’t been easy or straightforward, you can turn this into a strength, and structure your personal statement as a story of overcoming obstacles.

• Is your social, cultural or economic background underrepresented in the field? Show how your experiences will contribute a unique perspective.
• Do you have gaps in your resume or lower-than-ideal grades? Explain the challenges you faced and how you dealt with them.

Don’t focus too heavily on negatives, but use them to highlight your positive qualities. Resilience, resourcefulness and perseverance make you a promising graduate school candidate.

Growing up working class, urban decay becomes depressingly familiar. The sight of a row of abandoned houses does not surprise me, but it continues to bother me. Since high school, I have been determined to pursue a career in urban planning. While people of my background experience the consequences of urban planning decisions first-hand, we are underrepresented in the field itself. Ironically, given my motivation, my economic background has made my studies challenging. I was fortunate enough to be awarded a scholarship for my undergraduate studies, but after graduation I took jobs in unrelated fields to help support my parents. In the three years since, I have not lost my ambition. Now I am keen to resume my studies, and I believe I can bring an invaluable perspective to the table: that of the people most impacted by the decisions of urban planners.

Strategy 3: Demonstrate your knowledge of the field

Especially if you’re applying for a PhD or another research-focused program, it’s a good idea to show your familiarity with the subject and the department. Your personal statement can focus on the area you want to specialize in and reflect on why it matters to you.

• Reflect on the topics or themes that you’ve focused on in your studies. What draws you to them?
• Discuss any academic achievements, influential teachers, or other highlights of your education.
• Talk about the questions you’d like to explore in your research and why you think they’re important.

The personal statement isn’t a research proposal , so don’t go overboard on detail—but it’s a great opportunity to show your enthusiasm for the field and your capacity for original thinking.

In applying for this research program, my intention is to build on the multidisciplinary approach I have taken in my studies so far, combining knowledge from disparate fields of study to better understand psychological concepts and issues. The Media Psychology program stands out to me as the perfect environment for this kind of research, given its researchers’ openness to collaboration across diverse fields. I am impressed by the department’s innovative interdisciplinary projects that focus on the shifting landscape of media and technology, and I hope that my own work can follow a similarly trailblazing approach. More specifically, I want to develop my understanding of the intersection of psychology and media studies, and explore how media psychology theories and methods might be applied to neurodivergent minds. I am interested not only in media psychology but also in psychological disorders, and how the two interact. This is something I touched on during my undergraduate studies and that I’m excited to delve into further.

Strategy 4: Discuss your professional ambitions

Especially if you’re applying for a more professionally-oriented program (such as an MBA), it’s a good idea to focus on concrete goals and how the program will help you achieve them.

• If your career is just getting started, show how your character is suited to the field, and explain how graduate school will help you develop your talents.
• If you have already worked in the profession, show what you’ve achieved so far, and explain how the program will allow you to take the next step.
• If you are planning a career change, explain what has driven this decision and how your existing experience will help you succeed.

Don’t just state the position you want to achieve. You should demonstrate that you’ve put plenty of thought into your career plans and show why you’re well-suited to this profession.

One thing that fascinated me about the field during my undergraduate studies was the sheer number of different elements whose interactions constitute a person’s experience of an urban environment. Any number of factors could transform the scene I described at the beginning: What if there were no bus route? Better community outreach in the neighborhood? Worse law enforcement? More or fewer jobs available in the area? Some of these factors are out of the hands of an urban planner, but without taking them all into consideration, the planner has an incomplete picture of their task. Through further study I hope to develop my understanding of how these disparate elements combine and interact to create the urban environment. I am interested in the social, psychological and political effects our surroundings have on our lives. My studies will allow me to work on projects directly affecting the kinds of working-class urban communities I know well. I believe I can bring my own experiences, as well as my education, to bear upon the problem of improving infrastructure and quality of life in these communities.

Tips for the main body

• Don’t rehash your resume by trying to summarize everything you’ve done so far; the personal statement isn’t about listing your academic or professional experience, but about reflecting, evaluating, and relating it to broader themes.
• Do make your statements into stories: Instead of saying you’re hard-working and self-motivated, write about your internship where you took the initiative to start a new project. Instead of saying you’ve always loved reading, reflect on a novel or poem that changed your perspective.

Your conclusion should bring the focus back to the program and what you hope to get out of it, whether that’s developing practical skills, exploring intellectual questions, or both.

Emphasize the fit with your specific interests, showing why this program would be the best way to achieve your aims.

Strategy 1: What do you want to know?

If you’re applying for a more academic or research-focused program, end on a note of curiosity: what do you hope to learn, and why do you think this is the best place to learn it?

If there are specific classes or faculty members that you’re excited to learn from, this is the place to express your enthusiasm.

Strategy 2: What do you want to do?

If you’re applying for a program that focuses more on professional training, your conclusion can look to your career aspirations: what role do you want to play in society, and why is this program the best choice to help you get there?

Tips for the conclusion

• Don’t summarize what you’ve already said. You have limited space in a personal statement, so use it wisely!
• Do think bigger than yourself: try to express how your individual aspirations relate to your local community, your academic field, or society more broadly. It’s not just about what you’ll get out of graduate school, but about what you’ll be able to give back.

You’ll be expected to do a lot of writing in graduate school, so make a good first impression: leave yourself plenty of time to revise and polish the text.

Your style doesn’t have to be as formal as other kinds of academic writing, but it should be clear, direct and coherent. Make sure that each paragraph flows smoothly from the last, using topic sentences and transitions to create clear connections between each part.

Don’t be afraid to rewrite and restructure as much as necessary. Since you have a lot of freedom in the structure of a personal statement, you can experiment and move information around to see what works best.

Finally, it’s essential to carefully proofread your personal statement and fix any language errors. Before you submit your application, consider investing in professional personal statement editing . For $150, you have the peace of mind that your personal statement is grammatically correct, strong in term of your arguments, and free of awkward mistakes.

A statement of purpose is usually more formal, focusing on your academic or professional goals. It shouldn’t include anything that isn’t directly relevant to the application.

A personal statement can often be more creative. It might tell a story that isn’t directly related to the application, but that shows something about your personality, values, and motivations.

However, both types of document have the same overall goal: to demonstrate your potential as a graduate student and s how why you’re a great match for the program.

The typical length of a personal statement for graduate school applications is between 500 and 1,000 words.

Different programs have different requirements, so always check if there’s a minimum or maximum length and stick to the guidelines. If there is no recommended word count, aim for no more than 1-2 pages.

If you’re applying to multiple graduate school programs, you should tailor your personal statement to each application.

Some applications provide a prompt or question. In this case, you might have to write a new personal statement from scratch: the most important task is to respond to what you have been asked.

If there’s no prompt or guidelines, you can re-use the same idea for your personal statement – but change the details wherever relevant, making sure to emphasize why you’re applying to this specific program.

If the application also includes other essays, such as a statement of purpose , you might have to revise your personal statement to avoid repeating the same information.

If you want to know more about college essays , academic writing , and AI tools , make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations, examples, and quizzes.

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Guide to Better Finance Master’s Personal Statements

Table of Contents

A  Finance master’s personal statement  is an essay crafted by a prospective student applying for a master’s degree. 

The statement’s purpose is to provide insight into the applicant’s personality and how they can contribute to the program. It also demonstrates their experience and expertise in the field. 

Applicants should tailor their personal statements to each specific university and their unique requirements. This will help make it stand out from those of other applicants.

The Importance of a Personal Statement

Personal statements aren’t redundant. While applications and resumes already enumerate an applicant’s qualifications, the main advantage derived from personal statements lies in compelling exposition. 

The exposition of your qualifications matters significantly. It can influence the impression you establish on readers. Moreover, it allows you to highlight specific skills and experiences to paint yourself as a prime candidate.

Personal statements are also a way to demonstrate a genuine dedication to mastering the subject or course . 

The best thing about personal statements is that they are reasonably straightforward despite their value. The following section provides a few tips for crafting effective personal statements.

Tips for Writing a Finance Masters Personal Statement

Highlight Your Finance Accomplishments and Knowledge

Explain how your experience has given you a unique perspective on the subject. Showcase your achievements and competencies, such as internships or volunteer work related to Finance. These will show your passion for the industry and your dedication to learning. 

Reference Research Experience

Referencing any related studies you’ve conducted or written about demonstrates your industry exposure. This will show that you are equipped to succeed in an advanced program and shows your hunger for knowledge. 

Use Concrete Examples

Concrete examples are valuable because they are a reliable basis for your general performance. Include a few to support any skills, characteristics, and values you claim to possess. 

Add an Opportunity Statement

Explain how a Finance Master’s degree can benefit your career, business, or academic life. Show your readers the allure that led you to pursue a Finance Master’s degree in the first place. This is valuable information because it gives admissions board representatives and recruiters a glimpse into your motivations.

Write With Clarity and Structure

To craft a clear, structured statement, you must use active language, well-rounded sentences, appropriate transition words, and utilize common English idioms when applicable. Avoid sounding overly robotic or overusing technical jargon. Let your personality shine through while demonstrating your mastery of the material.

This ensures you deliver a clear message and keeps your reader invested in your personal statement from the first sentence to the last.

If you’re still struggling with writing a  Finance Masters personal statement , don’t fret. Here are a few examples you can gain inspiration from.

Sample Finance Masters Personal Statement

I am an experienced professional with a decade of experience in the financial industry. I have always been passionate about pursuing further education to ensure I stay at the highest level of the market. Last year, I pursued a Masters’s degree in Financial Management (M.Sc.) from an internationally renowned school. 

I wanted to gain a better understanding of this area and expand my knowledge of economics and accounting principles. This will help me develop greater capability in dealing with processes in the ever-changing global environment. 

By taking up this degree, I will also have the opportunity to sharpen my skills through various job roles. I will also gain access to professionals who can provide real-world insight into the area. 

Moreover, My ability to apply within any business setting sets me apart from the rest of the market. I have a strong service orientation and focus on developing innovative solutions. These are qualities that are essential to excel within the management sector. After completing my M.Sc., I would be more than ready to take on future challenges and deliver excellent results.

I come from an international background and have been immersed in investment banking for the past six years. My work experience and Business undergraduate degree create a solid financial knowledge foundation. I want to build upon this foundation, so I seek an MSc in Finance. I recognize the need for more formal training to reach my long-term goals in the finance sector. 

Through my experiences, I believe I understand the challenges faced in working within the global banking system. I have become adept at anticipating and dealing with potential problems as they arise. My current role requires that I be able to analyze different markets and predict outcomes accurately. I feel confident doing this after having undertaken significant research in this area. 

Additionally, I manage portfolios and negotiate deals between clients and other businesses, a task further enhanced by my fluency in English and Spanish. 

I relish the opportunity to further develop my understanding of Finance through a Master’s program. It will allow me to explore new topics like derivatives trading and financial engineering. I also look forward to pushing myself academically and developing professional connections. These networks could be vital when it comes time to pursue my career aspirations. 

This course offers me the chance to gain the skills needed to do precisely that. Pursuing an MSc in Finance is the right decision for me.

I believe my qualifications in Financial Economics and varied work and activity exposure make me an ideal candidate for a Master’s Degree in Finance. During my time at school, I learned the fundamentals of business finance and economics as well. I build on this by reading content from some of the world’s leading financial institutions. 

My success in these areas allowed me to skip a grade, giving me more time to pursue extra-curricular activities. I worked with a small company in India that specializes in financial consulting. This hands-on experience gave me great insight into corporate Finance’s complexities. It also helped me develop good communication skills and sharp problem-solving abilities. 

I am excited to use my knowledge, expertise, and experiences to advance my understanding of the financial industry further. As a student, I will be committed to maximizing my potential by taking advantage of every opportunity the university offers. By working hard and combining real-life examples with classroom learning, I aim to establish myself as an engaged and capable student. Upon graduation, I can become a valuable asset to any financial organization or institution.

Personal statements are vital to Master’s applications and other selective ventures because they express your best qualities . Mastering the art of crafting compelling personal statements will help you go far in your academic and professional experiences. Make sure to apply our tips to maximize your chances of success. Good luck!

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

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Personal Statement of Purpose Finance and Accounting MSc

• Sample personal statement

28 July, 2022

Personal statement of purpose finance and accounting msc share.

• 12 May, 2013

With my deep interest, I want to pursue the course Finance and Accounting MSc at the University of Brighton because this course has access to modern computing facilities and specialist computing packages. And this course will provide me with the skills to make these investment decisions across various business areas. This degree will give me develop an in-depth knowledge of financial theory and practice, research methods, financial markets, financial accounting and management accounting. Moreover, I found this Finance and Accounting MSc will help me to specialise and meet the growing demand for finance professionals with strong research skills. I can also progress with or continue by studying for a Ph.D. I want to develop my career in this sector and the accounting and financial services sectors require a high level of understanding of theory and practice. And this MSc course can make me professional. I believe that this course will help me become professional and proficient in my future career.

Following my Intermediate and Secondary education from the Business Studies group, I completed my Bachelor’s degree major in Accounting in February 2022 from National University, Gazipur, Bangladesh. In my home country, there are many open places to develop a career in accountancy but they require a professional applicant. From this MSc course, I can meet the growing demand for finance professionals with strong research skills. So, I decided to complete my further higher studies by choosing this Finance and Accounting MSc at the University of Brighton. While studying, I was involved in various co- curricular activities to enrich my knowledge and skills. Attended and organized different types of seminars and workshops, participated in different voluntary services and activities, and actively participated. From my last education qualification, I have realized that I need to gain knowledge about business accounting and finance part as well as I want to grow my career in this area. I also have my English language concern and I attend a UKVI IELTS test where my overall band score is 6.0. I think I should gain more knowledge in the field so I decided to continue my further studies with this course. I am confident that my professional goal makes me a suitable candidate for the course.

By reviewing the university website, I have seen the course Finance and Accounting MSc at the University of Brighton is ideal preparation for continuing my studies at MPhil or Ph.D. level, also I will be able to work as a professional researcher in finance. The course will prepare me for a specific level of accounting and financial roles, accountancy firms, consultancies and finance departments in the private and public sectors. Studying in a simulated business environment will teach me to explore business practices from regulatory and risk management issues to how financial markets operate and what makes them crash. This course has been designed to help me develop the necessary skills to solve the financial accounting standards, complex business problems in recent facing situations. Modules on the course involve both taught sessions and guided independent study. The core module units include Economics of Financial Markets, Financial Theory and Practice, Research Methods for Finance and Economics, Dissertation or Work Placement Project. Mandatory specialism modules are- Contemporary Issues in Accounting, International Investment and Trading, Economics of Money, Interest Rates, Banking and Financial Institutions. Completion of my dissertation will teach me the undertake research leading to practicable recommendations based on sound analysis and judgment. All of these modules will help me to broaden my knowledge of accountancy understanding in an international context which will prepare me for my employment in an increasingly internationalized business world. Hopefully, I have been able to clear the purpose of my admission to the university. Moreover, during times of crisis, accountancy is seen as a stable profession. By completing this course, I will be able to work with reputed organisations in my home country ranging from accountancy, banking, financial management, and management consultancy. So, I believe this course will be the right choice for my career plans and objectives.

UK’s academic reputation is globally renowned and it is known that having a graduate degree from a UK university will definitely propel one’s career to a significant level. However, the study environment in my country follows the theoretical system of education which is quite different and no soft skills are acquired. The UK maintains a quality management system with high standards in all fields. In recent years, all companies in Bangladesh are emphasizing hiring of Bangladeshi graduates with degrees from abroad, as they see the transferrable skills carried forward from the international education will play a key role in transforming their approach to the business and believe these graduates are capable of doing so. The transferable skills from the UK are key to advancing graduates through organizational growth and gaining a competitive advantage. This reason attracted me to pursue a degree in the UK. A recent survey of International Graduation Results in 2019 produced by iGraduate by Universities UK International shows that 82% of international graduates say their UK degree is valuable for financial investment and a similar number of graduates say they are satisfied or very satisfied with their careers. About 83% think a UK degree has helped them get a job. These aspects have driven my ambition to get a degree from a UK institution.

University of Brighton is one of the re-known top universities in the UK. As my study destination is the UK and I wish to study at the University of Brighton, because it offers an experience that goes way beyond the classroom. Their core values are part of a dynamic, diverse and creative community that embraces partnership working and that makes a positive difference to society. From there, I will be able to gain real-world knowledge and transferable skills that employers look for in graduate recruits. And by the time I graduate, I’ll feel confident and fully prepared to start my career anywhere in the world. The university won a Silver Award in Teaching Excellence Framework, which means that the learning environment and the teaching I will receive are consistently better than the national requirements for UK Higher Education. The university has around 18,000 students and 2,400 staff studying and working at four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne. Also, according to Destination Leavers from Higher Education 2017-2018, 94% of University of Brighton graduates get engaged in work or further study within the first 6 months. I will also be able to make connections with local, national and international companies, as the university has links with over 1800 businesses, including Fujitsu, BT, Sky, Boots, IBM, and the NHS, while the university educates professionals from 90% of FTSE 100 companies. The university puts students on a fast track that is designed to get a postgraduate degree into faster employment with excellent career opportunities. Moreover, the University brings the workplace into classrooms so it will be beneficial for me to attain my personal career objectives by practicing in this type of learning environment. I am looking forward to studying and wish to experience all the opportunities the University of Brighton has to offer.

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Gre prep online guides and tips, how to write a stand-out personal statement for grad school.

If you’re applying to graduate school, you’ll likely need to write a personal statement. But what exactly is a graduate school personal statement? And what should you write about to give yourself your best shot at admission?

In this guide, we teach you how to write a personal statement for grad school, step by step. But first, let’s go over how the personal statement differs from the statement of purpose as well as what schools look for in a great graduate school essay.

What Is a Graduate School Personal Statement?

A graduate school personal statement is an admission essay that typically focuses on your personal reasons for wanting to enter a grad program and particular field of study. Essentially, you must tell the story of who you are and how you developed your current research interests.

So is a personal statement for graduate school the same thing as a statement of purpose? Well, not always (though it can be). Here are the general distinctions between the two essay types:

• Statement of purpose:  A formal essay that summarizes your academic and professional background, research interests, and career goals. In this essay, you’ll usually explain your reasons for applying to grad school and why you believe the program is a good fit for you (as well as why you’re a good fit for it!).
• Personal statement: A less formal essay that focuses on your passion and motivation for wanting to enter your chosen field and program. This statement is typically more flexible than the statement of purpose, with a bigger emphasis on storytelling. Schools often encourage applicants to discuss (relevant) challenges in their lives and how they’ve overcome them.

Both the graduate school personal statement and statement of purpose are usually anywhere from one to three double-spaced pages long, depending on the program you’re applying to.

Below is a chart comparing the personal statement and statement of purpose:

Usually, the personal statement and statement of purpose are considered two different graduate school essay types.

But this isn’t always the case. While some schools consider the personal statement and statement of purpose two distinct essays, others use the names interchangeably.

For example, Michigan State University’s College of Engineering  considers them two distinct essays, while The Ohio State University uses “personal statement” to describe what is essentially a statement of purpose.

Many schools require just one essay  (and it’ll usually be the statement of purpose, as it’s the more academic one). But some, such as the University of Michigan , ask for both a personal statement and statement of purpose, while others, such as  Notre Dame’s Creative Writing MFA program , want an essay that combines the features of both!

Ultimately, the type of graduate school essay you  submit will depend entirely on where you’re applying.

What Do Schools Look For in a Personal Statement?

Many grad schools require a personal statement in order to learn more about you, your interests, your struggles, and your motivations for wanting to enter a field of study. Through this essay, schools can get to know you on a deeper, more intimate level and learn about you in ways they can’t through transcripts and letters of recommendation alone.

But what specifically do universities look for in a great personal statement for graduate school? Here are some of the most important elements to include in your essay.

A Compelling Story

First off, your personal statement must tell a story. After all, this essay is basically your autobiography: it introduces who you are, your interests and motivations, and why you’ve decided to apply to grad school.

Unlike the statement of purpose, the personal statement should focus mostly on your personal history, from your failures to your triumphs. All experiences should tie back to your field or research area, emphasizing what you’ve learned and what this means in terms of your potential as a grad student.

Since you’re talking about yourself, be conversational in your storytelling: use an authentic voice, open up about your experiences, and maybe even throw in a joke or two. Though you’re still writing an essay for school, it’s generally OK to be a little more informal here than you would in a statement of purpose.

That said, there are a couple of things you absolutely shouldn’t do in your personal statement.

• Open your essay with a quotation. Professors have heard the quotation before and don’t need (or want) to hear it again. Plus, quotations often take up too much space in an already short essay!
• Use clichés. Think of unique ways to tell your story and grab readers’ attention. Schools want to see you can be creative yet honest about yourself, so avoid clichés like the plague (see what I did there?).
• Get too creative. Your goal is to look like a serious, committed applicant—not a wacky risk taker—so write clearly and avoid any unnecessary distractions such as images, colors, and unprofessional fonts.

Most importantly, remember that your graduate school personal statement should focus on your successes. Try to use strong, encouraging words and put positive twists on difficult experiences whenever possible. It’s OK to mention your setbacks, too—just as long as you’re discussing how you ultimately overcame (or plan to overcome) them.

Inspirations for Your Research Interests

Schools don’t only want to see clearly defined research interests but also  why you have these particular interests.   While the statement of purpose elaborates on your professional goals, the personal statement explains what personally motivated you to explore your interests.

For example, in my personal statement for a Japanese Studies MA program, I wrote about my hot-and-cold relationship with the Japanese language and how a literature class and a stint abroad ultimately inspired me to keep learning.

Don’t make the mistake of going way back to the beginning to start your essay. Many applicants open their statements with something along the lines of “I fell in love with psychology when I was ten years old” or “It all started when I was in high school.” But these broad statements lack the creativity and zest needed to secure an acceptance, so avoid them at all costs.

Your Motivation for Applying to Grad School

Your statement of purpose should explain why grad school is a practical next step in your professional life—but your personal statement should focus on what personally motivates you to take this step.

Generally, schools want answers to the following questions:

• Why is grad school an appropriate step for you now?
• How will a graduate degree help you achieve your goals?
• Why didn’t you apply to grad school earlier (if you took time off after undergrad)?
• Were there any struggles or problems you faced that prevented you from applying to grad school before?

Be honest about why you’re applying, both to grad school and the program in particular. In my graduate school essay, I discussed how my passion for Japanese literature and desire to translate it inspired me to seek advanced language training at the graduate level.

Strong Writing Skills

A great personal statement shows that you can write cogently and coherently. After all, strong writing skills are imperative for success as a grad student!

So in addition to telling a good story, make sure you use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. Use paragraphs to break up your thoughts, too. Because the personal statement is slightly less formal than the statement of purpose, feel free to play around a little with paragraph form and length.

Also, remember that  good writing doesn’t necessarily equal big words.  You’re writing about yourself, so use words that come naturally to you. Don’t grab a thesaurus and start throwing in a bunch of high-level vocabulary wherever you can; this will make your essay sound less authentic, not to mention stiff.

On the other hand, don’t get too colloquial. You’ll lose respect if you start inserting conversational words such as “gonna” and “gotta.” Therefore, look for the middle ground and write from there.

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Explanations for Any Hiccups in Your Academic Career

Lastly, the personal statement  gives applicants a chance to explain any problems or changes in their academic histories, such as low grades or gaps in education.

Because transcripts and resumes are severely limited in what information they give, schools often use the personal statement to understand your reasons for abrupt changes in your resume and/or transcripts, and to see how you’ve overcome these barriers in your education (and life).

Essentially, a personal statement equalizes the playing field by giving you full rein to explain yourself and emphasize your success over any struggles you’ve had.

How to Write a Personal Statement for Grad School: 9-Step Guide

The personal statement is a fiercely important part of your grad school application. In this section, we teach you how to write a memorable personal statement for grad school so that you’ll have a better shot at getting accepted.

Step 1: Start Early

Personal statements (actually, grad school applications in general!) take a lot of work, so don’t put off writing your essay until the week before your deadline. Rather, try to start working on your essay at least two or three months before your application is due.

You might want to give yourself more time to write it if you’re currently in school or working a demanding job. Setting aside more time lets you work on your graduate school essay routinely without having to squeeze in too many hours each week.

If you only have a month or less until your application deadline, get started on your essay pronto! Though it’s possible to write a personal statement quickly, I recommend carving out more time so that you can put more thought and effort into what you write and how you present yourself. (Doing this also gives others more time to edit your essay for you! We’ll cover this more in later steps.)

Step 2: Read the Instructions

Perhaps the most important step is to read your program’s instructions for the personal statement. Not following these instructions could very well result in a rejection, so always read these first before you start writing! Most programs put their personal statement instructions on their application materials pages.

Your program should give you the following information:

• What type of content your personal statement should include or generally focus on (you might even get an actual prompt to answer!)
• How long your statement should be
• What type of heading, if any, you must include on your statement
• How to save and submit your statement (e.g., .docx, PDF, etc.)

For example, let’s say you’re applying to the History PhD program at UC Berkeley . In this case, your personal statement can’t exceed 1,000 words (three double-spaced pages). You must also answer this prompt :

Please describe how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. Please include information on how you have overcome barriers to access in higher education, evidence of how you have come to understand the barriers faced by others, evidence of your academic service to advance equitable access to higher education for women, racial minorities, and individuals from other groups that have been historically underrepresented in higher education, evidence of your research focusing on underserved populations or related issues of inequality, or evidence of your leadership among such groups.

On the other hand, if you were to apply for an MS in Mining, Geological, and Geophysical Engineering at the University of Arizona , your personal statement would follow these parameters:

Your personal statement is an opportunity to sell yourself, in terms of your research interests, research experience and research goals. Unless you have extensive research experience, most personal statements should be about two single-spaced pages. Your writing should be clear, concise, grammatically correct and professional in tone. You may convey some personal experiences that have led to your current interests or that make you a particularly promising candidate.

Clearly, grad programs can approach personal statements quite differently. Some schools consider them the same as statements of purpose and want a formal focus on academic and research interests, while others want applicants to explain more informally the challenges they’ve overcome to get to this point.

Simply put,  follow your program’s directions exactly in order to give yourself your best shot at admission.  And if any part of the instructions is unclear, don’t hesitate to contact your program!

Step 3: Figure Out Your Angle

Your “angle,” or focus, in your graduate school personal statement will depend on a few key factors:

• What your grad program wants you to write about
• Your field of study and research interests
• How much experience you have in your field

As I mentioned in step 2, it’s extremely important to  read the personal statement instructions for your program. Many times these guidelines will tell you what to include in your essay, thereby clarifying what your overall angle needs to be.

Let’s look back at the example we used above for UC Berkeley’s doctoral program in history. If you were applying here and came from a low-income family, you could discuss how you’ve overcome these financial challenges in your life to get to where you are today.

No matter the prompt, you’ll need to discuss your research interests (to some degree) in your personal statement.  How much you talk about your interests, however, will depend on whether you have to submit a separate statement of purpose. If so, you can focus less on your research plans and more on your passions and motivations for applying.

On the other hand, if your personal statement is essentially a statement of purpose, dive deep into your research interests—that is,  be specific! For example, those applying to English lit programs should think about the works, eras, and writers they want to study, and why.

More broadly, though, try to answer the question of  what you hope to accomplish, either during or after the program. Is there any particular project you want to do? Skills you want to improve? Field you want to break into?

Finally, always choose a positive angle.  Use affirmative words and phrases to highlight both your successes and overall enthusiasm for the program.

Step 4: Ask Yourself, “Why This Program? Why This Field?”

Although the statement of purpose usually answers this question directly, you’ll likely need to address this in your personal statement as well—ideally, with a less academic and more conversational tone.

As you brainstorm, try to come up with answers to the following questions:

• What goals or experiences led you to apply to this program?
• How will this program help you grow on a personal level?
• What made you interested in this field? Why do you want to study it more?
• What are your research interests? How did you develop these interests?
• Are there any particular professors you wish to work with?

Step 5: Make an Outline

Now that you’ve brainstormed some ideas, it’s time to start outlining your essay.

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How you choose to outline your statement is up to you. Some people like drawing bubble charts for organizing their thoughts, whereas others (like myself) prefer to write a list of rough ideas in the general order they want to present them.

Even if you’re not sure whether you want to include something, just add it to your outline anyway. You can always cut it out later as you draft and edit.

Step 6: Draft Your Essay

It’s now time to start writing! Once you’ve got your outline ready, work on expanding what you’ve written into full-fledged paragraphs.

In the beginning, it’s OK to write down anything you feel is relevant, but as you continue to draft, try to look for any extraneous information you can chop.

Remember, most personal statements will be short— usually one to two double-spaced pages—so you don’t want to risk exceeding your program’s word limit. Schools want to see that you can tell a story concisely yet effectively.

If you’re having trouble coming up with a way to open your statement, try skipping around as you draft. Go ahead and jump to a paragraph you have more ideas for—it’s perfectly OK! Just make sure you start to tie all of your ideas together the closer you get to finishing your draft.

On a related note, be careful not to copy any material from your statement of purpose (if you’re required to submit two separate essays). These statements may share a little overlap but should still focus on different aspects of your (academic) life, accomplishments, and goals.

Step 7: Get Feedback

Once you finish drafting, give your essay to people you trust for feedback. This could be a parent, friend, sibling, or mentor (such as a former or current professor).

Ask your editors to give you  specific feedback  on what you can change, both stylistically and technically, to make it more impactful. Ideally, they’ll also note any unclear, awkward, or redundant ideas/phrases and will offer you helpful suggestions for improvement.

If you’ve written a separate statement of purpose, see whether your editors are willing to check that essay over as well so that you can ensure there isn’t too much overlap between the two.

Step 8: Revise & Edit Your Essay

Once you get feedback, revise and edit your personal statement using your editors’ comments as a guide.

For example, if your editors told you your essay lacked detail, look for places in your writing where you can be more specific and that are likely to have a strong impact on the admission committee.

As you revise, keep an eye out for any awkward sentences or extraneous information. Personal statements are usually pretty brief and you don’t want to accidentally exceed the word limit. So when in doubt, take it out!

Step 9: Proofread

The final step is to proofread your draft. Start by using your computer’s spell check function to quickly find any glaring typos and grammatical errors.

Then, proofread your essay one sentence at a time. Since it’s easy to miss errors in your own writing, I recommend editing your essay from back to front (i.e., from the last sentence to the first sentence). Doing this prevents you from glossing over words and lets you pinpoint punctuation, spelling, and grammatical errors more easily.

In addition, check that you have page numbers on each page (if required—though I suggest adding them regardless) and a proper heading (again, if required) that meets the requirements of your program.

Before you submit it, see if you can get someone else (preferably one or all of your editors from step 7) to look over your final draft as well.  If anyone spots a problem with your essay, go back to step 8. If you get all thumbs ups, read over your statement one last time and then turn it in without looking back! (Seriously, don’t read it again or you’re going to want to change something.)

The Key to a Great Graduate School Personal Statement

The personal statement is an essential part of your grad school application. Like the statement of purpose, it highlights your research interests, experiences, and goals.

But more importantly, the personal statement showcases  your unbridled passion for your field, lets you reflect on challenges you’ve faced (and subsequently overcome), and answers the overarching question of why you want to attend grad school.

A great graduate school personal statement will normally include most or all of the following elements:

• A compelling story
• Inspirations for your research interests
• Your motivation for applying to grad school
• Strong writing skills
• Explanations for any changes or problems in your academic career

Above, we walked you through how to write a personal statement for grad school. To recap, here are the nine steps to follow:

• Start early—at least two or three months before your application is due
• Read your program’s instructions for the personal statement
• Figure out your angle by brainstorming ideas
• Ask yourself, “Why this program/field?”
• Make an outline using charts, a list, etc.
• Draft your essay
• Get specific feedback from multiple editors
• Revise and edit your essay
• Proofread (and get other people to proofread it, too!)

What’s Next?

Need to write a statement of purpose, too? Waste no time!  Our expert guide offers tons of tips to help you come up with a statement of purpose that’s certain to impress admission committees.

Do your schools require a CV or resume?  If you’re totally lost on where to begin, read our guides to learn how to put together a great CV or resume for grad school. And for extra help, check out our four original CV and resume templates !

What do you need to submit for your grad school application?  Get the scoop on what kinds of materials you’ll need to prepare when applying to grad school .

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Author: Hannah Muniz

Hannah graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in English and East Asian languages and cultures. After graduation, she taught English in Japan for two years via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel. View all posts by Hannah Muniz

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How to Write a Graduate School Personal Statement (with example!)

Varonika Ware is a content writer at Scholarships360. Varonika earned her undergraduate degree in Mass Communications at Louisiana State University. During her time at LSU, she worked with the Center of Academic Success to create the weekly Success Sunday newsletter. Varonika also interned at the Louisiana Department of Insurance in the Public Affairs office with some of her graphics appearing in local news articles.

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Maria Geiger is Director of Content at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.

Congratulations on finishing your bachelor’s degree, and starting the next chapter! You might be thinking about applying to graduate school, and fortunately, it’s very similar to applying to an undergraduate program. However, it’s probably been a few years since you’ve had to write an application essay, so you might be wondering how to write a personal statement for graduate school. If so, this guide is the perfect resource for you! Keep reading below to find out more, and don’t forget to check out the example of a graduate school personal statement.

What is a personal statement?

A personal statement is an essay that encapsulates your personal journey and how that’s shaped who you are as an applicant. They are typically 400-600 words, but can be longer or shorter. 

Be sure not to confuse a personal statement with a statement of purpose as they are two different types of admissions essays. Use this as an opportunity to show colleges what you value and what’s turned you into an ideal student for your desired school. 

What should I write about?

Personal statements are your chance to get, well, personal. While you should answer the prompt in its entirety, you should also write about yourself. Bring a personal element into your essay like family or a story of you overcoming an obstacle. 

Ideally, your story should relate to what you’re trying to accomplish at your graduate school of choice. Tie it all together: your personal experiences, your desired major, and your ideal outcome. 

Tips for writing a personal statement for graduate school

It’s important to start your graduate application as soon as you’re able. Usually, the first round of applications receive the best financial aid packages, so start early! 

Starting sooner can also give you the time to outline your essay and get it read over by your support system. You’ll want it all to be perfect, so don’t rush.

Be transparent

Instead of telling admissions what you think they want to hear, be open and honest about yourself. You want them to understand you, and the only way to do that is to show who you actually are. Offer up personal stories or things that genuinely interest you so that you can show off your sparkling personality!

Be original

Graduate programs are often very competitive since there’s a smaller admissions pool. As a result, your essay should be as original as possible to stand out from the crowd. Tell your story in an organic way, and approach the given prompt with an open mind. 

Related : How to write an essay about yourself

Check your work

It’s extremely important for you to proofread and check for correct spelling and grammar throughout your personal statement. Even simply reading your statement out loud can help you catch any errors and make sure your words flow together. You should also consider having mentors or people within your support system read over your essay to ensure your message is clear.

Common mistakes when writing a graduate school personal statement

Reusing your undergraduate essay .

Reusing your first supplemental essay as a template is a big mistake you want to avoid. Years have passed since then, and you’ve learned new skills and grown as a person and a student. 

The experiences you previously wrote might not resonate with who you are today or tell the graduate team what they want to know about you. It may also have grammatical errors that you might not have noticed before, so take a little extra time to start from scratch and create something new.

Repeating what’s in your resume

It’s likely that your graduate school of choice will require you to upload a copy of your resume as part of your application. Therefore, the admissions committee will already know your professional background, so tell them something else about yourself or provide further depth to a job experience. Repeating yourself only tells them one thing, and you want to be the most well-rounded applicant that you can be.

Graduate school personal statement example

Prompt: Please discuss how your experiences, both personal and professional, have led you to pursue a graduate business degree at this time. What are your short- and long- term goals and how will this program and the J. Mack Robinson College of Business help you achieve these goals? (750 words max)

While many of the applications you receive will detail the many ways that person has been the first to do something, I pose a different perspective: hope to be the last. In other words, you might see me as a first-generation college student, but I see the makings of becoming the last generation to worry about generational wealth in my family. 

Though it is true that I would be the first in my family to get my master’s degree, I’m hoping that my future success means I’ll be the last “first.” It’s not lost on me what this title means, but most of all, it signifies the dawn of an era. A dynasty bred from the struggles and achievements of those before it.

These are big shoes to fill, but I’ve never been afraid of a challenge and the things I’ve learned have helped me secure my future. For example, by observing different business models throughout the years, I found a secret about marketing: people love a product that loves them back. In my case, a product that’s always loved me back were books. I’d fallen in love with bookshelves and bookstores alike, so it only makes sense that a culmination of my love of marketing and books is the goal of one day working in book publishing. I want to know the inner workings of book promotion including design decisions and book tours. Eventually, I plan on working at one of the big publishers such as Penguin Random House, Harper Collins, or Macmillan.

Fortunately, I’ve been given opportunities to decide on my own path, which I hope to execute at Georgia State University. This school’s unique curriculum will be an asset to me since there are classes that specifically cater to buyer behavior, and that’s an area of study I’m particularly interested in. The Social Media Intelligence Lab and social media marketing class will hopefully give me an inside look into influencer marketing and its impact on product profitability. According to your mission statement, GSU educates future leaders, and I want to be a part of that.

As a mentor of mine once said, knowledge is meant to be shared, and if it isn’t, it’s control. I hope to build up the people around me with knowledge and experiences as I go out into the professional world just as I hope this program will do for me. If I’m accepted into this program, I plan on using my creativity and drive for not only my success, but for my family’s as well. There may be times I fall short of a goal, but failure isn’t an option. Each benchmark professors put in front of me will be conquered, and one day, I’ll be one of your notable alumni. 

Why this essay works:

• The writer clearly researched the school and understands its values
• The prompt is answered completely and seamlessly
• The applicant knew their goals and thought of ways to achieve them at the college 
• This statement communicates not only what the college gains from this applicant’s admission, but also what the applicant gains
• It’s also well within the word limit

Frequently asked questions about how to write a graduate school personal statement

Do i have to write a personal statement to get into graduate school, how long is graduate school, do i have to take an exam to get into graduate school, scholarships360 recommended.

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Writing Personal Statements for Graduate School

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Personal Statements

Preparing a well-written and effective personal statement (sometimes referred to as statements of purpose or personal essays) that clearly articulates your preparation, goals, and motivation for pursuing that specific graduate degree is critically important. You will need to spend a considerable amount of time and effort in crafting these statements. The focus, structure, and length of personal statements vary from program to program. Some will have prompts or questions you need to answer, while others will leave the topic open-ended. The length varies widely as well. Read instructions carefully and make sure to adhere to all parameters laid out in the application guidelines.

Clear writing is the result of clear thinking. The first and most important task is to decide on a message. Consider carefully which two or three points you wish to impress upon the reader, remembering that your audience is composed of academics who are experts in their fields. Your statement should show that you are able to think logically and express your thoughts in a clear and concise manner. Remember that the reader already has a record of your activities and your transcript; avoid simply restating your resume and transcript. Writing your statement will take time; start early and give yourself more than enough time for revisions. If no prompts are given, you can use the questions below to begin brainstorming content to include in your statement; for more information, see our Writing Personal Statement presentation Prezi  and our three-minute video on Writing Personal Statements .

• What experiences and academic preparation do you have that are relevant to the degree you’re seeking?
• Why are you choosing to pursue a graduate degree at this time?
• Why do you want to pursue this particular degree and how will this degree and the specific program fit into your career plans and your long-term goals?
• What specific topics are you aiming to explore and what does the current literature say about those topics?

After you’ve written a first draft, start the work of editing, refining, simplifying, and polishing. Provide specific examples that will help illustrate your points and convey your interests, intentions, and motivations. Is any section, sentence, or word superfluous, ambiguous, apologetic, or awkward? Are your verbs strong and active? Have you removed most of the qualifiers? Are you sure that each activity or interest you mention supports one of your main ideas? Spelling and grammatical errors are inexcusable. Don’t rely on spell-check to catch all errors; read your statement aloud and have it reviewed by multiple people whose opinion you trust. If possible, have your statement reviewed by a writing tutor. For individual assistance with writing your personal statement, consult with the writing tutor in your residential college  or the Writing Center within the Yale Center for Teaching and Learning .

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Sample Personal Statement Finance (MIT Sloan)

by Talha Omer, MBA, M.Eng., Harvard & Cornell Grad

In personal statement samples by field | personal statements samples by university.

Here is the personal statement of an applicant who got admitted to MIT Sloan’s  Masters in Finance program . For personal statement, Sloan poses several questions to applicants, which the admissions committee expects to be answered in an essay form. MIT provides these personal statement prompts to encourage students to self-reflect and then to share their insights with the program. 

The following essays are an example of a compelling story and reflect the original voice and personality of the applicant. Get inspiration from them and try to incorporate their strengths into your own personal statement.

In this Article

Personal Statement Prompt 1

Personal statement prompt 2, personal statement prompt 3.

Please discuss past academic and professional experiences and accomplishments that will help you succeed in the Master of Finance program. Include achievements in finance, math, statistics, and computer sciences, as applicable. 

As an ardent finance student, I have always sought opportunities to develop a solid grounding in the subject.

During my undergraduate, I successfully co-founded a philanthropic long/short Impact Investment Hedge Fund, “Australian Students Asset Management” (ASAM). The fund secured firms like Goldman Sachs to provide pro-bono services and mentorship. In addition, I developed a proprietary ESG algorithm to identify investment opportunities per our social development mandate. As a result, our investments have consistently outperformed our benchmark. Furthermore, I attended two courses at LSE on Alternative Investments and Financial Risk with “A” grades. This involved in-depth exploration of topics like Monte Carlo, Bootstrapping, Financial Modelling and Stratification.

As an Associate at PwC, I created PwC’s first fully automated valuation process. This consisted of using industry-specific valuation templates using Python and VBA for data scraping. This solution saw significant savings for the firm and is now used by PwC throughout the world.

As an analyst with Barclays Capital, a Global Quantitative Hedge Fund, I gained exposure to arbitrage trading strategies by implementing statistical principles like mean reversion, volatility trends and co-integration in Python. This helped me develop successful trading algorithms yielding a highly desirable annualized return of 33%.

Describe your short-term and long-term professional goals. How will our MFin degree help you achieve these goals?

My short-term goal is to return to Australia and establish my own quantitative “for-profit” hedge fund. I will utilize my previous experience co-founding the philanthropic hedge fund, ASAM, to that effect. My long-term goal is to expand this hedge fund’s operations overseas and invest in the North American markets, as they present significant growth opportunities.

At MIT, I am eager to research the implications of current trends in institutional capital flows. This detailed exploration will enhance my understanding of the potential risks of passive investing and provide an edge in building trust with future investors.

As an Analyst at Barclays Capital, I developed event-driven and relative-value trading algorithms using Python. With the MFin, I will create an advanced, intuitive approach to data science problems, enabling the manipulation of alternative data sets to automate trading decisions and executions. The Advanced Analytics and Data Science courses and Analytics Certificate are especially exciting as they will allow me to understand shallow models and train deep neural networks in an economic context. I also hope to improve my technical skills around asset pricing and general dimension reduction techniques and ensemble methods which are critical to forming accurately priced derivatives.

Please share personal qualities that will enable you to contribute to the advancement of our mission.

THE MISSION

The mission of the MIT Sloan School of Management is to develop principled, innovative leaders who improve the world and generate ideas that advance management practice.

I believe success as a Leader requires one to have a passion for taking the initiative, thinking outside the box and persevering in adversity.

These traits have always been integral to my personal and professional pursuits, including my recent experience as a special education teacher in San Pedro, a rural village in Costa Rica. I was required to develop creative methods to overcome the language barrier and constructed visual aids from cardboard pieces to make block numbers. In addition, the school had a dire need for wheelchairs, so I devised a cost-effective design to repurpose old bicycles into wheelchairs that we implemented as a team. My commitment to improving the world through innovation will allow me to contribute actively to MIT’s mission.

Furthermore, my extensive involvement in boxing has enabled me to develop perseverance and increased focus in facing challenges. My first loss was devastating, and I considered giving up the sport, as my goal had been to maintain a perfect record. Ultimately, increasing training intensity, dance classes and the strong support from my team allowed me to win my next match and achieve the Most Improved Fighter award by the Sydney Boxing League.

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Postgraduate accounting and finance personal statement example (mature student) 1.

Currently, I am a final-year student, studying International Economics and Trade at xxx University. I would like to increase my professional potential in Finance related field by pursuing Master studies at your university.

My overall GPA is ranked the upper 20% among about 160 students. I was ranked among the top 2 percent of students in Monetary and Banking and top 5 percent in International Trade, Microeconomics and Macroeconomics.

My aptitude for mathematical calculations and logical reasoning allows me rapidly to acquire the core of economic principles.

Nevertheless, the critical thinking and inquisitive mind, which I have developed over my undergraduate studies, makes me often question the economic reality and its principles, seeking objectivity and truth.

In addition, I enjoy spending my leisure time in a way that would broaden my vision and knowledge on the field. All of these laid a solid foundation for my further study and work.

My current IELTS results indicate that my English language speaking, listening and reading skills are developed the most.

Nevertheless, I am continuously trying to improve my English language skills by taking private lessons. The results of my efforts and determination should be evident in November when I retake the IELTS exam to be more confident about the level of my English.

At school I have attended many activities, including Loving Care Charity Association, Photography and Travel Associations, where I have gained and improved such important skills as punctuality, planning, teamwork and leadership.

My university is situated in northeast of China - 2500 kilometers far away from my hometown, thus, I had to overcome great diversities in climate, food, language and culture.

Therefore, I have accumulated much experience which will be useful in my future study and life in the UK. As an independent student, I have developed strong problem solving and time management abilities that help me not only to deal with various situations in life and interpersonal relationships, but also to combine those with intensive undergraduate studies.

In my spare time, not only I read extensively in my specialty field, but also take every opportunity to feel the real economic life.

In the early years of my university, my two classmates and I bought over 100 plastic products from a large wholesale market which is 2-hour distance away from our school. After seizing the day that the freshmen enter the college, we marketed the goods one by one room.

With our warm attitude and good eloquence, all the goods were sold out within a half-day. I have not only built good relationships with new students but also gained a useful insight into the retail business.

Along with my good performance in my exams, I was keen on obtaining hands-on experience in finance related field, and, therefore, involved myself into practical research during my summer holidays.

In June 2008, FEIYUE Group ran into bankruptcy because of its lack in capital chain. In order to tighten monetary policy, the bank asked the company to pay off the loan in advance.

In addition, the company had to cover a large amount of private debt.

This revealed that private financing, as a profitable supplement to general financing method, is becoming more and more important to many middle and small enterprises, in particular, for its flexibility and variety in operation.

However, the private financing manifests certain amount of risk due to the luck of specific rule, essential intendance and its tendency to cause high interest of loan. In regarding of these difficulties, private financing requires a firm law and policy tie to guarantee its successful operation.

This is the main problem that most of private enterprises are currently facing due to the luck of capital. Such an investigation has added both depth and breadth to my knowledge of financial area.

I am deeply fascinated with the subject of my studies. I enjoy not only the clear logic and advanced mathematics inherent in the economic analyses but also its close link with social practice and interaction, engaged in nowadays financial industry.

The International Economics and Trade course raised in me a particular interest to macroeconomics, which, along with inspiring lectures on Financial Hot Issues, played an important role in my decision to continue my studies at Master level.

I was excited to learn about the excellent Master programme that your university offers. I believe that the course will give me a solid foundation of relevant theory and quantitative techniques develop my individual capacity, originality and key skills that are sought after by future employers.

Furthermore, it would provide a precious insight into western approach to economics, so valuable among Chinese employers.

Upon completion of my program, I wish to utilise my quantitative skills, enhance my problem-solving and decision-making skills in this field, and prepare myself for a career in finance-related job in China.

I would be grateful for your kind consideration of my application, and I look forward to hearing from you.

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This personal statement was written by Elizabeth4 for application in 2000.

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/images/cornell/logo35pt_cornell_white.svg" alt="personal statement for finance graduate"> Cornell University --> Graduate School

Personal statement, overview .

There are two types of statements included in the Graduate School’s online application, (1) the Academic Statement of Purpose and (2) the Personal Statement, both of which are required for all graduate degree programs. 

What Should the Personal Statement Include?

Your Personal Statement should provide the admissions committee with a sense of you as a whole person, and you should use it to describe how your personal background and experiences influenced your decision to pursue a graduate degree. Additionally, it should provide insights into your potential to contribute to Cornell University’s core value to provide a community of inclusion, belonging, and respect where scholars representing diverse backgrounds, perspectives, abilities, and experiences can learn and work productively and positively together. Within your Personal Statement, you may also share details on lessons learned from any of your lived experiences including but not limited to

• being a first-generation college student or graduate (no parent/guardian completed a baccalaureate degree)
• racial, ethnic, and/or cultural background(s)
• managing a disability or chronic health condition
• experiencing housing, food, economic, and/or other forms of significant insecurity
• being a solo parent
• gender identity and/or sexual orientation 
• having served in the military
• holding DACA, refugee, TPS, or asylee status

Your Personal Statement provides you with an opportunity to share experiences that provide insights on how your personal, academic, and/or professional experiences demonstrate your ability to be both persistent and resilient, especially when navigating challenging circumstances. It also gives you an opportunity to provide examples of how you engage with others and have facilitated and/or participated in productive collaborative endeavors. Additionally, it is a place, where if necessary, you can (and should) address any blemishes, gaps, or weaknesses in your academic record. In these situations, you will want to be honest, but brief. It is best to turn negatives into positives by focusing on how you overcame obstacles, remained persistent in the pursuit of your goals, and showed resilience. Share what you learned from the particular experience, and how it led you to become a better researcher/scholar/person, etc.

Content in the Personal Statement should complement rather than duplicate the content contained within the Academic Statement of Purpose, which should focus explicitly on your academic interests, previous research and/or relevant professional experience, and intended area of academic focus during your graduate studies.

Why should you consider Cornell?

Writing the Personal Statement

Helpful tips and advice for drafting a compelling personal statement when applying for graduate admission.

Make sure to check the appropriate program website to find out if your statement should include additional or specific information.

What does this statement need to accomplish?

The personal statement should give concrete evidence of your promise as a member of the academic community, giving the committee an image of you as a person.

This is also where you represent your potential to bring to your academic career a critical perspective rooted in a non-traditional educational background, or your understanding of the experiences of groups historically under-represented in higher education and your commitment to increase participation by a diverse population in higher education.

What kinds of content belongs here?

Anything that can give reviewers a sense of you as a person belongs here; you can repeat information about your experiences in your research statement, but any experiences that show your promise, initiative, and ability to persevere despite obstacles belongs here. This is also a good place to display your communication skills and discuss your ability to maximize effective collaboration with a diverse cross-section of the academic community. If you have faced any obstacles or barriers in your education, sharing those experiences serves both for the selection process, and for your nomination for fellowships. If one part of your academic record is not ideal, due to challenges you faced in that particular area, this is where you can explain that, and direct reviewers’ attention to the evidence of your promise for higher education.

The basic message: your academic achievement despite challenges

It is especially helpful for admissions committees considering nominating you for fellowships for diversity if you discuss any or all of the following:

• Demonstrated significant academic achievement by overcoming barriers such as economic, social, or educational disadvantage;
• attendance at a minority serving institution;
• ability to articulate the barriers facing women and minorities in science and engineering fields;
• participation in higher education pipeline programs such as, UC Leads, or McNair Scholars;
• Academic service advancing equitable access to higher education for women and racial minorities in fields where they are underrepresented;
• Leadership experience among students from groups that have been historically underrepresented in higher education;
• research that addresses issues such as race, gender, diversity, and inclusion;
• research that addresses health disparities, educational access and achievement, political engagement, economic justice, social mobility, civil and human rights, and other questions of interest to historically underrepresented groups;
• artistic expression and cultural production that reflects culturally diverse communities or voices not well represented in the arts and humanities.

How to Craft a Personal Statement

Some practical tips and perspective

August 5, 2019 | Erika A.

There’s one part of any application that can always make you freeze: the dreaded personal statement.

Writing about yourself is an exercise in embarrassment, anxiety, and existential doubt. Don’t worry; I’m here to help!

Let’s get one thing out of the way first. The point of a personal statement is to bring your application package alive. You’re not just a resume and a research statement; you’re a whole person, with thoughts and ideas and experiences that have led you to this moment. Remember: humans respond to stories and to people . Your personal statement offers a narrative the reader will use to remember you , the person, long after they forget your GPA and your undergrad major.

With that in mind, here are a few suggestions for components that work well in your personal statement.

1. The Hook . A great way to begin a personal statement is by briefly telling a story about a moment when you had some sort of poignant experience or a pivotal moment that led you down the path to graduate school/a postdoc/whatever you’re applying for. If you’re having trouble getting started, a great exercise is to think back and come up with some favorite memories. This process can involve a fair amount of soul-searching. Don’t sweat it if you can’t think of something right away!

Often, these events happen during time periods that are on your resume, like an undergraduate research project you did or a class you took. If so, telling this story can be an opportunity to briefly highlight that bullet point and give the reader something to hold on to when they read the resume.

When writing hooks, I get really hung up on the ‘truth’ of the hook. Remember that the goal is to give the reader something that has color and flavor and is easy to remember, not to write a comprehensive autobiography. There are many true stories. Pick one. A memorable, small one.

2. Interpret your experience . Again, a personal statement isn’t just your resume. Rather, it is an opportunity  to explain to the reader how the experiences you’ve had fit together and make you a candidate that has characteristics they’re looking for. 

• Have you traveled, or do you have substantial work experience? You have a thing grad school is looking for: perspective. Think back to the time before you had this experience, and articulate how it changed your view of how the world works.
• All graduate schools want students who are resilient and self-directed (because grad school = suffering, but that’s a different blog post!). If you did a research project or an internship, you can highlight ways in which it didn’t go according to plan, and then say, for example, “these hurdles taught me to think on my feet, understand challenges, and implement a plan”
• If you have previous research experience, talk about why it was hard. Your reader has experienced research being hard in every way you can imagine! Commiserate them, and they will see you as one of their own.

These are just a few examples. The goal is to interpret how your experiences have made you the person you are today. Emphasize the characteristics your reader is most likely to care about.

If you’re having trouble filling in the body of your personal statement, I’d recommend describing your relevant experiences in chronological order and then going back through and explaining why they were important to you and how you’re different today because of them. Your personal statement is all about the narrative explaining how your experiences relate to one another and make sense together.

3. Go ahead and fantasize . Most people end their personal statement with the classic, “I am applying to the ___department at MIT because it is home to the ___ lab that already are doing work on ___ and ___, which I find to be especially aligned with my interests.” It’s a good idea to customize your personal statement to each graduate school you apply to, being VERY careful to submit the right one to each school! It can be overwhelming to try to digest the research agenda of an entire department or lab when you don’t have boots on the ground. But the reality is that writing this section is the most fun part: you get the opportunity to imagine what it would be like to work in any lab you want! Engage with the research in these different places and connect themes to the ones you’ve already talked about in your statement.

Now go ahead. Write it up!  Find the right spot for the authentic you in the right lab at the right school (hopefully MIT!) and create your own awesome graduate school experience.

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PhD personal statement and resume

You should prepare your personal statement in advance to be uploaded into the online application via the application tab titled “Supplemental.” In review of your personal statement, the admissions committee will seek evidence of your maturity, leadership, strength of purpose, academic potential and ability to communicate clearly and professionally. Please be concise, yet thorough.

The statement should be no more than two to four pages long. Ensure the document file is not password protected and is in .doc, .pdf or .txt format. Please note that special fonts and/or formats (italics, bold, etc.) may be lost during submission. Be sure to carefully proofread your statement prior to submission.

Distinguish yourself

Submission of the personal statement allows you an opportunity to highlight the qualities and experiences that distinguish you as a prospective W. P. Carey doctoral student. Applicants are requested to provide information pertaining to the following areas as part of their statement:

• Your name as it will appear on the ASU Graduate College application
• The ASU Application Reference Number assigned to you upon submission of your online application and/or your 10-digit ASU Identification Number
• Your personal background, including formative events and circumstances such as extracurricular activities, honors, achievements and community activities
• Work experience, including credentials you have from your hands-on and professional experiences
• Descriptions of the research projects you have conducted and your personal research interests
• Other personal attributes and qualities
• Qualifications and reasons for interest in the W. P. Carey PhD in business administration with a specialization in finance
• How obtaining a PhD will help you achieve your personal career goals and objectives

Employment summary/resume

You should prepare your resume information in advance to be uploaded into the online application via the application tab titled “Additional Info.” Ensure the document file is not password protected and is in .doc, pdf or .txt format. Please note that special fonts and/or formats (italics, bold, etc.) may be lost during submission. Be sure to carefully proofread your statement prior to submission.

Resumes should include:

• Job titles and positions held, key responsibilities and accomplishments for each position, and salary history (optional)
• Honors, awards, certificates, professional organizations, volunteer activities and community involvement
• Computer skills, multilingual abilities and overseas travel or work experience
• Academic background, including schools attended and degrees earned

Answers to additional questions

You should be prepared with responses that describe what qualifies you to meet the W. P. Carey School of Business expectation that all new students have proficiency in using a computer spreadsheet, programming and college-level business calculus / statistics. Responses of 255 characters or less are required regarding two categories, (1) Computer Competency and (2) Calculus / Statistical Competency, and should include class number, course titles, grades, institution name, etc.

Writing Your Personal Statements

Your personal statement must demonstrate to the admissions committee that you have considered graduate school and their specific program seriously. It’s your opportunity to summarize your academic and research experiences. You must also communicate how your experiences are relevant to preparing you for the graduate degree that you will be pursuing and explain why a given program is the right one for you.

The personal statement is where you highlight your strengths. Make your strengths absolutely clear to the reviewers, because they will often be reading many other statements. Your self-assessments and honest conversations with peers and advisors should have also revealed your strengths. But you must also address (not blame others for) weaknesses or unusual aspects of your application or academic background.

Your personal statement should focus on two main aspects: your competence and commitment.

1. Identify your strengths in terms of competence that indicate that you will succeed in the grad program and provide examples to support your claims. Start your statement by describing your strengths immediately. Because faculty will be reading many statements, it’s important to start off with your strengths and not “bury your lede.” Consider traits of successful graduate students from your informational interviews, and identify which of these traits you have. These traits could involve research skills and experiences, expertise in working with techniques or instruments, familiarity with professional networks and resources in your field, etc.

• Check your responses from the exercises in the self-assessment section. You may wish to consult notes from your informational interviews and your Seven Stories . Write concise summaries and stories that demonstrate your strengths, e.g. how your strengths helped you to achieve certain goals or overcome obstacles.
• Summarize your research experience(s). What were the main project goals and the “big picture” questions? What was your role in this project? What did you accomplish? What did you learn, and how did you grow as a result of the experience(s)?

My research examines the interplay between U.S. domestic politics and foreign policy during the Cold War. As a native New Yorker, I saw firsthand how dramatically my city changed after 9/11, which prompted my early interest in U.S. policy at home and abroad. As an undergraduate at the City College of New York, I planned to study international relations with a focus on U.S. foreign affairs. I also quickly became involved in student activist groups that focused on raising awareness about a wide range of human rights issues, from the Syrian refugee crisis to asylum seekers from Central America.

The more I learned about the crises in the present, the more I realized that I needed a deeper understanding of the past to fully grasp them. I decided to pursue a PhD in history in order to gain a clearer understanding of human rights issues in the present and to empower young student-activists like myself.

— Vannessa Velez, PhD candidate in History

Addressing weaknesses or unusual aspects

• Identify weaknesses or unusual aspects in your application—e.g., a significant drop in your GPA during a term; weak GRE scores; changes in your academic trajectory, etc. Don’t ignore them, because ignoring them might be interpreted as blind spots for you. If you’re unsure if a particular issue is significant enough to address, seek advice from faculty mentors.
• Explain how you’ll improve and strengthen those areas or work around your weakness. Determine how you will address them in a positive light, e.g., by discussing how you overcame obstacles through persistence, what you learned from challenges, and how you grew from failures. Focusing on a growth mindset  or grit  and this blog on weaknesses might also help.
• Deal with any significant unusual aspects later in the statement to allow a positive impression to develop first.
• Explain, rather than provide excuses—i.e., address the issue directly and don’t blame others (even if you believe someone else is responsible). Draft it and get feedback from others to see if the explanation is working as you want it to.
• Provide supporting empirical evidence if possible. For example, “Adjusting to college was a major step for me, coming from a small high school and as a first-generation college student. My freshman GPA was not up to par with my typical achievements, as demonstrated by my improved  GPA of 3.8 during my second and third years in college."
• Be concise (don’t dwell on the issues), but also be complete (don’t lead to other potentially unanswered questions). For example, if a drop in grades during a term was due to a health issue, explain whether the health issue is recurring, managed now with medication, resolved, etc.

2. Explain your commitment to research and their graduate program, including your motivation for why you are applying to this graduate program at this university. Be as specific as possible. Identify several faculty members with whom you are interested in working, and explain why their research interests you.

• Descriptions of your commitment should explain why you’re passionate about this particular academic field and provide demonstrations of your commitment with stories (e.g., working long hours to solve a problem, overcoming challenges in research, resilience in pursuing problems). Don’t merely assert your commitment.
• Explain why you are applying to graduate school, as opposed to seeking a professional degree or a job. Discuss your interest and motivation for grad school, along with your future career aspirations.

I am definitely not your traditional graduate student. As a biracial (Native American and white), first-generation PhD student from a military family, I had very limited guidance on how best to pursue my education, especially when I decided that graduate school was a good idea. I ended up coming to this PhD in a very circuitous manner, stopping first to get a JD and, later, an MFA in Young Adult Literature. With each degree, I took time to work and apply what I’d learned, as a lawyer and as an educator. Each time, I realized that I was circling around questions that I couldn’t let go of—not just because I found them to be fascinating, but because I did (and still do!) feel that my research could help to bridge a gap that desperately needs bridging. Because my work is quite interdisciplinary, I strongly feel that I wouldn’t have been able to pursue this line of research without the degrees and life experience I gained before coming to this program.

— Jamie Fine, PhD candidate in Modern Thought and Literature

Statement of Purpose: subtle aspects

• Think in terms of engaging faculty in a conversation rather than pleading with them that you should be admitted. Ask reviewers to read drafts with this concern in mind.
• With later drafts, try developing an overall narrative theme. See if one emerges as you work.
• Write at least 10 drafts and expect your thinking and the essay to change quite a bit over time.
• Read drafts out loud to help you catch errors.
• Expect the "you' that emerges in your essay to be incomplete. . . that’s OK.
• You’re sharing a professional/scholarly slice of "you."
• Avoid humor (do you really know what senior academics find funny?) and flashy openings and closings. Think of pitching the essay to an educated person in the field, but not necessarily in your specialty. Avoid emotionally laden words (such as "love" or "passion"). Remember, your audience is a group of professors! Overly emotional appeals might make them uncomfortable. They are looking for scholarly colleagues.

© Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305

Finance Personal Statement Examples

See our free Finance Personal Statement examples for students applying to study a bachelor’s or postgraduate degree in Finance at the university level.

Finance Personal Statement Example 1

My parents (accounting graduates) say that I always had a unique smile when I touched and counted money as a child, ever since I was young. The business world was introduced to me quite early, whereas my father saw the heights of the international market as a chartered accountant.

By the time I was thirteen, I could discuss assets and liabilities with my older peers, particularly with my father.

Thanks to my older friend, I discovered a book titled ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ by Mr Kiyosaki, which gave my early experiences some structure and meaning. During that period, I was allowed to join a new school initiative on financial literacy.

The optional subject on Internationalisation that I studied during my undergraduate days taught me about the interdependence of developing countries, wealth and poverty, and financial inclusion in developing economies.

I found it appealing, just as Monopoly had before. As I studied Kiyosaki’s financial world, I realised that it was connected to the injustice occurring to the poor. Money, after all, holds the world’s economy together. 

After conducting an extensive study of access to finance in the petroleum industries in Africa in my undergraduate dissertation, I have gained some understanding of how our society depends on commodity exchange and its effects in the developing world. At the same time, I found myself enjoying the financial markets surrounding it.

I got an idea of what my dad did when he was an accountant during my internship at his office as an undergraduate student. I learned business skills that I then used to manage my mum’s school cafeteria’s finances. My contribution was to develop a new, simple Excel system that made the accounting process more transparent and comprehensible.

In addition to studying, I enjoy engaging in physical activity as well. In my early childhood, I played football and enjoyed how our team worked together.

Upon joining the initiative on financial literacy, I created an online football manager gaming community, and we’ve been getting together virtually for over three years since we graduated. Working together with other ex-classmates has taught me to learn to work with others and to plan resources accordingly.

My friends don’t remember ever seeing me in a bad mood, and I believe participating in sports makes me uncommonly happy. England is my choice for my future because I wish to study Finance in the English language and want to experience a multicultural environment. Having the opportunity to gain real-life experience and a wealth of practical education in finance at university simply cannot be refused, which is why I am so drawn to it.

I am looking for an excellent educational experience and want to establish myself in a well-located job after finishing graduate school. With a better understanding of what I could accomplish to better our global financial environment, I want to return home after my studies to apply my knowledge.

Since finance is my academic home and we live in a financial world, I want to be able to understand and contribute to its enhancement.

Please consider my Finance personal statement to study for a degree at your university.

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