Personal Statements vs. Statements of Purpose

PERSONAL STATEMENTS

VS.

STATEMENTS OF PURPOSE

FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICATIONS

Hanson Center for Technical Communication

What’s the difference?

Statement of Purpose

Basic question: Why is this program a good fit for you?

Personal Statement

Basic question: Who are you?

BOTH:

“Don't be tempted to use the same statement for all applications…. In every case, be sure your

answer fits the question being asked.” (Doran and Brizee, 2012)

Statement of Purpose:

 Focus on your plans and how you will achieve your goals in graduate school.

 Maintain continuity among your ideas.

 Select your details carefully and do not include irrelevant personal information.

 Indicate your ability to work with a diverse group of peers or colleagues.

 Include any experiences that illustrate that you could teach a course, design a syllabus, or lead a

discussion.

 Demonstrate your qualities and skills by using specific, concrete examples.

Less personal, more business.

Statement of Purpose

Organizing your statement:

1. Introduce yourself, interests, and motivations.

• Where desire for graduate studies began

• Personal, but not too detailed

2. Summarize your undergraduate work.

• Research conducted

• Paper or projects completed

• Work experience

3. Discuss your recent activities.

• Post-undergraduate work

• Volunteer work or hobbies

• Relevance to future graduate studies

4. Elaborate on your academic interests.

• Detailed description of desired field of study

• Professors with whom you would like to work

• Readiness to embark on graduate school challenges

Adapted from: Graduate Division, University of California-Berkeley. Writing the Statement of

Purpose. (2018). Retrieved from http://grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/apply/statement-purpose/.

Statement of Purpose

five Questions to answer:

1. What do you want to study?

2. Why do you want to study it?

3. What experience do you have in this field?

4. What do you plan to do with your degree?

5. Why is this program a good fit?

First and foremost: always answer the questions asked in the prompt.

Source: Princeton Review. How to Write a Statement of Purpose for Grad School. (2018). Retrieved from

https://www.princetonreview.com/grad-school-advice/statement-of-purpose.

Statement of Purpose

Personal Statement:

 Impart a sense of yourself in a way that compels the reader (your admissions committee) to see

you as a valuable future member of their department.

 Indicate what experiences in your life have shaped your personality and your ambition.

 Illustrate obstacles or difficulties through which you have been able to persevere and thrive.

 Explain any less-than-ideal circumstances that may have affected your academic record.

 Give the committee the most compelling possible reasons for admitting you.

Less business, more personal.

Personal Statement

How to approach it:

 Answer all questions asked.

 Take into account that the committee is reading many applications.

 Grab the attention of your reader.

 Create a narrative, and have an angle.

 Research the program to which you are applying.

 Find ways to incorporate the program’s strengths in the field. Otherwise, why would they

specifically accept you?

 Avoid clichés, generalities, and controversial topics.

 Give evidence for your statements about yourself. Show what you know.

Personal Statement

Questions to consider:

1. What’s unique about you?

2. Who or what has influenced you?

3. What experiences have shaped you?

4. When and how did you become interested in this field?

5. How have you overcome adversity?

6. What are your life goals?

7. Why did you choose this career path?

Personal Statement

Sample statement:

My interest in science dates back to my years in high school, where I excelled in physics, chemistry, and math. When I was a senior, I

took a first-year calculus course at a local college (such an advanced-level class was not available in high school) and earned an A. It

seemed only logical that I pursue a career in electrical engineering.

When I began my undergraduate career, I had the opportunity to be exposed to the full range of engineering courses, all of which

tended to reinforce and solidify my intense interest in engineering. I've also had the opportunity to study a number of subjects in the

humanities and they have been both enjoyable and enlightening, providing me with a new and different perspective on the world in

which we live.

In the realm of engineering, I have developed a special interest in the field of laser technology and have even been taking a graduate

course in quantum electronics. Among the 25 or so students in the course, I am the sole undergraduate. Another particular interest of

mine is electromagnetics, and last summer, when I was a technical assistant at a world-famous local lab, I learned about its many

practical applications, especially in relation to microstrip and antenna design. Management at this lab was sufficiently impressed with

my work to ask that I return when I graduate. Of course, my plans following completion of my current studies are to move directly

into graduate work toward my master's in science. After I earn my master's degree, I intend to start work on my Ph.D. in electrical

engineering. Later I would like to work in the area of research and development for private industry. It is in R & D that I believe I can

make the greatest contribution, utilizing my theoretical background and creativity as a scientist.

I am highly aware of the superb reputation of your school, and my conversations with several of your alumni have served to deepen

my interest in attending. I know that, in addition to your excellent faculty, your computer facilities are among the best in the state. I

hope you will give me the privilege of continuing my studies at your fine institution.

(Stelzer pp. 38-39)

Source: Doran, Jo and Allen Brizee. (2012). “Writing the Personal Statement.” Purdue OWL. Retrieved from https://owl.English.purdue.edu/owl/resource/642/02/.

Personal Statement

Advice for both statements:

Michael D. Rappaport

Assistant Dean of

Admissions

UCLA School of Law

“The applicant has to

realize, first of all, where he

or she stands. If you have a

straight-A grade point

average and a perfect LSAT

score, you don't have to

spend a lot of time worrying

about your personal

statement. On the other

hand, if you know you're in

the borderline area, that's

where the personal

statement becomes very,

very important.”

Lee Cunningham

Director of Admissions and Aid

The University of Chicago

Graduate School of Business

“The mistake people make most often

is not to look at what the questions are

asking. Some people prepare generic

statements because they're applying to

more than one school and it's a lot of

work to do a personal essay for each

school. On the other hand, generic

statements detract from the applicant

when we realize that we're one of six

schools and the applicant is saying the

same thing to each and every

school…. They underestimate the

kind of attentions that is paid to these

essays.”

Steven DeKrey

Director of Admissions and Financial Aid

J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management (Northwestern

University)

“We're looking for a well-written, detailed essay that responds directly to the

question. The questions are about extracurricular activities, motivation,

challenges, commitment to the school that kind of thing…. The way the

applicant devises the answer, determines the length, develops the response, is

all part of the answer.”

John Herweg

Chairman, Committee on

Admissions

Washington University

School of Medicine

“We are looking for a clear

statement that indicates that

the applicant can use the

English language in a

meaningful and effective

fashion. We frankly look at

spelling as well as typing (for

errors both in grammar and

composition).…

What they have done in

working with individuals—

whether it's serving as a

checker or bagger at a grocery

store or working with

handicapped individuals or

tutoring inner city kids—that

shows they can relate to

people and have they done it

in an effective fashion? What

the applicant should do in all

respects is to depict why he or

she is a unique individual and

should be sought after.”

Dr. Daniel R. Alonso

Associate Dean for Admissions

Cornell University Medical College

“We look for some originality because nine out of ten essays leave you with a big yawn. "I like

science, I like to help people and that's why I want to be a doctor." The common,

uninteresting, and unoriginal statement is one that recounts the applicant's academic pursuits

and basically repeats what is elsewhere in the application….

I would simply say: Do it yourself, be careful, edit it, go through as many drafts as necessary.

And more important than anything: be yourself.”

Beth O'Neil

Director of Admissions and Financial Aid

University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall)

“Applicants make a mistake by doing a lot of speculation about what they're going to do in the

future rather than telling us about what they've done in the past. It is our job to speculate, and

we are experienced at that.

Applicants also tend to state and not evaluate. They give a recitation of their experience but no

evaluation of what effect that particular experience had on them, no assessment of what certain

experiences or honors meant.

They also fail to explain errors or weaknesses in their background. Even though we might wish

to admit a student, sometimes we can't in view of a weakness that they haven't made any effort

to explain…. I mean, we understand that life is tough sometimes. We need to know what

happened, for example, to cause a sudden drop in the GPA.

Another mistake is that everyone tries to make himself or herself the perfect law school

applicant who, of course, does not exist and is not nearly as interesting as a real human being.”

References

 Doran, Jo and Allen Brizee. (2012). “Writing the Personal Statement.” Purdue OWL. Retrieved from

https://owl.English.purdue.edu/owl/resource/642/01/.

 Graduate Division, University of California-Berkeley. Writing the Statement of Purpose. (2018). Retrieved

from http://grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/apply/statement-purpose/.

 Princeton Review. How to Write a Statement of Purpose for Grad School. (2018). Retrieved from

https://www.princetonreview.com/grad-school-advice/statement-of-purpose.