Chasing Arrows by Writing a Personal Statement

A successful one-shot deal into your college or university – this is the student ideal. Like an arrow hitting that red bull’s eye, students want it shot effective at one arm’s strength of pulling, bending, and aiming. But alas! – This couldn’t be the case.

Firstly, there are too many targets and too many arching students. And the best deal amongst these is the fact that your target schools are not willing to receive all arrows. In effect, these institutions want the sharpest arrows. Good thing, it’s not all about arrows; it’s about personal statement writing too.

With this statement writing, students have the opportunity to be thoroughly inspected. Moreover, it offers them the challenge to write their profound academic experience and their budding potentials under the constraints of a word count. 

Writing a personal statement that introduces oneself is simple in principle.

• You try to make your first impression good because first impression lasts.
• You try to make your hello a not-so awkward greeting (like it’s your ‘natural’ way).
• You try to be sensitive of the other person so as not to sound too self-contained or self-centred.
• You initiate identifying mutual connections (like, ‘your friend happens to be my cousin’).

These basics can also do tricks in your writing a personal statement. Starting with impression, students are recommended to choose an image to project, such as a geek who likes sports, or an organisation leader whose passion is tied to both academic pursuits and the latest fashion.

In writing a personal statement, students are always encouraged to write it ‘natural’ – with their own vocabulary and context in tow. Sensitivity to institution’s preferences will also lead students a long way as this can be a good avenue for hunting out their credential and matching it with those preferences.

Why Composing a Personal Statement Matters

Writing a personal statement may not mean a lot to a person in the United Kingdom who is currently attending a university or a college. Composing a personal statement, however, is of utmost importance to a person seeking to study a chosen course at a higher university institution in the UK. Why? It is because composing a personal statement is a very big step towards getting admitted into a chosen university or college.

How important is personal statement? According to the Universities and Colleges Admission Service, a personal statement is an applicant’s great opportunity to tell his chosen higher education school that is he very fit and qualified to be offered with the course that he is applying. By writing a personal statement, an applicant could raise his chances of being offered a slot to his chosen course. But, what could be considered a persuasive personal statement?

A persuasive personal statement is one that shows the applicant’s commitment and enthusiasm to study the course he has chosen. A persuasive personal statement is also one that shows that the applicant stands out from the rest of the aspirants. There are literally hundreds of thousands of applicants who are aiming to become a student in their chosen universities and colleges in the country. In fact, nearly 620,000 persons submitted their applications to UCAS. Sadly though, not all of them would get admitted to their chosen university or college. A determined applicant, however, could become one of those who would be admitted if he would strive to write a persuasive personal statement, He may even seek personal statement help if really needed.

Writing a personal statement is a challenge itself. However, a person determined to become a higher education student in the next academic year should strive to overcome these personal statement challenges.

What a Personal Statement Entails

Writing a personal statement looks so easy to accomplish. But then, one may wonder why many aspiring university and college students experience difficulty in writing a personal statement that would persuade their chosen higher education institutions to offer them the courses they want to study. The problem may lie in the fact that many students do not know what a personal statement entails.

The quest for writing a personal statement that is persuasive enough for universities and colleges usually begin when an applicant has started choosing his course and selecting the higher education institution where he wants to study. Before writing his personal statement, an applicant should first know what his chosen university or college is looking for a prospective student. If he thinks he fits with the university criteria, he could start attending higher education conventions or visiting a university at its open day in order to gain information on the important things to include in his personal statement. Universities and colleges typically want to know whether an applicant is suitable to study the course he is applying for. Thus, the applicant, for starters, should outline his skills and achievements to prove his suitability.

Most universities and colleges view personal statements as a valuable tool in selecting their future students. There is nothing more important for them but to read a personal statement that demonstrates the writer’s commitment and enthusiasm as well as suitability for the course. Thus, for the applicant, there should be nothing more important than writing a personal statement that demonstrates these traits.

Perhaps an example of personal statement  that has already convinced a university would do the trick as the applicant’s guide. If the applicant could use the example well, then he could write a personal statement that is persuasive enough for universities and colleges.

Credible Guides for Personal Statement Writing

Writing your personal statement could be hard if you do not know what to do and what to write. You could be thinking that it would be best if you have someone or something that could guide you throughout the personal statement writing process. That could be a person who has ample knowledge about writing convincing application essay or a personal statement sample.

There are many people having ample knowledge on writing convincing personal statement. These people include your secondary school teachers, college professors, and applicants who have successfully passed the admission process. You could seek tips and advices from them on how to write a personal statement that could convince your chosen university’s admission tutors to offer you the course you are applying for.

On the other hand, you could get a personal statement sample from a number of sources. They include successful applicants, libraries and even custom essay writing services. It is advisable that you obtained personal statement examples only from credible and reliable sources, since the quality of the piece could well affect the effectiveness of your composition to convince admission tutors. There are custom essay writing services that offer free examples of personal statements that are of first class quality.

The guides, whether individuals or personal statement examples, should be able to help you answer two most basic questions that admission tutors usually look out for:

1) Why are you applying for the course?

2) Why are you suitable to study the course?

A credible person having knowledge of the admission process and a reliable personal statement sample should be able to answer the questions above. By listening well to advices of more knowledgeable people and analyzing carefully the personal statement examples, you will be able to write a convincing personal statement in a short time.

Related Article: Using Example Statements for University Personal Statement Writing

What to Include in Your Personal Statement

The application process for university and college admission in the United Kingdom includes writing a personal statement. According to Universities and College Admission Service, or UCAS, the personal statement is the best chance for someone applying to become a college student to prove that he is suitable to become one. To do this, an applicant must write personal statement details that would persuade the admission tutors of his chosen university or college to offer him a slot on his preferred course.

What are the personal statement details that an applicant should include? Universities and colleges offer limited slots especially for course that are highly specialized and of high demand. That means that an applicant must write personal statement details that would have him stand out from the rest of the applicants. These details are those that could support the applicant’s answer to two very important questions.

1.     Why is the applicant applying for course he has chosen?
2.     Why is the applicant suitable for the course he has chosen?

The first question deals with the reasons why the course interests the applicant. According to UCAS, the applicant must include evidence that shows that he understands what it takes to study the course. The second question, meanwhile, deals with the reasons why the applicant is fit and qualified to study the course. UCAS says the applicant must list the skills and experiences he has that he believes will propel him to succeed on the course.

The applicant must always remember that admission tutors often base their interviews on his submitted personal statement. Thus, the applicant must only write personal statement details that are of fact and can be verified. Exaggerating the contents of the personal statement with an aim to impress the university’s admission tutors would just render the opposite results.


Related Topic:   Tips and Pointers in Personal Statement Writing for University Admissions

Simple yet Proven Tips in Writing a Personal Statement

Writing a personal statement may seem difficult for some university and college applicants. There are many reasons why the personal statement writing is not easy for them. One prevalent reason is that they do not have the knowledge and the skill to write their own personal statements. Knowing how to write a personal statement is very important; since the chances of an applicant gaining admission to his chosen university or college depends on the quality and the persuasiveness of his personal statement. Here are some proven tips on how you could write a quality and persuasive personal statement.


Writing a personal statement involves provides all the details about yourself that you deem necessary to convince the admission tutors of your choose university or college to offer you the course. There are two important things that you should always keep in mind when writing a personal statement. First is to state the reasons why you are applying for the course you have chosen. You should exhibit wide yet clear knowledge about the course you have chosen as well as about the university you are applying into. Second is to state the reasons why you are suitable to study the course you have chosen. This entails convincing the admission tutors that you are well qualified to study in their school. You should state your skills and experiences that you think necessary to succeed on the course. You could also state your interest and hobbies, as long these details show how you exhibited or are exhibited the skills necessary for the course.


Before writing a personal statement, you could grab a personal statement sample which you can use as guide on how to write the details discussed above. The samples will help you determine the best way to persuade your university of choice.

A Quick Look into Writing a Personal Statement

To study one’s preferred course on your chosen university in the United Kingdom would be the best thing that could happen to a college applicant. Most of the time, the best things do not happen, especially if the circumstances do not permit. For an instance, an applicant may have low or average pre-college grades, which may just be barely enough to merit admission to his chosen university or college. However, the student could still convince the higher education school of his choice to admit him by writing a personal statement.

A person who wants to be admitted to his higher education school of choice must submit his application to the Universities and Colleges Admission Service or UCAS. The application must include the applicant’s personal statement. It is advisable that an applicant should write personal statement outline first before composing the actual piece. This would ensure that the applicant knows what to write and how to write them.

The applicant could split his personal statement outline into four parts. In the first part, the applicant should write an interesting introduction that would catch the admission tutors attention. In the second part, the applicant should write personal statement reasons why he is applying for the course or university he has chosen. In the third part, the applicant should write personal statement reasons why he is qualified to be offered to study the course he has chosen. The applicant should support the reasons his skills and experiences related to the course. In the last part, the applicant should write a conclusion that should show that he stands out from other applicants.

The personal statement is the last and only chance that an applicant has to convince his chosen university to admit him. Thus, the applicant must write a convincing and quality personal statement.


Related Topic:   Help in Writing a Personal Statement

Writing Personal Statements for Typical College Applicants

Many students in the United Kingdom have the goal of entering their chosen university and studying their preferred course. This goal is easy to reach especially if a student has acquired high academic grades during his pre-college schooling years. However, the goal could be a hard to reach if a student just had the average grades during his pre-higher education days.

Thankfully, the Universities and Colleges Admission Service has required students to submit personal statements when applying for a higher education course. According to UCAS, the personal statement is the applicant’s opportunity to tell universities and colleges about his suitability for the course he has chosen. This means universities and colleges do not depend on grades alone when selecting their potential student; but they also look into the applicant’s enthusiasm and commitment for the course.

Writing a personal statement could be hard for some applicants as this may be the first time they will write about themselves. This may also be the first that they write this kind of paper. Applicants may have written a number of academic papers in their pre-college years, including essays and term papers. But the personal statement is different. When students write personal statement, they talk about themselves, unlike when they compose essays and term papers, where they discuss topics other than themselves.

The best way to lean to how write a personal statement is to get examples. There are a number of sources where one can get examples of personal statements. Samples could be obtained from then applicants and now students of the course and university the applicant is applying into. Examples of personal statements could also be obtained from reliable and credible custom writing services. One can also obtain personal statement examples from libraries that keep copies of these documents. The Internet is also a source of personal statement examples, although the applicant should be cautious when obtaining samples online.

The best way to teach is to teach by example. By studying and analyzing examples of personal statements, an applicant would gain a basic idea on how to write his. The examples will basically teach the applicant how to explain the reasons why he is applying for the chosen course. The examples will also teach the applicant how to convince the university’s admission tutors that he is really suitable to study the chosen course.  The examples serve as guide in writing personal statements.


Related Article:   Tips in Writing a Personal Statement Successfully: Priming Yourself as the "Perfect Candidate"

Things to Consider When Writing a Personal Statement

If you are applying for a course in a college or university in the United Kingdom, you have to channel your application to the Universities and Colleges Admission Service. Along with the application, you are required to submit a personal statement. A personal statement gives you an opportunity to convince a chosen university to offer you the course you wanted to study. By writing a personal statement that greatly reflects your desire to study, you could increase your chances of admission. There are some things you should consider when you are writing your personal statement.

• Select the course/s or subject/s you want to study and the university you want to attend. After deciding what subject to study, you have to check what universities or colleges offer the course. You may want to apply to more than one university.
• You are advised to check universities and college websites or the UCAS’s Course Search system to ensure that you have the qualities they are looking for.
• You could attend UCAS’s higher education convention or university open day to inquire on what admissions tutors want to see on a personal statement. It is advisable to write personal statement tips that the tutors may give.
• You could write personal statement drafts that follow UCAS’s advices on what to include. Examples could help you write personal statement drafts that explain. why you want to study the course and why you are suitable to be offered a slot.
• Have your personal statement draft reviewed and checked by experts like professors and teachers and let them criticize your work.
• Make the necessary changes for your final personal statement. Make you that the length of your personal statement is no more than 4,000 characters or 47 lines of text, including blank lines.

Related Topic: Things to Avoid when Writing a Personal Statement

Try Solitude for Your Personal Statement Writing

Solitude is a state of isolation or seclusion. You can try it for your personal statement writing. The purpose for using this is to gain wider and deeper insight about yourself. The insights can help you know what really is it you want to do in your life and to explore ways on how to write your personal statement.

In using solitude in your personal statement writing process, you can think clearly and objectively. When you are alone for a certain period of time, you will not be affected by outside factors. These factors can disturb your thinking or influence you and your thoughts in the wrong manner. Being alone, you can meditate on what is it you will truly aim in your life.

To be able to use solitude in your personal statement writing, you should keep yourself away from any body. If you are living with other persons, inform your housemates that you will be interacting with them in the minimum to be able to think and write better. Tell them that this is serious and you need their consideration. This way, you can avoid them inadvertently making fun. Otherwise, if they do so, it will be a bad start for the process.

Thus, you can start by keeping your room closed if you are there. You need to be alone wherever you will go. This includes your room which is very important. It is in this place that you are at your barest self. This means, what you value in life you can discern in your room.

If your writing process schedule permits, try being in solitude for two full weeks. After gaining enough insight, you can now look for the appropriate writing samples to fit what you have deliberated upon. You can also apply this to help you on how to write assignments, only the difference is the very short time period.


Related Topic: A Deeper Essence of Personal Statement Writing

My Lessons on Writing a Personal Statement For University Admissions

As a secondary school teacher for year 12 and 13 students, I would usually make an extra effort in teaching and helping these students to learn because those are the year levels when they prepare for either entering the labour market and looking for jobs, or they would prepare in submitting their applications for universities or colleges if they want to pursue higher education. I always tell my students that the last two years of secondary education would be the initial process of preparing them in applying for admissions to the higher education institution of their choice. I would tell my students that writing a personal statement or statement of purpose that is well written is a major factor considered by the admission committee of a university or college in approving the application of a prospective student.


So for the past four years, I have been regularly conducting some lessons for writing a personal statementthat is correct and proper for the year 13 students that I teach as a way of helping them in the various procedures they would undergo in submitting their applications for admissions to higher education institutions. In my lesson on personal statement writing, I would discuss on the proper and relevant information that should be included in the statement such as the reasons for choosing a particular course and the school where it is offered, and if there are any personal experiences that influenced the individual in choosing the course.


To make my lessons on writing a personal statement more interesting and engaging for my students, I have conducted some of my lessons in personal statement writing with the use of the Powerpoint presentations that are available in the school's computers. I have learned that when I converted my lesson on how to write a personal statement into a Powerpoint presentation program that made extensive use of images, graphics, animation and other visuals, the students would listen more carefully to my lesson and they are more interested on my discussions. Furthermore, my lessons on personal statement writing is no longer boring and my students are more engaged and involved in asking questions or any clarifications about my lesson.

Using a Personal Statement Example Correctly

It is a common part of the requirements for entrance into universities and colleges for the applicant to write a personal statement. A personal statement is an essay talking about the applicant's life experiences, interests and achievements on a personal level. It provides the reader, who is usually a university admissions officer, an idea of the applicant as a person more than any scholastic record or statistic can illustrate. Since many students find it difficult to write an effective and interesting personal statement, it would serve them well if they follow a personal statement example.  A personal statement example has the following advantages for an applicant:

• It can be used as a guide in terms of structure, selection of content, organisation of ideas, and format. While there is no universal format or structure that will apply to all personal statements, a good personal statement example that has been previously approved by the student's preferred university will more or less give the student an idea of what the university likes or what is appropriate to his or her preferred degree programme.
  
• A good personal statement example has no mistakes, be it grammatical or spelling. A student can emulate how the student who wrote the personal statement example was able to make his or her personal statement error-free.
  
• One of the most difficult challenges for any writer is being stopped by writer's block from producing appropriate and well-organised material. Seeing that someone was already able to accomplish writing a good personal statement example will inspire the student to finish writing his or her own.
  

A personal statement has a deep impact into the student's chances of gaining entrance into his or her preferred degree programme and university. This is especially the case for degree programmes from popular and renowned universities, where the applicants are all academic achievers with almost similar backgrounds. A good personal statement serves as the determiner of the student applicant's writing skills and personality, which are important factors being considered by higher learning institutions to predict if an applicant is likely to make it through university without dropping out or shifting to another degree. Once student is already in college, he or she can expect to receive lengthier and subject-specific assignments such as religion essay, physics essays, philosophy essays and other kinds of coursework.