A well-written personal statement increases chances for admission to grad school.
Even the most grounded psychology student can get unnerved at the prospect of having to write a personal statement required to accompany a graduate school admission application. A lot rides on this document. You're your own advocate, so readers will rely upon you to articulate the highlights of your ambitions and character. Sure, your mother can vouch for you, but your job is to endear yourself to academicians, so they feel as positively about your chances for a successful career as she does.
Instructions
1. Request admissions packets from one or more graduate schools early, allowing plenty of time to evaluate criteria each school mandates for authoring a personal statement. Note the application's deadline. Make certain you understand where to send the material when it's ready: the university, the graduate psychology school or, in some cases, various materials must go to several recipients.
2. Make a list of people who know you well enough to vouch for your academic performance, character, ambitions and goals: teachers, clergy, bosses, volunteer personnel, coaches, friends and family able to attest to your ability to do well in a psychology-based graduate program. Contact these people for letters of recommendation. Use their responses to help make your written case for admission.
3. Create a three-section template for your personal statement: an introduction; background information and data, arranged chronologically, to showcase academic achievements, goals and ethics; and a statement of aspiration that explains why you deserve to be admitted to the school's graduate program in psychology.
4. Offer administrators and professors logical explanations for inconsistencies in your academic or personal record, lapses in school attendance; low grades; withdrawal from extra-curricular activities, committees or a school office; or other situations that could call into question your application for admission to the psychology program.
5. Call the psychology program's graduate office if you have formatting questions before you start writing. Put all of your thoughts on paper, even if the text is long. Complete the first draft. Edit to eliminate unnecessary words, run-on sentences, clichés and badly turned phrases. Meet word counts if stipulated in personal statement writing guidelines.
6. Run the completed version of your personal statement past people you trust---those who best understand your objectives and are able to thoughtfully evaluate the tone, information and spirit of your appeal.
7. Apply due diligence when evaluating and fixing grammar, syntax and spelling errors on the final version of your personal statement. Mail your application a week before the due date, affixing a "return receipt" card to the envelope to verify its delivery. Alternately, hand-deliver the materials to the admissions office and/or psychology school's graduate department if the campus is located in your community.
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