Personal Statement: What It Is and Why It's important

If you are applying for a master's, you will have to write some sort of an essay: a personal statement, a motivation letter, or a statement of purpose. In one of my previous posts, I talked about most common mistakes when writing a personal statement. In this post, I will discuss what a personal statement is and is not and why it's so important to write a good one.

So what is personal statement?

What a personal statement is

Personal statement is an essay where you talk about your past, your present, and your plans for the future. You answer questions like why do you want to do a master's? Why do you need this particular degree at this particular time of your life and career? Why is this the next logical step for you? What are you going to do with this degree afterwards?

Personal statement is by far of the most important documents in your application. You should take it very seriously. The reason for why it is so important is that it is the document you have the most control over. Other documents, like you CV or letters of recommendation, obviously complete the package, but personal statement shows that you can advocate for yourself.

Personal statement gives you a chance to show your personality, to become more than a sum of your grades, test scores, and accomplishments.

Think of writing a personal statement as making a case for yourself. You try to convince the admissions committee that you are an amazing candidate, that you deserve a place of the program, and they should accept you.

In a way, personal statement is an invitation to the admissions committee to get to know you.

What a personal statement is not

Now, what a personal statement is not?

First of all, personal statement is not an expanded version of your CV. You should not use it to repeat your CV or résumé. Rather, personal statement should include things about you that the admissions committee will not be able to learn from the other parts of your application.

Personal statement is also not an academic article on the importance of your particular subject - or about your subject. You can trust the admissions officers to know enough about your subject. What they will be interested in is you - your motivations, your values, your personal philosophy.

Why personal statement is important

Personal statement is usually the only document in your application package where your voice comes through, and its purpose is to give the admissions officers an insight into your persona - who you are and what you stand for. Personal statement is meant to make the admissions committee understand 'what makes you tick'.

This means that pretty much anything you consider important about yourself can be a valid topic for exploration and self-analysis. Topics may include, but are not limited to, family, mentors, personal influences and inspirations, living in a different country, personal loss or trauma, disability or physical challenge, your victories and misfortunes, studies and research you've done, and the like. Whatever it is that you believe to be a part of your identity and want the admissions committee to take into consideration.

As you can see, personal statement needs to be quite personal and as such it requires quite high degree of vulnerability on your side. But this is precisely where the value of it comes from. You've got to give something before you receive, and a certain degree of openness is the price of entry.

At the same time, remember that the the best and the worst experiences never make the best writing. What matters here is not so much what you write about but how you write about it. So don't be afraid of common topics. Sometimes, a closer look at seemingly mundane occurrences in your life can provide a deeper ground for self-insight.

A well-written personal statement can make a good application into a great one. If the admissions committee compares your profile to someone else's similar profile, personal statement can make all the difference.