When the time comes to writing your personal statement you can go either of two ways. Don’t fall into the being shy and modest category, this is your time to shine and show them how you are different to every other student.
What should you include exactly?
Here are our top tips…
– Don’t panic
We know, 4,000 characters sounds A LOT but really it’s not. It actually equates to around 750 words. Writing 750 words about yourself may seem daunting but stay calm and try not to panic.
– Get Ahead
Don’t put it off and leave your personal statement until last. Leaving it until last minute will only prolong the agony. Do the one thing you are dreading first then nothing will be weighing you down and the rest of your application will be plain sailing.
– Break It Down
Start by making notes, research the universities you are applying to and work out how best to convey what an awesome student you would make. Then split into sections.
A paragraph or two for each section will be quite enough. Try and link your content to the subject you would like to study too.
– Reign It In
We know you’ve got to ‘big yourself up’ to some extent but reign it in. Don’t go overboard and exaggerate everything, remember this is to get you your place at university.
– Extra Help
Many of us need an extra bit of help and this is where a template can come in handy. Using templates is actually fine just don’t go and copy somebody else’s statement. All applications are scanned so if yours is too similar to someone else’s, it will be flagged up.
Don’t ruin your chances before you’ve even started.
Once you’ve finished, leave it for a couple of days before going back to proofread it as you may want to chop and change it and word things differently. They get somebody else to proofread it for you.
Good Luck, you’ve got this.
