5 tips on how to write a winning personal statement

Personal statement is one of the most crucial application documents when students apply for a place at UK universities. With increasing competition and decreasing offer rate year-on-year, it could be the deciding factor whether or not you will get your place at your dream university. In this article we will give you 5 personal tips on how to write a winning personal statement to set you apart from the masses.

Tip #1: research the courses and the universities you are interested in

What universities are looking for: applicants who understand the course well and are committed to pursue it in the next three/four years.

Applicants should be able to demonstrate that they know what they are getting themselves into once they start their academic journey with the university and are able to excel in that environment. Therefore it is important for the applicant to do thorough research on the courses and universities they want to pursue and showcase this knowledge in the personal statement. Mentioning the course content and specific modules that you are interested in in your personal statement would be a good way to demonstrate this. One obvious place to conduct this research is by looking at the university and course website. However, there are also other excellent ways to get even more detailed information, such as open days, information sessions and alumni networks where you would get the chance to talk to current students and your future professors and ask them questions about the course. The deeper your understanding of the course is, the more likely the tutor would take your application seriously. 

Tip #2: structure your personal statement

What universities are looking for: applicants who can prove that they are the perfect fit for the course in a logical way.

Universities receive tons of applications each year and admission tutors don’t have a lot of time to go through each personal statement. A disorganised personal statement can confuse the reader and make him/her lose interest quite quickly. This usually entails that your personal statement will be going into the rejection pile. On the other hand, a well structured personal statement can capture the reader's attention and get the point across effectively. Don’t forget, structure is often a key element in academic writing and the personal statement is also a way for the admission tutor to assess your academic writing ability. Hence before you start writing the personal statement, we would strongly recommend you to plan out your content and the key points you would like to cover, then tailor the structure to your advantage. 

Tip #3: highlight the skills you gained from your experiences

What universities are looking for: applicants who have the relevant experience and skills to excel in the course.

Plenty of applicants have impressive academic experiences and extra-curricular activities under their belt when they make their application for a university place. Yet a lot of the times even these experiences fail to to convince the admission tutor to extend an offer. Why? Admission tutors want to see what skills an applicant can bring to a course and if these skills can help the applicant succeed at the university. However, a lot of applicants merely list their experiences without mentioning the skills they have gained from them. So instead of saying “I was a member of the school debating team”, say something like “I improved my communication and presentation skills by being an active member of the debating team”. Once you have formed a good structure (tip #3), then you must tell good stories about these experiences to generate interest and attract attention.

Tip #4: be concise

What universities are looking for: personal statements that can impress upon first glance.

Admission tutors have limited time for each PS and yet they have to make hard decisions. In addition, you have limited words available to showcase all your achievements to prove you are worthy of that coveted spot. Therefore it really pays to get your points across in a concise manner. Avoid adding extra words that do not add substance. Concise passages are easy to digest and can make your personal statement more memorable. In addition, the fewer words you use to convey a point, the more points/achievements can be mentioned in your personal statement which is likely to strengthen your profile. Imagine that you are the admission tutor who has to look through thousands of personal statements, you definitely don't want to see hard-to-read sentences that don't flow!

Tip #5: avoid cliches and be specific

What universities are looking for: applicants who can demonstrate genuine passion and commitment for the course.

You have no idea how many times universities have seen lines such as “ever since I was a child I had strong interests in economics because my parents/uncle/aunt runs a successful business selling xyz” and it keeps repeating every year.  Stories like these have been used a million times and if everyone uses the same narratives admission tutors are starting to doubt whether your interests in the subject are genuine. This can really knock your application down a notch. Instead of writing overused cliches, try to use your own personal and academic experiences as much as possible. This could be internships, group projects you did at school, or extracurricular activities. Remember universities want to know who you are as an individual and how you could fit into the course they offer.

Pebble Partners is an education consulting firm specialising in one-on-one provision of UK university/school (including PhD and Postdoc) admissions consulting, career coaching and A Level/GCSE tutoring.