The personal statement shall include the following contents:
(1) The academic or professional interests and background of the applicant;
(2) the direction to be studied;
(3) Future career goals.
If the personal statement is well written, it can greatly improve the chances of applicants getting admission and scholarships. This is an excellent opportunity for the applicant. Unfortunately, although many applicants devote themselves to the TOEFL and GRE exams, their personal statements are often done overnight, perfunctory, lacking in content and full of grammatical mistakes. However, western universities do not only evaluate applicants' qualifications through traditional examinations, which does not mean that their admission standards are not strict. When foreign professors decide whether you are the person they want, they want to hear your opinion of themselves first. When you introduce yourself through the application documents, you will find that the opportunities and challenges you face are equally huge.
To write a successful application document, it is not enough to have only those basic writing skills (clarity and conciseness) suitable for any writing type. A good application document requires the applicant to skillfully show his unique personality and experience in a completely different way from other applicants. This is a demanding and often complicated job.
Specific step editing
Prepare materials
Before you sit down and start writing, make some preparations to avoid being at a loss when you can't find the material in the actual writing process. It is recommended to print out copies of all documents related to personal statement application and keep them at hand for reference at any time. Although the computer can consult them at any time, after all, the screen size is limited, so it is difficult for you to find content in multiple documents, and it will not interrupt your valuable thoughts because of looking for information. These documents include: all drafts, certificates/transcripts and other related materials, as well as application forms, "Sharpen the knife without cutting the wood by mistake". The more detailed these materials are, the smoother and easier your later writing will be.
Then compile a "ⅵ P information table" that is; & gt； Mark the most important information with specific names and precise titles to give yourself a clear idea. For example, as a job application, you should mark the school and major, specialized internship, organized activities, your work experience, or the work in which appropriate volunteers participate. In this way, you can refer to these materials quickly and accurately when writing [1].
First draft
After collecting these materials, it's time to start writing a personal statement. Applicants must always keep in mind the following questions when writing the first draft of personal statement/application letter:
Answer the "big question": Usually, the application procedures, such as job application or degree application, have specific requirements, which will make you answer a "big question" with your personal statement and make all applicants answer it, so the answer to this question is the core of the whole personal statement. For example, the application request may ask you to discuss "Why did you come to our company or apply for a degree in our school?" . If you use the whole article to explain your academic qualifications or never mention anything that attracts you to apply, then you are definitely a failure, and this personal statement is definitely a failure. In order to avoid this risk, please read the application requirements carefully, record the bibliography of specific questions with pen or computer, separate them alternately, and add your own notes, so that you can compare the questions with your own answers in your personal statement without missing any questions. Remember: be a good reader before being a good applicant! .
Pay attention to "I" (me): this is a personal statement of "you", that is, a personal statement. You can use the first personal pronoun "I". Candidates often feel uncomfortable, because using the first person too much will make people feel arrogant and unpretentious, while using "he"/"she" or your own name will make people feel modest. Many articles also teach applicants to use the third person as much as possible, so I find that many people will avoid the first and second person ("you"), but according to my 20 years of professional writing experience, in any type of formal writing, the first. Using the third person may lead to ambiguity and make the article long and lifeless. Of course, it is not advisable to use "I" in every sentence. In short, remember: the subject of the sentence is not only you, but also your experience, your boss, your subordinates, your friends and your parents. Let them set off "I", but don't write "I" completely, so as not to be too modest. This is a common problem in East Asia.
Avoid unnecessary repetition: Sometimes the applicant tends to write information repeatedly, trying to bombard readers to highlight certain information. For example, he or she plagiarized a large number of attachments that need to be included in the application requirements, such as Chinese and English resumes, grades, application forms, etc. For example, what I see the most, I repeatedly mention the report card in my personal statement, showing my excellent grades again and again, and bombarding the reviewers with scores, which is unnecessary and probably counterproductive! Briefly mention academic awards and awards, and the whole academic experience or work experience also needs a brief explanation. There will be more detailed discussion in the follow-up interview, and it is not necessary to write all the details in the personal statement.
Use words to make yourself different: Many applicants want their personal statements to stand out from other competitors through unique formats or some rare writing styles. I think this method is desirable, but you must be eloquent rather than grandiose. For example, write a short essay that is thrilling and makes people curious, or describe personal influence of family members or referees in a biographical way, and how this influence wonderfully makes you pursue the degree or job you need to apply for. In a word, this strategy will really make your personal statement unforgettable, novel and unique.
Keep it simple: Personal statements are usually limited to 500- 1000 words or 1 A4 printed pages, and rarely exceed 2 A4 pages, so brevity is the most important thing. Make sure that each paragraph closely revolves around an idea (your strengths, your project research experience, your extracurricular activities, etc.). ) and don't write the article too long. Similarly, find a Webster's dictionary, or use the online synonym query tool to study the choice of words and synonyms. Try not to use a word more than twice, especially adjectives, which will make your personal statement look less repetitive and more refined and accurate.
Personal statement format
As mentioned above, the requirements of personal statements are different, but general personal statements include fixed information and can follow this format (see below) model.
Introduce yourself.
Many personal statements begin with something like an email, and readers are used to this method. Moreover, as a way to get readers' attention, you can increase readers' attention in many ways, such as where you learned about this application, who recommended it, who successfully applied for this information, which members of the jury you know, your position, your position or degree, what position or degree you want, and so on.
Detailed supporting paragraphs
The following paragraphs should directly answer any specific questions required by the application, combining your own advantages, your own qualifications/positions, your team spirit and certification, your long-term goals and past experience. Each paragraph in the collection should have a topic sentence, just to show the key points. You should remember that each paragraph needs a case, and each case must be closely related to yourself/the application requirements, and always support that you are qualified to pass this application.
conclusion
Gather all the topics together, emphasize again, and reiterate your interest in the application target and why. You can show that this degree or position is closely related to long-term goals. The format of the application letter may be similar, but because the format is given by the applicant, it is not as flexible as a personal statement, and the length is usually limited. There will be no self-introduction part in the application, which looks blunt and the details are straightforward and obvious. If you write a cover letter with a fixed format, don't be smart enough to write a lot of self-introductions, because reviewers may be bored.
In short, don't write your personal statement or application letter in too much detail. You can keep a lot of content in mind and put it in the interview. It's no use writing 100 [1] if you lose the interview opportunity because you write too long!
modify
Because the purpose of this article is to get your degree/job interview by writing a personal statement, not to make you a full-time writer, it is very important for us full-time writers to have a lot of special polishing/revising/editing experience besides excellent writing ability and educational background. Not everyone with a high degree can help people write personal statements.
If you want to help others or revise a personal statement yourself, you must first have enough time. It takes 5- 10 hours to revise a personal statement, which is not much easier than writing a personal statement from scratch. Secondly, you must have enough materials (what are the main problems in the application? Are there enough details? ); The third is that your English level must be high enough. You must be familiar with more than 200 commonly used adjectives and synonyms. You must have good writing skills, such as punctuation. Don't underestimate punctuation. Many reviewers are "serious cleanliness addicts" and can't tolerate punctuation errors! [ 1] 。
4 Length editing
In Europe and America, PS is classified as an essay, which is a short and pithy style. The author has thoroughly studied the excellent PS anthologies published in Europe and America, all of which are short and pithy, but their contents are very substantial and their writing is beautiful. Generally speaking, the normal length of PS is 600-800 English words, while quite a few China applicants have very long PS. I even saw someone write more than 3,000 words on PS.
Many China applicants try to show their advantages and achievements in various aspects. It should be noted that PS is not a detailed supplement to resume, and a lot of information can be displayed through other documents (such as academic achievements). Admissions officers of American universities once said: In the peak season of studying abroad, faced with a mountain of documents, they usually only have 2 or 3 minutes to review a PS, and that kind of lengthy PS can only make people bored [1].
5 theme editing
PS must be closely related to the subject you want to apply for, and the main line should be clear. Don't blindly personalize. Many people have heard that PS needs "unique personality" and "sensibility", so they try their best to find their own "unique" points and "sensibility", and the results are often quite different. Many China applicants often spend a lot of time writing about irrelevant people. It must be clear that there is nothing irrelevant in an article as short as a few hundred words as PS. Through PS, you must let the students know your clear and strong motivation to choose this major, and at the same time have sufficient conditions to complete the study of this major. Of course, on this basis, everyone can express themselves through very unique and personalized words. For example, the author once revised a PS for applying for CS (computer major), and the original text used hundreds of words to describe his experience in how to carry out class work. I like to think about how to make things more efficient. During my college years, I served as a member of the class literature and art committee. At the beginning of work, conflicts often arise between members because of their different personalities and working methods. Later, according to everyone's situation, I asked extroverted and sociable people to do outreach and coordinate communication; Let people who are good at thinking, active in thinking and brave in innovation do the preparation and planning of all work; Let visionary and cohesive people make the timetable of the whole work and assign tasks. Thanks to this arrangement, the system has played its best efficiency. It not only highlights the personality, but also closely embodies the important quality of rigorous systematic thinking ability that should be possessed in applying for CS major. Experts studying in New Oriental pointed out that many outstanding China students failed to get into famous American schools as they wished, and they paid attention to their grades, thus ignoring PS. In fact, in PS, as long as you really write your thoughts clearly.
Simple structure and tight connection,
The main line is clear and easy to understand.
Remember, admissions officers read a lot of application materials every day, and only those simple, powerful and focused articles can impress admissions officers. The study abroad document is actually your personal advertisement. Think about it. Which advertisement impressed you deeply is not concise and powerful? China applicants tend to tell recruiters all their advantages, regardless of priority. As a result, recruiters have a vague overall impression of you. The author believes that everything in PS is the focus, that is, there is no focus.
6 paragraph arrangement editing
Carefully arrange the relationship between PS and other documents. As mentioned above, personal statements, letters of recommendation, resumes and other documents constitute a complete application document system, which needs mutual authentication and each has its own emphasis. Therefore, before writing these documents, we must arrange the overall layout of the article and the prominent points of each document. Many candidates put what should have been highlighted by resumes or letters of recommendation in PS, which not only leads to invalid repetition of information, but also weakens the role that PS should play.
7 related issues editor
Authentic English
In terms of language expression, we must use authentic English. English that China people can read fluently is often written in Chinglish according to the linguistic logic of Chinese, which will not only greatly weaken the meaning you want to express, lead to misunderstanding, but also make the admissions staff look dull. Some applicants, especially those who have passed GRE, use exaggerated and strange words, which do not conform to English thinking habits and writing style. This kind of college English in China often makes foreign professors difficult to understand or laugh their heads off after reading it. The finished document should be revised by native English speakers.
Statement content
The following three data should be included:
1 academic or professional interests and background of the applicant
2 research direction
3 Future career goals
When writing, you can divide the article into several paragraphs according to three points. Don't make a list and don't repeat the data already in the application form.
statement function
When the applicant is lacking in other aspects, an excellent personal statement may make him stand out from many applicants and even get a full scholarship. In some schools, personal statements have replaced interviews as an important basis for evaluating students.
Personal statement plays an important role in the preparation of the whole application materials and is also a necessary condition to win the full attention of many applicants.
English expression
Statement of purpose;
Academic statement;
Study plan;
Study plan;
Academic goals;
Educational goals;
Letter of intent.