When applying for a postgraduate study you will often need to write a personal statement. These statements are meant to support your application or to showcase your eligibility for the program and are normally around a page of text. They are typically read by an Admissions Tutor for a postgraduate taught course or the Project Supervisor for postgraduate research programs (e.g. Ph.D. or MRes) who will then decide on your suitability for the program.
A personal statement should demonstrate that the postgraduate course is right for you and that you have the skills, knowledge, aptitude, and passion to achieve the course requirements. For example, the instructions for the Imperial College postgraduate online application state, ‘Tell us why you are interested in the subject for which you have applied. Describe your academic interests and reasons for applying to Imperial College.’ For a Master’s or a Ph.D. program, it will normally detail the key requirements you need to be effective on for the course, including the kind of research aptitude, academic experience and technical ability that you possess. It is worth noting that, along with your motivations for this particular course, the reader of your personal statement is also likely to be interested in how this course fits in with your long-term career plans.
Your personal statement should be logically ordered and interesting. It must show why you are interested in a particular field of study and must demonstrate your ability to undertake the rigours of the program you are applying for. A possible structure that you could use is as follows:
By Sweena Karnani, Senior Editor
How do you write a great statement of purpose that sounds original, but at the same time gives the admissions committee what they are looking for? Click here.
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