Must-do's for your Personal Statement - from an Oxford student
Harshita Singh, student at Oxford University, shares her top tips for writing your university application personal statements this year.
Writing a personal statement can be very daunting, after all, you are trying to convince your dream university that you are an ideal candidate in less than 4000 characters. As such, it is vital to approach your personal statement methodically - ensuring you include all the relevant experience and highlight all the skills that will make you a suitable candidate for your course. Whilst this might initially seem daunting, the following tips will make it easy for you to get started with your draft. A lot of the tips here might sound obvious, but they will definitely help make the process (hopefully) seem a little more manageable.
Plan, plan, plan
As the saying goes, if you fail to plan you plan to fail - it is very important to write out the list of things you would like to highlight before fleshing it out in your personal statement.
An example of a planning worksheet for your personal statement can be found here. Once you have decided on the activities and skills you want to talk about, it is a good idea to write out 2-3 bullet points elaborating on what you have learnt and the skills you have demonstrated. Exemplifying the extracurriculars you have taken part in will show that you were highly engaged in these activities and will allow you to stand out to university admission officers. Whilst structuring your essay, consider linking your experiences either in chronological order or in a way that links one experience seamlessly to another.
Showing your narrative, and how you got interested in your subject will go a long way in showing your long-standing interest in the subject.
Write, evaluate, reiterate
For most of us, it will take a few drafts until you have a personal statement that you are happy to submit on UCAS. It is worth getting friends, family, teachers, your dog (and whoever you trust to give you honest feedback, really) to help you vet your personal statement. It is especially useful to have someone who is not familiar with your subject area have a look at your personal statement to ensure that it is coherent and logical.
Overall, personal statements are very much about showing your dream university why you are interested in the subject and unlike US university applications, you do not need to worry much about literary flair so long as your essay is coherent and free of any spelling or grammar errors. If you are applying to Oxbridge, it is generally recommended that you follow the 80/20 rule, ie 80 per cent of the word count is dedicated to super-curriculars and 20 per cent to other activities which can show other soft skills (such as sports or leadership positions). For other universities, a 60/40 ratio can be used as well. For sample personal statements, The Student Room is your one-stop shop.
That being said, good luck with your UCAS applications!
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