Tips on writing a good personal statement
A bit of revision! The personal statement is …
A short reflective essay about your interests, motivations and suitability.
Up to 4,000 characters (including spaces) or 47 lines of text (including blank lines), whichever comes first.
One part of your application, considered alongside your predicted grades, current qualifications and references.
Using evidence is the first step to demonstrating your passion for your subject. However, remember that admissions tutors don't like lists. It's no use listing examples of activities you've done and books you've read unless you mention what you learnt, and any insights you gained. It's very important to use evidence, but in order to have a great personal statement, it's essential to show that you have thought critically about and reflected on the ideas you have learned about. Let's go through some more examples to illustrate what this looks like.
Let's look at two examples that could be used in an application for Philosophy
Example 1
"I was intrigued by Kant's argument on intentions in the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals: I learned that, contrary to the utilitarian view, intentions should play a role in assessing the moral value of an action, such that actions done from duty are morally praised and those done from self-serving purposes are not."
Example 2
"I read Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and was fascinated by his argument that intentions should play a role in assessing the moral value of an action. However, I wasn't fully convinced: is there really a distinction between actions done from duty and from self-serving purposes? I kept wondering if doing good things from duty isn't merely also an expression of your own interests"
Admissions officers want to see that you aren't only capable of understanding difficult content, but that you actively reflect on the content you read. That is what example 2 does: the applicant questions a key premise in the text instead of immediately accepting it. In general, there are a few good ways to show reflection:
Evaluate the argument made in the text (as was done in example 2).
Explore interesting links to other fields.
The introduction of a personal statement is often viewed as the hardest part to write. But it doesn’t have to be!
Here are a few views from admissions tutors relating to the introduction:
'Don't waste time trying to think of a catchy opening: it's often a complete turn-off.'
'Your interest in the course is the biggest thing. Start with why you chose it.'
'The best personal statements get to the point quickly.'
'Go straight in. Why are you excited about studying this course?'