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Through editing a lot of personal statements, I notice common approaches from students on their first try that tend to have little content or are overly honest in their origin story. Here's a short thread on how I suggest my students think about their PSs: /1
Approach it like a puzzle, & the final puzzle is a picture of your career development. You've already put some pieces together, & can describe those pieces & how they've fit together (AKA your experiences/journey until now, & only selected relevant items) /2
You know what the completed puzzle looks like (your future goals), and you need to describe this to the reader. You may only be able to describe these pieces in 480i resolution; rely on mentors and network to get these into 4K. /3
Then you need to describe what the missing puzzle pieces look like, & how you plan to get them. The program you're applying for should be one of those missing puzzle pieces, and you need to describe how this piece fits in your puzzle, to help you complete the final assembly. /4
What's most important to think about is CONTENT. These puzzle pieces are *experiences*, past, present of future. Your specific experiences serve as a way to describe/illustrate these pieces. Not all pieces belong to this puzzle. Think about how to fit them together best. /5
Often, students tend to default to their philosophies and morals as puzzle pieces. While these are important to who you are and why you're on this path, they often don't have enough content to fully serve as puzzle pieces. /6
Also: philosophizing without relevant experience runs the risk of being presumptuous or naive. Make sure you have a reason/foundation to assert these philosophies, if at all. Often better to rely on experiences, what you've learned from them, & how they formed your path. /7
This is obviously a very redacted guidance on a very nuanced endeavor, and likely may be different between fields. I speak as a Biology professor. Happy to hear any further tips that I can pass to my students! /fin
Edited to add: try to avoid a "I stumbled into this" approach to your origin story, and focus on intentionality. So long as it is honest, you don't have to tell them every detail on how you happened onto this path.
