What is a personal statement and statement of purpose?
What is a personal statement and statement of purpose?Both the personal statement and statement of purpose are types of admission essay and the terms are often used interchangeably. They are asked for when applying for a college or university place as well as for other applications such as for a scholarship. Their purpose is to tell those persons who are making the selections more about you than they can learn from your grades alone. On the whole your grades can only qualify you for a place and the real decisions will often be made based on your personal statement and statement of purpose.
What is the difference between the statement of purpose and the personal statement?
Both statements discuss you and should cover specific areas that the selection committee are looking for. In general the terms are used interchangeably but there is a slight difference between the personal statement and the statement of purpose with regards to the focus of the document. The statement of purpose should concentrate more on your future than on your past and present while the personal statement will review all aspects. Besides, you may know more about writing a letter of recommendation on our site.
What should your statements cover?
Learning how to write statement of purpose or how to write effective personal statements is not easy. After all you are not asked to write them every day yet they have to be a very impressive essay if you want to get noticed. You will more often than not be given a specific prompt or question to answer for your personal statement and statement of purpose and this should be answered as fully as possible. You also need to bear in mind the fact that the committee will be looking for information in the following areas;
- Why do you want to study this subject, demonstrate that you have more than a passing interest
- Show how your interests have evolved and developed
- Give examples to demonstrate that you have the skills to complete your studies
- Show how you need to complete your studies to guarantee your future career path
- Show that you have carefully considered which course and institution (theirs) you wish to study at
Getting your personal statement and statement of purpose right
It is not enough to just say the right things in your personal statement and statement of purpose; you also have to decide whether everything is written perfectly or you may need custom writing service. This means far more than just getting your work proofread to ensure that it is mistake free. You also need to ensure that it flows perfectly and sounds right also. Read your work out loud and see how it sounds, don’t just rely on reading it.
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