Building Blocks of a Personal Statement

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Building Blocks of a Personal Statement

• Eric Landrum
• Department of Psychology
• Boise State University
• Psi Chi Symposium Personals Statements for
  Graduate Applications
• Rocky Mountain Psychological Association
• April 16, 2004
• Reno, NV

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Background

• Many graduate programs require applicants to
  submit a personal statement (or statement of
  intent, or autobiographical statement, or letter
  of intent). This activity is becoming more and
  more important in the admissions process. It
  allows you to provide valuable background
  information, and it also provides the graduate
  admissions committee with a writing sample.

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Background

• The requirements for completing this task are
  variedthere is not a uniform method or procedure
  to follow. Hence, you need to make sure that you
  completely satisfy the requirements of each
  school when you are preparing your personal
  statement.

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Background

• Basically what you are being asked for
• A statement of your interests in psychology and
  how you came to have those interests.
• Your goals and ambitions in the field of
  psychology.
• How the program to which you are applying can
  help you to achieve those goals.

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Critical Focus

• Try to focus on particular educational and
  occupational experiences that could account for
  your interests, rather than personal experiences.
  Why? Add some detachment, add emotional distance.
  With goals and ambitions, try to be as specific
  as possible. You need to be more specific that "I
  just want to learn--I'm open minded" but not too
  specific, or you won't be a match at very many
  schools.

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Critical FocusVolleyball!

• The "trick" is to lob your volleyyou have some
  general areas of interest, but are open to the
  types of topics that your graduate professors are
  studying. Don't limit yourself to only one
  faculty memberfaculty leave, have too many
  students, etc.

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Critical Focus

• "Fit with faculty" is more important than most
  students think. You have to do your homework and
  find out what the faculty are studying
  (literature from university web sites, PsycINFO,
  etc.). Personalize each letter to the graduate
  program to show that you have done your homework.
  ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL.

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Examples of Personal Statement Instructions

• See the handout for examples of the personal
  statement instructions for different graduate
  programs in the Rocky Mountain region.
• Note the variability in the level of detail in
  the instructions.
• Note the variability for different
  specializations within the same department.

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13 Themes

• In an analysis of personal statement
  instructions, Keith-Spiegel and Wiederman (2000)
  found that 13 themes or topics tend to account
  for most personal statement requests.
• These themes can be seen as building blocks for
  you to craft your personalized responses for each
  school you apply to.

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13 Themes

• See the handout for each of the 13 themes and
  some space for you to begin to sketch out the
  basic building blocks of your personal statement.
• Its OK, go ahead, look at it now. Really.

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Final Instructions and Tips

• Don't start I was born in a small town in the
  West...orI want to help people (too cliché).
• Make sure that your materials are presented
  appropriately. No typos, no stains, no
  handwriting. Have somebody proofread for you
  (spell-checkers don't catch all typos). Use good
  quality plain white paper. Don't get fancy--print
  with a dark, easy to read font.

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Final Instructions and Tips

• Single-spaced, 1 inch margins, APA format where
  applicable. Prefer one side of one page--no more
  than two pages, one piece of paper (back to
  back). Always remember to follow the
  instructions of the schoolexactlyeven if they
  contradict the above suggestions.

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Final Instructions and Tips

• One final notebe sure to answer the questions
  exactly. Graduate admissions committee members
  will actually read your personal statement.
  Answer completely. If you cant follow the
  directions for applying to graduate school, what
  does that say about your chances for success once
  in graduate school?