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Personal Statements
What is a personal statement.
A personal statement is a picture of you as a student and an illustration of your fit for a particular school or fellowship. It complements the resume, giving much more depth and character. It focuses on a few key themes related to the your biography, interests, and/or experiences. (Note: The personal statement is not to be confused with the statement of purpose, which is more future focused, explaining your plans for study and career).
Elements of a strong statement
A good statement grabs the reader’s attention from the beginning, uses specific illustrations and examples, and shows rather than tells. It responds directly to any prompt offered and has a tight narrative structure and a logical flow. The statement builds the picture of an interesting, passionate person who is a perfect fit for the school or fellowship. The essay is honest, confronting any gaps, weaknesses, or deficiencies, but focusing on lessons learned and positive outcomes. Though the writer conveys intelligence, experience, aptitude, and passion, the tone remains humble and sincere. Through the essay the writer manages to stand out from other applicants and appear unique. Keep in mind, that not every story must be deeply emotional, and a good statement does not overshare; it balances narrative with argument about your qualifications.
Tips for brainstorming
It can be difficult to know where to begin, especially when writing about oneself. You can start a file or notebook, beginning to list awards you have won, important milestones, struggles, and accomplishments, illustrative anecdotes, and relevant experiences. If stuck, you can ask parents, teachers, mentors, peers, coworkers, or supervisors what should be included in an essay about your life, interests, and achievements. You can also read Examples of Successful Statements (Purdue OWL) and see questions you can ask yourself before you write in the Personal Statement Guide (Purdue OWL) .
Beyond making an appointment with the KU Writing Center, you may also want to visit the KU Career Center for assistance and resources on applications.
Personal statement structure
If the essay allows for flexibility, then the following structure is suggested: Use the opening paragraph to grab the reader’s attention with a “hook” (usually a story or experience). Then choose one or two related themes or narrative threads to weave throughout the body of the essay, going into depth and not simply restating the resume. Include specific examples demonstrating any claims you make. For instance, if you state that you are brave, you must include an example from your life proving that you are indeed brave. Use the concluding paragraph to refer back to the opening hook but also to open outwards, both to demonstrate your knowledge of the institution or fellowship and to mention plans for the future.
If given a prompt, you must be sure to answer all questions asked of you. Keep in mind, though, that it is not enough to simply answer one question after the next. You must still weave your responses together into a cohesive whole.
Pay attention to the word count requirements as well. Most personal statements have strict requirements on the words or characters. You do not want to go over the word count, or be significantly below it. How you structure your statement will also depend on required length. For example, a 200-word statement may just be 1-2 paragraphs while a 700-word statement will be an entire essay.
Seek Feedback
You might struggle with using the first person, writing about yourself, and striking a humble and mature tone. It might also be difficult to avoid clichés and to think of specific examples and illustrative anecdotes for the essay. Be sure to focus on these elements as well as on how to make your statement less vague, more concise, and more engaging for the reader. Ask for feedback from your advisor, instructors, or the Writing Center and count on creating several drafts.
Common Pitfalls
A weak statement relies on clichés, especially those related to helping others, saving the world, and demonstrating passion. Poorly written essays often remain vague or rehash everything listed in the resume. Sometimes they veer off topic or suffer from an overly apologetic or an arrogant tone. They can be badly structured, lacking specific examples and a particular focus. Writers, therefore, do not create a vivid picture of themselves or an illustration of their fit with the institution or fellowship. Often such pitfalls blend in with other mediocre essays, failing to convince an admissions committee that the candidate stands out. Because writing personal statements can be so challenging, plan to create several drafts of your statement. When editing, work on adding specific examples and anecdotes and ask your advisor and instructors for advice. Don't give up - keep on revising and editing and come in for a Writing Center consultation so we can help you too!
(Revised July 2022)
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Reference List: Textual Sources
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Basic Format for Books
Edited book, no author, edited book with an author or authors, a translation.
Note : When you cite a republished work, like the one above, in your text, it should appear with both dates: Plato (385-378/1989)
Edition Other Than the First
Article or chapter in an edited book.
Note : When you list the pages of the chapter or essay in parentheses after the book title, use "pp." before the numbers: (pp. 1-21). This abbreviation, however, does not appear before the page numbers in periodical references, except for newspapers. List any edition number in the same set of parentheses as the page numbers, separated by a comma: (2nd ed., pp. 66-72).
Multivolume Work
Articles in periodicals.
APA style dictates that authors are named with their last name followed by their initials; publication year goes between parentheses, followed by a period. The title of the article is in sentence-case, meaning only the first word and proper nouns in the title are capitalized. The periodical title is run in title case, and is followed by the volume number which, with the title, is also italicized. If a DOI has been assigned to the article that you are using, you should include this after the page numbers for the article. If no DOI has been assigned and you are accessing the periodical online, use the URL of the website from which you are retrieving the periodical.
Article in Print Journal
Note: APA 7 advises writers to include a DOI (if available), even when using the print source. The example above assumes no DOI is available.
Article in Electronic Journal
Note : This content also appears on Reference List: Online Media .
As noted above, when citing an article in an electronic journal, include a DOI if one is associated with the article.
DOIs may not always be available. In these cases, use a URL. Many academic journals provide stable URLs that function similarly to DOIs. These are preferable to ordinary URLs copied and pasted from the browser's address bar.
Article in a Magazine
Article in a newspaper.
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
The personal statement, your opportunity to sell yourself in the application process, generally falls into one of two categories: 1. The general, comprehensive personal statement: This allows you maximum freedom in terms of what you write and is the type of statement often prepared for standard medical or law school application forms. 2.
Customize your statement for each program to which you apply. Each program will provide a brief description of what it wants in the applicant's statement of purpose, the length and topics. One program may want 500 words covering topics A, B and C.
General Use of I or We. It is totally acceptable to write in the first person in an APA Style paper. If you did something, say, "I did it"—there's no reason to hide your own agency by saying "the author [meaning you] did X" or to convolute things by using the passive "X was done [meaning done by you].". If you're writing a ...
Basic guidelines for formatting the reference list at the end of a standard APA research paper Author/Authors Rules for handling works by a single author or multiple authors that apply to all APA-style references in your reference list, regardless of the type of work (book, article, electronic resource, etc.)
Strategy 1: Open with a concrete scene. An effective way to catch the reader's attention is to set up a scene that illustrates something about your character and interests. If you're stuck, try thinking about: A personal experience that changed your perspective. A story from your family's history.
The APA style template is a Word Doc that has already been formatted in APA style, and includes tips and resources for adhering to APA format. Simply plug your personal statement into the template to start your APA style personal statement! Adhere to instructions from the school you are applying to:
What is the Correct Personal Statement Format? There's no single required format for the Common App or Coalition, but we'd generally recommend keeping it simple and standard. Regarding font choice, things like Times New Roman or Georgia (what this is written in) won't fail you. Just avoid things like Comic Sans or other informal/casual ...
Throughout your paper, you need to apply the following APA format guidelines: Set page margins to 1 inch on all sides. Double-space all text, including headings. Indent the first line of every paragraph 0.5 inches. Use an accessible font (e.g., Times New Roman 12pt., Arial 11pt., or Georgia 11pt.).
American Psychological Association (APA) Documentation Style, 7th Edition. This handout begins with general guidelines about the parts of a paper you need to document and then presents a brief overview of the APA documentation system as described in the 7thedition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2019).
Most personal statements have strict requirements on the words or characters. You do not want to go over the word count, or be significantly below it. How you structure your statement will also depend on required length. For example, a 200-word statement may just be 1-2 paragraphs while a 700-word statement will be an entire essay.
Details a Personal Statement Writers in APA Format. Why you should writer your personal statement in APA format: One thing I often see applicants overlook is formatting his personal statement. The personalized statement serves as a sample of your academic writing abilities, so properly formatting your MSW personal statement is a simple way to ...
• Use the personal statement as a chance to list all your experiences and accomplishments. • Describe experiences without reflecting upon their importance. • Whine, complain, or place blame on others for your shortcomings. • Attempt to be clever. • Use clichés or flowery, empty language. ...
Sample Student Paper (continued) 66 • PAPER ELEMENTS AND FORMAT journal article reference, 10.1 YouTube video reference, 10.12 short URL, 9.36 book reference, 10.2 report reference, 10.4 blog post reference, 10.1 conference presentation reference, 10.5 edited book chapter reference, 10.3 shortDOI, 9.36 ELEMENTS & FORMAT
Indent the first line of every paragraph of text 0.5 in. using the tab key or the paragraph-formatting function of your word-processing program. Page numbers: Put a page number in the top right corner of every page, including the title page or cover page, which is page 1. Student papers do not require a running head on any page.
Standard formatting is 1" margins and 12-point font size. Experiment with font styles to see which best serve your space requirements, but avoid unusual fonts, which are distracting. For other suggestions, check out the APA Manual on typeface. Creative Content Your statement must be at least substantive, and if you can be creative that's even ...
Conundrum them shouldn write your personal statement in APA format: Only thing I often see claimants overlook is final their personal statement. The personal statement server as a sample of your academic writing abilities, so properly formatting your MSW personal statement is a simplified path to help your application stand out and look more ...
The following two sample papers were published in annotated form in the Publication Manual and are reproduced here as PDFs for your ease of use. The annotations draw attention to content and formatting and provide the relevant sections of the Publication Manual (7th ed.) to consult for more information.. Student sample paper with annotations (PDF, 4.95MB)
Personal Communications in APA Style | Format & Examples. Published on November 6, 2020 by Jack Caulfield. Revised on December 27, 2023. In APA Style, a personal communication is any source that is not accessible to your readers. Personal communications are cited in the text, but not included in the reference list. Example
Works that cannot be recovered by readers are cited in the text as personal communications. Personal communications include emails, text messages, online chats or direct messages, personal interviews, telephone conversations, live speeches, nonarchived social media livestreams (e.g., Instagram Live, Twitter Spaces), unrecorded webinars, unrecorded classroom lectures, memos, letters, messages ...
APA's Finding Fit webinar series breaks down the graduate program application process into clear, logical and manageable steps. In his presentation, you'll learn how to write a personal statement using the reverse pyramid approach. In addition, you'll learn what to include and what to leave out of your statement. Presentation. Transcript.
To cite an interview published in a newspaper, follow the standard newspaper format, listing the interviewer in the author position. APA format. Interviewer name, Initials. ( Year, Month Day ). Interview title. Newspaper Name. URL. APA reference entry. Dundas, D. (2019, November 8).
Media Files: APA Sample Student Paper , APA Sample Professional Paper This resource is enhanced by Acrobat PDF files. Download the free Acrobat Reader. Note: The APA Publication Manual, 7 th Edition specifies different formatting conventions for student and professional papers (i.e., papers written for credit in a course and papers intended for scholarly publication).
Use the author-date citation system to cite references in the text in APA Style. In this system, each work used in a paper has two parts: an in-text citation and a corresponding reference list entry. In-text citations may be parenthetical or narrative. In parenthetical citations, use an ampersand (&) between names for a work with two authors ...
APA style dictates that authors are named with their last name followed by their initials; publication year goes between parentheses, followed by a period. The title of the article is in sentence-case, meaning only the first word and proper nouns in the title are capitalized.