Personal statement also has different names, such as personal statement, purpose statement, intention statement, goal statement, academic statement, study plan, academic goal and so on. , generally refers to PS. Personal statement:
(1) The academic or professional interests and background of the applicant;
(2) the direction to be studied;
(3) Future career goals.
If the personal statement is well written, it can greatly improve the chances of applicants getting admission and scholarships. This is an excellent opportunity for the applicant. Unfortunately, although many applicants devote themselves to the TOEFL and GRE exams, their personal statements are often done overnight, perfunctory, lacking in content and full of grammatical mistakes. However, western universities do not only evaluate applicants' qualifications through traditional examinations, which does not mean that their admission standards are not strict. When foreign professors decide whether you are the person they want, they want to hear your opinion of themselves first. When you introduce yourself through the application documents, you will find that the opportunities and challenges you face are equally huge. To write a successful application document, it is not enough to have only those basic writing skills (clarity and conciseness) suitable for any writing type. A good application document requires the applicant to skillfully show his unique personality and experience in a completely different way from other applicants. This is a demanding and often complicated job. This is true not only for China people, but also for native English speakers. However, we still need to overcome the language barrier in China.
Personal statement writing standards:
The contents of the personal statement shall include the following three materials:
(1) The academic or professional interests and background of the applicant;
(2) the direction to be studied;
(3) Future career goals;
When writing, the article is divided into three main parts according to the above three points. Don't make a list, and don't repeat the information already in the application form or resume.
Precautions:
(a) carefully read the school's writing instructions and understand the key points of the problem, no redundant words or omissions, and completed within the prescribed number of words. For example, if the school requires that the discussion be completed within 500 words ..., the full text should not exceed 500 words. If the school asks to answer the essay questions (please limit your answer to one page. ), the answer is no more than one page according to its requirements.
(2) Write clearly.
For example:
The expression of the sentence 1 My interest in English literature is not clear enough, but I concentrated on Milton and Shakespeare in college, which clearly explained the applicant's interest and research scope.
As a student representative, I am very active. It is best to explain what I have done: organizing activities, hosting speeches, and exchanging opinions between students and schools.
I am attracted by the excellent equipment in your department. It should be explained where the professor's cognition comes from, such as reading the professor's article and wanting to be taught by him, or where the professor is engaged in an important research, which is the same as his own research field. Express some knowledge about the courses, teachers and characteristics of the department you are applying for, and propose a professor, a new course or a degree according to different schools.
4. Generally speaking, however, it is forbidden to limit the research scope and plan too narrowly, such as writing that a professor's research group does not advance or study a specific problem.
(3) Don't use ambiguous sentences, such as the name of the school you admire should be used instead. I will go back to China to serve my country, and I should make it clear what kind of work I want to do.
(d) The article needs to have a clear theme. Don't digress, say something irrelevant. Need to consider the reasonable arrangement of materials around the theme. Write more interesting experiences and research questions.
(5) Write a fascinating beginning-a short story, a famous saying, or an interesting scene or description, instead of saying some cliches, such as I was born in ... or my parents came from ... Remember to echo the theme at the end.
(6) Writing can be humorous, but not too much. Sincere and serious attitude, neither supercilious nor supercilious. Explain weaknesses with a positive attitude, such as a low TOEFL score, but don't be overconfident. It is important to give the school a professional and serious impression. You can't make up experiences.
(7) Don't copy and rewrite the sample articles in the book. You should read the introduction of the school carefully, understand its requirements, and then consider your academic background, plan and write your own style.
(8) Avoid using abstruse words and try to express them in simple and easy-to-understand words. Check English tense, gender and single majority errors. Generally, check it at least three times, and ask others to watch it for you. You can use your mobile phone to watch the recording and play it back to see if there are any problems.