Writing Your Personal Statement | Oklahoma State University

Step 1

Organize

Research schools, review instructions and update resume.

Confirm Instructions
- Research your top professional schools. Use "Research & Select Professional Schools" tool on OSU's Pre-Professional website.
- Confirm the national application portal or process your top school(s) use. Use "Application Services" tool and then "Application Instructions" on OSU's Pre-Professional website if your school(s) use a specific, national application portal. If not, review individual professional school admissions instructions for specific personal statement details.
- Application instructions may change each cycle. Always review your official instructions when your application cycle begins.
- Don't overthink it. Specific instructions and word count limits are found in the application instruction manual specific to your school(s).
Update Your Resume
- Fully update your resume and move on to the “Unscramble the Egg” exercise.
- If you do not have a resume, create one for general usage and as a starting block in this process.
- OSU Career Services has online resume resources and you may make an appointment with their staff for resume assistance.
Unscramble the Egg
- Create a second version from your original resume.
- Remove all resume categories and "unscramble" your bullet points. List all items in chronological order versus your existing categories (work experience, volunteering, skills, etc.) found on your resume. Unscrambling allows you to see duplication and can also identify gaps.
- Go back in time. Reflect about your entire OSU Pre-Professional Journey. Add any personal involvement/items not already listed. Include awards, positions, work or volunteer experiences, extra-curricular activities, etc. anything that is not already included. It does not have to be health or law related experiences. Leave no stone unturned.
- How far back? A good starting place is your adult life (post-high school). If during high school you had unique, health/law-related experiences or circumstances (prestigious state/national award, certified health care provider or worked in a law office, etc.) you are welcome to include those items if you wish. However, primarily focus on your adult-age timeline, regardless of when you started college.
- Expect all entries and writing will be much longer than your original resume. Take as much time and written space as you need.

Step 2

Self-Reflect

Journals and helpful reflection techniques.

Expand Your Voice
- Review your expanded resume; write a journal entry discussing each experience or item listed. Remember, this is an exercise – not about marketing yourself. Take as much time/space as you need.
- Not sure where to start? Write and consider one or more prompts below. Go beyond a written a list of your general “tasks, duties and responsibilities” commonly summarized on your resume:
  - Why was this activity, role or involvement important to me?
  - What does time spent with this activity say about me?
  - What have I learned about myself/my community/the profession? How have I grown/changed from this experience?
  - How has this activity, role, involvement or personal circumstance prepared/influenced
    - my personal interest to serve my community?
    - my specific motivation for a lifetime of public service as a provider in the health or legal field?
Trouble Self-Reflecting?
- Talk through it. Record yourself talking through your thoughts.
- Actively listen to your recordings. This may help you find a starting point for your written personal journal entries.
- Remember, no one else will be reading your journals - so speak from the heart. Being open and honest helps you process your written reflections and where/how they may relate to various parts of your Pre-Professional Journey and application process.

Step 3

Brainstorm

Formulate your statement focus.

Review Your Reflections
- Take a break. Step away from your written journal self-reflections for a few days.
- Resume with a quiet space and a fresh perspective. Thoughtfully read/review all of your personal writing and journal entries.
Formulate Your Statement Focus
- Spend time and answer the questions below to narrow and formulate your individual personal statement focus. This time will allow you to think more freely, without fear or judgment.
  - What initial thoughts/feelings arise from your reflections?
  - What seems to speak to you within any experience or in your personal journey so far?
  - Is there any special information that you feel is extremely relevant for an admissions committee to specifically know about you?
  - Are there any special circumstances which you feel are extremely important for an admissions committee to better understand you?
- Need additional techniques to narrow your focus? Use a dry-erase board or sticky notes to organize after answering these questions. Often it helps further brainstorm, narrow or connect key thoughts you may have in this formulation process.

Step 4

Communicate

Writing techniques and tips.

Key Elements
- Don’t over communicate. Stay focused on your key elements when answering these questions below:
  - What key elements and specific thoughts would you like to primarily focus on? (two or three maximum suggested)
  - Out of your entire OSU Pre-Professional Journey, what is most important to communicate to a professional admissions committee to better understand you and/or your motivation towards this specific profession?
Write
- Get started. Always remember:
  - “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”
  - “If you wait for inspiration to write you’re not a writer, you’re a waiter.”
- No matter what your key elements may be in your personal statement, all great essays will:
  - Stay on topic
  - Be organized
  - Be experience-based
  - Include few wasted words
  - Have clean grammar and mechanics
Writing Tips
- Not sure where to start? Write your introduction later if you don’t know how to start. Focus on the body of your statement. You can always create your introduction paragraph to lead the reader towards your key elements and body of the statement.
- Don’t feel that you must tell you entire, life story or that is must be from the very beginning.
  - Personal statements do have word limits.
  - Nearly every candidate is initially drawn towards a profession for not uncommon reasons. If your brainstorming has led you to more relevant, key elements to discuss beyond where your initial interest or journey started, stay focused on those elements.
  - First impressions or why you initially became interested in your specific health care or law career are often very powerful and personally unforgettable. However, it might not always be the most relevant, key element that you need to focus on or discuss in your personal statement.
- Stay focused in your adult-life perspective to connect who you are today. It is okay to discuss your non-adult past if it provides extremely crucial context to your adult-life and viewpoint today. However, don’t spend most of your statement discussing your individual thought process at a less-developed, non-adult age versus who you are today.
Admissions Perspective
- Professional school statements are not necessarily memorable from “what” experiences you’ve had to stand out. Often thousands of candidates applying, like you, commonly may have had similar personal experiences or circumstances.
- What is more memorable is your genuine, personal meaningfulness and growth from your key experiences and/or circumstances in your personal journey. Thus, be thoughtful of what you’ve personally decided is most important to communicate in your personal statement.
- If appropriate, consider how your key experiences or circumstances have changed you and/or your pathway in a very specific, personal way.
- REMEMBER, personal statements are:
  - Not just your “what.” = What happened/occurred.
  - It is your “so what.” = Genuine, personal meaningfulness of your key experiences and/or circumstances along your journey.
  - If appropriate, connect your “now what.” = Now, what has changed within you since this past personal experience or circumstance occurred? Briefly connect a personal context of what your more recently demonstrated capacities, contributions, etc. look like - and why.

Step 5

Edit, Feedback & Submission

Tips, approaches and resources.

Statement General Tips
- Expect to go through multiple drafts. “There is no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting.”
- A personal statement is like art. It is one of a kind and may feel in this collective process that it may never be fully done. Don’t expect this to be about perfection but ensure that the statement best represents you.
- Don’t obsess about the “perfect” personal statement. If you were asked to write this statement from a blank slate 10 times, it might be slightly different each time. Overall, focus on your genuine voice. Stay on topic, be organized and draw from experience-based personal context. Focus on few wasted words, clean grammar and mature writing mechanics.
- No person is admitted solely on their personal statement. However, is a very important piece of your holistic application, providing additional context of your personal readiness for professional school. Your entire professional application is a collective body of "artwork" which helps fully represent you as a candidate. Always keep in mind that your personal statement, along with many other factors - all matter to professional school admission committees.
Proofreading Tips
- Take a break between your writing and editing. Approach self-editing with a clear head. Plan for one uninterrupted hour to work on written edits to ensure a thorough and thoughtful job. The results will definitely be worthwhile.
- Remember, editing isn’t just about errors. Polish your sentences at this point, making them smooth, interesting, and clear. Watch for very long sentences, since they may be less clear than shorter, more direct sentences. Pay attention to the rhythm of your writing; try to use sentences of varying lengths and patterns. Look for unnecessary phrases, repetition, and awkward spots.
- Read aloud, like a speech or use Microsoft Word’s “Read Aloud” review feature to actively listen to your own words. This will slow you down to hear the difference between what you meant to write and what you actually wrote.
- Use a spell-checker on your computer but use it carefully. Always do your own spell-checking. Computer spell-checkers often make errors. It might suggest a word that isn’t what you want at all or may not catch you've used the wrong word if it's spelled correctly (e.g. there, their, and they’re).
- Be aware of your tone. Self-awareness in your written communication and tone is very important. Does it come across as arrogant, entitled or uninformed to the realities of a career and/or service as a future provider in health care or law?
Self-Editing, Support & Pre-Feedback Advice
- OSU Writing Center has online writing resources and one-on-one appointments to mentor and improve your overall effectiveness – from brainstorming and drafting, to editing and proofreading techniques.
- Do not expect an OSU Writing Center staff or others who review your work to decide “what is best” or “what looks good.” Your statement is personal to you and only you can objectively evaluate your myriad of experiences to determine what is best for you.
- The individual 5-step personal statement process is something that you truly must do on your own – it is a personal statement, which must come from you.
- Although it is encouraged to seek additional feedback of your final personal statement draft, it is imperative to continually improve your overall effective written communication and self-editing skills throughout your journey.
  - Why?
  - Additional writing and essays are expected in your professional school admissions application and may be discussed during admission interviews. Effective written communication abilities are imperative for future success in professional school.
Final Statement Feedback
- Before seeking final draft personal statement feedback, re-read your final draft. Ask yourself:
  - Does it answer the specific question/prompt (if appropriate)?
  - Did I loose my statement focus? Does it make sense when I read it aloud (like a speech)?
  - Is this written from my perspective or someone else’s viewpoint?
  - Does it genuinely communicate the key elements I wanted the committee to know about me or my journey towards this profession?
- Brainstorm a trusted peer, mentor or other individual(s) to review. It is not required to have someone review or provide you feedback on your personal statement. However, consider feedback to ensure that your written communication effectively aligns with your intentional personal message in your statement.
- Don’t wait until the last minute. Ask in advance if they would be willing to read and provide honest feedback regarding your personal statement for professional school. Schedule in advance an appointment with an individual to ensure appropriate time to discuss your personal statement together.
- (Optional) Pre-Professional Health & Law Support Services Feedback:
  - Upon completion of all these steps and your final personal statement version is completed, you are welcome to schedule an appointment to discuss your personal statement.
  - All appointments are booked online via our website, "appointments" Select the "Personal Statement" appointment option.
  - Scheduled personal statement appointments focus on effective, professional school personal statement feedback and techniques to ensure that you have found your authentic voice.
  - We will not edit or proofread your personal statement. A professional school candidate’s writing abilities must stand on their own. Consult with the OSU Writing Center if you need help with general writing structure and self-editing techniques to improve your overall writing skill sets in the writing process towards your final, personal statement draft.
Personal Statement Submission
- Detail matters. Follow all official submission instructions and guidelines. Often your submission may not be an “uploaded” document in the national application portal instructions. Please review all official application instructions and formatting guidelines before submission.
- Complete your final editing on your own personal device (Microsoft Word, etc.) before typing it into your application portal. They will not have a spell-checker tool in national application portals. If your individual school does not use a national application portal, please follow their individual official admissions website submission instructions to the letter.
- Always double-check your work. Once you submit your application, you will not be able to edit your essay in the application portal.

The Office of Student Success

Pre-professional Support Services

5 Steps for Writing Your Personal Statement

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5