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Changes to the UCAS Personal Statement in 2024

This month has brought the news that, as of 2024, UCAS is no longer going to require applicants to write a personal statement when applying for university.

Please note this information is outdated; for more information please see our latest blog post here.

For years, the ucas personal statement has been a thorn in the side of applicants to uk universities everywhere - requiring students to spend the best part of several months reading, planning, and writing their magnum opus to impress their chosen universities. this month has brought the news that, as of 2024, ucas is no longer going to require applicants to write a personal statement when applying for university. in this blog, we’re going to take you through why this change is happening, how the personal statement’s going to be replaced, and how this is likely to affect you as an applicant..

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Why the change?

This change has been made in light of arguments by some that the existing personal statement system affords an advantage to more privileged students who have greater access to expert guidance and advice. with students from a greater variety of backgrounds attending university at a higher and higher rate every year, ucas have felt the need to reform the application process with the aim of widening access for all students, irrespective of their knowledge regarding the application process or whether they know someone who has made a successful application before. as reported by the times, ucas consulted with 1,200 students, 170 teachers, and over 100 universities and colleges before making these reforms, meaning that the new system is designed with not just universities but also applicants in mind, hopefully meaning that it suits the students applying as much as fitting the universities’ requirements., what is replacing the personal statement, as of 2024, rather than having an open response box in which to fill in their own, self-constructed personal statement of 4,000 characters, students will instead be asked to respond to a series of structured questions which focus on six key areas:, motivation for the course - why do you want to study these courses, preparedness for the course - how has your learning so far helped you to be ready to succeed on these courses, preparation through other experience - what else have you done to help you prepare, and why are these experiences useful, extenuating circumstances - is there anything that the universities and colleges need to know about, to help them put your achievements and experiences so far into context, preparedness for study - what have you done to prepare yourself for student life, preferred learning styles - which learning and assessment style best suit you, and how do your course choices match that, what does this mean for my application, in real terms, this shouldn’t change your personal statement process too much - in essence, the new system effectively de-constructs your personal statement so that it’s clearer what you should reflect upon and how to structure your answers. most of these questions focus around topics that you’re likely to be answering in your personal statement anyway, so there’s no need to go and completely scrap everything you’ve been thinking of already, private consultation.

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What are Personal Statements Being Replaced with?

With the announcement that the current system for UCAS Personal Statements will be getting replaced, it is only natural to be asking what will be replacing it. Thankfully, we have already been given some idea of what to expect.

Unlike the other major shake-up to the 2024 admission process, the removal of various admissions tests including the BMAT , the official announcement has provided us with an explanation of what UCAS is seeking to implement instead of traditional Personal Statements.

Put simply, the current format of providing a 4,000-character piece of writing will be replaced with a series of specific questions which applicants must answer. These questions will still allow you to write your answers out, but you will be answering set questions instead of having to plan and structure a full statement from scratch.

The specifics of this system have not been announced yet, including the number of questions and the character limits. We also don’t know what the questions will be yet as they are still being developed. However, we do know the key areas that these questions will focus on (all points are taken directly from the UCAS report):

Motivation for Course – Why do you want to study these courses?
Preparedness for Course – How has your learning so far helped you to be ready to succeed on these courses?
Preparation through other experiences – What else have you done to help you prepare, and why are these experiences useful?
Extenuating circumstances – Is there anything that the universities and colleges need to know about, to help them put your achievements and experiences so far into context?
Preparedness for study – What have you done to prepare yourself for student life?
Preferred Learning Styles – Which learning and assessment styles best suit you – how do your courses choices match that?

Of course, this is all subject to change as UCAS is still actively working with universities to determine what they want most from applicants. However, it seems that they are aiming to cover the same ground as traditional Personal Statements while also allowing applicants to discuss more personal factors such as motivation, preference and extenuating circumstances.

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At UniAdmissions, we’re working tirelessly to ensure that our tutors, curriculum and resources are ready to get our students through these changes. You can join them today and ensure you get the support you need to make it through the 2024 admissions cycle .

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When Are UCAS Personal Statements Being Replaced?

The initial announcement stated that these reforms to the Personal Statement system will be introduced in the 2024 admissions cycle for 2025 entry. However, UCAS have since gone back on this and delayed the change to as early as 2025 (for 2026 Entry). However, this change could also occur the following year for 2027 Entry.

UniAdmissions contacted UCAS directly to confirm if a date had been set for the implementation of the new Personal Statement format. The representative stated the following:

The current discussion around the Personal Statement changes are to improve the application process for all applicants. At the moment the earliest this change would take place is in the 2026 application cycle. There won't be any changes this year. UCAS Representative

It’s worth mentioning that these plans have been in place for a fair amount of time, with discussions of reforming the application process starting in April 2021. However, this change still won’t be implemented for another year, so applicants applying for 2025 (and potentially 2026) Entry will still need to submit a traditional Personal Statement.

Why Are UCAS Personal Statements Being Removed?

The announcement of these reforms was made on January 12th 2023 via a blog post on the official HEPI website. This post highlights the amendments being made to the Personal Statement process and the research that was conducted to influence this change.

Interestingly, the data quoted in this post states that the majority of applicants surveyed were happy with the current Personal Statement process, with 72% feeling positive about it. However, the same survey indicated that 83% of applicants found the process stressful and 79% felt unable to complete theirs without support. This is the data that most likely influenced the changes.

The post’s writer, Kim Eccleston, states that they are aiming to provide better support for both applicants and universities, creating “a more supportive framework” that allows applicants to write about what the universities need to know in a less restrictive way. It is also stated in a more detailed outline of the announcement that both students and teachers preferred the use of specific questions instead of free-form writing.

However, a previous post released in November 2022 provides even more insight into the reasoning behind this decision. Based on data featured in HEPI Debate Paper 31 , various industry professionals had commented on the challenges facing applicants of certain background when it comes to the current style of Personal Statement.

Within the quotes featured here, the traditional UCAS Personal Statement was described as “ambiguous” , “unfair” and “barometers of middle-class privilege” . These comments may potentially be in reference to the current importance of work experience, which can be difficult to obtain without connections in certain industries, as well as additional experiences which may not be available to all applicants.

Therefore, this new system should presumably reduce the barriers for disadvantaged applicants by shifting focus to each individual’s own interest and abilities within their chosen subjects.

Other Changes being Made by UCAS

Personal Statements are only one of five key areas being altered by UCAS, as highlighted in the blog post. This is certainly the most significant action taking place, but other changes to the application process include:

Academic references are being reformed, moving from a free-text approach to a set of three questions, similar to the Personal Statement reforms.
The 'Entry Grade Report' will be created, which allows applicants to see grade profiles that have been accepted for courses over a five year period.
A 'Course Recommendation Tool' is being created to provide applicants with personalised suggestions for courses based on their current grades and preferences.
A 'Fair Access Programme' is being created to encourage widening access and participation.

Overall, it seems these changes all have the same intent; to level the playing field and make university applications more achievable for everyone.

How will this affect my university application?

As previously stated, if you are applying to university this year for 2025 Entry, you will not be affected by these reforms and will need to submit a traditional Personal Statement to UCAS like previous years.

For applicants applying for 2026/27 Entry and beyond, your application will follow this new process, meaning you won’t have to submit a full Personal Statement but will instead need to answer a series of questions relating to your application and abilities for your chosen course.

When hearing that the whole process will be changing, this typically instils a feeling of dread as you’ll be treading new ground that no one else has experienced before. However, it’s important to understand that UCAS states these changes are being made for the benefit of both the applicants and the universities.

As we’ve already discussed, a key part of the reason this change is being implemented is that a high percentage of applicants found writing a traditional Personal Statement stressful, which is counterintuitive to what UCAS is trying to achieve. By providing applicants with a strong framework, in the form of specific questions, this new process should allow more applicants to provide better quality statements for universities.

This change is also set to be particularly beneficial to those from disadvantaged backgrounds, as the process will allow them to better express their ability regardless of any areas that may be lacking due to factors out of their control. Essentially, the new process should allow more people to stand a better chance of making a good impression despite limitations.

How Can I Start Preparing?

If you’re starting your preparations early, the main barrier you’ll face at this stage of preparation is not knowing what the questions will be, as they have yet to be announced. There are no resources available currently that cover this system, so you’re going to have to be independent with your preparation here.

Since we have a rough outline of what the questions to focus on, you should still be able to practice your responses. Although they won’t be as relevant any more, it would still be helpful to check out Personal Statement guides and examples as these can help you pin down the language and writing style you use.

With all this information now available to us, you should be able to get a sense of what to do for your application in the coming years. The initial introduction of this system in 2024 will act as a test of its effectiveness, so elements could be changed in the years following. However, the important thing is that you understand how things are changing from the current system and how you can make the most of the new system.

If you are applying for university in 2023 for 2024 Entry, you will need to make sure you’re ready to write your Personal Statement. Thankfully, UniAdmissions have plenty of resources to help you through it, including our Ultimate UCAS Personal Statement Guide and our collection of successful Oxbridge Personal Statements .

If you’re looking for more in-depth support that covers the whole application process for Medicine, Law and Oxbridge courses, them find out how you can enrol in one of our Premium Programmes .

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Ucas personal statements are changing: here’s what you need to know.

Personal statements are set to become a thing of the past. The University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has introduced a new process for university applications.

Personal statements are set to become a thing of the past. The University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has introduced a new process for university applications from 2025, meaning that the process will change in 2024 ready for 2025 entrants.

Personal statements have always been an essential part of the university application process. However, UCAS has decided to scrap personal statements in their traditional form. They will now be replaced by a new three-question structure.

If you are preparing to apply for university right now, then you don’t need to worry too much. This new structure isn’t coming into play until 2025, when students are applying for 2026 entry.

What is the new application process?

The new application process differs from the original university application process. Initially, university students were required to write a personal statement, which would be uploaded to UCAS Hub . Universities would then read the personal statement as part of your original university application and make their offers from there.

Under the new process, it will work differently. Under the new university admissions policy, you will no longer be required to write a detailed personal statement but will need to answer questions related to three key areas.

Current key themes are:

Motivation for course: Why do you want to study the course?
Preparedness for course: How has your learning thus far helped you to be prepared for your course?
Preparation through other experiences: What else have you done to help yourself prepare? How and why are these experiences so useful?
Extenuating circumstances: Is there anything the university needs to know about you? (optional)

These questions allow students to present themselves in their own words but with more structure. Teacher references will also change, allowing for more objective comments.

Depending on user feedback, these questions may change in the future.

Preparedness for study: What have you done to prepare yourself for student life?
Preferred learning styles: Which learning and assessment styles suit you best?

Following extensive consultation, UCAS scrapped the latter three. This is because UCAS discovered that the themes would be too difficult to universities that have different teaching and assessment styles. The extenuating circumstances question will have a different section to be answered, but not everyone will need to answer it.

When does this new process start?

This new process will be introduced in 2025 and take effect for 2026 applicants. Those applying to university for 2023, 2024 or 2025 will still need to write a personal statement for their application in the current format.

This means the new process will be coming in after January 2025 (October 2024, if you are applying to Oxbridge ).

A personalised tool will also launch later this year. This tool will provide applicants with entry-grade reports that will give students a range of the profiles accepted onto similar courses over a five-year period, using UCAS data.

Why is the process changing?

UCAS has decided to change the university application process based on student feedback. This process will now offer greater support for applicants from different academic backgrounds.

UCAS has recently published their own report on current applications, called the Future of Undergraduate Admissions report. This research discovered that, out of 13,000 polled students, as many as 83% found writing a personal statement to be too stressful, while a further 79% found the statement too difficult to write without appropriate support.

Personal statements were not unpopular, however. 72% of students found that personal statements were essential parts of the university application process. Personal statements allowed students to stand out as more than just application numbers and their grades. However, the question format s will allow students to continue to stand out from other applicants.

How are teacher references changing?

Teacher references are changing to allow teachers to make more objective comments regarding students. Students can pick current or former academic referees, such as teachers, tutors or head teachers; these referees will then write a full reference to their career goals, work experience and predicted grades.

This process is set to change slightly for 2026 applicants. Under the new system, the referee will instead answer three structured questions. In these questions, teachers will include a general statement about the student’s school or college, any extenuating circumstances that could affect the student’s exam performances and any other circumstances the teacher feels the university should be aware of.

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Changes to the UCAS Personal Statement

The UCAS personal statement has been a stumbling block for university applicants for decades. However, UCAS (University and Colleges Admissions Service) is shortly to introduce an entirely new process which will instead adopt a structure incorporating six questions applicants will have to answer instead.

How will the personal statement be changing?

The previous requirement was for a lengthy and potentially unstructured personal statement which would be uploaded to the UCAS Hub.

Universities would read this statement, and potentially make admissions decisions and offers based upon your statement and your predicted grades. For a lot of students, especially those who didn’t necessarily have access – either socially or financially – to a lot of the extracurricular activities their peers might, this immediately put them at a disadvantage. Initially the new process was due to be introduced in 2024, for applicants looking for university entry from 2025. However, UCAS have now decided that it won't be introduced until 2025 at the earliest.

Currently, it is understood that the new process will ask you to answer questions on six areas related to your potential suitability for university entrance and study on your course. These are likely – but not yet confirmed – to be something along the following lines:

Why do you want to study this course?
What have you learned so far that prepares you for this course?
What else have you done (that isn’t necessarily directly related to the subject) that helps you prepare, and why has this been useful?
Are there any circumstances that the university needs to be aware of (such as personal, health, home, or other home life issues)?
How have you prepared/are you preparing for student life (i.e. independent living)?
Which styles of learning suit you best?

This structured statement will allow students to give the university admissions board a good idea of who they are and what they might offer to the course and to the institution, but also give them guided help with what has previously been a dreaded part of the admissions process. It’s not just students that are subject to changes here; teacher references will also undergo changes, with an emphasis on objective assessment. The changes are still in fledgling form, and feedback will be sought from end users to refine the changes even further if necessary.

When will the changes to the personal statement take effect?

If you’re applying next year for 2026 entry, the bad news is that you will still have to write a personal statement (although, of course, there’s nothing to stop you using the prototype questions to help you structure this and make the process easier!).

These changes will come into effect for students looking to enter a programme of higher education from 2026 onwards.

What will help you, however, if you’re planning to go to university in 2024, is the personalised tool .

This will allow you to see the kind of profiles that have been accepted onto courses similar to those you are interested in over the past five years. So really don’t despair if you’re in the “last of the personal statements” intake!

Why is the personal statement changing?

University entrants are changing. Applicants who wouldn’t have considered university education as being a possibility for them even a decade ago are now graduating with top degrees.

However, the personal statement – with a bias towards those who are lucky enough to have a rich social and extracurricular experience to back up their academic prowess – wasn’t adequately reflecting (or indeed supporting) the students who might have needs or circumstances that precluded wider experiences. Current findings from UCAS show that 79% of students found the personal statement “too difficult” to write without additional and appropriate support. That’s almost 4/5 of applicants, so unquestionably shows the need for change.

That doesn’t mean, however, that students don’t see and acknowledge the value of the personal statement. The revamped, structured statement should allow all university applicants to show their worth on an equal basis.

To find out more, read the following report on the Future of Undergraduate Admissions from UCAS.

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How to Write a Strong Personal Statement

Ruth Gotian
Ushma S. Neill

A few adjustments can get your application noticed.

Whether applying for a summer internship, a professional development opportunity, such as a Fulbright, an executive MBA program, or a senior leadership development course, a personal statement threads the ideas of your CV, and is longer and has a different tone and purpose than a traditional cover letter. A few adjustments to your personal statement can get your application noticed by the reviewer.

Make sure you’re writing what they want to hear. Most organizations that offer a fellowship or internship are using the experience as a pipeline: It’s smart to spend 10 weeks and $15,000 on someone before committing five years and $300,000. Rarely are the organizations being charitable or altruistic, so align your stated goals with theirs
Know when to bury the lead, and when to get to the point. It’s hard to paint a picture and explain your motivations in 200 words, but if you have two pages, give the reader a story arc or ease into your point by setting the scene.
Recognize that the reviewer will be reading your statement subjectively, meaning you’re being assessed on unknowable criteria. Most people on evaluation committees are reading for whether or not you’re interesting. Stated differently, do they want to go out to dinner with you to hear more? Write it so that the person reading it wants to hear more.
Address the elephant in the room (if there is one). Maybe your grades weren’t great in core courses, or perhaps you’ve never worked in the field you’re applying to. Make sure to address the deficiency rather than hoping the reader ignores it because they won’t. A few sentences suffice. Deficiencies do not need to be the cornerstone of the application.

At multiple points in your life, you will need to take action to transition from where you are to where you want to be. This process is layered and time-consuming, and getting yourself to stand out among the masses is an arduous but not impossible task. Having a polished resume that explains what you’ve done is the common first step. But, when an application asks for it, a personal statement can add color and depth to your list of accomplishments. It moves you from a one-dimensional indistinguishable candidate to someone with drive, interest, and nuance.

Ruth Gotian is the chief learning officer and associate professor of education in anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, and the author of The Success Factor and Financial Times Guide to Mentoring . She was named the #1 emerging management thinker by Thinkers50. You can access her free list of conversation starters and test your mentoring impact . RuthGotian
Ushma S. Neill is the Vice President, Scientific Education & Training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. She runs several summer internships and is involved with the NYC Marshall Scholar Selection Committee. ushmaneill

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Frequently Asked Questions About Your Personal Statement

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by College Essay Guy Essay Specialist Kaila Barber in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.

What’s Covered:

Writing about personal challenges, setting yourself apart.

Many students struggle with selecting a topic for their personal statement . Kaila Barber, an essay specialist from College Essay Guy, is often asked if certain topics are too personal or even too negative for a college application.

It’s not uncommon for students to write about navigating personal challenges in their personal statements or as part of the broader college application process. Certain essay prompts will specifically ask you to reflect on these types of experiences. While there are certain topics you should navigate carefully or avoid entirely, in your personal statement, Barber confirms that there isn’t a blanket right or wrong topic to choose.

Is Mental Health an Appropriate Topic for a Personal Statement?

As studies around mental health become more common and widely discussed, many students ask if writing about a severe mental health challenge would be appropriate for a personal statement.

There are a few things to keep in mind when writing about mental health or any similar challenge. Certain types of challenges will be more commonly written about than others, although this shouldn’t discourage you from writing about them as well. However, keep in mind that your personal statement should set you apart in some way from the other students applying. When talking about your mental health challenge, it’s important to make sure that you convey your personal experiences with specific details that are unique to who you are.

Focusing on specific events and experiences that tie back to your overall topic of mental health and how you navigated it tells your reader a lot more of your values, skills, qualities, traits, and interests. For example, if you’ve struggled with mental health but developed a creative coping strategy using music or the arts, you could discuss those experiences as part of your statement. Perhaps you developed a music therapy program at your school and your work was featured in an article or a live interview.

What Makes a Successful Personal Challenge Essay?

Writing about challenges of any sort can be just that―a challenge. In general, if you can take your essay and swap in someone else who also has navigated a similar challenge, then you’ve got to be a little bit more specific. While you don’t have to share your deepest, darkest secrets, be sure to include details and experiences that are unique to you—after all, it is a personal statement.

It’s also important to remember that your essay should include reflection. Many students who choose to write about their challenges forget to talk about how they overcame or what they learned from their experiences. Make sure that you don’t spend your entire essay talking about the challenge, reflect on how you navigated this challenge and how you’ve grown as a person.

When you think about your challenges and experiences, ask yourself what did you learn? How has this impacted your perspective and how you think about the world around you?

This same guidance applies regardless of whether you’re discussing your experiences with mental health, trauma, loss, or any other personal events. Be sure to include details that are specific to you and reflect on them accordingly.

Once you’ve selected a topic, the next step is to think about how to set yourself apart. Barber recommends that, regardless of your academic or extracurricular profile, you should be genuine and authentic. While some students tend to inflate their experiences based on what they think an admissions counselor would want to read, this is something picked up on easily and can impact your chance of admittance negatively.

How Can I Set Myself Apart When Writing About Accolades or Accomplishments?

Remember that, as part of your college application, you’ll be asked to provide a resume as well as some information about your extracurriculars and any related accomplishments. Your personal statement should not be a second resume. While the context related to awards and accomplishments can often make for interesting stories, it’s important to make sure that you craft a strong personal voice as many students will have a long list of impressive accomplishments to reflect on similar to yours.

Certain types of accomplishments, such as competing at a national or international level, will be rarer and will have a higher “wow” factor to begin with. Even regional, state, or local competitions can make for a strong essay topic when written with a strong personal voice and reflections.

So, if you’re going to write about a particular competition or event, for example, focus on the interactions and details that were most meaningful to you. Focus on the thoughts, feelings, and emotions that you had during the competition. What did you learn from it? Certainly don’t downplay your accomplishments but, rather, bring your reader into your world with thoughtful reflections on how the experience impacted you and how you’ve grown.

What If I’ve Reached the Word Limit?

Many students have a tendency to be quite wordy when writing the initial drafts of their personal statements. Regardless of whether you’re writing a standard three-prong essay or something more experimental, there are a few tips and tricks you can use to make sure your statement meets the word limit.

The first thing is to use contractions. This trick won’t save you hundreds of words but changing an “I am” to an “I’m” where appropriate can certainly help to trim down a little fat. Similarly, cutting down on auxiliary verbs and unnecessary words can help make your writing more effective and concise. Rather than saying “I was driving in the morning,” simply saying “I drove that morning” will save you a few words and create an action-driven narrative.

Barber also recommends reading your essay out loud. It is easy to unintentionally restate things when writing. However, reading your statement out loud can help you identify when you’re repeating yourself. If you still find yourself significantly over the word count, give your essay to someone you trust and ask them to cut out anything that they think doesn’t add to the story. In general, if there are sentences or details in your essay that do not further the reader’s understanding of who you are, consider cutting them out.

Are you looking for more tips on how to write an effective personal statement? Check out our other posts on personal statements for more information.

How to Write a Personal Statement

A personal statement can be a key part of your college application, and you can really make yours shine by following a few tips.

[Featured Image] A lady with pink hair is holding a piece of paper with a laptop on her lap.

When you're applying to college—either to an undergraduate or graduate program—you may be asked to submit a personal statement. It's an essay that gives you the chance to share more about who you are and why you'd like to attend the university you're applying to.

The information you provide in your personal statement can help build on your other application materials, like your transcripts and letters of recommendation, and build a more cohesive picture to help the admissions committee understand your goals.

In this article, we'll go over more about personal statements, including why they're important, what to include in one, and tips for strengthening yours.

What is a personal statement?

A personal statement—sometimes known as a college essay —is a brief written essay you submit with other materials when applying to college or university. Personal statements tend to be most common for undergraduate applications, and they're a great opportunity for an admissions committee to hear your voice directly.

Many colleges and universities in the US, especially those using Common App , provide prompts for you to use. For example, "Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea" or "Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time" [ 1 ]. If the school you're interested in attending doesn't require prompts, you will likely want to craft a response that touches on your story, your values, and your goals if possible.

In grad school, personal statements are sometimes known as letters of intent , and go into more detail about your academic and professional background, while expressing interest in attending the particular program you're applying to.

Why is a personal statement important?

Personal statements are important for a number of reasons. Whereas other materials you submit in an application can address your academic abilities (like your transcripts) or how you perform as a student (like your letters of recommendation), a personal statement is a chance to do exactly that: get more personal.

Personal statements typically:

Permit you to share things that don't fit on your resume, such as personal stories, motivations, and values

Offer schools a chance to see why you're interested in a particular field of study and what you hope to accomplish after you graduate

Provide an opportunity for you to talk about past employment, volunteer experiences, or skills you have that complement your studies

Allow colleges to evaluate your writing skills

Bring life to a college application package otherwise filled with facts and figures

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How to write a personal statement.

As we mentioned earlier, you may have to respond to a prompt when drafting your personal statement—or a college or university may invite you to respond however you'd like. In either case, use the steps below to begin building your response.

Create a solid hook .

To capture the attention of an admissions committee member, start your personal statement with a hook that relates to the topic of your essay. A hook tends to be a colorful sentence or two at the very beginning that compels the reader to continue reading.

To create a captivating hook, try one of these methods:

Pose a rhetorical question.

Provide an interesting statistic.

Insert a quote from a well-known person.

Challenge the reader with a common misconception.

Use an anecdote, which is a short story that can be true or imaginary.

Credibility is crucial when writing a personal statement as part of your college application process. If you choose a statistic, quote, or misconception for your hook, make sure it comes from a reliable source.

Follow a narrative.

The best personal statements typically read like a story: they have a common theme, as well as a beginning, middle, and end. This type of format also helps keep your thoughts organized and improves the flow of your essay.

Common themes to consider for your personal statement include:

Special role models from your past

Life-altering events you've experienced

Unusual challenges you've faced

Accomplishments you're especially proud of

Service to others and why you enjoy it

What you've learned from traveling to a particular place

Unique ways you stand out from other candidates

Be specific.

Admissions committees read thousands of personal statements every year, which is why being specific on yours is important. Back up your statements with examples or anecdotes.

For instance, avoid vague assertions like, "I'm interested in your school counseling program because I care about children." Instead, point out experiences you've had with children that emphasize how much you care. For instance, you might mention your summer job as a day camp counselor or your volunteer experience mentoring younger children.

Don't forget to include detail and vibrancy to keep your statement interesting. The use of detail shows how your unique voice and experiences can add value to the college or university you're applying to.

Stay on topic.

It's natural to want to impress the members of the admissions committee who will read your personal statement. The best way to do this is to lead your readers through a cohesive, informative, and descriptive essay.

If you feel you might be going astray, ensure each paragraph in your essay's body supports your introduction. Here are a few more strategies that can help keep you on track:

Know what you want to say and do research if needed.

Create an outline listing the key points you want to share.

Read your outline aloud to confirm it makes logical sense before proceeding.

Read your essay aloud while you're writing to confirm you're staying on topic.

Ask a trusted friend or family member to read your essay and make suggestions.

Be true to your own voice.

Because of the importance of your personal statement, you could be tempted to be very formal with structure and language. However, using a more relaxed tone is better than you would for a classroom writing assignment.

Remember: admissions committees really want to hear from you . Writing in your own voice will help accomplish this. To ensure your tone isn't too relaxed, write your statement as if you were speaking to an older relative or trusted teacher. This way, you'll come across as respectful, confident, and honest.

Tips for drafting an effective personal statement.

Now that you've learned a little about personal statements and how to craft them, here are a few more tips you can follow to strengthen your essay:

1. Customize your statement.

You don't have to completely rewrite your personal statement every time you apply to a new college, but you want to make sure you tailor it as much as possible. For instance, if you talk about wanting to take a certain class or study a certain subject, make sure you adjust any specifics for each application.

2. Avoid cliches.

Admissions committees are ultimately looking for students who will fit the school, and who the school can help guide toward their larger goals. In that case, cliches can get in the way of a reviewer understanding what it is you want from a college education. Watch out for cliches like "making a difference," "broadening my horizons," or "the best thing that ever happened to me."

3. Stay focused.

Try to avoid getting off-track or including tangents in your personal statement. Stay focused by writing a first draft and then re-reading what you've written. Does every paragraph flow from one point to the next? Are the ideas you're presenting cohesive?

4. Stick to topics that aren't controversial.

It's best not to discuss political beliefs or inappropriate topics in your essay. These can be controversial; ideally, you want to share something goals- or values-driven with an admissions committee.

Polish your writing skills on Coursera.

A stellar personal statement starts with stellar writing skills. Enhance your writing ability with a writing course from a top university, like Good with Words: Writing and Editing from the University of Michigan or Writing a Personal Essay from Wesleyan University. Get started for free to level up your writing.

Article sources

1. Common App. " 2022-2023 Common App Essay Prompts , https://www.commonapp.org/blog/2022-2023-common-app-essay-prompts." Accessed January 9, 2024.

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How do I write a compelling personal statement when I have nothing to say?

I’m graduating from school soon and plan to start university, but I’m stuck with my application. My life is so boring — I haven’t achieved anything like being a Student Council President like the rest of my friends. What do I write about in my personal statement?

Dear Student,

Congratulations on taking your first step into the rest of your life! Now comes the hard part.

University applications can be stressful — most of us here at Study International know that first-hand. But don’t panic — feeling stuck on how to write a personal statement is a common problem. After all, a personal statement is likely to be different from anything you’ve written about while in school.

You’ve probably come across plenty of guides on how to write a personal statement , but lots of these are geared towards those who have a list of accomplishments under their belts, just like the friends you’ve mentioned. It’s probably stressed you out, and we don’t blame you.

However, here’s what they don’t tell you: you don’t always have to be an expert pianist or top of your class to stand out in your university applications.

You just need a great personal statement — and this is something within your power to do.

A great personal statement can make or break your application. Source: Alain Jocard/AFP

Why is my personal statement so important?

Your personal statement is the one chance for you to speak directly to a university you’re applying to . This is your shot to tell your chosen university why the subject you’re looking to study interests you and why you want to pursue it with them. Most importantly, it’s your chance to tell them about yourself in your own words.

What if I don’t have anything interesting to say?

Firstly, don’t adopt a negative mindset. You aren’t boring just because you haven’t won a national championship at an insanely young age, or have been named best in the world for your A Level results.

Think about the things you do every day. They probably seem insignificant to you, but you’d be surprised about the skills you unknowingly gain from your hobbies. For example, you might not realise it, but video gaming in your past time gives you plenty of opportunities to think on your feet, to make decisions under pressure, organise and lead a team, strategise ways to accomplish your in-game goals, and more.

This is backed up by research too: scientists have found that video games improve cognitive function ; increase the parts of your brain responsible for spatial orientation, memory formation, strategic planning, and fine motor skills; helps dyslexic kids improve their reading abilities; and even makes you more open to new experiences .

Now think about this in relation to the subject you’re applying for. If you want to pursue an engineering degree, you can talk about the problem-solving skills you’ve gained from gaming. English students can mention how the rich storylines are inspiring; business management students have solid examples of demonstrable leadership and communication.

Having said this, you should still speak with your advisor to see if something like video gaming is worth mentioning in your personal statement. Remember that the most common paths aren’t always the best ones to follow, so be creative in how you chart yours!

If in doubt, remember this piece of advice given by an outreach officer at University of Gloucestershire : “It’s an odd thing to talk about yourself, but don’t make assumptions about what an admissions tutor knows about you. Those things that make you different are what they need to know. They make you who you are, so tell us about them.”

How to write a personal statement: Find ways to keep learning

However, finding a way to tap into your existing strengths doesn’t mean that you should neglect other ways you can improve yourself. If you have time between now and your application deadline, you can do a lot of things to spice up your personal statement based on your personal interests and future career goals.

There are lots of online courses you can take within the span of a few weeks, such as a Data Analytics or UX Design course on Google, for example. If you’re pressed for time, Coursera offers a range of short courses you can complete within a day.

Is your application window in a few months? That’s great! You have plenty of time to gain some hands-on experience. It doesn’t matter how late into the term you are; if there’s a club or society you’re interested in joining, now’s the time to do it. Or if you want to take on a part-time job for a few weeks, or volunteer for a day or two, you should go for it. You’ll probably pick up a range of useful skills between now and then that you can talk about in your personal statement.

It’s a great way to show your uni that you’re still on a journey of self-development, and are constantly looking for ways to learn and grow. (Here’s a secret: universities love to hear that.)

Don’t underestimate your abilities — there’s a guarantee that you’ll have something unique to offer. Source: Fernando Leon/AFP

Mention any difficulties you’ve faced

There are some students who don’t have the best grades or a huge list of accomplishments for a good reason: family problems, financial issues, struggles with their mental or physical health, and so on.

If you think you fall into this category, you should mention this in your personal statement. This is even backed up by experts from UCAS. It’ll help your uni understand that you’re less active in extracurricular activities for a reason. It could even demonstrate your positive traits, like resilience and inner strength in the face of hardship.

However, there’s a fine line between outlining your personal circumstances and writing out a sob story. You don’t want your university to think that you’re trying to gain a spot out of pity, or that you’re trying to use something bad that’s happened to you as an excuse for not doing things.

If your circumstances have been genuine roadblocks, then do talk about them; if not, stay clear of this.

Give yourself plenty of time

The first draft is never the one you should submit; you’ll go through three, four, or sometimes even 10 drafts before you’ve got the right one. That’s not accounting for the skills you might have gained in the few weeks between your first draft and the application date, or any new clubs you’ve joined or books you’ve read.

Because of this, it’s important to give yourself plenty of time to write your personal statement. This doesn’t have to mean you should start stringing words together straight away; instead, start by creating a mind map about your skills, hobbies, and interests. This might seem simple, but don’t underestimate how much time this can take.

Above all, be confident in your own abilities and self-worth. Yes, you’ll have to convince your uni that you’re special, but to do this, you have to believe in yourself. The first step is convincing yourself that you deserve a spot in the course you’re applying for and that you can stand out among the rest.

You can do this. Good luck!

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How to Write a Personal Statement (with Tips and Examples)

Hannah Yang

What is a personal statement, 6 tips on how to write a personal statement, personal statement examples (for college and university), faqs about writing personal statements, conclusion on how to write a personal statement.

How do you tell someone who you are in just a few hundred words?

It’s certainly no easy task, but it’s one almost every college applicant must do. The personal statement is a crucial part of any college or university application.

So, how do you write a compelling personal statement?

In this article, we’ll give you all the tools, tips, and examples you need to write an effective personal statement.

A personal statement is a short essay that reveals something important about who you are. It can talk about your background, your interests, your values, your goals in life, or all of the above.

Personal statements are required by many college admission offices and scholarship selection committees. They’re a key part of your application, alongside your academic transcript, standardized test scores, and extracurricular activities.

The reason application committees ask you to write a personal statement is so they can get to know who you are.

Some personal statements have specific prompts, such as “Discuss a period of personal growth in your life” or “Tell us about a challenge or failure you’ve faced.” Others are more open-ended with prompts that essentially boil down to “Tell us about yourself.”

No matter what the prompt is, your goal is the same: to make yourself stand out to the selection committee as a strong candidate for their program.

Here are some things a personal statement can be:

It can be funny. If you have a great sense of humor, your personal statement is a great place to let that shine.

It can be vulnerable. Don’t be afraid to open up about hardships in your life or failures you’ve experienced. Showing vulnerability can make you sound more like a real person rather than just a collection of application materials.

It can be creative. Candidates have got into top schools with personal statements that take the form of “a day in the life” descriptions, third-person short stories, and even cooking recipes.

Now we’ve talked about what a personal statement is, let’s quickly look at what a personal statement isn’t:

It isn’t a formal academic paper. You should write the personal statement in your natural voice, using first-person pronouns like “I” and “me,” not in the formal, objective language you would use to write an academic paper.

It isn’t a five-paragraph essay. You should use as many paragraphs as you need to tell your story instead of sticking to the essay structure you learned in school.

It isn’t a resumé. You should try to describe yourself by telling a clear and cohesive story rather than providing a jumbled list of all of your accomplishments and ambitions.

Here are our top six tips for writing a strong personal statement.

Tip 1: Do Some Serious Self-Reflection

The hardest part of writing a personal statement isn’t the actual process of writing it.

Before you start typing, you have to figure out what to write about. And that means taking some time to reflect on who you are and what’s important in your life.

Here are some useful questions you can use to start your self-reflection. You can either answer these on your own by writing down your answers, or you can ask a trusted friend to listen as you talk about them together.

What were the key moments that shaped your life? (e.g. an important friendship, a travel experience, an illness or injury)

What are you proud of? (e.g. you’re a good listener, you always keep your promises, you’re a talented musician)

How do you choose to spend your time? (e.g. reading, practicing soccer, spending time with your friends)

What inspires you? (e.g. your grandmother, a celebrity, your favorite song)

Doing this self-reflection is crucial for figuring out the perfect topics and anecdotes you can use to describe who you are.

Tip 2: Try to Avoid Cliché Topics

College application committees read thousands of personal statements a year. That means there are some personal statement topics they see over and over again.

Here are a few examples of common personal statement topics that have become cliché:

Winning a tournament or sports game

Volunteering in a foreign country

Moving to a new home

Becoming an older sibling

Being an immigrant or having immigrant parents

If you want to make a strong impression in the application process, you need to make your personal statement stand out from the crowd.

But if your chosen personal statement topic falls into one of these categories, that doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t use it. Just make sure to put a unique spin on it so it still delivers something the committee hasn’t seen before.

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Tip 3: Show, Don’t Tell

One common mistake you might make in your personal statement is to simply tell the reader what you want them to know about you, such as by stating “I have a fear of public speaking” or “I love to cook.”

Instead of simply stating these facts, you should show the committee what you’re talking about through a story or scene, which will make your essay much more immersive and memorable.

For example, let’s say you want the committee to know you overcame your fear of public speaking. Instead of writing “I overcame my fear of public speaking,” show them what it was like to be onstage in front of a microphone. Did your palms get clammy? Did you feel light-headed? Did you forget your words?

Or let’s say you want the committee to know you love to cook. Instead of writing “I love to cook,” show them why you love to cook. What’s your favorite dish to cook? What does the air smell like when you’re cooking it? What kitchen appliances do you use to make it?

Tip 4: Connect the Story to Why You’re Applying

Don’t forget that the purpose of your personal statement isn’t simply to tell the admissions committee who you are. That’s an important part of it, of course, but your ultimate goal is to convince them to choose you as a candidate.

That means it’s important to tie your personal story to your reasons for applying to this specific school or scholarship. Finish your essay with a strong thesis.

For example, if your story is about overcoming your fear of public speaking, you might connect that story to your ambition of becoming a politician. You can then tie that to your application by saying, “I want to apply to this school because of its fantastic politics program, which will give me a perfect opportunity to use my voice.”

Tip 5: Write in Your Own Voice

The personal statement isn’t supposed to be written in a formal tone. That’s why they’re called “personal” statements because you have to shape it to fit your own voice and style.

Don’t use complicated or overwrought language. You don’t need to fill your essay with semicolons and big words, unless that’s how you sound in real life.

One way to write in your own voice is by speaking your personal statement out loud. If it doesn’t feel natural, it may need changing.

Tip 6: Edit, Edit, Edit!

It’s important to revise your personal statement multiple times in order to make sure it’s as close to perfect as possible.

A single typo won’t kill your application, but if your personal statement contains multiple spelling errors or egregious grammar mistakes, you won’t be putting your best foot forward.

ProWritingAid can help you make sure your personal statement is as clean as possible. In addition to catching your grammar errors, typos, and punctuation mistakes, it will also help you improve weaknesses in your writing, such as passive voice, unnecessary repetition, and more.

Let’s look at some of the best personal statements that have worked for successful candidates in the real world.

Harvard Personal Statement Example

Love. For a word describing such a powerful emotion, it is always in the air. The word “love” has become so pervasive in everyday conversation that it hardly retains its roots in blazing passion and deep adoration. In fact, the word is thrown about so much that it becomes difficult to believe society isn’t just one huge, smitten party, with everyone holding hands and singing “Kumbaya.” In films, it’s the teenage boy’s grudging response to a doting mother. At school, it’s a habitual farewell between friends. But in my Chinese home, it’s never uttered. Watching my grandmother lie unconscious on the hospital bed, waiting for her body to shut down, was excruciatingly painful. Her final quavering breaths formed a discordant rhythm with the steady beep of hospital equipment and the unsympathetic tapping hands of the clock. That evening, I whispered—into unhearing ears—the first, and only, “I love you” I ever said to her, my rankling guilt haunting me relentlessly for weeks after her passing. My warm confession seemed anticlimactic, met with only the coldness of my surroundings—the blank room, impassive doctors, and empty silence. I struggled to understand why the “love” that so easily rolled off my tongue when bantering with friends dissipated from my vocabulary when I spoke to my family. Do Chinese people simply love less than Americans do?

This is an excerpt from a personal statement that got the applicant admitted to Harvard University. The applicant discusses her background as a Chinese-American by musing on the word “love” and what that means within her family.

The writer uses vulnerable details about her relationship with her grandmother to give the reader an understanding of where she comes from and how her family has shaped her.

You can read the full personal statement on the Harvard Crimson website.

Tufts Personal Statement Example

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver. I saw it in my favorite book, Richard Scarry’s “Cars and Trucks and Things That Go,” and for some reason, I was absolutely obsessed with the idea of driving a giant pickle. Much to the discontent of my younger sister, I insisted that my parents read us that book as many nights as possible so we could find goldbug, a small little golden bug, on every page. I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon. Then I discovered a real goldbug: gold nanoparticles that can reprogram macrophages to assist in killing tumors, produce clear images of them without sacrificing the subject, and heat them to obliteration. Suddenly the destination of my pickle was clear. I quickly became enveloped by the world of nanomedicine; I scoured articles about liposomes, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, targeting ligands, and self-assembling nanoparticles, all conquering cancer in some exotic way. Completely absorbed, I set out to find a mentor to dive even deeper into these topics. After several rejections, I was immensely grateful to receive an invitation to work alongside Dr. Sangeeta Ray at Johns Hopkins.

This is the beginning of a personal statement by Renner Kwittken, who was admitted into Tufts University as a pre-medical student.

Renner uses a humorous anecdote about being a pickle truck driver to describe his love for nanomedicine and how he got involved in his field. You can feel his passion for medicine throughout his personal statement.

You can find Renner’s full essay on the Tufts Admissions page.

Law School Personal Statement Essay Example

For most people, the slap on the face that turns their life around is figurative. Mine was literal. Actually, it was a punch delivered by a drill sergeant at Fort Dix, New Jersey, while I was in basic training. That day’s activity, just a few weeks into the program, included instruction in “low-crawling,” a sensible method of moving from one place to another on a battlefield. I felt rather clever for having discovered that, by looking right rather than down, I eliminated my helmet’s unfortunate tendency to dig into the ground and slow my progress. I could thus advance more easily, but I also exposed my unprotected face to hostile fire. Drill sergeants are typically very good at detecting this type of laziness, and mine was an excellent drill sergeant. So, after his repeated suggestions that I correct my performance went unheeded, he drove home his point with a fist to my face. We were both stunned. This was, after all, the New Army, and striking a trainee was a career-ending move for a drill sergeant, as we were both aware. I could have reported him; arguably, I should have. I didn’t. It didn’t seem right for this good sergeant, who had not slept for almost four days, to lose his career for losing his temper with my laziness. Choosing not to report him was the first decision I remember making that made me proud.

These are the first three paragraphs of an anonymous personal statement by a Wheaton College graduate, who used this personal statement to get into a top-25 law school.

This statement describes a time the applicant faced a challenging decision while in the army. He ended up making a decision he was proud of, and as a result, the personal statement gives us a sense of his character.

You can find the full essay on the Wheaton Academics website.

Here are some common questions about how to write a personal statement.

How Long Should a Personal Statement Be?

The length of your personal statement depends on the specific program you’re applying to. The application guidelines usually specify a maximum word count or an ideal word count.

Most personal statements are between 500–800 words. That’s a good general range to aim for if you don’t have more specific guidelines.

Should Personal Statements Be Different for Scholarships?

Many scholarship applications will ask for personal statements with similar prompts to those of college applications.

However, the purpose of a personal statement you’d write for a scholarship application is different from the purpose of one you’d write for a college application.

For a scholarship application, your goal is to showcase why you deserve the scholarship. To do that, you need to understand the mission of the organization offering that scholarship.

For example, some scholarships are meant to help first-generation college students get their degree, while others are meant to help women break into STEM.

Consider the following questions:

Why is this organization offering scholarships?

What would their ideal scholarship candidate look like?

How do your experiences and goals overlap with those of their ideal scholarship candidate?

You can use the same personal anecdotes you’d use for any other personal statement, but you’ll have a better chance of winning the scholarship if you tailor your essay to match their specific mission.

How to Start a Personal Statement

You should start your personal statement with a “hook” that pulls the reader in. The sooner you catch the reader’s attention, the more likely they’ll want to read the entire essay.

Here are some examples of hooks you can use:

A story (e.g. When the spotlight hit my face, I tried to remind myself to breathe. )

A setting description (e.g. My bedroom floor is covered with dirty laundry, candy wrappers, and crumpled sheet music. )

A funny anecdote (e.g. When I was a little kid, my friends nicknamed me Mowgli because of my haircut. )

A surprising fact (e.g. I've lived in 37 countries .)

There you have it—our complete guide to writing a personal statement that will make you stand out to the application committee.

Here’s a quick recap:

A personal statement is a short essay that shows an application committee who you are

Start with a strong hook that pulls the reader in

Tell a story to engage the reader

Write in your own voice, not in a formal tone

Good luck, and happy writing!

Hannah is a speculative fiction writer who loves all things strange and surreal. She holds a BA from Yale University and lives in Colorado. When she’s not busy writing, you can find her painting watercolors, playing her ukulele, or hiking in the Rockies. Follow her work on hannahyang.com or on Twitter at @hannahxyang.

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Strong Personal Statements, Part 2: Learning from Failures

October 12, 2016

The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Befriending the Beast

Miss Linda’s living room. It was the lair of a black dragon, an uncontrollable beast that humiliated all who dared to cross its path. Yet, week after week, I would journey into its cave, sit before its gaping mouth, place my fingers on it white, daunting teeth, and wait for the torture to begin—my piano lesson.

Despite my parents’ threats and bribery, I didn’t want to play. I loathed every minute I sat on the piano bench struggling through scales, arpeggios, and yet another piece. Most of all, I hated the fact that I felt like an utter failure.

So I quit. Fed up with my constant begging and screaming, my parents stopped forcing me into the lair of the beast, but not without reminding me that I was throwing away something truly valuable. They were, of course, correct.

As a condition of quitting lessons, I agreed to continue playing on my own. I would occasionally sit down at the piano—just often enough to appease my parents—and play simple, fun songs that kept the music in my fingers but didn’t challenge me. Nothing more.

A few years later, a family friend requested that I give her daughter, Grace, a few lessons. I had no interest in subjecting anyone else to drudgery of piano lessons, but I was eager to earn some cash. I reluctantly agreed. Surprisingly, I found myself looking forward to giving Grace a lesson each week and eagerly selecting pieces she might like to learn. I truly began to regret quitting my own piano lessons. I started playing the piano more and more often and selecting more complex pieces, not just for Grace but also for myself. I didn’t see the instrument as a horrifying dragon anymore but as an outlet for my emotions and a source of pleasure, I happily began to rebuild my repertoire and improve my technique, working through the hard parts this time and realizing that the hard work only made me better.

As the months went on, I wanted to share my newfound passion with others besides Grace. I wanted to share music with kids who didn’t necessarily have the opportunity for lessons, so I started a piano program at an inner-city school in Dayton—three miles and a world away from my safe, comfortable upbringing. Each week, I volunteer and give private piano lessons to four girls at the school, each from a different cultural background.

On the first day of the lessons, my students tentatively placed their small fingers on the keyboard I had brought with me. I nervously watched as wide grins spread across their faces.

That was over a year ago. The girls still look forward to their weekly lessons in Miss Elizabeth’s piano room, and I look forward to seeing them and the joy they get from the same activity that had once brought me such misery. To them, music is a privilege, but its really my privilege to be their teacher. I’ve also become their mentor, someone they come to with their second-grade problems and look to for encouragement and answers. I’m a familiar face at their school, and I love the sheepish smiles and random hugs I receive as I walk down the halls. There will surely be even more hugs this year as another teenage teacher and more students join the program.

Ultimately, failure is really about success. Playing the piano has taught me that anything worth having requires hard work and humility. It takes courage and creativity to make the most of the opportunities that failure brings. Truly sharing yourself and your experiences with others is the key to bridging great differences—age, economics, culture—and changing not only someone else’s life but also your own. Never again will I pass up an opportunity to learn more, do more, or be more than I already am.

Feedback from Admission Staff

As we read applications, every student has a team of admission staff assigned to their file to thoroughly review it and assess the student’s potential. The staff responsible for this student’s file had this to say about her personal statement:

I enjoyed this essay because I was hooked by the end of the second line. And I don’t just mean because I was intrigued by the subject of her first sentences, but because the student smartly uses the writing tool of a creative hook to captivate her audience, something I was impressed by and do not often see in application essays.

Instead of viewing the essay as a conservative space to share her successes as a student, Elisabeth takes a more creative approach and uses the space to tell a story. Also, her imagery and her tone paint a very clear picture: you can envision her at a piano or arguing with her parents. I like to see students capitalize on the writing techniques they know.

Also, this essay is also very honest. People could read her piece and ask, “Why would she tell an admission counselor how much she hated playing the piano? Doesn’t that put her in a negative light?” By being honest about her dislike of piano playing, she reveals she will tell the truth even when covering up the truth may seem easier or the more popular choice.

Through her essay, I learned something about the applicant that wouldn’t have come through any other part of the application—her commitment to taking ownership of her feelings regardless of what others may think. You’re left thinking how our campus community could benefit from having such a person here in the classroom and involved.

Don’t forget to read Part 1 here , Part 3 here , Part 4 here , and Part 5 here .

Don’t hesitate to connect with us by posting a comment to this blog, tweeting us @emoryadmission , or emailing us at [email protected] . We look forward to hearing from you!

Scott is a Vice Dean of Admission here at Emory University and has been in…

As your senior year ends and graduation’s not too far in the distance, you’re probably…

Hello to all of our esteemed readers, and welcome back! My name is Javian Rojas…

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Amazing Post. I believe failure should the part of life. We human beings usually make mistakes and are unsuccessful to achieve our goals, but we should always be positive and should learn from our mistakes. My brother was unable to clear his academics the worries about his future lead him to depression, with a friend’s recommendation he explored ( http://www.martine-voyance.com/ ) online page and took consultation of voyante sérieuse. This year he will try again to clear his academics. I’m sure this post will really be helpful to boost his confidence. Thank you for sharing.

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Law school personal statements: what not to do.

Reviewed by:

David Merson

Former Head of Pre-Law Office, Northeastern University, & Admissions Officer, Brown University

Reviewed: 01/18/23

Your personal statement provides admissions committees with a narrative of who you are and what you value. To learn what not to write in your personal statement for law school, read on.

“At the intersection of 21st and Speedway, I lay on the open road. My leg grazed the shoulder of a young woman lying on the ground next to me. Next to her, a man on his stomach slowed his breathing to appear as still as possible.

A wide circle of onlookers formed around the dozens of us on the street. We were silent and motionless, but the black-and-white sign affirmed our existence through their decree: BLACK LIVES MATTER.”

So began the memorable personal statement that landed Cameron Clark a spot in his top-choice law school, Harvard University . As it likely did for you, this introduction grabbed the admissions committee’s attention and urged them to continue reading to learn what happened next.

This level of engagement and originality is what makes an excellent personal statement . But, what makes a bad law school personal statement? Find out below!

What Not To Write In Your Law School Personal Statements

Personal statements are meant to humanize and add dimension to applicants! As such, it’s impossible for us to tell you exactly what to write about to capture your unique essence. But, we can tell you what NOT to write!

Here are some elements you should avoid in your personal statement:

Overused Quotes

Your first sentence has to hook your reader enough to urge them to continue reading. A sure-fire way to stop your readers from wanting to read on is using a generic, overused quote as your hook.

Instead, start with the punch line of an engaging anecdote about your life that can be linked to your perseverance, drive, and ambition. By starting with an authentic personal experience, you’re sure to have a unique hook that the committee hasn’t already seen.

Focusing On Someone Else’s Success

Your personal statement is supposed to sell the admissions committee on you! You want to demonstrate what an outstanding candidate you are and the excellent traits you possess. In order to do this, you can’t spend the majority of your statement talking about someone you admire or someone who has influenced you.

If you choose to use an anecdote in your story, ensure you’re the protagonist of it!

Vague Descriptions

You want to avoid being vague in your personal statement. To seem as genuine as possible, describe important details of the narrative you’re creating. For instance, instead of discussing your entire childhood, pick one event that stands out and has shaped you into who you are today.

Be descriptive! If you’re retelling a story, think about what you saw, how you felt, even what you smelt and heard. This will engage your readers and immerse them into your statement.

Focusing Too Much On Your Anecdote

While including an anecdote in your story is an excellent idea, ensure you don’t simply retell a story without connecting it back to skills and values relevant to law school. Connect your anecdote to your law aspirations and highlight how your experiences have given you unique and valuable perspectives that you can bring to your legal career.

While humor can add color to your personal statement, it’s best to leave the punch lines out! Humor is tricky and unpredictable; you might have a tough crowd who won’t find your joke funny, or worse, you might offend them with.

To err on the side of caution, avoid making jokes. A good personal statement won’t need humor to stand out!

Types of Bad Law School Personal Statements

Aside from avoiding certain elements in your personal statement, there are also common types of bad law school personal statements you’ll want to avoid.

The Pity Party

Writing about an emotional event that tugs at the admissions committee’s heart strings can be an effective way to keep them connected to your story. However, ensure you don’t evoke pity as your main emotion. Making the judges feel bad for you won’t influence them to accept you into their programs!

The judges want to get a sense of your resilience; you want them to be impressed by your attitudes and motivation despite your adversity.

The Debby Downer

Some students believe listing their flaws or weaknesses will make them appear more humble and down to earth. This isn’t the case! You never know what types of skills or traits law schools will find admirable, so don’t sell yourself short by sharing specific weaknesses.

The admissions committee is not interested in what you can’t do, they want to know what you can do and bring to their law school!

The Overachiever

You don’t want to sell yourself short, but you also don’t want to exaggerate your accomplishments to an unrealistic extent. The admissions committee will be able to tell!

You also want to avoid spending the majority of your personal statement listing all of your accomplishments and saying how great you are. Your resume will already do this.

Everyone has room for growth, so it would be more beneficial to focus on one big achievement and mention the backstory to it! Was there anything in your way of this achievement? Did people doubt you? Is there an interesting, unexpected story involved? Use these answers to guide your statement!

FAQs: Bad Law School Personal Statements

If you have remaining questions about bad law school personal statements, read on to find your answers.

1. What Topics Should You Avoid in Law School Personal Statements?

Avoid topics that make someone else the protagonist of your story, that are far too personal, or only focus on your accomplishments and not your growth.

2. What are the Dos and Don'ts of a Law School Personal Statement?

Here’s what you should do in your personal statement:

Tell a personal story
Highlight your strengths and growth
Use the climax of your story as your hook
Evoke various emotions

Here’s what you shouldn’t do:

Tell someone else’s story
Rewrite your resume
Focus on weaknesses
Use overused quotes as your hook
Use risky humor

3. What Looks Good on a Personal Statement For Law?

Your personal statement gives the admissions committee insight into how well you can write! Ensure you edit your work several times and don’t have any grammatical or punctuation errors that can limit the power of your words.

Law schools also want to see that you’re equipped to handle and thrive in law school and a legal career. They want to see that you can overcome challenges, are highly self-motivated, resilient, persistent, and dedicated.

4. How Long Are Personal Statements?

Most law school personal statements are around two pages long.

5. Do Personal Statements Actually Matter?

Yes! These statements are meant to capture your essence, not your academic potential. No other part of your law school application does this, so it’s extremely important.

6. How Should I Start My Personal Statement?

Your introductory line and paragraph should be the most interesting part of your personal statement. The best way to make this sentence unique and interesting is to use the climax of the experience you’ll be focusing on as your hook.

Final Thoughts

Figuring out what to write in your personal statement is challenging. Students often either have no idea where to start, or have no idea how to condense all of their ideas into two pages.

However, by going over what to avoid in your statement and the common bad types of law school personal statements, you should have a better idea of the direction to take your statement in!

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UK university staff only read students’ personal statements for two minutes

Huge increase in applications means officials are left with little time to read student statements

The hours spent by students writing personal statements for UK university applications may be in vain, according to figures showing that many are barely read by admissions officers.

The ritual of applying for a place at university has for decades included a personal statement as part of the admissions process, with the applicant – and often their parents, teachers and even paid consultants – helping to craft an essay limited to 4,000 characters, approximately 600 words.

But the huge increase in applications means that admissions officers rather than academics now do much of the decision-making, and are left with little time to read statements.

A survey of admissions staff by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) found the average time spent reading a personal statement was two minutes, with two out of five statements read for just a minute or less. Officers at Russell Group universities devoted only 90 seconds per statement on average.

One admissions officer reported: “We look at them all but the majority we don’t read in their entirety – we give them a skim.” The majority of those surveyed said decisions were primarily made on the basis of exam grades.

Tom Fryer, a researcher at the University of Manchester who was lead author of the study, said: “What we found was that often the personal statement was read very quickly, and that it’s not as important as parents and students and teachers expect.”

Fryer said “efficiency” was a common comment by the admissions officers surveyed, with many universities using centralised admissions staff responsible for reviewing applications in a wide range of unrelated subjects such as physics and veterinary science.

Even two minutes a statement would add up to many long hours. University College London last year received more than 76,000 applications for undergraduate places. Two minutes a statement would require 2,500 hours, or more than 63 working weeks, to read them all.

The report comes as the Ucas admissions body is considering changes to the format of the personal statement, which has been criticised as stressful and favouring applicants with greater support.

Ucas said it could replace the single statement with a series of short questions covering six themes. But the Hepi authors said there was no evidence that two of the themes – “preparedness for study” and “learning styles” – were considered important by admissions officers.

Instead, the report recommends that “there should be space within the Ucas form for applicants to discuss extenuating circumstances, as admissions professionals do consider this information”.

Nick Hillman, Hepi’s director, said: “Shining a spotlight on the use of personal statements was always going to be useful to applicants and those who advise them but doing it now helps inform the important reforms that Ucas are currently planning.”

University administration
Higher education

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Students face fierce competition as fewer university courses become available

'Best time ever': school-leavers have pick of university courses, says Ucas

Record number of disadvantaged pupils get university places

Universities should give offers after results day, says study

University in London to stop making unconditional offers

Tens of thousands of pupils fail to get into first choice secondary school

Number of pupils failing to get first choice of school expected to rise

Thousands of children miss out on first-choice secondary school

Faith school 'admissions by flower arranging' eradicated in England

UK National Offer Day: what are your experiences?

Keep these 10 financial documents forever. Scan and shred the rest.

Always hold onto birth certificates and social security cards, but it’s okay to cast off those old bank statements.

No matter how digital we’ve become, we’re still a paper nation.

Are your financial documents stuffed in a closet, files, shopping bags or stacked up on the floor?

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You may prefer to view it as organized chaos. But isn’t it really just a manifestation of your inability to discern what you need and what you should let go?

When I look at the piles of paper in my office accumulated throughout the past year, I know it’s time for another document dump. It’s part of my spring cleaning ritual .

Sometimes we hold onto all that paper because we aren’t sure what to keep and what to toss. Here’s a rundown of what should be retained.

Forever documents

Certain papers should be kept in a safe location where they are protected from damage, loss and theft. Such original documents, which may be hard or costly to replace, include:

Birth certificates and adoption papers
Death certificates
Marriage and divorce records
Social Security cards. Yes, you know the number, but there may be an occasion where you have to produce the actual card.
Military service records, including discharge documents. An honorably discharged service member is eligible to receive funeral and burial benefits.
Loan payoff statements. Here’s something important: If you negotiated to pay less than what you owed on a debt, keep the original agreement in perpetuity. Often when debt is sold to debt collectors for pennies on the dollar, the sale doesn’t include a lot of information, including documentation proving a payoff.
Year-end pay stubs. If a company goes out of business you may not be able to track down the information should you need it later.
Retirement or pension records. Be sure to keep the records from previous jobs.
Estate documents
Funeral programs. Although many funeral homes will post an obituary online, they are often shortened versions of the program you might receive at the service. I have a folder of programs because they contain a wealth of information that can be helpful in estate planning, including maiden names and other family history you might need. (In this case, I like keeping the originals rather than a scanned version.)

Loan documents: Keep original loan documents and statements until you have paid off the loan. Then, save the paperwork verifying the balance was paid in full. My husband and I are coming up on one year of paying off our home . I may be a little paranoid, but I’m keeping the original documentation.

Vehicle title: Keep the original as long as you own the vehicle.

Receipts for big-ticket items: For insurance purposes, in case of fire or theft, save receipts for big-screen TVs, computers and other major purchases. Hold on to each receipt as long as you own the item. Personally, I like to keep the original, but a scanned copy should be fine.

Home improvement purchase orders, receipts, canceled checks: Keep proof of any upgrades until you sell the home. If you have a capital gain from selling your primary home, you may qualify to exclude as much as $250,000 from your income or as much as $500,000 if you file a joint return with your spouse.

If you exceed these limits, here’s where having proof of the capital improvements helps your tax situation: “When you make a home improvement, such as installing central air conditioning or replacing the roof, you can’t deduct the cost in the year you spend the money,” according to TurboTax. “But, if you keep track of those expenses, they may help you reduce your taxes in the year you sell your house.”

Investment statements: If they are available online, you do not need paper copies. The most important reason to maintain these records would be to establish your cost basis when selling an asset to make sure you claim the proper capital gain or loss on your tax return.

3 to 7 years

Tax records: Record-keeping guidelines are tied to statutes of limitations. That’s generally three years, but it’s seven years for worthless securities and bad debts, according to IRS spokesman Eric Smith.

“For most people, the tax-related statute of limitations is pretty straightforward,” he said.

But there are special circumstances that extend that time. For example, getting a tax-filing extension, serving in a combat zone, qualifying for a disaster-area deadline postponement or a financial disability.

You must keep records, such as receipts, canceled checks and other documents that support an item of income, a deduction or a credit appearing on a return, according to the IRS.

But it doesn’t have to be an original. Scan and shred. The agency will accept a legible digital copy of a document.

“Electronic storage is also fine, as long as they can be retrieved, if needed,” Smith said.

Why keep even a scanned version after several years?

Your past returns contain your financial history — employment, investments and charitable giving choices.

But you won’t have to worry about having a scanned copy if you have an IRS online account. With an account, you can access a transcript of your return.

Maintaining years of tax returns can help if you ever need to research payments made into Social Security .

Medical bills: If you paid a medical expense with your health savings or flexible spending account, keep the receipt for three years. Consider it a tax-related document.

If you want more personal finance advice that's timeless, order your copy of Michelle Singletary's Money Milestones.

Credit card statements: Companies will provide you with a year-end statement that categorizes all expenses. If that works for you, shred the monthly statements you may have been getting in the mail.

And if you’re still getting paper statements, stop. Get them e-delivered. I still scan and save statements in case I close an account and no longer have online access.

Less than a year

There is no need to keep all those ATM or retail receipts. Once you get your statements, you can shred and toss.

Word of caution

I’ve mentioned this before, but be sure to research online services that will backup your scanned documents. By the way, an external hard drive attached to your computer is still vulnerable to hackers.

Make sure you also regularly update your computer software. The Washington Post’s Help Desk is a great source to help secure information.

B.O.M. — The best of Michelle Singletary on personal finance

If you have a personal finance question for Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary, please call 1-855-ASK-POST (1-855-275-7678).

My mortgage payoff story: My husband and I paid off the house in the spring of 2023 thanks to making extra payments and taking advantage of a mortgage recast . Even though it lowered my perfect 850 credit score and my column about it sparked some serious debate with readers, it was one of the best financial decisions I’ve made.

Credit card debt: If you’re in the habit of carrying credit card debt, stop. It’s just a myth that it will boost your credit score. For those looking to get out of credit card debt, see if a balance transfer is right for you.

Money moves for life: For a more sweeping overview of my timeless money advice, see Michelle Singletary’s Money Milestones . The interactive package offers guidance for every life stage, whether you’re just starting out in your career or planning for retirement. You can also purchase a copy for yourself or as a gift.

Test yourself: Not rich and wondering what it’ll take to build your wealth? Take this quiz for my wealth-building tips.

Still Waiting on Your 2024 Tax Refund? Here's When It Could Arrive

Tax Day has come and gone. Now's the time to start tracking the status of your refund if you haven't received one yet.

When can you expect your money?

For most tax filers, April 15 was the final day to submit tax returns. That is unless you file a tax extension or you reside in one of these states . Although the IRS has been sending tax refunds for months, the process of receiving (slightly more) money back for over 66 million filers so far isn't instantaneous.

If you're one of the nearly 102 million people who've already filed your taxes , you could still be waiting for your money to arrive. This is more likely if you opt to receive a paper check instead of an electronic refund directly to your bank account. If it's been more than 21 days since you filed your tax return and you still haven't received your money, it's time to use the IRS refund tracker tool to check the status of your money.

Keep reading to find out how to track the status of your refund and any other money the IRS owes you, to learn about what status messages mean, what to know about calling the IRS if a problem occurs, and other tips. For more on money matters, here's when you could expect to receive your child tax credit money . Here's the best tax software for 2024 if you have an extension.

Track the status of your 2024 tax refund with this tool

The quickest way to monitor your tax refund is with the IRS' Where's My Refund? tracker page, which also lets you know if your return has been rejected because of errors .

To use the IRS' tracker tools , you'll need to provide your Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, your filing status (single, married or head of household) and your refund amount in whole dollars.

Smart Money Advice on the Topics That Matter to You

Go to the Get Refund Status page on the IRS website, enter your personal data, and then press Submit .

If you're not taken to a page that shows your refund status, you may be asked to verify your personal tax data and try again. If all the information looks correct, you'll need to enter the date you filed your taxes, along with whether you filed electronically or on paper.

Make sure it's been at least 24 hours before you start tracking an online return, or up to four weeks if you mailed your return.

Yes, you can track a refund from previous years

The Where's My Refund tool lists the federal refund information the IRS has from the past two years. If you're looking for return details from previous years, you'll need to check your IRS online account .

From there, you'll be able to see the total amount you owe, your payment history, key information about your most recent tax return, notices you've received from the IRS and your address on file.

The IRS has a mobile app to track your refund, too

The IRS2Go app is available to use on both iOS and Android.

The IRS also has a mobile app called IRS2Go that can monitor your tax refund status. It's available for both iOS and Android and in English and Spanish.

You're able to see if your return has been received and approved in the app, and if a refund has been sent.

To log in, you'll need your Social Security number, filing status and the expected amount of your refund. The IRS updates the app overnight, so if you don't see a status change, check back the following day.

What these tax return status messages mean

The IRS tools will show you one of three messages explaining your tax return status.

Received : The IRS now has your tax return and is working to process it.
Approved : The IRS has processed your return and confirmed the amount of your refund if you're owed one.
Sent : Your refund is now on its way to your bank via direct deposit or as a paper check sent to your mailbox. (Here's how to change the address on file if you've moved .)

Why you might see 'Tax Topic 152' or an IRS error message

Although the Where's My Refund tool typically shows a status of Received, Approved or Sent, there are a variety of other messages some users may see.

One of the most common is Tax Topic 152 , indicating you're likely getting a refund but it hasn't been approved or sent yet. The notice simply links out to an informational topic page on the IRS FAQ website explaining the types and timing of tax refunds.

The delay could be an automated message for taxpayers claiming the child tax credit or earned income tax credit sent because of additional fraud protection steps.

Tax Topic 151 means your tax return is now under review by the IRS. The agency either needs to verify certain credits or dependents, or it has determined that your tax refund will be reduced to pay money that it believes you owe. You'll need to wait about four weeks to receive a notice from the IRS explaining what you need to do to resolve the status.

There are other IRS refund codes that a small percentage of tax filers receive, indicating freezes, math errors on tax returns or undelivered checks. The College Investor offers a list of IRS refund reference codes and errors and their meaning.

Problems? What to know about calling the IRS about your refund

Getting live phone assistance is notoriously difficult at the IRS. In 2022, only about 13% of taxpayers reached a human being, according to Erin M. Collins, the national taxpayer advocate.

Congress has since increased the agency's funding, and the IRS said it has hired thousands of new telephone representatives. Still, the agency says you should call only if it's been at least 21 days since you filed your taxes online or if the Where's My Refund tool tells you to.

The IRS said wait times during tax season can average 4 minutes, but they also said you may experience longer wait times on Monday and Tuesday, as well as during Presidents Day weekend (Feb. 17, 18 and 19) and around the April tax filing deadline.

You can call 800-829-1040 or 800-829-8374 during regular business hours.

Otherwise, the IRS is directing taxpayers to the Let Us Help You page on its website and to in-person help at Taxpayer Assistance Centers around the country. You can contact your local IRS office or call 844-545-5640 to make an appointment. If you're eligible for assistance, you can also contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service at 877-777-4778.

What 'IRS TREAS 310' means as a bank statement transaction

If you receive your tax refund by direct deposit, you may see IRS TREAS 310 listed in the transaction. The 310 code simply identifies the transaction as a refund from a filed tax return in the form of electronic payment. You may also see TAX REF in the description field for a refund.

If you see a 449 instead of 310 , it means your refund may have been offset for delinquent debt .

Why your refund was mailed instead of issued via direct deposit

There are a few reasons why your refund may be mailed rather than deposited electronically into your account. Keep in mind:

You must provide the correct account and routing number.
Funds can only be deposited into an account with your name or your spouse's name (or both for a joint account).
The IRS can only do direct deposit for up to three refunds into one account.

If you're receiving a refund check in the mail, here's how to track it from the IRS office to your mailbox .

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The President and Vice President release their 2023 tax returns, setting new record for transparency

Today, the President and First Lady released their 2023 federal income tax return. After restoring the bipartisan tradition of sharing presidential tax returns with the public, President Biden has now shared a total of 26 years of tax returns with the country. Once again demonstrating his commitment to being transparent with the American people, President Biden has released the most tax returns of any commander-in-chief while in office. President Biden believes that all occupants of the Oval Office should be open and honest with the American people, and that the longstanding tradition of annually releasing presidential tax returns should continue unbroken. The President and First Lady filed their income tax return jointly and reported federal adjusted gross income of $619,976. They paid $146,629 in federal income tax, and their 2023 effective federal income tax rate is 23.7 percent. The President and First Lady also reported contributions of $20,477 to 17 different charities. Among those gifts to charity was a $5,000 contribution to the Beau Biden Foundation, a public charity dedicated to ensuring that all children are free from the threat of abuse. They also donated to St. Joseph on the Brandywine, their home parish, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and the National Fraternal Order of Police Foundation, among other charities. The President and First Lady also released their Delaware income tax return and reported paying $30,908 in Delaware income tax. The First Lady also released her Virginia income tax return and reported paying $3,549 in Virginia income tax. View the President and First Lady’s tax returns here. The Vice President and the Second Gentleman also released their 2023 federal income tax return, as well as state income tax returns for California and the District of Columbia. Including today’s release, the Vice President has published 20 years of tax returns. The Vice President and the Second Gentleman reported federal adjusted gross income of $450,299. They paid $88,570 in federal income tax, amounting to a 2023 effective federal income tax rate of 19.7 percent. They also paid $15,167 in California income tax, and Mr. Emhoff paid $11,599 in District of Columbia income tax. They contributed $23,026 to charity in 2023. View the Vice President and Second Gentleman’s tax returns here.

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Biden's new student-loan forgiveness plan just began its 30-day public comment period — and anyone can tell the administration what they think of the relief

The public now has 30 days to comment on Biden's new student-loan forgiveness plan.
It's the next step in implementing a broader version of debt relief for borrowers.
The proposals include relief for those with unpaid interest, along with those in repayment for 20 years.

The public has one month to tell President Joe Biden what they think of his new student-loan forgiveness plan .

After announcing details of Biden's second attempt at student-debt relief last week, the Education Department formally published the draft text of the new rules on the Federal Register on Wednesday. The publication of the rules officially kicked off the 30-day public comment, set to end on May 17. Comments can be submitted to the Federal Register here , which the Education Department will then review.

The draft text currently consists of nine rules "that permit separate and distinct types of waivers using the Secretary of Education's longstanding authority under the Higher Education Act," the Education Department said in a Tuesday press release.

Watch: Why student loans aren't canceled, and what Biden's going to do about it

Main content

Anti-Arab hate, harassment and threats loom over this year's Arab American Heritage Month

Arab American Heritage Month is intended to commemorate and honor the achievements of the some of the roughly 3.7 million members of the community residing in the U.S.

But this year, many Arab Americans don’t feel inclined to celebrate.

Instances of anti-Arab hate and sentiment have been on the rise in the U.S. since the start of the war in Gaza in October, according to experts, who have received an influx of reports.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) said it received 2,500 reports of anti-Arab hate from October to March, a sharp uptick from the under 500 reports it received in the same time period last year. The Council on American Islamic-Relations also reported receiving the highest number of bias reports in its 30-year history in 2023, with nearly half of them coming in the final three months of the year following the escalation of violence in Gaza. While not all Arabs are Muslim, “Muslim and Arab identities have long been conflated, particularly by those who seek to villainize both, making anti-Muslim hate part and parcel of anti-Arab” racism, according to the organization.

Bias incidents against Arabs range from verbal to fatal. The most high-profile incidents include the fatal stabbing of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy, in Illinois and the shooting of three Palestinian men in Vermont. Experts say the violence in the U.S. is directly linked to the violence in Gaza , where Israel has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians and wounded over 75,000 others in its campaign to eliminate Hamas, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health.

Israel has been accused of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza in the International Court of Justice, which ruled that the country should do everything it can to prevent genocidal acts in the enclave . “It is hard to celebrate anything with all the death and the destruction happening through the genocide ,” said Abed Ayoub, the national executive director of the ADC. “So I think this month — more than any month — is not a celebration, but it’s a show of our resilience, and it’s an opportunity to show our character and the fact that we exist.”

Zaina Ujayli, a 27-year-old Ph.D. student specializing in Arab American history, observes that although the community has long grappled with discrimination and racism, there’s a growing sense of comfort among certain individuals in openly expressing it.

“For the last few months, it’s just been so in your face,” Ujayli said. “It became very real and in your face in a way that I feel like we’d almost worked against in the years before.”

A community under attack

Arab Americans trace their origins to 22 Arabic-speaking countries in the Middle East and Africa, including the occupied Palestinian territories, Sudan, Algeria and Iraq. The community is not a monolith — Arabs can belong to any racial or religious groups, and differ culturally.

Arab Americans have a long history that stretches to the end of the 19th century , when Arabs started to immigrate to the U.S. to escape conflict and seek economic opportunities.

The long road to establishing a month to celebrate community members’ contributions to art, culture, diplomacy, technology and science started approximately 40 years ago, when advocacy groups including the ADC started pushing for one. It was first recognized at the local level by some states, but in 2021, President Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to declare April as Arab American Heritage Month .

This year, the month comes at a somber time for many Arab Americans, who are watching their family members, friends and fellow Arabs deal with loss, trauma and a looming famine in Gaza. Many supporters of Palestinian human rights have been calling for an end to the violence for the past six months by protesting and appealing to politicians with little result.

“It [Arab American Heritage Month] means nothing, especially with what’s going on,” said Palestinian American Nader Ihmoud, a writer and insurance agent. “If this administration or government here in the U.S. cared about Arab Americans at all, they have completely kept that hidden from us, because all their actions say otherwise.”In past years, Ujayli said she would usually welcome Arab American Heritage Month by posting about it online, or helping organize events on her school’s campus. But in light of the current climate in the U.S., the month “feels a little bit cheap” this year, she said.

“If you’re not going to recognize Arab Americans’ political demands now, if you’re not going to listen to us when we’re asking you for a cease-fire, for political action — if you’re not even going to meet us with empathy, then I don’t care whether you want to celebrate our presence in this country,” she said.

Biden issued a proclamation again this year in which he acknowledged “the pain being felt by so many in the Arab American community with the war in Gaza” and mourned “the lives taken.”

He also highlighted that in the U.S., Arab Americans “remain the target of bias and discrimination — including harassment, hate crimes, racist rhetoric, and violent attacks,” adding that “hate never goes away. It only hides.”

Feeling unheard and unsafe

Still, some community members say Biden’s words are not enough, especially as his administration continues to send weapons to Israel , potentially assisting the violence in Gaza.

In February, Biden released a statement on the U.S. strikes in Iraq and Syria in response to a deadly drone attack in Jordan that killed three American service members.

“If you harm an American, we will respond,” he said in the statement.

Many Arab Americans are wondering where that energy is for members of the community who have been targeted for being Arab or supporting Palestinian human rights. A few have even been killed or imprisoned in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Ujayli said she has attended protests calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, during which some people drive by and call those gathered “terrorists.” The slur has been employed to marginalize those in the Arab American community, aiming to portray them as outsiders in American society.

“If you’re assuming that your Arab American neighbors are calling for violence every time they go out to protest on the streets, that’s an implicit bias,” Ujayli said. “I frankly think it’s the most American thing it is, to speak out against injustice, to express our freedom of opinion.”

Jasmin Abdullah, a 35-year-old Iraqi American scientist and content creator, says she speaks out against the violence in Gaza on social media and is often met with harassment. She sometimes worries she may lose her job, which she uses to support her family, as a result of the advocacy.

“They’ll attack you and say these horrible things,” Abdullah said about people who have targeted her for her beliefs on the internet. “Then they’ll go to your page and harass you, and they’ll harass people who follow you.”The group Palestine Legal has been tracking incidents of bias and repression of people who advocate for Palestinian human rights. Since the day Hamas launched an attack in Israel on Oct. 7, the organization has received 1,680 reports of repression, around a 320% increase from the number it typically receives in a year. The incidents range from people being physically attacked for their advocacy to being verbally harassed or fired from their jobs “for doing things as simple as sharing a social media post or statement in support of Palestinians,” said Danya Zituni, communications manager for Palestine Legal.

“We’ve been both seeing and responding to incidents of repression across campuses, across workplaces — and really no industry or profession has been untouched,” Zituni said.

Zituni says statements released by officials acknowledging Arab American Heritage Month come across as disingenuous and hypocritical in light of the repression many community members have been subjected to, including the arrests of students at peaceful protests and the suspension of campus advocacy groups .

These documented incidents have not discouraged Ihmoud from speaking up for Palestinian rights, which he does with his relatives in the West Bank at the forefront of his mind.

“They’re in such a dire state right now that we can’t let our foot off the gas,” he said. “You got to continue pushing all the way until this comes to an end, and it’s not just the war ending — it’s the occupation ending, it’s the right of return . It’s everything that has been on the table for the last 75 years.”

He hopes to one day celebrate Arab American Heritage Month the way that other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. celebrate months dedicated to their history.

“Keep the month,” Ihmoud said. “Just don’t occupy our lands, don’t kill our people, don’t starve our children.”

Breaking news reporter

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COMMENTS

Personal statements will not be changing for 2024 entry
The Future of Undergraduate Admissions report highlights UCAS' continued engagement and ongoing progress with admission reform, including: references. personal statements. grades on entry. personalisation. widening access and participation. Read the report here (3.38 MB). If you have any questions, comments or thoughts regarding potential ...
Changes to the UCAS Personal Statement in 2024
Contact our Oxbridge-graduate consultants and book a Private Consultation for strategic guidance. Book a Private Consultation. As of 2024, UCAS is no longer going to require applicants to write a personal statement. Read how this is likely to affect you as an applicant.
UCAS Personal Statements Are Changing in 2025
The initial announcement stated that these reforms to the Personal Statement system will be introduced in the 2024 admissions cycle for 2025 entry. However, UCAS have since gone back on this and delayed the change to as early as 2025 (for 2026 Entry). ... In 2023, it was announced by the University of Cambridge that many of their established ...
Changes to Personal statements confirmed by UCAS
UCAS recently announced changes to the personal statement section of university applications. The current free-form 4,000-character essay is going to be replaced by structured questions. These changes aim to make the application process fairer, simpler and more transparent for everyone. Kim Eccleston, head of strategy and reform at UCAS ...
UCAS Personal Statements Are Changing
The University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has introduced a new process for university applications from 2025, meaning that the process will change in 2024 ready for 2025 entrants. Personal statements have always been an essential part of the university application process. However, UCAS has decided to scrap personal statements in ...
Changes to the UCAS Personal Statement
Current findings from UCAS show that 79% of students found the personal statement "too difficult" to write without additional and appropriate support. That's almost 4/5 of applicants, so unquestionably shows the need for change. That doesn't mean, however, that students don't see and acknowledge the value of the personal statement.
How to Write a Strong Personal Statement
Write it so that the person reading it wants to hear more. Address the elephant in the room (if there is one). Maybe your grades weren't great in core courses, or perhaps you've never worked ...
Frequently Asked Questions About Your Personal Statement
While you don't have to share your deepest, darkest secrets, be sure to include details and experiences that are unique to you—after all, it is a personal statement. It's also important to remember that your essay should include reflection. Many students who choose to write about their challenges forget to talk about how they overcame or ...
How to Write a Personal Statement
Watch out for cliches like "making a difference," "broadening my horizons," or "the best thing that ever happened to me." 3. Stay focused. Try to avoid getting off-track or including tangents in your personal statement. Stay focused by writing a first draft and then re-reading what you've written.
Personal statement dos and don'ts
Don'ts. Don't be modest or shy. You want your passions to come across. Don't exaggerate - if you do, you may get caught out in an interview when asked to elaborate on an interesting achievement. Don't use quotes from someone else, or cliches. Don't leave it to the last minute - your statement will seem rushed and important ...
How to Write a Personal Statement (Tips + Essay Examples)
In a great personal statement, we should be able to get a sense of what fulfills, motivates, or excites the author. These can be things like humor, beauty, community, and autonomy, just to name a few. So when you read back through your essay, you should be able to detect at least 4-5 different values throughout.
The ten biggest mistakes when writing your personal statement
Have a go at reading your statement aloud to make sure it flows well. For bonus points, get a friend or parent to go over it as well. 5. Failing to demonstrate capability of university-level study. Your personal statement is great opportunity to demonstrate that you can study in a university style.
How to write a personal statement 101: Tips and tricks for students
Above all, be confident in your own abilities and self-worth. Yes, you'll have to convince your uni that you're special, but to do this, you have to believe in yourself. The first step is convincing yourself that you deserve a spot in the course you're applying for and that you can stand out among the rest.
Personal statement FAQs
A personal statement is about you, and you shouldn't let anyone tell you what to put - sticking blindly to a formula will just stop your true personality showing through. Tricks to squeeze more in. Remember it's a personal statement, and leave out anything unnecessary. Don't repeat yourself. Cut out the waffle - be concise!
How Long Should Your Personal Statement Be?
There's no single number that works for every student, but 10 is likely fine. While the personal statement's length doesn't vary from school to school, the supplements required by different schools do vary. And for many schools, in particular the most highly selective schools, you'll have to write a bunch of supplemental essays.
How to Write Your Personal Statement
A personal statement is a short essay of around 500-1,000 words, in which you tell a compelling story about who you are, what drives you, and why you're applying. To write a successful personal statement for a graduate school application , don't just summarize your experience; instead, craft a focused narrative in your own voice.
9 Do's and Don'ts of Writing Personal Statements
Here are five don'ts of the writing process to keep in mind: 1. Don't write about sensitive topics. When outlining your personal statement, try to avoid writing about sensitive, controversial topics that may cause a reader to feel uncomfortable or overly emotional. While it's worthwhile to write about your personal hardships in your statement ...
How to end your personal statement
Mature students: Five things to do now to boost your personal statement. Starting your personal statement. Personal statement dos and don'ts. Writing your full personal statement. Using your personal statement beyond a university application. Search for a course and learn more, including modules, graduate stats, and student satisfaction scores.
How to Write a Personal Statement (with Tips and Examples)
Tip 1: Do Some Serious Self-Reflection. The hardest part of writing a personal statement isn't the actual process of writing it. Before you start typing, you have to figure out what to write about. And that means taking some time to reflect on who you are and what's important in your life.
Strong Personal Statements, Part 2: Learning from Failures
These statements, written by students now enrolled at Emory University, were selected for a multitude of reasons, and we asked our admission staff to share what made each statement stand out. This is number 2 of a 5-part series on application writing; read Part 1 here , Part 3 here , Part 4 here , and Part 5 here .
Law School Personal Statements: What NOT To Do
David Merson. ‍. Your personal statement provides admissions committees with a narrative of who you are and what you value. To learn what not to write in your personal statement for law school, read on. ‍. "At the intersection of 21st and Speedway, I lay on the open road. My leg grazed the shoulder of a young woman lying on the ground ...
Do universities still bother reading personal statements?
Clare Marchant, chief executive of Ucas, said a survey of 118 universities by Ucas in 2016 found that 89% of them used personal statements in their initial decision making. "Writing a personal ...
UK university staff only read students' personal statements for two
The ritual of applying for a place at university has for decades included a personal statement as part of the admissions process, with the applicant - and often their parents, teachers and even ...
Keep these 10 financial documents forever. Scan and shred the rest
And if you're still getting paper statements, stop. Get them e-delivered. I still scan and save statements in case I close an account and no longer have online access. ... If you have a personal ...
Still Waiting on Your 2024 Tax Refund? Here's When It Could Arrive
This story is part of Taxes 2024, CNET's coverage of the best tax software, tax tips and everything else you need to file your return and track your refund. If you're one of the nearly 102 million ...
Iran-Israel Attack Live Updates: G-7 Leaders Condemn Strikes, War
Here are the key takeaways: Iran said its attack, a response to a recent strike on its diplomatic compound in Syria, was a success. Its mission to the UN posted on X that the matter "can be ...
The President and Vice President release their 2023 tax returns
Today, the President and First Lady released their 2023 federal income tax return. After restoring the bipartisan tradition of sharing presidential tax returns with the public, President Biden has ...
How to Submit Comments on Biden's New Student-Loan Forgiveness Plan
The public now has 30 days to comment on Biden's new student-loan forgiveness plan. It's the next step in implementing a broader version of debt relief for borrowers. The proposals include relief ...
Wyden: "I Will Do Everything In My Power" to Stop Bill Expanding
That means anyone with access to a server, a wire, a cable box, a wifi router, or a phone. It would be secret: the Americans receiving the government directives would be bound to silence, and there would be no court oversight. I will do everything in my power to stop this bill." ###
Anti-Arab hate, harassment and threats loom over this year's Arab
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) said it received 2,500 reports of anti-Arab hate from October to March, a sharp uptick from the under 500 reports it received in the same time ...