how to write a personal statement if you are boring

Places on our 2024 summer school are filling fast. Don’t miss out. Enrol now to avoid disappointment

• The World’s Worst Personal Statement: Why It Fails and How to Fix It

Writing a personal statement is never an easy thing to do, but some students fall so spectacularly short of the mark that their efforts can be a lesson to us all.

You should also read…

• How to Choose the Right University for You
• Common UCAS Personal Statement Issues and How to Resolve Them

Sometimes the easiest way to figure out how to write a personal statement is to look at someone else’s efforts and see how not to write one. In this article, we present to you a superbly bad (fictional) personal statement and show you just how many ways in which it misses the mark. We’ll also explain what our hapless fictional student should have done in order to write a personal statement that stands out for the right reasons, not the wrong ones.

The personal statement:

So what was wrong with it.

Let us count the ways!

1. The pretentious quote

The personal statement opens with a pretentious-sounding quote, which, let’s face it, the student probably found from Googling “quotes about English literature”. It doesn’t even come from a great work of literature – it’s from a novel for young adults, which is unlikely to command the respect of the admissions tutors. The student then proceeds to say that this quote reflects their own “thirst for knowledge” (though they mistyped it as “thrist”) – but this doesn’t really relate to the quote at all. What’s more, starting with a quote is a bad idea anyway; it’s pompous, and the admissions tutors want to know what you have to say, not what someone else says.

2. The clichés, the controversial analogy and the Hungry Caterpillar

“Thirst for knowledge”. “From an early age”. The opening of this personal statement is littered with clichés that far too many students use and that admissions tutors have seen countless times before. This student goes a step further down the “loved reading from an early age” route by citing The Very Hungry Caterpillar as an early literary enjoyment. They probably think it sounds cute, but when said children’s book is a picture book with virtually no words, it’s hardly worth taking up valuable characters on a personal statement with. Later in the statement we hear clichés such as “one-trick pony”, “steely determination”, and even a rather embarrassing comparison between their determination to achieve the best grades in an essay and the determination of a hunter to slay an impressive beast. This singularly fails to impress in the way the student clearly wants it to. What’s more, you never know what the beliefs are of the person reading your statement, and it might turn out that they’re passionately against hunting – in which case this comparison with a hunter is going to go down especially badly.

3. Questionable motives

The student’s mention of James Joyce’s Ulysses reveals a rather questionable motive for wanting to read it: to “show off one’s superior intelligence” in front of other people. This sounds major alarm bells. It’s hardly going to tell the admissions tutor that the student wants to study the subject because they have a deep interest in it; they’ll pick up from this that they want to study English for the wrong reasons .

4. Mentioning texts and writers with no comment on them

The student has name-dropped a few novels and poets, but offers no insight into why they are interested in them or what they’ve got out of reading them. The mention of Ulysses seems calculated to make them appear clever for reading such an advanced text, but the fact that they offer no commentary on it has the opposite effect. The same goes for later in the personal statement with the list of poets – a random jumble of poets, modern and older, with no explanation as to why they appeal (and they misspelt Seamus Heaney’s name!). It comes across as a list of poets whose names the student happened to be able to rattle off, without any thought put into it. As for the novels mentioned, these are three incredibly famous novels that virtually everyone has read and loved. Leaving aside the fact that they haven’t said why they like these novels, it doesn’t show much depth or academic pursuit of knowledge to name-drop three very famous novels rather than demonstrating interest in or knowledge of less well-known literature.

5. Naming the course and university

The student has committed a huge faux pas in naming the course and university for which they are applying. This reveals that the only university they’re interested in is Oxford. They’re unlikely to be applying for just this university, but they’ve immediately alienated admissions tutors from all the other universities they’ve almost certainly put on their UCAS form.

6. Jokes and slang

The student jokes that they are partly applying for Oxford because of G&D’s ice cream, a famous ice cream parlour in Oxford. Quite apart from the fact that they shouldn’t have mentioned Oxford in the first place, the use of humour in this way does the student no favours. To make matters worse, they then add “Jokes” in brackets. Slang is a big no-no in a personal statement, and when combined with an attempt at humour, it’s frankly disastrous.

7. Hollywood inspiration

The admissions tutors are not going to be impressed that the reason you decided to study English at university because your friends commented on your similarity to a character in a film.

8. Unnamed awards

The student attempts to indicate their talent for poetry, stating that they have “won quite a few awards” for their own poems. However, this claim is too vague to be impressive. Which awards were they? “Everyone says how good” the student’s poems are, but how many people have actually read them, and was it just the student’s parents and grandparents who were impressed by them? These statements would have more weight if the student named the exact awards they’ve won and who has deemed their poetry to be good.

9. Downton Abbey and history

The student goes on to talk about their other academic interest: history. The only problem is, it seems a bit out of place in a personal statement for English, making one wonder whether they might also be applying for an English and History course elsewhere. To make matters worse, they talk about Downton Abbey as the inspiration for their love of history, and in particular their interest in the First World War, commenting on the fact that it’s the centenary of the start of the First World War. The latter is hardly an insightful comment, while the mere mention of Downton Abbey is enough to discredit the student’s supposed interest in history. What’s more, they go on to say how much they love history, that it’s their joint favourite subject with English, and that they’d love to study it at university. This is inevitably going to make English Literature admissions tutors question the student’s commitment to their subject. What if the student changes their mind and wants to switch to history? It’s a big warning sign against this student.

10. Bragging

Nobody likes people who brag. The student claims to be “best in their class” and someone who’d “fit right in at Oxford” (that name again!) – though, judging by the poor quality of their personal statement, one wonders whether this could possibly be true. Later, they casually drop in “when I’m not winning poetry competitions”, a flippant remark that smacks of arrogance.

11. Negativity about one of their grades

The student attempts to explain a less-than-perfect grade by laughing it off with a comment about reading and writing too much poetry. One can see what they were aiming for here: they wanted to show that they’re so enthusiastic about English Literature that they get carried away and can’t stop reading and writing. However, it’s not going to look good to an admissions tutor, who’ll see someone who is unable to juggle their workload or apply themselves to succeed in all their subjects. What’s more, the student doesn’t attempt to explain what they’re doing about the bad grade – for instance, they could be taking on extra history lessons to bring the grade up, but there’s no such reassurance in their statement.

12. Boring interests

The student gives their interests as “socialising with their mates and going to the cinema”, interests that are so universal and boring that they are not worth mentioning at all. The point of mentioning interests in a personal statement is to demonstrate that there’s more to you than your academic interests. Proper hobbies and so on show you to be a well-rounded person with a range of interests, and those interests help develop skills that you can’t learn in the classroom, and that make you a good person to have around.

13. An unexplained gap year

The student ends on a rather dull note by stating that they are taking a gap year. However, there’s no explanation of what activities they have planned for this. This would have been a good place to highlight course-related activities planned for the year out, which would have made them more suitable for the course (such as embarking on a writing workshop). This was also a lacklustre way to end the statement; a couple of sentences summarising why they want to study the course and why they’re so suitable for it would have been a good closing remark.

14. The smiley face

They’ve tried to look friendly by putting a smiley face at the end. There’s only one word for this: don’t!

15. General shortfallings

In addition to the specific faults outlined above, there were a few general shortfallings worth highlighting.

• Poor grammar – such as “its” when they meant “it’s”, and even an instance of double exclamation marks.
• Typos – “thrist for knowledge”, for example.
• Not long enough – the statement uses 2,289 characters out of an available 4,000. If you have that many characters to play with, it makes sense to use them by demonstrating even more reasons why you should be given a place.
• Odd spacing – mostly with one sentence per paragraph, perhaps to make it look longer than it really is.
• Very little focus on why they want to study English – which is, after all, the entire point of the statement.

Overall, it felt that very little effort had gone into writing this personal statement, leaving one questioning the student’s commitment to the course. Now that you’ve seen a disastrous personal statement first-hand, you’ll have a better idea of how not to write yours. Good luck!

Image credits: banner ; caterpillar ;  Clockwork Angel ; Ulysses ; Cambridge ; WWI ; reading ; boat ; love .

• Features for Creative Writers
• Features for Work
• Features for Higher Education
• Features for Teachers
• Features for Non-Native Speakers
• Learn Blog Grammar Guide Community Events FAQ
• Grammar Guide

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

Hannah Yang

Table of Contents

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.

Good writing = better grades

ProWritingAid will help you improve the style, strength, and clarity of all your assignments.

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.

Get started with ProWritingAid

Drop us a line or let's stay in touch via :

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!

Popular stories

Fashion of the future: what are the emerging technologies that fashion students need to know.

Pack your bags, there’s good reason to move to the most expensive countries to live in

Earning a veterinary degree is harder than you think, just ask this Singaporean student in rural Australia

Need reasons to study in the most educated countries in the world? This isn’t the list for you

Tips for writing a personal statement for your master’s in the UK

The ultimate 2022 university application guide for Indian students

5 top tips for writing your personal statement

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Applying to graduate school
• How to Write Your Personal Statement | Strategies & Examples

How to Write Your Personal Statement | Strategies & Examples

Published on February 12, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on July 3, 2023.

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. Aim to demonstrate three things:

• Your personality: what are your interests, values, and motivations?
• Your talents: what can you bring to the program?
• Your goals: what do you hope the program will do for you?

This article guides you through some winning strategies to build a strong, well-structured personal statement for a master’s or PhD application. You can download the full examples below.

Urban Planning Psychology History

Table of contents

Getting started with your personal statement, the introduction: start with an attention-grabbing opening, the main body: craft your narrative, the conclusion: look ahead, revising, editing, and proofreading your personal statement, frequently asked questions, other interesting articles.

Before you start writing, the first step is to understand exactly what’s expected of you. If the application gives you a question or prompt for your personal statement, the most important thing is to respond to it directly.

For example, you might be asked to focus on the development of your personal identity; challenges you have faced in your life; or your career motivations. This will shape your focus and emphasis—but you still need to find your own unique approach to answering it.

There’s no universal template for a personal statement; it’s your chance to be creative and let your own voice shine through. But there are strategies you can use to build a compelling, well-structured story.

The first paragraph of your personal statement should set the tone and lead smoothly into the story you want to tell.

Strategy 1: Open with a concrete scene

An effective way to catch the reader’s attention is to set up a scene that illustrates something about your character and interests. If you’re stuck, try thinking about:

• A personal experience that changed your perspective
• A story from your family’s history
• A memorable teacher or learning experience
• An unusual or unexpected encounter

To write an effective scene, try to go beyond straightforward description; start with an intriguing sentence that pulls the reader in, and give concrete details to create a convincing atmosphere.

Strategy 2: Open with your motivations

To emphasize your enthusiasm and commitment, you can start by explaining your interest in the subject you want to study or the career path you want to follow.

Just stating that it interests you isn’t enough: first, you need to figure out why you’re interested in this field:

• Is it a longstanding passion or a recent discovery?
• Does it come naturally or have you had to work hard at it?
• How does it fit into the rest of your life?
• What do you think it contributes to society?

Tips for the introduction

• Don’t start on a cliche: avoid phrases like “Ever since I was a child…” or “For as long as I can remember…”
• Do save the introduction for last. If you’re struggling to come up with a strong opening, leave it aside, and note down any interesting ideas that occur to you as you write the rest of the personal statement.

Once you’ve set up the main themes of your personal statement, you’ll delve into more detail about your experiences and motivations.

To structure the body of your personal statement, there are various strategies you can use.

Strategy 1: Describe your development over time

One of the simplest strategies is to give a chronological overview of key experiences that have led you to apply for graduate school.

• What first sparked your interest in the field?
• Which classes, assignments, classmates, internships, or other activities helped you develop your knowledge and skills?
• Where do you want to go next? How does this program fit into your future plans?

Don’t try to include absolutely everything you’ve done—pick out highlights that are relevant to your application. Aim to craft a compelling narrative that shows how you’ve changed and actively developed yourself.

My interest in psychology was first sparked early in my high school career. Though somewhat scientifically inclined, I found that what interested me most was not the equations we learned about in physics and chemistry, but the motivations and perceptions of my fellow students, and the subtle social dynamics that I observed inside and outside the classroom. I wanted to learn how our identities, beliefs, and behaviours are shaped through our interactions with others, so I decided to major in Social Psychology. My undergraduate studies deepened my understanding of, and fascination with, the interplay between an individual mind and its social context.During my studies, I acquired a solid foundation of knowledge about concepts like social influence and group dynamics, but I also took classes on various topics not strictly related to my major. I was particularly interested in how other fields intersect with psychology—the classes I took on media studies, biology, and literature all enhanced my understanding of psychological concepts by providing different lenses through which to look at the issues involved.

Strategy 2: Own your challenges and obstacles

If your path to graduate school hasn’t been easy or straightforward, you can turn this into a strength, and structure your personal statement as a story of overcoming obstacles.

• Is your social, cultural or economic background underrepresented in the field? Show how your experiences will contribute a unique perspective.
• Do you have gaps in your resume or lower-than-ideal grades? Explain the challenges you faced and how you dealt with them.

Don’t focus too heavily on negatives, but use them to highlight your positive qualities. Resilience, resourcefulness and perseverance make you a promising graduate school candidate.

Growing up working class, urban decay becomes depressingly familiar. The sight of a row of abandoned houses does not surprise me, but it continues to bother me. Since high school, I have been determined to pursue a career in urban planning. While people of my background experience the consequences of urban planning decisions first-hand, we are underrepresented in the field itself. Ironically, given my motivation, my economic background has made my studies challenging. I was fortunate enough to be awarded a scholarship for my undergraduate studies, but after graduation I took jobs in unrelated fields to help support my parents. In the three years since, I have not lost my ambition. Now I am keen to resume my studies, and I believe I can bring an invaluable perspective to the table: that of the people most impacted by the decisions of urban planners.

Strategy 3: Demonstrate your knowledge of the field

Especially if you’re applying for a PhD or another research-focused program, it’s a good idea to show your familiarity with the subject and the department. Your personal statement can focus on the area you want to specialize in and reflect on why it matters to you.

• Reflect on the topics or themes that you’ve focused on in your studies. What draws you to them?
• Discuss any academic achievements, influential teachers, or other highlights of your education.
• Talk about the questions you’d like to explore in your research and why you think they’re important.

The personal statement isn’t a research proposal , so don’t go overboard on detail—but it’s a great opportunity to show your enthusiasm for the field and your capacity for original thinking.

In applying for this research program, my intention is to build on the multidisciplinary approach I have taken in my studies so far, combining knowledge from disparate fields of study to better understand psychological concepts and issues. The Media Psychology program stands out to me as the perfect environment for this kind of research, given its researchers’ openness to collaboration across diverse fields. I am impressed by the department’s innovative interdisciplinary projects that focus on the shifting landscape of media and technology, and I hope that my own work can follow a similarly trailblazing approach. More specifically, I want to develop my understanding of the intersection of psychology and media studies, and explore how media psychology theories and methods might be applied to neurodivergent minds. I am interested not only in media psychology but also in psychological disorders, and how the two interact. This is something I touched on during my undergraduate studies and that I’m excited to delve into further.

Strategy 4: Discuss your professional ambitions

Especially if you’re applying for a more professionally-oriented program (such as an MBA), it’s a good idea to focus on concrete goals and how the program will help you achieve them.

• If your career is just getting started, show how your character is suited to the field, and explain how graduate school will help you develop your talents.
• If you have already worked in the profession, show what you’ve achieved so far, and explain how the program will allow you to take the next step.
• If you are planning a career change, explain what has driven this decision and how your existing experience will help you succeed.

Don’t just state the position you want to achieve. You should demonstrate that you’ve put plenty of thought into your career plans and show why you’re well-suited to this profession.

One thing that fascinated me about the field during my undergraduate studies was the sheer number of different elements whose interactions constitute a person’s experience of an urban environment. Any number of factors could transform the scene I described at the beginning: What if there were no bus route? Better community outreach in the neighborhood? Worse law enforcement? More or fewer jobs available in the area? Some of these factors are out of the hands of an urban planner, but without taking them all into consideration, the planner has an incomplete picture of their task. Through further study I hope to develop my understanding of how these disparate elements combine and interact to create the urban environment. I am interested in the social, psychological and political effects our surroundings have on our lives. My studies will allow me to work on projects directly affecting the kinds of working-class urban communities I know well. I believe I can bring my own experiences, as well as my education, to bear upon the problem of improving infrastructure and quality of life in these communities.

Tips for the main body

• Don’t rehash your resume by trying to summarize everything you’ve done so far; the personal statement isn’t about listing your academic or professional experience, but about reflecting, evaluating, and relating it to broader themes.
• Do make your statements into stories: Instead of saying you’re hard-working and self-motivated, write about your internship where you took the initiative to start a new project. Instead of saying you’ve always loved reading, reflect on a novel or poem that changed your perspective.

Your conclusion should bring the focus back to the program and what you hope to get out of it, whether that’s developing practical skills, exploring intellectual questions, or both.

Emphasize the fit with your specific interests, showing why this program would be the best way to achieve your aims.

Strategy 1: What do you want to know?

If you’re applying for a more academic or research-focused program, end on a note of curiosity: what do you hope to learn, and why do you think this is the best place to learn it?

If there are specific classes or faculty members that you’re excited to learn from, this is the place to express your enthusiasm.

Strategy 2: What do you want to do?

If you’re applying for a program that focuses more on professional training, your conclusion can look to your career aspirations: what role do you want to play in society, and why is this program the best choice to help you get there?

Tips for the conclusion

• Don’t summarize what you’ve already said. You have limited space in a personal statement, so use it wisely!
• Do think bigger than yourself: try to express how your individual aspirations relate to your local community, your academic field, or society more broadly. It’s not just about what you’ll get out of graduate school, but about what you’ll be able to give back.

You’ll be expected to do a lot of writing in graduate school, so make a good first impression: leave yourself plenty of time to revise and polish the text.

Your style doesn’t have to be as formal as other kinds of academic writing, but it should be clear, direct and coherent. Make sure that each paragraph flows smoothly from the last, using topic sentences and transitions to create clear connections between each part.

Don’t be afraid to rewrite and restructure as much as necessary. Since you have a lot of freedom in the structure of a personal statement, you can experiment and move information around to see what works best.

Finally, it’s essential to carefully proofread your personal statement and fix any language errors. Before you submit your application, consider investing in professional personal statement editing . For $150, you have the peace of mind that your personal statement is grammatically correct, strong in term of your arguments, and free of awkward mistakes.

A statement of purpose is usually more formal, focusing on your academic or professional goals. It shouldn’t include anything that isn’t directly relevant to the application.

A personal statement can often be more creative. It might tell a story that isn’t directly related to the application, but that shows something about your personality, values, and motivations.

However, both types of document have the same overall goal: to demonstrate your potential as a graduate student and s how why you’re a great match for the program.

The typical length of a personal statement for graduate school applications is between 500 and 1,000 words.

Different programs have different requirements, so always check if there’s a minimum or maximum length and stick to the guidelines. If there is no recommended word count, aim for no more than 1-2 pages.

If you’re applying to multiple graduate school programs, you should tailor your personal statement to each application.

Some applications provide a prompt or question. In this case, you might have to write a new personal statement from scratch: the most important task is to respond to what you have been asked.

If there’s no prompt or guidelines, you can re-use the same idea for your personal statement – but change the details wherever relevant, making sure to emphasize why you’re applying to this specific program.

If the application also includes other essays, such as a statement of purpose , you might have to revise your personal statement to avoid repeating the same information.

If you want to know more about college essays , academic writing , and AI tools , make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations, examples, and quizzes.

College essays

• College essay examples
• College essay format
• College essay style
• College essay length
• Diversity essays
• Scholarship essays

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Avoiding repetition
• Literature review
• Conceptual framework
• Dissertation outline
• Thesis acknowledgements
• Burned or burnt
• Canceled or cancelled
• Dreamt or dreamed
• Gray or grey
• Theater vs theatre

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, July 03). How to Write Your Personal Statement | Strategies & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved April 2, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/graduate-school/personal-statement/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, how to write a graduate school resume | template & example, how (and who) to ask for a letter of recommendation, master's vs phd | a complete guide to the differences, unlimited academic ai-proofreading.

✔ Document error-free in 5minutes ✔ Unlimited document corrections ✔ Specialized in correcting academic texts

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

What If I Don’t Have Anything Interesting To Write About In My College Essay?

What’s covered:, what makes for a good college essay, how to write a dazzling college essay, will your essay make or break your college application.

College applicants are constantly told that in order to be attractive to admissions committees they need to stand out—but how can you stand out when you live a pretty ordinary life? Lots of students worry that the events of their everyday life are too boring or clichéd to be the topic of a really good essay.

That being said, there’s no need to worry! Your college essay doesn’t need to be about an extraordinary experience you’ve had. Rather, it should depict you as extraordinary. “Uninteresting” topics actually make great college essays because the topic itself doesn’t carry the essay—the student’s individuality does.

Read on for tips on how to write a college essay about an “uninteresting” topic that still shows off your personality, values, interests, and writing skills.

The purpose of your college essay is to humanize yourself to admissions officers so that they can see the ‘real you’ behind the grades and test scores you’ve submitted.

Our article about awesome essay topics gives five structures for a good college essay (though there are many more!):

• A unique extracurricular activity or passion
• An activity or interest that contrasts heavily with your profile
• A seemingly insignificant moment that speaks to larger themes within your life
• Using an everyday experience or object as a metaphor to explore your life and personality
• An in-the-moment narrative that tells the story of an important moment in your life

As you might notice, only one of these essay topics references anything exciting, extraordinary, or unique. Set aside the idea that you need to write about something dramatic and unusual. Unusual experiences are not what is most important to admissions officers—rather, it’s important to position yourself as someone that an admissions officer would like to see at their university.

Some things that make for a bad college essay include:

• Not answering the prompt
• Stretching a prompt so that your answer doesn’t make sense
• Writing about a controversial issue, particularly in an irreverent way
• Showing prejudice
• Writing about a clichéd topic
• Writing about anything that advocates disrespect for authority—this can be anything from insulting a teacher to doing an illegal activity
• Assuming the opinions of your reader

Beyond these boundaries, you can pick any topic you want. It’s how you write about the topic that matters!

Read on for our advice on writing a compelling essay that offers a window into your personality and life experiences.

Our guidance for writing a dazzling essay about an “uninteresting” topic involves:

• Picking a value or fundamental truth about yourself that will humanize you to admissions officers and tell them something important about yourself
• Identifying an experience that exemplifies that value or fundamental truth
• Writing a thoughtful essay that uses your “uninteresting” experience to say something interesting about yourself

1. Get the Ball Rolling

There are many different practices you might find useful as you start brainstorming your college essay. These include freewriting, listing, outlines, and more. That said, don’t feel restricted by brainstorming exercises. Remember that they’re meant to start the process and get the juices flowing. Write down anything and everything that springs to mind—who knows what it could turn into?

Sometimes simple questions can open students up and reveal what is important to them. Here are some questions that might help you brainstorm:

• What’s the last news story you read and found interesting? This question can help you identify an issue that you are passionate about or a cause that matters a lot to you.
• What is your proudest accomplishment so far? What about it makes you feel proud? This question can reveal what you consider most important about yourself, which is likely something you find important in life.
• When have you been the most nervous, and why were you nervous? What was the outcome of the situation? This could be anything from an important performance to standing up for an issue you care about. People’s fears can be an indicator of what they value.
• What’s the most recent topic you researched on your own just for fun or self-improvement? Have you found yourself going down a rabbit hole of Wikipedia articles recently? Your interests are important to you and say a lot about you.
• What have you learned from the community you grew up in? What do you value about that community? Your individual history and family history are very important factors in who you are as a person.
• When have you most recently changed your mind about something important? If growth is important to you, admissions officers want to hear about it.

2. Pick Your Value

If you aren’t going to have a flashy topic, you need to make sure that you use your “uninteresting” topic to say something interesting about yourself. When the admissions officer finishes reading your essay, they should feel like they know you better than when they started reading. So what are you going to tell them about yourself?

Your value or fundamental truth about yourself doesn’t necessarily need to be positive, but neutral/negative values will probably need to be accompanied by self-aware reflection throughout your essay.

Values and fundamental truths can be things like:

• I have a growth mindset
• Family loyalty is very important to me
• Giving gifts that people will treasure is important to me
• I don’t like to be like everyone else
• Embarrassment is a major fear of mine
• I don’t like seeing others in pain
• I am super curious
• I always like to be busy
• I don’t like making mistakes
• Having fun is important to me
• I’m a people pleaser
• Self-care is important to me

3. Pick Your Experience

You will want to pick an anecdote, experience, or example that can serve as a channel through which you can communicate your value. Finding significance in a small incident can be incredibly compelling for your readers. On the other hand, you could explore the meaning of something that you do every day or every week. You can even simply muse on one relationship in your life that speaks to your value. Once you have chosen an experience, you have your topic!

Some “uninteresting” essay topics with interesting implications could be:

• Making dinner with my mom on Fridays allows me to see how matriarchal strength has been passed down in my family
• Volunteering at my local community center is how I take care of the natural caretaker in me
• Going to the mall with my best friend is important to me because choosing which stores to go into is structured spontaneity, and I need structured spontaneity
• Making cards for my friends’ birthdays started as a way to save money, but I really enjoy how it fuses technical and artistic abilities in a unique way
• Singing Disney show tunes in the car is when I feel most relaxed because people around me put a lot of pressure on me to grow up fast and sometimes I miss being a kid
• Going to the hospital to visit my uncle after his surgery was uncomfortable for me because I love others so strongly that it truly hurts me to see them in pain
• Sleeping with my same stuffed animal every night makes me feel safe, which is important to me because my sister’s health issues cause me anxiety and it’s nice to have something stable to rely on

Some final notes on choosing your essay topic:

• The topic you initially like the most may not be the one that allows you to write the best possible essay. Be open to trying something different.
• You don’t need to commit to a topic right away. If it becomes clear after you start outlining or writing that your initial plan isn’t going to work as well as you would like, there’s nothing wrong with altering your topic or starting over with a new topic.

If you still feel stuck, we recommend you take a look at the school-specific supplemental essay questions presented by the colleges to which you’re not applying. One of these prompts might spark an idea in your mind that would also be appropriate for the colleges to which you are applying. Check out the Essay Breakdown posts on the CollegeVine blog for a convenient way to look at this year’s essay questions from many different competitive schools.

4. Make Your Experience Shine

Once you’ve selected a topic, you’ll need to figure out how to develop an essay from it that is technically skillful, compelling to the reader, and true to the vision of yourself that you’re working to portray in your application. Remember, the value of your essay is much more in how you write about your experiences than it is in what experiences you write about.

To write a truly effective college essay, you’ll need to focus not just on depicting your chosen experience, but also on expressing your personal experience in an interesting manner. The experience is simply your scaffolding. The focus of your essay should be what that experience says about you—or what you make it say about you.

When writing about an “uninteresting” experience, you will want to be reflective, be self-aware, and show maturity in your view of your experience. Focus on communicating your thoughts and emotions in a way that evokes emotion in your reader and makes them feel connected to you.

Details are also important to pay attention to while writing your essay, as they’ll bring life and context to your story. Vivid and evocative details can turn your “uninteresting” experience into a relatable and interesting scene in your reader’s imagination.

With skillful writing, powerful word choice, and a good sense of how to develop a fragment of an idea into a longer piece of writing, you can make any topic—no matter how “uninteresting” it may seem—into a mature exploration of your values and a showcase of your skills as a communicator.

It depends . A brilliant essay can’t make up for severe deficiencies in your academic qualifications , but it will still have a significant impact, particularly at smaller and more competitive schools.

If you’re “on the bubble” for admissions, an essay that makes an admissions officer feel like they know you could give them a reason to accept your application. On the other hand, an essay that’s carelessly written, inappropriate, or full of technical errors will hurt your chances of admission, even if you have great qualifications.

If you finish your first draft of your essay and are still worried that your “uninteresting” topic will break your college application, we recommend that you get feedback. Sometimes it can really help to have someone else determine whether or not your voice is shining through in your work. Feedback is ultimately any writer’s best source of improvement!

To get your college essay edited for free and improve your chances of acceptance at your dream schools, use our Peer Review Essay Tool . With this tool, other students will tell you if your essay effectively humanizes you.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Office of Undergraduate Education

University Honors Program

• Honors Requirements
• Major and Thesis Requirements
• Courses & Experiences
• Honors Courses
• NEXUS Experiences
• Non-Course Experiences
• Faculty-Directed Research and Creative Projects
• Community Engagement and Volunteering
• Internships
• Learning Abroad
• Honors Thesis Guide
• Sample Timeline
• Important Dates and Deadlines
• Requirements and Evaluation Criteria
• Supervision and Approval
• Credit and Honors Experiences
• Style and Formatting
• Submit Your Thesis
• Submit to the Digital Conservancy
• Honors Advising
• Honors Reporting Center
• Get Involved
• University Honors Student Association
• UHSA Executive Board
• Honors Multicultural Network
• Honors Mentor Program
• Honors Recognition Ceremony
• Honors Community & Housing
• Freshman Invitation
• Post-Freshman Admission
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Faculty Fellows
• Faculty Resources
• Honors Faculty Representatives
• Internal Honors Scholarships
• Office for National and International Scholarships
• Letters of Recommendation
• Personal Statements
• Scholarship Information
• Honors Lecture Series
• Make a Donation
• UHP Land Acknowledgment
• UHP Policies

Writing a Personal Statement

The personal statement is the single most important component of many scholarship applications. It is your opportunity to speak to the selection committee in your own voice, to tell them who you are, why you study X, what you would like to do with your life, and why you need to complete a particular graduate program or academic experience along the way. A personal statement is challenging to write, but it is also a useful learning experience. You will ask yourself, and begin to answer, important questions about what matters most to you, and why. You will dare yourself to think large about what you are capable of, and perhaps come to some important conclusions about the contribution you would like to make to the world, whether you win the scholarship or not. Writing a personal statement can also be the occasion for substantive conversations with your faculty mentors and advisors.

There is no single right way to write a personal statement, but we hope the following tips will help you.

• Read the instructions for the specific scholarship, and follow them. Most scholarship instructions are open-ended enough to give you some leeway as to how to structure your statement and what to include. However, a personal statement that fails to address the requested topics is unlikely to succeed, no matter how well-written.
• Expect to write several drafts. Early in the writing process, allow yourself the freedom to try a variety of approaches and to write expansively, without worrying about length limits. It’s better to start with too much than not enough.
• Seek feedback on your drafts from faculty mentors, the campus scholarship advisor, etc., if the scholarship program permits (the American Rhodes does not). Ask several people for advice (if this is allowed), but expect that their recommendations will differ. It’s your essay, and you are in charge of weighing the advice and deciding what is useful.
• Write like the intelligent person you are in clear, straightforward language. It’s not necessary to embellish your essay with poetic metaphors or obscure or highly specialized terms. If you must use a specialized term, be sure to define it so that selection judges outside of your field will know what you’re talking about.
• Use a style guide. We highly recommend The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White. It's cheap, short, and sweet!
• Most personal statements are brief and must be concise. It is not necessary to write formal introductory and concluding paragraphs—these tend to be repetitive and can waste space.
• Don’t be boring. A personal statement should not be a narrative version of your resume. Vague generalities, clichés, and statements that most scholarship applicants could make will not help you. Details make writing come alive.
• Be forward-looking. Focus mostly on the present and future; be selective and deliberate about including past experiences and make them part of the story of who you are now and where you’re headed. Don’t imply that you "deserve" a scholarship because of what you’ve done in the past.
• Non-academics are very important and may be included, but keep the main focus your academic interests and plans.
• Say what you really think. The selection committee wants to get to know you, not the imaginary person you think they are looking for.
• Do your homework. Know the graduate program you’re proposing; make sure you’re qualified for it. Don’t rely on touting the international reputation of a university like Cambridge to explain your interest in studying there.
• Show, don't tell, what a great candidate you are. Avoid describing yourself as "the ideal candidate," "best candidate," "perfect fit," etc. This is for others to judge.
• Keep it positive. Express your eagerness to learn something new rather than deplore your ignorance for not knowing it already.
• Make it perfect. Your personal statement should be grammatically flawless and free of typos. The words should be carefully chosen, and the essay should flow naturally. Make sure that you are within the prescribed length limit.
• Summer Research Opportunities
• Global Seminars and LAC Seminars
• Honors Research in London - Summer 2024

Writing a Strong Personal Statement for Your CV

A personal statement, otherwise known as a personal profile, professional summary or CV summary, is the opening paragraph which sits at the top of your CV. It is a short introduction which informs recruiters who you are, showcases the skills and qualities you possess and provides a brief overview of your career history. Including a personal statement in your CV can help you stand out from the competition and grab the attention of recruiters.

Do you need to include a personal statement in your CV?

On average, recruiters spend 5-7 seconds scanning your CV which is not a lot of time to impress them. Many CVs consist of generalised lists that say nothing about the candidate or why they’re applying for the job. By adding a personal statement to your CV, you stand out from the crowd and show recruiters a bit of your personality.

Personal statements can be particularly handy for competitive industries or for jobs where there are many candidates. As recruiters have to browse through many CVs, they may just skim over yours, unless there is something to grab their attention.

They’re also useful if you have a broad career history. A personal statement can tie those disparate experiences together and help prospective employers understand how your skills match their desired criteria.

On the other hand, if you have little to no experience, it may be best to save this space for a CV objective . While it shares similarities with a personal statement, a CV objective is usually only one to two sentences in length and focuses more on your career goals.

Tips for a powerful personal statement

• keep it short
• write using ‘I’ statements
• identify your key strengths and achievements
• tailor it to each application
• structure it well
• don’t use clichés or buzzwords
• make it easy to read
• proofread it

Keep your personal statement short

The ideal personal statement captures your experience and skills in no more than 50-200 words. Consider it the written equivalent of an elevator pitch, designed to spark your recruiters’ interest so that they’ll want to read the rest of your CV. As you’ll have plenty of space in your cover letter to elaborate on any points, your personal statement should only provide recruiters a quick summary of your career history. Using our resume templates , you can add a short personal statement and fill out additional information in other sections of the CV.

Write using ‘I’ statements

Your personal statement is about yourself, so make it personal! Writing about yourself in the third person, i.e. “he” or “she” can sound pretentious and come across as distant.

When you write in the first person, using ‘I’ statements, you add a personal touch to a CV which may otherwise consist of bullet-point lists. That doesn't have to mean starting every sentence with ‘I’, for example, you could write:

‘As a qualified project manager, I have consistently delivered complex projects within demanding time constraints.’

Identify your skills and achievements

When writing a personal statement, the tendency is to include generic statements which could describe any candidate. To help make your personal statement unique to you, start by identifying your skills and achievements.

One of the best ways to do this is to think about all the jobs you’ve had and ask yourself what difference you made to each employer. You could also dig out past reviews and appraisals to identify the objectives/skills for which you received positive feedback.

Tailor your personal statement to each job application

In the same way that you would tailor your CV to each job you’re applying for, you’ll also need to tailor your personal statement. Look at the desired experience, skills and education in the ‘Requirements’ section of the job description and draw on examples of how you meet each criterion from your career history.

Structure your personal statement

Many people struggle to write a personal statement. The important thing to remember is that you don’t have a lot of space to go into detail. To give your personal statement some structure, it can be helpful to break it down into the following three sections:

• Who you are
• Your career goals
• What you can offer your prospective employer

This section allows the recruiter to quickly identify your background and industry experience. For example, you may state that you’re:

‘A recent graduate with a 2:1 in Modern Foreign Languages from the University of Sussex seeking a role in…’

Next, you’ll need to hone in on what you can offer your prospective employer. Here, you’ll want to highlight skills and achievements relevant to the job description and to back these up with examples.

If you don’t meet all the criteria for the role you’re applying for, you may want to draw attention to transferable skills which demonstrate why you’re a suitable candidate. For example:

‘Having lived and worked abroad, I am fluent in French and German , and can confidently use my language skills in a professional environment.’

The last section of your personal statement should conclude with your career goals and reaffirm why you’re applying for the role. For example, it may read:

‘I am seeking a role in the translations industry that complements my language skills.’

Don’t use cliches or buzzwords

Avoid using jargon or buzzwords. There’s a reason that it’s called a personal statement! If you write that you’re a good team player, you have a strong work ethic or you’re an effective communicator, it’ll be more difficult to stand out from the crowd.

These are just empty phrases that don’t really tell recruiters who you are or what you can do. Instead, provide examples of how you’ve worked well in a team or communicated effectively. If you wouldn’t describe yourself as a ‘team player’ in real life, don’t do it in your CV.

Make your personal statement easy to read

While your personal statement should be short, it should also be easy to read. Don’t make it another bullet-point list like the rest of your CV, but at the same time, avoid boring the reader with a mini-biography of your entire career history.

Recruiters have little time to spare and don’t need to know the ins and outs of every job you’ve ever had. Use specific keywords from the job description, include specific examples to help recruiters understand why you’re the right candidate and save details for your cover letter or interviews.

Proofread your personal statement

It’s worth proofreading your personal statement to catch any spelling or grammar mistakes and to make sure it flows well. Your personal statement is the first impression recruiters will have of you. If it’s littered with mistakes, it conveys a lack of attention to detail and doesn’t bode well for the rest of your CV.

You not only want to impress recruiters with your achievements but also your writing skills. A well-written personal statement demonstrates that you have good communication skills (without buzzwords!), and more importantly, ensures that recruiters won’t discard it at first glance.

Get ahead of the competition

Make your job applications stand-out from other candidates.

Uploading Your CV Online

How to Write a CV for Australia Job Applications

Using a CV maker

How to fit you into your personal statement

Many students relate to this experience when they sit down to write a personal statement. Whether you are applying for school, a volunteer position, an internship or a job, being confronted with a prompt as open-ended as “Tell us about yourself” or “Why do you think you would be a good match for our program?” can quickly leave you feeling more one dimensional than Flat Stanley (no hard feelings, Stanley).

If you’ve ever found yourself sitting at your computer, staring hopelessly at a blank Word document or typing and deleting endless iterations of the *perfect* opening sentence, I assure you that you are not alone. What you may be experiencing, however, is not a lack of material but choice overload. As you try to bring to mind all the moments that make you uniquely you , your mind becomes gridlocked in a traffic jam of options. Selecting just one from the memory milieu feels impossible.

So what’s an applicant to do?

Phone a Friend

Don’t spend hours agonizing over where to start. Call up a friend, family member, coworker, classmate, or significant other and ask them to describe a few things they think stand out about you. Your loved ones often have insight on particular strengths that you may not think to emphasize. If you talk to multiple people, look for similarities between the traits they highlight. By asking for help from the people who know you best, you can start to alleviate your choice overload and identify the handful of traits and characteristics that make you, you.

If you have a hard time receiving compliments, you can also try verbalizing your thoughts. Read the statement prompt to your loved one, then try explaining, in your own words, how you would like to reply. Have your loved one jot down some notes. When you’re speaking out loud, you won’t be worrying about the particulars of sentence structure and comma placement and will be free to focus on the points you want to convey. Your loved one’s notes will become an easy outline that you can transition into essay format.

Start Small, End Small

If you’re like most applicants, you may have found yourself reading through other people’s personal statements for inspiration. If you haven’t taken this approach, good on you. I recommend holding off on seeking outside examples until you have a first draft in place, lest you inadvertently find yourself trying to imitate another writer’s voice. However, if you’ve already gone down that rabbit hole, you may have noticed that most applicants include a personal anecdote of some sort.

Choosing an anecdote can be one of the trickiest parts of writing a personal statement. Done well, it can add a personal touch that brings your statement to life. But striking the balance between overly personal (detailing your most recent breakup) and overly generic (regaling athletic injuries or talking up inspirational family members) can be deceptively difficult.

My advice is to stay small. Don’t try to cram in every lesson you learned on your community service trip or your summer abroad – you’ll run out of space before doing the story justice. Pick a specific experience that you can describe fully in just a few sentences and explain why it was important to you. Use that anecdote to show your reader how you think, how you problem solve or what inspires you. If you introduce the anecdote at the beginning of your statement, do your best to refer back to it at the end. This will bring your reader full circle and help you drive home the key point that the story is meant to emphasize.

Explain How ,  not What

Restating your resume in sentence format is, perhaps, the most common mistake that applicants make in personal statements. While you are naturally going to draw on experiences that are relevant to the program you are applying for, keep in mind that readers will likely have your resume or CV in hand when they read your personal statement. Don’t make them read the same thing twice. One of the best things you can do in your personal statement is provide the context that connects your experiences. What about your favorite high school class led you to apply for your summer job? Did an independent study in college inspire you to pursue a full blown thesis? Most importantly, what did you learn from these experiences, and how did that knowledge lead you to that position you are applying for today?

Just Start Writing

This tip speaks for itself, but I’ll explain anyway. The only way to write a personal statement is to write it. No amount of staring into space can substitute for words on paper. The traffic jam of ideas will only clear when you allow yourself to follow those thoughts to their logical conclusions and decide whether or not they are statement worthy. Don’t worry about producing multiple drafts – or starting over entirely. All writing, and personal statements in particular, is iterative. Each draft will be better than the last, but everyone has to start somewhere.

At the end of the day, no single statement – no matter the word limit – is going to be able to perfectly encapsulate who you are as a person. Nor is that the expectation! The goal of a personal statement is to give an admissions or hiring committee a snapshot of who you are and how you think. Done well, this sneak peek will leave them wanting more.

Related Content

What to write in college essay if you are boring

A college application essay is important as it may have a significant effect on your career. As such, it would dictate that you spend time, effort and thought on it.

However what do you write in your admission essay if you are boring and nothing has happened in your life?  Well, no one is ever really boring.

There is always something unique about an individual. You have to dig deep and be willing to learn more about yourself.

College essays are no ordinary essays since they require you to write about yourself in a detailed and concise manner. If you are having a hard time trying to figure out how to write your college application essay, follow the techniques and guidelines below.

What Do I Write in a College Admission Essay if you are boring?

Ideally, if you are boring and nothing has happened in your life that you can include in your college admission essay, you can include attributes that makes you special, include details that will help the reader understand you, include any special skills you possess or share what motivates you. 

• Find out what makes you special

Identifying your unique attributes is difficult. The little things that other people see as unique about you might not be that obvious to you. They look normal to you because you live them every day.

To get an idea of what makes you special , ask yourself some questions and write down the answers on a piece of paper.

The questions and answers help you get a rough idea on some of the things to include in your college essay.

The following questions will help you identify your unique attributes; Are there any instruments you play? What is your level of commitment? Have you travelled? How has your youth been? Visualize yourself in 5 years.

By the time you finish answering these questions, you will identify something special about you to include in your college essay.

• Include details that would help your reader understand you

A strong college essay plays an important role in helping the reader understand you better. You may focus so much on your qualities and attributes and end up forgetting about your experiences.

Describing your experiences in great detail make you stand out. For example, do not just say that you are great at football.

Explain how you helped your team win the state championships by scoring a lot of goals or how you recovered from an injury and got back even stronger. The smallest details matter. When you add them up, they create a unique story.

• Include special skills 

We are all capable of something unique. You could be talented in sports or have different abilities.

Some of these abilities may be communication prowess, leadership (solving disputes or guiding your colleagues on the way forward), good management of time and resources, excellent research techniques, etc.

Include the abilities in the college essay and describe what you have achieved using these abilities. They show your level of maturity.

• What motivates/interests you?

It is a popular question that you need to focus on when writing your application essay.

Write about getting good grades, becoming an all-rounded student by participating in extracurricular activities, creating an excellent basis for your future endeavors as the major factors that motivate you.

The college admission committee will see that you are serious about joining the institution.

• Include information about your family, education and work experience

Share your experiences when growing up. For example, your parents could be the reason you have decided to pursue the course in that college.

Do you have any siblings? Have they also swayed you to apply at that school? Where did you go to school? What values did your parents instill in you when growing up? Do you consider them important?

Are they part of the school you wish to join? Have you had any working experience? All these questions help the reader understand you in an in-depth manner.

• Why would the members of the program want to choose you over other applicants?

Here, write about your diversity. Include your greatest strengths and how you developed them so well. Explain what you want to achieve in college by the time you are graduating.

Show the reader that the college is instrumental in helping you make life-changing decisions. Research about the college so that you get to know the core values of the institution.

Explain to the reader how you intend to uphold these values. Showing a strong interest in the school makes you stand out from the rest of the applicants.

• Be honest with yourself

Most students have the capability of writing down an excellent college essay but run low on self-esteem. In many cases, students write their college essays thinking about the qualities of other students.

They end up sounding too obvious and unauthentic. Believe in yourself. Write about your experiences, regardless of how small they are.

These experiences played an important role in shaping your current life. Honesty is a virtue, and immediately the reader detects that you are honest, they will be willing to read more.

• Ask for help from a friend/relative or an expert

Writing a college essay is not easy. If it proves to be too difficult, ask for help from your friend or relative. More often than not, your close friend or relative understands you better.

Tell them to write down your strengths, weaknesses and unique qualities. They should include an experience they have had with you to back up these impressions.

Read them on your own and pick the qualities and strengths you find to be true.

We have the best admission essay writers in our midst. Hire us today ad enjoy superior admission essay writing services 

What should you never write about on your admission essay?

In your admission essay you should never write about famous quotes, your political or religious views, it is important to not reiterate your academic excellence  and to avoid writing about a general topic. 

• Famous quotes

Including famous quotes in your essay is a simple way of telling the reader that you have run out of ideas, or even worse, you do not know much about yourself.

It also shows that you lack authenticity and the innovation that is required by many colleges. Make the admission essay about you. Your voice should be predominant in the entire college essay.

You gain the reader’s favor because you assure them that you will carry the excellent writing skills to the classroom.

• Do not reiterate your academic and extracurricular excellence

Your academic records and achievements out of class are captured in your transcripts and list of activities. Including them in your essay is monotonous.

Instead, add another aspect to your college essay. For example, how do you relate with your classmates? What are your leadership virtues?

You keep the reader engaged and willing to read more because you have already created a vivid picture in their mind, of what they should expect from you.

• Be unique- do not sound like everyone else 

A common mistake made by students is sharing their essay to many people- parents, counsellors, friends and teachers.

Each person gives a different opinion on what you should add or remove. You end up editing the whole essay according to the various ideas given, and in the process, you lose your unique voice.

Although it is important to get second opinions, do not sound like everyone else. Uniqueness grabs the attention of the reader.

• Writing about how lucky you are

Being brought up in an affluent household is a privilege, and you do not have to share that with the admission officials.

The last thing a person wants to hear about in your college essay is how far you have travelled, or the kind of house you live in. It is a turnoff.

• Avoid writing about a general topic

Write an admission essay that is more focused on your character and attributes. Including a general topic in your college essay turns off the reader.

The reader gets demotivated to read on.

After all, you are not writing the essay for grading! Focus more about yourself, what you are capable of and include reasons why you are interested in joining the institution.

• Politics or religion

These two fall under inflammatory topics. They are the most polarizing topics to venture in.

Therefore, it is wise you avoid these topics or any other topic that may trigger personal feelings.

How to write a personal statement if you are boring

• Share something about yourself

Your personal statement should share something about yourself. Write about your character, attitude or the core values you hold.

Sharing something personal with the reader tells them about the kind of person you are. Your voice should be evident in the essay to make it more personal and unique.

• Write to the specific college

Your statement should also reveal your interest to join the college.

Explain to the college admission committee how it has always been your desire to join the college. Show them how you would fit in at the college if they accepted your college application form.

Additionally, explain why it is the ideal place for you to pursue your course.

• Do not repeat what is already in the application 

By repeating what you had written in the application form in your personal statement, you turn off the reader. The personal statement should include information about you that is not captured in the college admission essay.

Mostly, share personal information.

• Write an attention-grabbing introduction

Do not start the personal statement by introducing yourself or repeating the question asked. It is a cliché. Instead, think about an introduction that will grab the attention of the committee.

For example, start by explaining an experience that changed your way of thinking. The reader will want to know more about personal experiences. Good introductions play a vital role in enhancing the reader’s eagerness.

• Focus on a single well thought point

Instead of writing many shallow points that have no basis, focus on a single well-researched point and support it with examples.

You get to explain yourself better and remain relevant. Be yourself and convey your honest feelings.

In this blog we answer the question: What to write in a college essay if you are boring. If you follow the above tips to the letter, be sure to write a college essay or personal statement that will grab the attention of the college admission committee.

Writing a college essay may be an uphill task, but that does not mean it is impossible.

Write your college essay, consult with your friends and relatives, edit, proofread, re-edit again, and smile on your way to submit your college admission essay.

It is not that complicated.

Watch the video below to learn how to write your college application essay

11 episodes

I’ve worked in university student recruitment and admissions for well over 25 years. I’ve read countless Personal Statements, delivered hundreds of sessions on how to write them, and I have even trained teachers and advisers on how to help their students. This podcast is for you if you are applying through UCAS, and are writing your UCAS Personal Statement In just one hour, over 10 super-short episodes, I’ll give you information and insight into the admissions process, and a very practical guide on writing your statement. Just listen, take notes, and start writing. You’ll also find the whole series available as an online course, or as a written guide that you can download for free at: www.betterunichoices.com

How to write your UCAS Personal Statement - a Better Uni Choices podcast Jonathan Tinnacher

• MAR 28, 2024

Part 10: Top Personal Statement tips

Looking for some final tips before you start your first draft? Here are some thoughts that I have picked up from a whole bunch of admissions selectors and other experts over the years.

Part 9: Getting help and support

Want to know how to get the best possible feedback on your statement? There are lots of people around who can help you with your Personal Statement. This part will help you get the very best input, by planning how and when you get feedback from different people.

Part 8: Using ChatGPT

Thinking of using ChatGPT? If you ask Chat GPT to write your statement for you, it will simply make stuff up; a whole statement full of lies. However, engage with it as if it is your counsellor, and it can be extremely helpful. In this part I suggest a couple of really useful prompts, and give some further helpful tips on how to use AI usefully and ethically.

Part 7: Writing a Personal Statement for two subjects

Are you applying for two different subjects? How to write a statement that covers two different courses could be the most asked question in university admissions history, and the answer is not straightforward. There are a number of possible scenarios, and in this part I suggest how to approach these.

Part 6: The power of reflective writing

How do you make sure everything you write really matters to the admissions tutor? You now have lots of content, and a sensible structure for your statement. You know which content you are going to prioritise, and roughly how long each section is going to be. There is just one more area to focus on before you start writing the statement in full, and that’s how to write reflectively.

Part 5: A clear, simple structure

Not sure what goes where? If you have done the exercise in Part 4 reasonably well, you now probably have several pages, and perhaps ten or twenty ideas about yourself, your skills, your experiences, and your chosen course. In this part I’m going to show you how to organise all this content within a really clear, simple structure.

Top Podcasts In Education

How Not to Be Bored When You Have to Wait

Sick of standing in line? Instead of looking at your phone, read on.

Want to stay current with Arthur’s writing? Sign up to get an email every time a new column comes out.

L ike many , I travel a lot for work. Unlike many, I never get tired of it. On the open road are always interesting people and new places. Phoenix in July or Fairbanks in the winter? Bring it on. There is one thing about travel that bugs me, though, and has ever since my tender years: the constant waiting. When I travel, I wait in the TSA line, wait to board the plane, wait in restaurants, wait to check into hotels, and on and on.

This pet peeve about waiting is shared by most Americans, 64 percent of whom have to wait in line at a business at least a few times a week, and two-thirds of whom say that their predominant emotion while doing so is negative ( according to a survey by Waitwhile, a company whose business is, literally, queuing management). Small wonder that scholars find that waiting for products and services strongly lowers satisfaction and loyalty to a service provider; according to the Waitwhile survey, 82 percent of customers actively avoid going to a business with a line.

For years, I have tried to design my life in such a way to lower how much time I have to spend waiting, and it has worked: I ask for the check as soon as the server brings me my lunch; I have all the subscriptions that help to streamline one’s passage through the airport; I patronize hotels that have self-service check-in kiosks. No doubt my waiting time is a fraction of what it used to be. But recently, I have realized that despite these improvements, I’m not any less aggravated by the waiting I still have to endure.

Read: What boredom actually means

This mystery has led me to conclude that I have gone about the whole problem in the wrong way. I have been trying to engineer the outside world to make it better for me. I should instead have been working on myself, to live better in a world of waiting.

T he problem with waiting for something we want—even when the waiting is not anxiety-provoking (as it can be for a medical result)—is that it produces two conditions that humans hate: boredom and lack of autonomy.

One way of understanding boredom is that it’s a state in which you fail to find meaning. Standing in line, knowing that you’re doing so to get or do something but are being forced to spend the time unproductively, is what feels meaningless. That can lead to frustration .

People resist the frustration of boredom so much that they will literally choose pain to pass the time: In one famous 2016 study , researchers ran an experiment in which they assigned participants to watch movies that were sad, neutral, or boring, during which they could self-administer painful electric shocks. Those watching the boring film shocked themselves more frequently and at higher intensity than the people watching the other films.

Waiting also lowers your sense of autonomy—or, to use the psychological parlance, creates an external locus of control , which means that your behavior can’t change the situation at hand. This is extremely uncomfortable. Think of the last time you waited in an airport for a long-delayed flight, and the vexation that came from not being able to do anything about it except wait. For people who feel this a lot in their life—not just waiting in the occasional line but feeling as if they generally don’t have control over their circumstances, for economic, health, or social and family reasons—such a lack of autonomy is associated with depression .

Read: Boredom is winning

You have probably noticed that to compound these problems, time seems to slow down when you’re waiting for something. As a rule, time perception is highly contextual and subjective, and the perceived duration of an experience may seem to stretch out when we are under stress. In one experiment from the 1980s showing this, researchers asked people with arachnophobia to look at spiders—of which they were intensely afraid—for two stretches of 45 seconds apiece. They found that the phobic subjects systematically overestimated the amount of spider-watching time endured, especially after the second viewing of the spiders, which was likely related to the subjects’ already heightened stress levels.

Your annoyance in a bank line probably isn’t as extreme as that, but the frustration likely still makes the time drag. All of this leads to a vicious circle of waiting and frustration: The discomfort from waiting makes the waiting seem to go on longer, and this perceived extended waiting time increases your frustration.

T wo obvious solutions to the waiting problem suggest themselves. The first is what I have always done, which is to try to engineer the external environment to eliminate as much waiting as possible. This means scheduling activities meticulously to avoid traffic when possible, subscribing to services that allow you to jump lines, and eating at weird hours when restaurants aren’t crowded. That strategy helps a little, for a while, but as psychologists have long found—and as I’ve discovered for myself—the psychic gains from repeatedly attaining such gratification don’t usually last. That is because of a psychological phenomenon known as affective habituation : the process by which the positive feeling falls when we get something again and again. Although the expense and inconvenience of these things are permanent, studies have shown that the benefits wear off quickly and become a new normal that is very nearly as frustrating as the old one.

Megan Garber: The great fracturing of American attention

Another waiting strategy most people have turned to of late is distraction by device. When a line forms, nearly everyone pulls out their phone to fritter away the time, playing games, checking email, and, especially, scrolling social media. You might think that this solution must work, the way everyone does it, but in fact it might not work at all.

In one study published in 2021, researchers monitored the level of boredom (and fatigue) that people reported over the course of their workday. As their boredom increased, the more likely they were to use their phone. This did not provide relief, however. On the contrary, they reported more boredom and fatigue after having used the phone. Your phone may attract your attention, but after the first few seconds, it may expose the false promise that it really isn’t much more interesting than staring at the wall; meanwhile, it sucks up your energy.

If these solutions that try to change the outside world are not helpful, looking within ourselves could be a better bet. I can recommend two ways to transform waiting time from something to endure into an investment in yourself.

The first is the practice of mindfulness. The most common definition of this is a meditation technique in which one persists in focusing on the present moment. People typically find this quite difficult, even frustrating. But mindfulness can be much simpler and easier than the orthodox meditation practice. As my colleague Ellen Langer, whom I regard as a pioneer in mindfulness research, told me, “It’s simply noticing new things.”

To do this involves putting down the phone when waiting in line—or for a train, or at the airport, or wherever—and simply paying attention. You may not have done this in a long time—perhaps not since you first got a smartphone. You will find—and the research backs this up —that looking around and deliberately taking note of what you observe will probably lower the discomfort from boredom.

Read: The benefits of a short attention span

The second personal change you can try is to practice the virtue of patience. Impatience is obviously central to the waiting-frustration cycle, and research has shown that those who have more patience have higher life satisfaction and lower levels of depression. Of course, the advice “Be patient” doesn’t seem especially helpful, does it? On the contrary, when an airline says “Thank you for your patience,” I quietly seethe with rage (that special road warrior’s rage exquisitely honed for airlines).

Fortunately, scholars have found a solution that, like mindfulness, has a strong connection with Eastern wisdom: the loving-kindness meditation. This is a mental exercise of directing warm emotions toward others, including friends, enemies, the whole world—even airlines. Research has found that this practice can increase patience. As a bonus, you can use it anywhere.

T he best way to lower the misery of waiting, then, turns out to be not to change the world but to change oneself. That insight can apply not just to waiting but to life itself. Most of us go about our days feeling dissatisfied with the world, that it is failing in some way to conform to our preferences and convenience. But on a moment’s reflection, we realize how absurd it is to suppose that it might. To do so is like canoeing down a river and railing against the winding course it takes rather than simply following those bends as best we can.

After research and upon reflection, I am trying a new strategy for waiting—and for a good deal else that bugs me—which is this: observing the world without distraction, and wishing others the love and happiness I want for myself.

But if that fails, maybe I’ll just start shocking myself.