Personal statement question.

[Ex1844]

Hello everyone. I am currently applying for my Psy.D in clinical psychology, and I am having problems with one particular question that relates to a personal statement. The question is below:

"please give us a specific selfappraisal of your strengths, weaknesses, and the personal qualities that you believe will contribute to your success in your chosen field of study. Include those personal characteristics that you anticipate will need development in your education and training."

In all honesty, I don't even know where to begin. I can write about my strengths, but the part that I am stuck on is where they want me to write about my weaknesses and characteristics that will need development in my education and training.

Don't get me wrong, I have many flaws , I just don't know how to relate it in the personal statement.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated.​

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[Ex1844]

Don't mention any serial killer tendencies or mutilation behaviors. They tend to frown on that.

But, seriously. Keep weaknesses innocuous or things that the program can provide. Though, I've taken three statistics courses as an undergraduate, and used basic parametric statistical methods in completing my honors thesis, I feel that I am weak on multivariate regression models and could really use some graduate level advanced statistics classes such as offered at your university. I am sure I could learn a lot from Dr. XXX (their stats professor).

Hm, I guess I shouldn't mention my fascination with blowup dolls, j/k

Thanks for the input!

 

[terpskins10]

Hm, I guess I shouldn't mention my fascination with blowup dolls, j/k

Thanks for the input!

kidding... suuuuuuure

 

[Thrak]

Hm, I guess I shouldn't mention my fascination with blowup dolls, j/k

Thanks for the input!

Change "blowup dolls" to "Bobo dolls" and I think you're golden

 

[CheetahGirl]

I can write about my strengths, but the part that I am stuck on is where they want me to write about my weaknesses and characteristics that will need development in my education and training.​

You'll want to practice these kind of questions for your interview, too. Think of a couple things like: I tend to be a perfectionist and although, it contributes to my effectiveness, I am learning to let things go when I can; I question everything and I want to hone my skills into understanding individuals better; I often give too much of myself to others, and I want to use this quality to provide service to others.

That type of stuff. Be creative. Do some soul searching. And good luck!

 

[smeevil]

You'll want to practice these kind of questions for your interview, too. Think of a couple things like: I tend to be a perfectionist and although, it contributes to my effectiveness, I am learning to let things go when I can; I question everything and I want to hone my skills into understanding individuals better; I often give too much of myself to others, and I want to use this quality to provide service to others.

That type of stuff. Be creative. Do some soul searching. And good luck!

I found this on the net and tend to agree...
Interviews: Perfectionism is NOT the perfect answer


Hopefully, you've given your resume some attention, and you're on your way to a new "you" for 2006. Now, it's time to focus on Resolution #2: Quitting those bad habits! We'll leave the smoking, drinking, and gambling concerns to those great 1-800 hotlines, and we'll focus on those bad interviewing habits that could kill any job interview.

1. Don't kid yourself; being a perfectionist is NOT a valid weakness! Recruiting Directors do not fall for the old "I'm going to take a strength and disguise it as a weakness" approach. Working "too hard" or "too much" isn't going to cut it either. In fact, it just makes you look like you're trying to put one over on the interviewer.

Instead, try to talk about an actual weakness that you have in a thoughtful and insightful way. Think about the following:
-What your weakness is
-How you discovered it
-Why it's important to fix it
-How you're trying to improve upon it

That sounds a lot better than "I'm a perfectionist."
It works for pretty much any weakness you have…unless it's something like "I just don't like to be around people - I tend to get violent." But in most cases, a well thought out weakness can make you sound quite impressive. Be insightful, honest and compelling and you can't go wrong.

 

[JockNerd]

I agree; there are a couple of reasons why it's a bad idea to use "perfectionist" and its ilk.
1. You're not applying for a job at Starbucks. If you think a prof isn't going to see through "You know, sometimes I just work TOO hard!", you're mistaken.
2. Get ready for "I asked you to tell me a WEAKNESS, stupid" as the reply.
3. Perfectionism IS NOT A VIRTUE in grad school. Being able to say "eh, good enough" when doing a class paper IS a virtue.

Don't use anything that might point toward serious personal instability, or the risk for it, either. So, for a clinically-focused program, I wouldn't say you're too giving or you become too involved. I'm pretty sure that would be a big glowing red flag.

Weaknesses are super easy. Just list stuff you don't have experience doing, that you will get in the program. Keeping ongoing clients, more direct and intensive supervision, doing research from start to finish, presenting your stuff at conferences, whatever.

 

[CheetahGirl]

I found this on the net and tend to agree...
Don't kid yourself; being a perfectionist is NOT a valid weakness! .

I agree; there are a couple of reasons why it's a bad idea to use "perfectionist" and its ilk.

Ok...alright already ...so perfectionism is a bad one. I was merely making a statement here. Obsessive compulsiveness can be a strength and weakness in graduate school, but you'd be better off not to admit it...I was just thinking of "canned" version of it. I totally agree...don't reveal anything too pathological.

There are plenty of other suggestions here that adequately respond to Ex1844's question.

 

[Ex1844]

Besides acadamic weaknesses, do you think it would be okay to talk about personal weaknesses? For example, I have problems with anxiety. I don't suffer from an anxiety disorder, but I am a worry-wart. If I did, I wouldn't know how to relate it to academia. Or do you think I should stay away from this all together?

 

[JockNerd]

Besides acadamic weaknesses, do you think it would be okay to talk about personal weaknesses? For example, I have problems with anxiety. I don't suffer from an anxiety disorder, but I am a worry-wart. If I did, I wouldn't know how to relate it to academia. Or do you think I should stay away from this all together?

Bah, stay away from personality stuff altogether. Stick with identifiable areas of lack of experience. Especially at this stage of the game, you don't want to throw stuff like that into the PS; with so many applicants, it really helps the selection committees to see red flags so that they can cut those people. Besides, you're applying to grad school, so it couldn't affect your school behaviors that much! So, leave it out.

Edit: Oh, well maybe some of those wacky clinical-focus programs like it when applicants are aware of things they might bring to therapy. Still, I'd leave this for interviews where you can fully explain things, rather than in the PS.

 

[zeldazelda]

I found this on the net and tend to agree...
Interviews: Perfectionism is NOT the perfect answer


Hopefully, you've given your resume some attention, and you're on your way to a new "you" for 2006. Now, it's time to focus on Resolution #2: Quitting those bad habits! We'll leave the smoking, drinking, and gambling concerns to those great 1-800 hotlines, and we'll focus on those bad interviewing habits that could kill any job interview.

1. Don't kid yourself; being a perfectionist is NOT a valid weakness! Recruiting Directors do not fall for the old "I'm going to take a strength and disguise it as a weakness" approach. Working "too hard" or "too much" isn't going to cut it either. In fact, it just makes you look like you're trying to put one over on the interviewer.

Instead, try to talk about an actual weakness that you have in a thoughtful and insightful way. Think about the following:
-What your weakness is
-How you discovered it
-Why it's important to fix it
-How you're trying to improve upon it

That sounds a lot better than "I'm a perfectionist."
It works for pretty much any weakness you have…unless it's something like "I just don't like to be around people - I tend to get violent." But in most cases, a well thought out weakness can make you sound quite impressive. Be insightful, honest and compelling and you can't go wrong.

This is excellent advice. As is the advice to look at areas where you have less experience.

 

[Ex1844]

First off, I want to thank everyone for their help. When I win a nobel prize on my work with autistic children, I will thank all of you.
Secondly, I still have two questions.

It seems as though the statement is broken down to three sections:
1)strengths
2)weaknesses
3)personal qualities that you believe will contribute to your chosen field of study and personal qualities/characteristics that you anticipate will need development in your education and training.

Someone told me not to discuss personal qualities or traits(such as my anxiety) but it seems as though that is what point three is asking for.

For points 1 and 2, I am going to try and relate it to academia, but as stated above, point three seems like it wants me to talk about personality traits, or things of that nature. So, yeah, I am confused.

Also, someone mentioned discussing a lack of research experience. Well, this statement is for a PsyD program, so would it be worth it talk about research to that extent?

 

[toby jones]

Read up on personality testing and how it is assessed (ie what answers to those kinds questions are supposed to signify) ... and try and avoid answers indicative of pathology...

anxiety (at low levels) enhances performance so no problems there. you don't want to sound like you have an anxiety problem, though...

point three is an invitation for you to talk about your good qualities and how those good qualities will benefit your productivity in your chosen field. with respect to what you need to develop that should ideally be something they are well placed to help you develop in the time you have. e.g., knowledge base is always a good one... experience... blah de blah blah... the stats one was good... stuff like that would be what i'd aim for...

i do think it is important to convey caring, though. hard to find the balance between caring and over-involvement (and hard to express that too). different people are likely to feel differently about that with respect to interviews and the like, too. try and be sensitive to how they are responding and have a few 'alternative endings' planned to adapt if need be...

 

[Ex1844]

Would it be sufficient to dedicate one or two ideas to each point?

 

[Ex1844]

Read up on personality testing and how it is assessed (ie what answers to those kinds questions are supposed to signify) ... and try and avoid answers indicative of pathology...

anxiety (at low levels) enhances performance so no problems there. you don't want to sound like you have an anxiety problem, though...

point three is an invitation for you to talk about your good qualities and how those good qualities will benefit your productivity in your chosen field. with respect to what you need to develop that should ideally be something they are well placed to help you develop in the time you have. e.g., knowledge base is always a good one... experience... blah de blah blah... the stats one was good... stuff like that would be what i'd aim for...

i do think it is important to convey caring, though. hard to find the balance between caring and over-involvement (and hard to express that too). different people are likely to feel differently about that with respect to interviews and the like, too. try and be sensitive to how they are responding and have a few 'alternative endings' planned to adapt if need be...

See, this is where I am confused. If I talk about research/stats as a weakness and relate it to point three, then what should I talk about in regards to point 2(weaknesses)?

 

[toby jones]

maybe developing confidence with stats is a personal characteristic (3) whereas developing proficiency in stats is (2)

i dunno.