Personal Statements

[MAS1234]

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[sasto]

I just went through the process of applying to clinical PhD programs (got interviews at 6 places, and got a fellowship from the one I chose to attend) so I'll offer my advice. Do you have a psychology advisor or know someone who is either currently in a clinical PhD program or has a clinical PhD who can proofread your statement? My advisor was very helpful in the process; he gave me great feedback and, after about 5 revisions, I had a great statement. So my first piece of advice: get as many people who are familiar with the demands of a PhD program to proofread your statement and give you honest advice and feedback.

Next, I would emphasize your research experience, no matter how research-oriented the program is. The reason I say this is that the PhD is a degree which, by nature, emphasizes research. Some programs may not have a very strong focus on research, but a PhD degree is historically a research-oriented degree. So, talk about your research experience and why you want to continue involving yourself in research (which I assume you want to do, since you are applying for grad school).

As for personal information, don't give out too much information. Don't say, for example, that you want to go into this field because your own personal therapist was very helpful to you. Write about your interests, emphasize that you want to continue learning, and you may want to mention what your career goals are. As for explaining one semester of bad grades, I would say something along the lines of "I have been a hard-working student and attained high marks throughout most of my undergraduate career. My transcripts indicate that my marks were uncharacteristically low during one semester, but I do not believe this semester is indicative of my overall drive, ambition, and potential to suceed and excell in this PhD program." I would definitely mention the poor marks, but I would not try to provide an excuse for them. Just remind the readers of the statement that you are a qualified applicant.

These are just my opinions that I gained from going through the process myself. Talk to as many people as you can who have gone through the process, and have as many people as you can read your statement. I'm not going to send you a copy of mine because I'm not comfortable with that, but feel free to send my yours and I can give you my input.

Hope this helped!

 

[Becky1005]

I agree with sasto- have as many people proof read (and comment on the content as well) your statement as possible - I had 8 people do so (my parents and some friends, but also psych grad students/instructors). Also, I did not include much personal information in the way of stories- why I want to be a psychologist, etc. I focused on my future research interests (who I wanted to work with) and my past research experiences/papers.
I definitely used the grad students around me, I sat down with them and went over my statement almost line by line to make sure what I was saying was stated clearly and got rid of the excess and ended up adding a lot more (about my past research experiences).
**One thing I would definitely advise- I went to the website of each school that I wanted to go to and explored their website to see their mission statement, curriculum, and things that the school was proud of (resources at their disposal, etc.). I did this to guide me with my essay so that I could show how I was a good fit (of course, this was only if I really was a good fit) and I actually stated that in my essay- I am interested in attending such and such program because I am impressed with the opportunities that the program offers to collaborate with **** hospital, I admire the diversity training, I am impressed with the balance of research and clinical training that the University provides- especially the ______ training, etc. I used this "complement" tailored to each school in my concluding paragraph to show that I would be a good fit and there were actual reasons that I wanted to attend their school.

 

[sasto]

Becky1005 made some very good points for your statement too. I also did what she suggested when writing my letters. Also, I contacted a professors at each school by sending them a short email explaining that I was interested in applying to their graduate program, and to see if that individual was going to take a student into their lab the next year. This step should be completed before applying to the school; it shows the professor that you have already done some research into the program, and if the professor writes back to say that they aren't personally accepting students to work with them the following year, you will know not to waste your time and money applying to that particular program.

 

[sunny22]

I think that folks have made some good points here. Checking out websites and making sure that your statement incorporates the elements that are important to their program is important. But, I had a hard time in terms of research interests and demonstrating I was a good fit. So, I think that is something to be aware of and think about.

Also, I had a year of bad grades as an undergraduate (with no real reason, like a switch in major or a personal problem). I did address it in some statements, but it was just a sentence. For the programs where space was extremely limited, I included an addendum to my transcripts which indicated my awareness of my grades and the things I had done since then. Again, this was just 2- 3 sentences. I don't know how other people on the board feel about that!

Hope this helps.

 

[twiggers]

I chose to address why I switched from premed to psych, since my transcripts showed alot of science classes for a couple years and then nothing after that.
I also researched schools heavily regarding what they want in the statement (some are very specific) and how long, etc.
I then made a template to use for each school, where I could just cut and paste the schools name, etc.
I devoted a paragraph describing my specific interests and how they overlapped with faculty. I then spent a paragraph stating which professors I hoped to work with and how my interests correlated with theirs.
I personally think its important to include the professors names in the statement, since its a way of ensuring it gets to that professor.
BTW I used my personal statement for an English assignment got an A on it, and used the English professor's comments to make changes, and had 2 other students proofread it as part of the class. I should have left more time to get further advice. But nonetheless, I did get around 8-10 interviews and accepted at 6 or 7 schools.