Writing your Personal History Statement

What is the Personal Statement About?

Most graduate programs will ask you to submit a personal statement where you describe how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. This statement is about your personal journey, how did you get to where you are today and why is the next logical step for you this particular graduate degree? This statement is often very difficult for students to write because there is very little guidance about what should be included or addressed in your journey. The reason why the prompt may sound so vague is because every journey is extremely unique. Each student will have their own “story” to tell and only you can decide what is relevant for your story. 

A typical approach to take with this statement is to describe the challenges you have overcome in order to get where you are today. For most students, earning their bachelors degree was not a walk in the park. It is very likely that you have encountered difficulties, either financially, health wise, changed majors, or any other life altering event that made it difficult for you to keep pushing ahead. Be proud of the fact that you have maintained your commitment to your education despite the obstacles placed in your path! 

The goal of this statement is to communicate your commitment to higher education (and earning that graduate degree) and highlight your resiliency and potential. You want to convince the committee that no matter what comes your way in the next few years, you will overcome them because you have overcome difficult struggles in the past. This piece is critical to your statement - you want the focus to be on the RESILIENCY - the traits that made you a stronger person after you overcame the challenge. You do not want your personal statement to sound like a sad story asking for sympathy. You want to sound like a superhero that can take on whatever challenge is ahead. Grad school is tough and you want to convince the admissions committee that you are up for the challenge!


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