
Discover easy pre-writing tips, draft, and polish a compelling personal statement or statement of purpose to stand out in graduate school admissions.
Identify a three-word brand that captures your personality to help the admissions committee remember you; brainstorm adjectives with friends or family, aiming for short, memorable descriptions.
Identify your biggest inspiration in your field to convey passion in your personal statement. Describe a professional whose work you admire to show what excites you about the field.
Identify your favorite college class and explain why, focusing on specific anecdotes and the professor's teaching. Choose one or two experiences that made you learn and feel excited.
Brainstorm your proudest academic accomplishment and explain why it matters to you, whether a finished product, a researched process, or a personal project.
apply prewriting tip #5 by uncovering 20 unique reasons for pursuing this program, turning common motivations into standout personal narratives that connect prior experiences, like marketing, to better patient care.
Highlight the turning point that redirected you toward your field, using a compelling anecdote to show the story arc and why it makes sense for you to pursue this field.
Identify and rank the top ten reasons you will succeed in this field, then shape a concise story that highlights these qualities for admission.
Highlight independent research and undergraduate experiences, list your top research-related achievements, and demonstrate your capacity for graduate-level work by showing completed research.
Highlight interests outside academia to reveal your personality and personal brand in your statement. Weave in hobbies or accomplishments, like sports, to stand out and feel memorable.
Identify what others appreciate about you to reveal your personality in your writing. Create a list of likable traits from friends and family, then choose what to convey through storytelling.
Identify specific improvements you caused in people, places, or situations, and articulate these impacts to convey your life's positive influence in your personal statement.
Explore the department's blog to gain insights into faculty interests and field issues. Use those insights to tailor your personal statement and interview answers without pandering.
Begin your first draft by moving from pre-writing to putting words on the page, using drills and achievable goals like a sentence or two per day.
Write a great personal statement by embracing a no-edit first draft; release your stories onto the page, resist censoring yourself, and edit later.
Use opening lines that plunge into the middle of your story, a technique called in medias res, to engage the reader and reveal a personal quality.
Speak from the heart by starting with honesty, being real and genuine, and avoiding overly formal writing. Record your natural voice—like telling a friend—then refine the tone.
Answer the prompt directly in your first draft, respecting the assignment’s scope. Read the prompt carefully and seek adviser feedback to ensure you address the admissions committee’s expectations.
Focus your personal statement on one or two core themes, highlighting two qualities and two stories to illustrate them; keep it short, memorable, and punchy.
Show a clear connection between you and the Ph.D. program by aligning your interests with a professor's work, backed by homework and published readings for the admissions committee.
Teach the reader something interesting by weaving an anecdote into your personal statement, explaining concepts in a down-to-earth way so admissions readers can follow your story and learn something new.
Don't make excuses for weak grades; honestly explain the hardship in simple terms, avoid blaming others, and show why it won't recur to earn the admissions committee's respect.
Learn to produce a polished final draft by revising and rewriting, with time to consider what to include and to seek feedback for your essay.
Edit your essay to create breathing room, then repeat edits and enlist friends to focus on catching mistakes. Aim for perfect spelling and English usage to satisfy the admissions committee.
Strike a balance between formal and informal tones in your personal statement. Let your voice stay authentic and professional, and seek advisor feedback to calibrate formality.
Choose two trusted readers for your personal statement, such as an academic advisor or a writing department contact, and a candid friend, to avoid conflicting feedback and refine your draft.
Avoid childhood references and famous quotes; instead, use a clear chronological arc that shows what you did, how you progressed, and why you apply now.
Apply the final draft tip: briefly mention two things, then dwell on a third to reveal a key quality. The formula creates a strong, payoff-driven anecdote that showcases your character.
Show, not tell, through storytelling and anecdotes to demonstrate conscientiousness and hard work, inviting readers to observe and believe your personal qualities.
Learn to incorporate past experiences into your future goals in a personal statement, seek advisor feedback, and balance creativity with the prompt guidelines to strengthen your application.
We offer personalized admissions essay assistance, help you draft and polish your writing, and provide advice to help you stand out. Keep writing daily to finish a strong personal statement.
LEARN HOW TO WRITE A GREAT PERSONAL STATEMENT WITH VINCE KOTCHIAN
So you need to write a personal statement to apply to graduate, business, or law school. Ugh! What are they looking for? How do you get started? How can you make yourself stand out and not blend in?
Good news! I can help you figure it all out. In my video course, not only will I give you my top 24 tips to write a compelling personal statement, but I'll cover the big picture of how to view this kind of essay as a way to communicate that you're a good fit for the programs to which you're applying.
HERE'S HOW I CAN HELP YOU.
I've been a full-time GRE tutor since 2008, and I've also worked with many of my students on their graduate school applications, particularly their essays and personal statements.
I find that most people are pretty bad at this type of writing at first, since they have little experience with it. However, most people have plenty of great stories to tell - stories that can create a interesting narrative that makes an admissions committee see how they're a great match for the program. My job is to help them get those stories on paper in ways that make the reader see and believe the writer has admirable qualities in addition to the necessary experience to succeed at graduate-level work.
In this course, I present 24 short videos to explain my favorite tips. It'll be up to you to take a few minutes to think about each tip and then make some notes about how you can use it. There is zero fluff in this course - I get right to the point!
START THE PROCESS NOW (OR SOON)!
I strongly recommend allowing yourself about 6 weeks to work on your personal statements, so you have time to comb your memory for those interesting stories, to write and rewrite, and to apply the feedback you get from the people you ask to critique your statement.
Sign up now, and you'll learn many easy tips to make the process of writing easier and to make your essay better!
TESTIMONIALS
"Vince really helped the most in helping me to brainstorm possible ideas to write about as well as editing later in the process. It was very helpful to have someone to bounce ideas off of, especially as he is highly knowledgable on what grad schools are looking for and the structure of a polished essay. Vince was great in drawing out the best possible essay out of my existing narrative. Very helpful and cut down a lot of time and anxiousness in the essay writing process. I was very satisfied with how my essay turned out and in the end I did get into all the schools I applied to." - Jamie Y.
"Use Vince if you need help with your personal statement for undergrad/grad school! He is very caring and attentive even if communication is only through email. His help can really elevate your application! I would give Vince 10 stars if I could!
I was stuck and did not know what to write about in my personal statement, but Vince helped navigate my thoughts into creating an amazing personal statement. Overall, I highly recommend him and his services." - Priscilla M.
"I loved that Vince was so patient with me! He took the time to hear out what I wanted to include in my essay and the message I wanted to transmit to the admissions committee. From there he helped me brainstorm and extract the important information that I should include in my essay and that would make me stand out as an applicant communicate my best qualities.
My essay had a completely different turn out than where it started. Working with Vince was just awesome because he was always very prompt, professional and detailed with his feedback. He always replied to me as soon as he could or kept me updated if he needed more time on revising my essay. Needless to say, I was accepted to my #1 choice for the Industrial Organizational Psychology Ph.D. Program and will be starting this Fall. Also, I received admission offers to 4 other graduate programs I applied to....Sooo EXTREMELY HAPPY!!!" - Minnelly R.
"I was in the process of applying to several graduate programs and was having trouble finding direction with my statement of purpose. I met with Vince and after telling him a little bit about what I wanted to write about he helped me outline the ideas I wanted to include. He was clear, concise, and very knowledgable. I met with Vince a a few times for revisions, ended up writing a pretty great statement of purpose, and got into 5 graduate programs! Vince is your guy if you need guidance in the graduate school application process." - Gabbi R.
"I came to Vince for help with my grad school personal statements because I had absolutely no idea where to start. In the short amount of time we had, he was able to help me organize my thoughts and write out all the points I needed to hit in the statement. His guidance and suggestions helped me form a strong essay and I was accepted into not just one, but a couple of schools that I had applied to! It was an extremely good experience working with Vince, and he makes sure to keep in touch and see your progress throughout the application process, which I think was a very nice personal touch. I highly recommend Vince when it comes time to think about graduate school!" - Nicole N.
"I enlisted Vince's help on writing my statement of intent for grad school. I got into my dream program, which is very competitive, and I owe a lot of that to the fabulous advice I got from him. He is always available via email, and responds quickly which is so important during stressful times like wondering what is the most important thing to focus on in your statement, wondering if what you wrote is just not jiving with the reader (he's totally honest with the kindest of deliveries). Really guys, Vince is the real deal and totally worth the cost when making it into your dream program on your first try is of the utmost importance." - Chelsie S.