PERSONAL STATEMENT

Are you a university student or already a graduate who is seeking admission for a higher degree and is seriously seeking knowledge on how to start a personal statement? Do you need help putting all of it into writing? And do you need the best opening sentence for your statement writing? If yes is your answer to all these questions, then this article is for you.

You are finally at the right place, where all your academic writing quests will be solved including your statement writing. This is the online assignment help you can apply to. Personal statements may not be a difficult task for most students, but to some it may seem like a thorn in the flesh, especially in determining how to start the first paragraphs of their statement. Avoidance of this frustration and stress is the reason why most students get personal statement editing services from us.  This is the fastest and most affordable way to easily get enrolled in a particular course at your preferred university without stress. If you are applying for a scholarship or admission to study any course in college and university, you will be required to write a personal statement. Most times, the personal statement determines your chances of getting the scholarship or admission. Personal statement writing is an opportunity for you to talk about yourself, why you want to study the course, how you plan your study and the influence the program will have on you, your career and your society after graduation. This article will help expose you to various ways of starting your statement.

What is a Personal Statement?

A personal statement is a short essay of about 4000 words or slightly more, which students submit to be considered for admission into a degree program in the university alongside their grades and references. The personal statement portrays one’s knowledge and capacity to complete a course. It defines the applicant’s skills and experience and gives a picture of an applicant’s emotions, personality, aspirations and goals. Most importantly, a statement demonstrates the applicants’ interests, talents and abilities in the course.

What to do in the Introductory Part of Your Statement

The introductory part of your statement is the first thing that the admission committee reads. So, if you don’t know how to start, it’s better to leave it till the end of the writing, and then you might have figured out the best way in the beginning of the first paragraph. Most students usually ask; how well can I introduce my statement? How best can I start my statement? It’s simple! Your statement should be able to grab the attention of your readers to continue reading. It should capture the interest of the committee to read further. It must be catchy and concise. So, it’s best to use words that will hook attention to your statement. If the first paragraph of your statement sounds boring to your readers, then it wasn’t well introduced.

Top Tips on How to Start Your Statement Opener

1. Do not Overthink About the Opening Sentence

Overthinking and overworking your brain on how to start your opening statement will make you end up beginning with an overkill opening. You may lose coordination and concentration if you overthink how to start your statement. All you should do is plan what you intend to say and concentrate on the main content of your statement and allow the introductory part to sort out itself at the end where you will gather ideas to put up your introduction. When you finally get some insight and ideas on how to start your opening paragraph, avoid beating around the bush, just go straight to the point and give an explanation of why you are motivated to study the course and let your readers know how deeply you understand the course.

2. Let Your Readers Know why you Want to Study the Course

You ought to think about this first before you put it into writing. The committee is usually extremely interested in knowing the extent of your interest in the course you are applying to study. So, you can also start your first paragraph or introduction with a brief explanation of your interest in the course which will entice your readers. Do not just tell your readers about your interest, you should be able to communicate to them also what interests you about the course. Most importantly, you should clearly state the areas in the course that interests you, and the aspect of the course which you would want to concentrate on.

3. Avoid Quotes and Clichés

The majority of the admission tutors don’t feel right about quotations, so it’s best to avoid quotes in your statements. Make sure you avoid clichés in your opening paragraph so your statement will be perfect. Do not start with common phrases like; “from a young age…”, “As long as I can recall…”, “Throughout my life, I have always loved…”, “I am applying for this course because…”, “ I have always been interested in this course because…”, and other overused phrases, because they may sound boring to your readers.

4. State by Making Some Notes

The admission tutors want to know who you are and to have a picture of you from your statement because your statement portrays who you are. So, your readers ought to know from your opening paragraph why you are the best candidate, your motivation and why you want to study the course. All these can and perfectly be written in your opener when you make some notes about yourself and the course you intend to study. Making notes will help you better introduce yourself and stay organized. You will be able to express yourself better than trying to start the opening sentence by just deciding to start writing.

5. Don’t Write with Pressure

Do not write your statement under pressure because you may write out of format and structure. You need to have a plan and structure for your statement so that starting your opening sentence won’t be a problem. Having a plan and structure will take some pressure off you. At some stage in your writing, you will enter into a state of flow when your enthusiasm is flowing. So, if you don’t have a plan, you can start by listing first all the reasons why you want to study the course. Write these reasons down and then write down the words that come into your head. As you keep going, you may need to edit and rearrange the statement to suit the way you want your statement to be.

6. Use Examples to Back Yourself up

Concentration and organization are key to writing a successful statement. In order not to lose sight of what you are trying to tell the admission tutors about you, be sure that you use some examples which will make your statement sound stronger and more captivating. Many students while starting their statement forget to answer or tell the admission tutors why they feel they should be given a place on the course. It’s important to portray this in every part or segment of your statement. Every part of your statement should answer why you feel you should be given admission to study the course. This will help you not to lose focus or concentrate on writing about yourself aimlessly. The strength and qualities you possess that will help you effectively and complete the course should be made known to the admission committee panel. When you are writing about these strengths and qualities of yours, you should give examples of these qualities of yours. The examples given will help back up your claims in the statement.

7. Make Your Opening Statement Error-free

As far as the personal statement is concerned, the opening paragraph is always the hook line, so it should be free from grammar and spelling errors. Errors in the first paragraph of your statement are a red flag. There is always a very high tendency that if there is an error in your opening statement, there will be numerous in the main body of the statement. So, be sure that you use clear and simple English that is very concise. There are software tools that can help you check your grammar, typo and spelling errors like “The Grammarly app”. You can use it to keep your statement flawless. The Hemingway app is another recommended app for proofreading and editing your statement. These two tools mentioned above will be of great importance if you are a non-native English writer.

The first few sentences are what your admission committee tutors read in your statement. Here, you can easily grab their attention or irritate them. So your opening statement does two things, either to hook your readers or give them that feeling that your statement will turn out to be like the rest of the unsuccessful statements. Do not write a statement that won’t hook your readers or motivate them to read to the end. It’s professional writing, so you need to motivate the admission committee panel from your opening sentence. Most times, statements get trashed when your statement uses too common words and quotes. If you are still worried about how to kick-start your statement, the following questions will help you figure out how to draft the statement easily. Write down the answers to the following questions;

1. Why do you want to study the specific course you have chosen? Write them down and write as many reasons as you can get from your head. Do not limit yourself to a few reasons. Also, mention the particular event in your life that is related to the course you are applying for.

2. How did you learn about the course you have chosen? You should pen down any prior knowledge you have in the course and what you know the course is all about. State the specific areas in the course that interests you. You should write all these down, and prove that you understand your chosen course and what it demands from you. You cannot study what you don’t know and you don’t want to go into something you do not know of. So, write down how you learned about the chosen course.

3. What skills have you acquired that will help you be efficient in this course? Write down all the skills and experience you have gathered when you learned about this course of interest.

4. How do you plan to complete this course? Write down all your study plans, and the strategies you will use to complete the study in time and write your dissertation. You should know how long the course is going to be. You must have a study plan because you can’t study a course forever or graduate on your own time.

5. What skills and experience do you have that is related to this course? There are so many skills one should acquire which will help facilitate the program and improve one’s competence in the course. Write them down! The admissions committee will be interested in knowing where you developed these skills and experiences and if you have any certification to prove these skills. So, you should write it down.

6. What career path are you looking to pursue after the course? Write down what your plans are and where you see yourself shortly when you complete the course. Write down all your goals, dreams and ambitions after the course is completed.

7. What difficulty did you experience during your education and when you learned about the course? Write them down! Also, state how you intend to stifle these difficulties when they arise in this course. There are so many points you can state here including financial difficulties.

8. Why should the admissions committee consider your application? Write this down! Also, include the characteristics you have that distinguish you from the rest of the applicants.

After answering all these questions in your draft, you can then start to put the answers together by free writing and crafting your statement.