Writing A Personal Statement For Your Master's Degree

Writing a personal statement for your master's degree is very similar to writing a personal statement for an undergraduate degree.

The only real difference is that because you are applying to study at a higher level, you will need to convince the reader of your personal statement of your suitability for postgraduate study.

If you think back to your first degree application, it is likely that you found the personal statement to be the most difficult part.

This is because most people are not used to ‘selling ourselves’ and it is usually instilled in us from an early age to be modest about our achievements.

However, this is one time when all thoughts of modesty should be dispensed with, because you need to show the examiners that you are exactly the person that they want on their master's degree course.

There are a few ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’, however, to which you should adhere when you are writing a personal statement for your master's degree. Let’s take a look at them.

• Do present yourself as enthusiastic, keen and willing.
• Don’t present yourself as overconfident.
• Do list all your interests, especially those that are relevant to your course.
• Don’t repeat information that is already on your application form.
• Do talk about what you feel you can bring to the course.
• Don’t forget to sound keen to be accepted onto the course.
• Do go into detail about why you want to study for the course.
• Don’t describe the course to the academic institution.
• Do mention your achievements.
• Don’t exaggerate (or lie) about your achievements!

As you can see, what you are aiming to achieve is a balance between what the university wants and needs to know about you, and what you can bring to the course.

It is also important to make yourself attractive as a member of the university, so including sporting or musical achievements is a good idea.