Top tips for writing your personal statement!
Top tips for writing your personal statement!
Putting together a personal statement can be tricky! Every year, we speak to lots of applicants about
what we expeet and what we are looking for in the finished piece — it’s something we get asked
about a lot!
“What should I talk about in my personal statement?”
“How can I make my personal statement stand out?”
“How long should my personal statement be?”
Fear not! The personal statement section on your application is broken down into 4 clear
questions so you can write responsive answers, that offer us insight into the key attributes we look
for! That being said, we do have our own tips and guidelines that we like to share, so read on for
our full insight!
Admissions video - Writing your personal statement
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Why does Imperial College Business School ask for a personal statement?
Quite simply, we ask for a personal statement because we want to know about you. All aspects of
your application are important, but many areas tend to be factual and to the point. The personal
statement is your opportunity to expand and tell us more about who you are, and what your
motivations are for applying to Imperial. Our programmes are hugely competitive, so we often rely
on the personal statement to help us understand your profile and fill in any missing pieces from our
assessment,What questions are included in the personal statement section of my
application?
You will be required to complete 4 mandatory questions, which cover your motivation to study and
contribution to the cohort, with an additional information section which offers you a chance to
detail anything else you haven't mentioned as part of the application. The 4 questions are as
follows:
1, Please share your motivation for undertaking the programme?
Treat this as a priority. Ideally, your CV and academic history should have already given
us a good idea of your achievements to date, so be sure to teil us why you are pursuing
postgraduate study and why you have chosen your programme of interest. You should
be able to link your past experiences to your suitability for the programme and expand
on anything else that is relevant.
2. What is your proudest achievement?
This could be academic or extra-curricular, but we want to know about your proudest
achievement to date, and how it has helped shape you into the person you are today. We
love to hear about all the interesting things that applicants have done and achieved, and
this is a great way (o differentiate yourself from other candidates.
3. What would you contribute to the cohort and the Imperial community?
This question is your opportunity to show us how you will enhance the college
experience of those around you and how you will make the most of your time at the
Business School. Think about how you will make the campus community a better place,
whether this be through participation in extracurricular activities or interactions with
staff and students across campus
4, How would you use your degree to make a positive impact?
We want to know how the programme will benefit you, both during your studies and in
the future. Perhaps, you could use this section to tell us about how your programme fits
into your long-term goals, or any long-term objectives you have relating to your chosen
area of study
5, Additional Information
Use this section to include any additional information you want to tell the Admissions
Committee,
Is there anything I should not write about in my personal statement?
Try not to get too caught up with university rankings or facts about the Business School — we
‘want to hear about you, not us! It’s good to talk about the programme content but avoid simply
relaying this information back to us. Focus instead on what interests you the most and how you
plan to build on past study.
Don’t waffle - keep it concise! You have 1500 characters per section (including spaces!) so make
ear and succinet,
sure your answers are cl
Cheek, check, and check again! It’s the golden rule; make sure your personal statement is free
from any spelling or grammatical errors. Copying and pasting from any other personal statements
you have written, such as one to another institution, is a risky game — don’t reference another
university and be sure to use the correct programme title!
Hopefully, we have given you some good guidance on what is expected from the personal
statement and we wish you the best of luck if you are submitting an application, and we look
forward to reading your personal statement soon!Listen to our podcast Inside IB to learn more about creating a stand-out application