Personal Statement (not statement of purpose)

[windypoplars]

Some schools give you the option to write "personal statement" talking about your opportunities/disadvantages that led you to your current position... I'm just an average student .. no crazy or impressive history... do you think it's worth writing this thing? I'm already overwhelmed with having to customize my SOP to every school... :-S

Edited October 23, 2013 by windypoplars

[iphi]

I've seen one prompt that tells you to speak to your advantages as well. So saying that you are the beneficiary of... socioeconomic status/race/insert your privilege here... that counts as well. You could talk about how you know you have been lucky and the problems you know exist for others. Hopefully along with some volunteer experience or something to show how you have helped benefit your community.

 

You might want to note that if you don't choose to complete that diversity statement, there's always going to be someone who does!

Edited October 24, 2013 by iphi

[NeuroPsi]

I'm so confused about these...Michigan has a personal statement and this is the prompt:

 

How have your background and life experiences, including cultural, geographical, financial, educational or other opportunities or challenges, motivated your decision to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Michigan?

For example, if you grew up in a community where educational, cultural, or other opportunities were either especially plentiful or especially lacking, you might discuss the impact this had on your development and interests. This should be a discussion of the journey that has led to your decision to seek a graduate degree.

 

I have a diversity essay written already, and I copied/pasted it into the "additional information" box. For the personal statement, I have written some experiences I have had that made me want to apply to grad school and join the programs I did in college. Do you think that is fine? Or should I just use my diversity statement? The thing is, my diversity statement is about a specific event that happened only about a year ago... I don't want to use it to talk about how it made me want to apply, just to tell them that I do come from a unique background.

 

Any thoughts?