The Bilingual Writing Center, divided into the English and Spanish Writing Centers, is a free service for UPRM students who want to enrich their writing and communication skills in Spanish or English. Both centers also offer services for students who are applying to grad school or internships by facilitating mock interviews and tutoring sessions to revise your résumé, personal statement, cover letter and everything in between. As someone who’s seen it all and been there, here are some helpful tips for acing your personal statement.
1. Know why you’re applying
If you’re not sure exactly where and why you are applying to your internship or program, your personal statement will reflect that. Generic statements such as “this internship will help me develop professionally” and “a master’s degree is the next step towards my goal of becoming an academic” or “I would be honored to be part of this prestigious program” are obvious and, to the person evaluating your application, redundant. Whomever is evaluating your application knows their program is the best, and the fact itself that you’re applying to a program or internship shows that you’re seeking to develop professionally and academically–so why waste precious word count on those statements?
Instead, reflect on why you want to not just apply to an internship or program, but why you want to apply to that specific one. Think about how that University’s vision and/or mission aligns with your own, the skills you are seeking to develop, the environment of the city you would live in, and the research that you’re interested in doing.
2. Start early and do your homework
Chances are you know someone who’s successfully applied to the same job or internship you are applying to–contact them. You’d be surprised at how wise and comforting their input can be! If you’re applying to grad school, even if you don’t know anyone who applied to the same program you have, most schools have a Current Students tab on their website, which will likely include the contact info for each student in that program. Don’t be shy and send them an e-mail! Most people are flattered by this kind of approach and, in my experience, they deliver. Just be respectful of their time and make this approach with time to spare. Be sure to ask them thoughtful questions about their experience in the program and specific questions or doubts you have about that program.
3. Make an outline based on the prompt your program gives you
If the program you are applying to gives you a specific prompt based on the vision of the program or school, your research interests, or specific professors and advisors you would like to work with, the same rules of step two apply–do your homework. Browse the website and reflect on your own skills and experiences. Which brings the next step…
4. Have your résumé ready before you begin writing your statement
More likely than not, your résumé will serve as a handy checklist of accomplishments to mention when writing your statement. However, keep in mind that your essay should reflect what isn’t in your résumé. Mention specific anecdotes, experiences, skills or facts about yourself that you couldn’t expand on in your résumé.
For example, if during your internship at a prestigious university’s cancer research laboratory you worked with anti-viral thingamabobs (or whatever it is you brainiacs research), talk about the details of the research you participated in, and your overall experience adapting to a demanding environment and living abroad. You’ll find writing this way is effortless and your personality comes through in the process. Win-win!
5. Go to the Writing Center
Needless to say, you really should seize the opportunity to use this completely free and accessible service. EWC and CRE tutors are trained constantly to work with personal statements, mock interviews, résumés and all other sorts of application materials. Both centers also count with a vast diversity of students from various disciplines and almost every faculty, so if you’d prefer someone in the STEM fields to review your personal statement for Med School, just ask! The earlier you go to a session, the better; and if you bring a copy of your résumé and personal statement prompt, it makes the session a lot smoother.
I can assure you, we are eager to help you get into the program of your dreams; and we’re there to help you, without judgment.
The Bilingual Writing Center is located at the UPRM Library in room B-107, and is open from Mondays through Fridays from 8:00AM to 4:30PM. You can view the English Writing Center blog and its resources here.