The Personal Statement

The personal statement in a nutshell; modestly advertising yourself as an indispensable future undergraduate. It's painful to write. Recently, I have been allotting myself certain times of the day to sit and write the dreaded thing. This sounds productive, and I am probably displaying key time management skills that would make me an excellent candidate for my chosen course.

The personal statement in a nutshell; modestly advertising yourself as an indispensable future undergraduate.

It's painful to write. Recently, I have been allotting myself certain times of the day to sit and write the dreaded thing. This sounds productive, and I am probably displaying key time management skills that would make me an excellent candidate for my chosen course. But woe is me, for the time is whittled away jotting down useless bits of information; "I like sport - I can work well in a team, therefore I will enjoy studying English?" and reading previous submitted articles on the internet.

The problem is that every student wishes to create a unique masterpiece of words that succinctly depicts themselves as humble yet brilliant; an invaluable addition to the university. I am no exception. I have been trawling through hundreds of personal statements lately, many applying for English Literature. Some are hilarious, I wonder if the writer thinks that simply listing the greatest (and longest) classics is all that is needed.

Or there are the others, who seemed to have clicked on the "look up" button for every single word. A simple sentence such as "I enjoyed my AS subjects, they gave me an interesting mix that I found fun, whilst questioning my understanding" can be so simply, thank you Microsoft Word, be transformed to "I gained immense pleasure from my AS subjects, they endowed me with a remarkable amalgamation that I found engaging, whilst penetrating of my intellect."

Unfortunately, there are also those that simply make me want to weep with their brilliance. Charming and intelligent, these personal statements are the crème de la crème. They manage to whip together a symphony of distinctiveness, passion and an insane knowledge of literature. Plus the many extracurricular activities they invariably participate in, perfectly slipped in, without the incongruous awkwardness that usually denotes their presence. I want to be their personal statement. Regrettably, little progress has been made in this journey to become a űber literature super genius.

I am sure a hefty number of A-Level students will agree with me upon the difficulty of such a task. It is a mission to describe yourself successfully to a friend, let alone a group of strangers who are effectively judging you against other equally proficient candidates. I wonder, how personal a personal statement is exactly, how much of yourself can an admissions officer glean from your 4000 characters? I imagine that the personal statement is the written version of a kid dressed up for prom; polished, oddly clean, incredibly uncomfortable and slightly hilarious.

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