Writing a personal statement is not simple, as it demands a lot from you. It requires you to be introspective and analytical about your opinions, interests, and motivations. It wants you to show yourself to your best advantage without coming across as arrogant and boastful. It asks you to convince people you’ve never met to offer a place on their course to someone they have little knowledge of. All of this in 4000 characters or fewer? Not so easy.
This guide is designed to help you navigate this challenging, but hopefully ultimately rewarding, task by taking you through what makes a good and a not-so-good psychology personal statement. It will give you a very good idea of what a personal statement is and isn’t, as well as what admissions tutors are looking for, and how to present yourself in the best light. The guide will lead you through the following points:
A personal statement represents you, your interests and your motivations to your selected universities. Some universities don’t interview candidates, so for those prospective students it’s the one and only chance they get to make the case for their admission onto their chosen courses. Even for those candidates who are interviewed, the personal statement forms an enduring impression of the individual to the admissions tutors and is often used to direct the conversation in the interview itself.
That’s why it’s vital that you know your statement inside out, are able to talk further about everything that’s in it, and don’t invent anything. For these reasons, putting good preparation into the personal statement is incredibly important.
For a psychology personal statement to be effective, it should be about you and why you wish to study psychology at university, as well as how you came to be interested in the subject. It should inform whoever reads it of your suitability for your proposed course of study and your longstanding interest in it.
APPLYING TO OXFORD OR CAMBRIDGE?
Our Oxbridge Private Consultations provide in-depth evaluation, strategy and next steps to achieve results for your university application. Suitable for those aged 14 upwards.
Your statement should be a tailored and curated account of your passion for the subject and a justification for wanting to study it at university. Without explaining to the admissions tutors what psychology is, you should demonstrate that you know what it is and that you have an understanding of its scientific aspects, such as statistics and experimentation. You also need to demonstrate a well-founded commitment to the subject, which has a sound rather than unstable basis.
In short, the admissions tutors want to know that you know what you’re signing up for and that you’ll enjoy it.
Showing Evidence of Commitment
Universities want to see that you’ve looked into the course you’ve chosen to study and know what it entails. This is important, as everyone wants to ensure that applicants hit the ground running once they begin the course itself. Mentioning certain topics or areas of psychology (offered by all the courses to which you are applying) is a good way to do this. Another way to show your commitment is to demonstrate that you've undertaken extra research outside of the classroom, which could be anything from reading a thought-provoking journal article to speaking to a clinical psychologist.
Demonstrating a Range of Interests
Psychology is a broad science with many diverse sub-disciplines. Your motivation for studying the subject can be evidenced by concrete examples of your exploration of these different areas through reading, attending lectures, or listening to podcasts.
Psychology also reaches into so many aspects of life, so if you’ve volunteered or worked somewhere that allowed you to draw on your interest in the subject, then mention that too. The universities will want you to connect those experiences to your decision to study the subject.
Answering 'Why?'
It’s never easy to explain why you like what you like, but it’s paramount that you express why you’re interested in psychology in general, and in studying it at university in particular. What is it about the subject that really fascinates you? Was your fascination brought on by a certain experience that made you want to find out more?
This may or may not have been encouraged by learning in the classroom, but whatever the reasons behind your interest, ensure you can put them across convincingly as this will set you apart from others who may be applying on a whim.
