Further Education
Personal staetment/letter of intent template
Personal statement/letter of intent template
Name
Personal Statement / Letter of Intent
Opening
- The statement question may dictate what to cover; use it as the outline/framework for the rest of the statement; if there is no direction provided, consider starting with a summary of your academic, work, volunteer, extra-curricular, research experiences
- Possibly begin with a life-changing experience, defining moment, or particular event that moved you to a particular path/career
- Mention name of program and institution applying to (spell both correctly!)
- Start strong to create a good first impression and to entice reviewers to want to read more
- Don’t be too generic, too dramatic, or highlight information that is too long ago (e.g., “in grade school I enjoyed math” or “as a child I liked science”)
- Use a high school example only if it adds depth of perspective (e.g., “I held two part-time jobs while attending school full time”); Note: if applying during your 2nd year of an undergrad degree it is more appropriate to use high school examples
- If it aligns with your goals and makes sense to explain your drive/motivations/interest in the field, you could state that you are:
- First to go to university in your family
- From a family of two professionals
- From a rural community
- A newcomer to Canada
- A member of student governance, volunteer, etc.
Fit
- Show you are the right fit for the program by conveying understanding of program/degree/area of research; note that most programs want a diverse student body so there is not a “one-size-fits-all approach”
- Highlight and provide proof of qualities that the program values; provide detailed examples from a couple of experiences:
- Full-time/part-time work and/or co-op
- Research conducted during 4th year thesis/design project/graduate degree, work term, volunteering in lab
- Classes/seminars of particular relevance
- Exchange programs, completion of undergrad or master’s degree in another country, transfer into another program/school
- Volunteering; shadowing a professional
- Extra-curricular activities, club involvement
- Travel and cultural awareness
- Languages
- Don’t restate information found elsewhere; provide depth to a couple of examples
In order to further show you are the right fit, review the section below for tips relevant to your situation:
- It is highly recommended you contact potential supervisor(s) prior to applying to the program unless the directions state otherwise. If you have contacted potential supervisor(s), mention it; show how your research interest aligns with the potential supervisor(s); highlight articles read that pertain to potential supervisor(s) research
- If interested in working with more than one faculty member or research group in the same department, it is all right to mention multiple faculty members or groups and highlight how your research interests align with theirs (e.g., “I prefer to work with Professor A, but would also be interested in working with Professor B”)
- In Social Sciences and Humanities disciplines, it is common to expect you to make a case for why you are uniquely qualified to undertake the research you are proposing (e.g., because you have a required language competency or are familiar with a specific archive)
- If applying to U.S. PhD programs, it is often not necessary to identify potential supervisors as you will rotate through numerous labs first
- If you have not contacted potential supervisor(s), then don’t define your area of research too much as the committee will need to see where you best fit; however, indicate a couple of faculty members’ areas of research that are of interest
- If eligible to apply to scholarships, mention that you will submit an application as this could increase your attraction to potential supervisors
- If considering fast tracking into a PhD program after starting a master’s degree, talk to your potential supervisor about this: investment in master’s vs. PhD candidates is much greater and they may not be interested
- If applicable, provide information about previous research experience through 4th year thesis/design project/co-op work term/volunteer work in a lab, etc.
- Demonstrate skills that align with being a member of a research group (e.g., critical analysis, problem solving, collaboration, leadership, organization, project/time management, ethics/advocacy experience)
- Some course-based programs are called “taught-based” programs in the UK
- Highlight exposure to more courses, more faculty, research faculty is conducting, specialized knowledge
- Focus on breadth of courses in program and/or faculty member’s expertise
- If applicable, talk about skills you can bring to co-op/internship opportunities -- if in the co-op program and/or if you have worked full time, show how you will be successful in work situations (e.g., “Each summer I worked full time at a local pharmacy and continued to volunteer at a long-term care facility”)
- If there is a research project, determine if you need to contact the potential supervisor prior to applying (this is rare), and mention that you have done that in this section
- Show awareness/understanding of the discipline applying to (e.g., public health) and indicate the type of future impact you want to make after completion of this degree
- If applicable, show length of time you have been interested in helping others
- Provide proof about competencies relevant to the profession; experiences gained through volunteering, work, job shadowing, observing, etc.
- Provide examples with depth in order to convey insight in the profession
- If you observed something relevant to the profession, mention how that increased your understanding of the profession
- Examples shouldn’t focus solely on a specific patient/client; describe understanding of the profession and impact on you: you want the reader to gain insight into you, not just read about experience(s)
- If someone in your family is in the profession you wish to enter, mention the influence it had and provide proof that this is now also your goal
- Try to avoid stating you want to “help” others or “bring a smile to someone’s face”; instead describe how you will have a unique opportunity to impact others as a professional in this field
- Particularly for law school applications, err on the side of disclosing past academic, legal, or personal transgressions or issues if there is something in your past that may become public in the future
Goals
- Now that you have defined your understanding of the program you want to enter and provided proof about why you are the right fit, indicate what your goals are
- Answer why you want to complete an additional degree and how it will impact your future; however, if applying to a professional program it is not necessary to be specific about specialization(s) (e.g. a Physician or Lawyer)
- State why an additional degree is required. For example:
- To become an academic
- Work in specific industry
- Focus on further research
- Professional degree/designation required
- If planning to apply for a PhD after a master’s degree, mention that
- Conduct research on the culture of the graduate-level program to determine if it would be acceptable to mention that you want to complete the degree to be successful in industry, as this is sometimes frowned upon
- Be realistic; show that you are serious about your next degree
Focus on program/school
- Show how the program/school can help you reach your goals and balance this with how you will add value to the program/classroom discussions/co-op program, etc.
- Focus on breadth of courses in program and/or faculty member’s expertise, electives
- If applicable, state that you attended an information session, talked to current students/alumni/admission officers, etc.
- Don’t state the obvious about the program/school, dig deeper; some ideas are:
- Specialization(s) offered and how it aligns with your career goal
- Research conducted at the institution and how it aligns with research interests
- Clinical hours and clinical locations and experience(s) offered and the impact experiences will have on future patients/clients
- Connection between learning/teaching style or philosophies
- Volunteering with group/club affiliated with the program/school
- New location/cultural experience/exposure to different language(s)
- Don’t state that the program/school/faculty are prestigious/famous; avoid talking about rankings
Challenges — not mandatory to include if this section doesn’t apply to you
- Place this section later in the statement, so that strengths and qualifications are the main focus, not the challenges; if there is an addendum to write about challenges/weaknesses, use that instead of incorporating information into the main statement
- Address concerns the admission committee will have about low grades/admission test score(s), change of program/school; however, it is not necessary to talk about lower grades in your first year of university as long as there has been an upward trend in grades
- State facts surrounding the situation, list strategies used to improve/overcome/adapt, and then show positive results
- If applicable, frame low grades positively if due to part-time work, heavy course load, extra labs, 4th year thesis, etc.
- Avoid providing information that indicates you may be a difficult student (e.g., identifying too many problems/struggles)
- If talking about overcoming obstacles, state what they are (but don’t provide the details) otherwise admission directors might think you are overstating your situation
- Filter when talking about weaknesses; this is not the time to confess everything
- Show growth and what you learned from the experience
- If you are trying to determine whether to disclose conditions, illnesses, personal information, ask yourself these questions:
- What is my reason for disclosing?
- What is the relevance to my application?
- How comfortable am I accepting the potential risk associated with the disclosure?
- Am I ready to talk about it? (Questions asked at the interview stage could be drawn from your personal statement, so you need to be prepared to discuss it further.)
Conclusion
- Summarize what you will bring to the program; tie it back to the opening
- Don’t be too generic