Applying to grad school means having to write a killer statement. This statement can be either a statement of purpose or a personal statement (or both, equally nosotros'll explicate later). Simply what exactly is the difference between these two types of essays?

In this guide to the statement of purpose vs personal statement, we take an in-depth look at the unique purposes of the grad school argument of purpose and personal argument, how the two essays are different and akin, and what yous can exercise to ensure you produce an essay that's guaranteed to get you lot into grad school.

What'south the Difference Between a Personal Statement and a Argument of Purpose?

Commencement off, what is the main difference between a statement of purpose and a personal argument for grad school?

The short answer is that a statement of purpose is well-nigh what you want to do, while a personal statement is about who y'all are. Each essay has its own goals in what it's supposed to do for you and the program y'all're applying to.

Whereas the argument of purpose showcases your academic strengths and background, career goals, research interests, and fit with the program, the personal statement highlights your personal motivations for applying to the program and any major accomplishments you lot've had or challenges you've faced along the way.

In spite of these large differences, both statements essentially serve the same overarching purpose: to make the admissions committee think y'all are a skilful fit and volition be successful in the plan to which you're applying.

Here'southward a brief overview of the biggest differences between a personal statement and a statement of purpose:

Argument of Purpose Personal Argument
General Content Academic and professional person background, skills, and accomplishments; research interests; bookish/career goals; why this program is a good fit for y'all Personal motivation for applying; how yous developed your enquiry interests; any relevant experiences, challenges, or accomplishments
Level of Formality Formal Less Formal
Length Varies, but typically 1-3 double-spaced pages

Argument of Purpose vs Personal Argument: Which Do You Need to Write?

Now that you know the main difference between a personal statement and a statement of purpose, which one will you have to actually write for your grad school applications?

The answer to this question depends on what documents your school requires and how it defines the two types of essays.

While some grad schools, such as Michigan State University and the UC system, clearly distinguish between the two essays and require ii divide statements for admission, other schools don't distinguish at all between the personal statement and statement of purpose. In fact, many grad programs use the terms interchangeably!

Meanwhile, some grad schools combine qualities from both statements into one comprehensive argument. Notre Dame'south Artistic Writing MFA plan, for instance, requires an essay that'southward really a combination of the personal statement and statement of purpose: it asks applicants to talk about their hereafter bookish and professional goals likewise as any personal aspects of their identity that influence their writing.

More often than not, most grad programs will require at least ane essay. For research-based programs, this will probable be the more academic, more formal statement of purpose.

To effigy out which essay you'll need to write for your program (and whether you'll need to write more than one), check the program's official website. You should be able to find details on either the programme's application requirements page or the application itself. I also advise checking the FAQ folio to see whether anyone has asked a question almost the program's essay requirements.

If you're still confused about what your grad school admissions essay should focus on and/or what blazon of essay you lot're required to write for your application, contact the programme direct by e-mail or phone.

How to Approach the Statement of Purpose vs Personal Argument: 11 Tips

In lite of these major differences between the personal argument and statement of purpose, it's important that y'all also know the differences in how you arroyo each essay.

In this section, we give you our peak tips for how to write a truly effective and compelling personal statement and statement of purpose for grad schoolhouse. We as well give you some general tips yous can apply for both essays.

For the statement of purpose, call back nearly how you lot'll fit in on campus.

How to Write a Statement of Purpose

We'll start with the statement of purpose—the more formal, more than bookish essay.

Tip 1: Consider Your Future Goals

Nigh statements of purpose volition require yous to introduce your future goals (bookish, professional person, or both) and depict how this particular program will help yous achieve these goals. Therefore, it's of import that you conspicuously lay out in your essay the ambitions y'all have, and explain how these relate to the field yous desire to enter and the program to which you're applying.

Think deeply about what you hope this grad plan will do for you, academically and/or professionally. For instance, if you're applying for a master's program in informatics, you could talk about how you lot plan to leave your career equally a real manor agent to become a freelance web programmer.

Make sure that yous also explicate why this program in particular will aid you. Perhaps you enjoy the grad program'due south emphasis on internships and believe these volition allow you more than easily enter the professional world upon graduation, for example.

Tip 2: Enquiry the Program and Its Professors

You likely already did some enquiry on the program—why else would you be applying?—but it'due south important to dig even deeper so you can write almost specific aspects of the program that involvement y'all.

Hither are some examples of features you could write about:

  • Professors with whom yous wish to work
  • Certain classes you lot hope to take
  • Internships, networking events, and/or other professionally oriented events offered by the plan or school
  • The program's emphasis on a certain topic, idea, or skill
  • Any other attributes of the programme, such equally its small course sizes, its accent on grouping projects, its contests or competitions in your field, etc.

Note that information technology's best Non to mention these things in your essay:

  • The program'due south selectivity or credence rate
  • The program's ranking

The best way to begin research on your programme is to simply look at the program'southward official website. This should give you all the information yous need on what the program requires, what it focuses on, what types of students it'south geared toward, and then on.

I also recommend visiting websites such equally The Grad Cafe and Reddit. With these websites, yous tin can get the inside scoop by reading what existent students accept to say about the program you're applying to.

Tip 3: Explicate How You're a Good Match

Grad programs must make sure that the applicants they admit volition be able to study what they want to research and will fit well with the program's overall focus and its faculty members' areas of expertise.

This betoken is especially important for those applying to doctoral programs, since you're most likely going to be working one-on-one with a specific faculty member on a major research project or dissertation.

Here are some things yous tin write about in your statement of purpose to highlight your "fit" with the program:

  • A professor whose research areas and expertise marshal with your research interests, background, and/or skills
  • The academic or professional focus of the program and how this matches your future goals (see Tip one)

For example, maybe you hope to work with a professor whose research areas match the general topic you want to write virtually for your dissertation.

Tip 4: Emphasize Your Accomplishments

The statement of purpose isn't just for explaining your goals and fit but also for talking about your (relevant) academic and professional accomplishments.

You don't want to repeat what's already on your undergraduate transcript or CV/resume, then attempt to be extremely specific here about what you've done and how this accomplishment has influenced your determination to go a graduate degree in this field.

The personal statement is all about telling the story of you.

How to Write a Personal Argument

Now that we've covered how to write a statement of purpose, permit'south look at how your approach might differ for the personal statement.

Tip 5: Tell a Story

Since the personal statement is less formal and more personal, you'll want to ensure you're telling a compelling story. In other words, you have more than complimentary rein to be creative with the personal statement than you do with the argument of purpose.

The personal argument is the one part of your grad school application where you can really flex your creative muscles. For case, you don't demand to stick with the conventional chronological format (though in that location's nothing wrong with this, of course).

A good way to evidence off your creativity is to use a diversity of literary techniques, from imagery and metaphors to dialogue and colloquialisms. It's also OK to write a lilliputian less formally than you would in a statement of purpose. So go alee and tell that joke, or share that eccentric story!

Just be careful to not go overboard with informalities,and make sure you're still clearly presenting yourself as a serious applicant who is an platonic fit for the program.

Tip vi: Focus On Your Personal Motivations

Since the personal statement allows you to be a fleck more personal than the statement of purpose does, it'southward best to use this space to focus more on your ain personal reasons for developing an interest in this field and applying to this grad program specifically.

Take time to consider what motivated yous to apply to grad schoolhouse and to keep schooling in this particular field. Don't just focus on grad schoolhouse in general but on the specific program you lot are applying to. What initially drew you lot to this program and at this time?

Tip 7: Explain Any Weaknesses/Challenges You've Overcome

Yous can also use your grad school personal statement to talk over any major weaknesses in your application or any challenges or barriers y'all've overcome in recent years. These tin be personal struggles with things such as your career, school, health, money, etc.

For example, perchance your undergraduate GPA wasn't that loftier your freshman twelvemonth because you lot struggled with living away from home and not knowing anyone at your higher. In your personal argument, you could discuss how joining your schoolhouse's badminton team helped you brand friends and more easily adjust to college life.

Regardless of the challenge yous write almost, put a positive spin on it. This will prove to the grad admissions committee that you lot're able to overcome challenges on your own and can push button frontward to be successful.

Full general Tips for Both the Statement of Purpose and Personal Statement

In this last section, we give you some general tips y'all can apply for both grad school statements.

Tip eight: Read the Instructions Carefully

The #1 most important dominion for whatsoever statement for grad school is that you follow all the instructions for the essay. Specifically, this ways yous should do the following:

  • Respond the prompt and all the questions in it—some prompts won't require y'all to answer every single question it asks, though it's all-time to answer most if you tin can
  • Adhere to the length requirements—most grad school essays will give y'all either a give-and-take limit (due east.g., 500 words) or a page limit (e.chiliad., two to three double-spaced pages), so don't go over this!
  • Include any information the programme requires you to put on each folio of your essay—this will about probable be your full proper name and might likewise include the document type, page number, etc.

If you accept any questions almost the requirements for your personal statement or argument of purpose, contact the grad program directly to ask.

Tip 9: Use Specific Details

In any essay you write, it'due south of import to exist as specific as possible. And in a grad school personal argument and argument of purpose, it's critical that you lot include the names of people and places, too equally bright descriptions of people, ideas, events, and emotions.Doing this will make your essay not only more than realistic but besides more relatable to the admissions committee.

Moreover,try to affect specific aspects of the grad plan, including your research interests and what drew you lot to this field of study. Don't only write, "I developed an interest in psychology after taking an introductory psychology grade in college." Tell us who taught the class, the topics y'all studied that were almost fascinating to you, and why you lot initially decided to enroll in this class.

Tip 10: Exist Authentic

While a statement of purpose is more than formal than a personal statement is, you withal want to sound accurate in both essays. Somake an endeavor to write in your real, honest phonation. Don't feel the need to catch a thesaurus to look up difficult vocab words to include in your essay—the admissions commission volition be able to tell you lot're simply trying to sound smart!

Ultimately, you desire to write in a sophisticated nonetheless natural-sounding voice that shows off your personality while also highlighting your intelligence and maturity.

Tip 11: Edit and Proofread

Finally, give yourself plenty of time to edit and proofread your essays for your grad schoolhouse applications. A big role of the personal statement and statement of purpose is showing off your superior, grad-level writing skills, so have your time to craft a compelling (and technically correct!) statement.

One time you lot've got a rough draft completed, await it over for whatsoever typos; errors in grammer, spelling, or punctuation; and awkward or irrelevant areas. After you've done your own edit, give your essay to someone else to read, such as a one-time professor (if he or she has agreed to look at itfor yous),and enquire for some feedback on what you could improve or modify.

Conclusion: The Critical Difference Between a Argument of Purpose and Personal Statement

When it comes down to the argument of purpose vs personal statement for grad schoolhouse, how exactly are the two different—and how are they alike? While both essays are meant to brand the grad admissions committee desire to admit you, they each contain pretty different information.

The statement of purpose is the more formal of the two, highlighting your bookish/professional background and accomplishments, your future goals, and how you see yourself plumbing equipment with the plan you're applying to.

By dissimilarity, the personal statement is less formal and focuses more on who y'all are as a person, including what motivated you lot to apply to grad schoolhouse (and this programme) and what kinds of obstacles y'all've faced in life.

Near grad programs require at least one statement; this could be either a personal statement, a statement of purpose, or a statement that's some sort of combination of the ii. And some programs crave both essays.

Because a argument of purpose differs from a personal statement, the way yous approach each statement is also different.

Here's what you want to practise for a statement of purpose:

  • Consider your future goals
  • Research the program and professors
  • Explicate how y'all're a good match
  • Emphasize your accomplishments

For a personal argument, on the other paw, you'll desire to do the post-obit:

  • Tell a story
  • Focus on your personal motivations
  • Explain whatever weaknesses or challenges y'all've overcome

Finally, for both statements, be sure to take these four steps:

  • Read the instructions carefully
  • Employ specific details
  • Be authentic
  • Edit and proofread

At present that yous understand the major divergence betwixt a statement of purpose and personal argument, you can get started on writing an astonishing grad school admissions essay!

What's Next?

Still non certain how to arroyo the grad school statement? Then cheque out our collections of real examples of statements of purpose and personal statements.

For even more tips on how to write a killer grad school essay, take a look at our good guides to how to write the statement of purpose and how to write the personal statement.

What does a grad school application await similar? Learn more about grad schoolhouse application requirements, and get tips on how to find acceptance rates for the grad programs yous're applying to.

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Hannah graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California with a available'due south degree in English and Eastward Asian languages and cultures. Afterward graduation, she taught English language in Nippon for two years via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel. View all posts by Hannah Muniz