Only the serious Need Reply - I need PS Help!

[GA_Kristi]

GA_Kristi,

You mentioned that you changed the last paragraph on each personal statement to reflect something unique to the school.  How did that work out for you?  After reading a number of books where admissions officers said they like to see applicants showing interest in their school, I was thinking about doing the same thing.

Well, I think it worked out relatively well.  I applied to 14 schools and got into 3, but I'd say 9 of those 11 that rejected me were real reach schools.  I had the money and wanted to try my luck at getting into a reach, so I applied to a lot!    I wouldn't recommend it though, that didn't turn out so well!

As for addressing each school in my PS, you have to be careful when you do this.  Proofread every single one before you send it out and only work on one application at a time.  I wrote the original draft of my PS and then got together all the apps and did them one by one.  I applied to 2 schools in my home state, so in that last paragraph I talked about my connections here and my desire to stay here and how the school could help me with these goals, etc.  I applied to 4 schools in FL, where I have lots of family, so I talked about why I wanted to be near family, etc.  As for the other places I applied, they were mostly in CA and further away from me, so I had to talk about why I wanted to move away from my home.  If the school had a specific program that interested me I mentioned that because the school likes to see that you've researched it and are really interested. 

I think if you send a PS that doesn't mention the school name at all the school probably thinks you sent the exact same one to EVERYONE you applied to.  This shows no real interest in THEIR school and I just didn't think that looked good.  I've also seen personal statements that only mention the school by name, but don't anymore about it.  This makes it look like all you did was go in and change the name of the school for each personal statement.  Even though I only did a paragraph for each one, I still made that paragraph the last thing the adcomm read (by making it the last paragraph) and I gave specific reasons for applying to that school.  I can't see how this could ever hurt, it shows interest and research.

If you get your PS ready and want some input, feel free to email it to me.    I'd love to help!

[tahoetahoe]

I did the same thing w/ my personal statement.  I wrote a 4 page statement and had a 2 & 3 page version.  I also modified the last paragraph for each school.  Just make sure you send the right one to the right school.  I hear that is a common and embarassing mistake!!!   

[GA_Kristi]

I did the same thing w/ my personal statement.  I wrote a 4 page statement and had a 2 & 3 page version.  I also modified the last paragraph for each school.  Just make sure you send the right one to the right school.  I hear that is a common and embarassing mistake!!!   

I heard this a LOT!  Apparently this is a very common mistake, but easily overcome.  I mailed my apps in batches, even though I did them one at a time.  I would get one app and all the supporting docs ready and put it in a folder.  Then, when I got up to 5 or so schools I would take the 5 folders and look through each and double check that the personal statement matched up with the write app.  My last check was a co-worker friend of mine who would look at the app to see that I answered all and signed everywhere and then look to see if the personal statement talked about the right school at the end.  Then we sealed each one in an envelope one by one.  This seems to have worked.  I kept copies of everything in a separate file for each school and in going back and looking through it later they all matched up correctly.

[MindTheGap76]

I think if you send a PS that doesn't mention the school name at all the school probably thinks you sent the exact same one to EVERYONE you applied to.  This shows no real interest in THEIR school and I just didn't think that looked good.  I've also seen personal statements that only mention the school by name, but don't anymore about it.  This makes it look like all you did was go in and change the name of the school for each personal statement.  Even though I only did a paragraph for each one, I still made that paragraph the last thing the adcomm read (by making it the last paragraph) and I gave specific reasons for applying to that school.  I can't see how this could ever hurt, it shows interest and research.

If you get your PS ready and want some input, feel free to email it to me.    I'd love to help!

Yeah, I was thinking, for example, that Virginia has a really cool "Law and Economics" program that I'm interested in, so I would write a paragraph about that.  Georgetown has a neat "B Curriculum" that sets them apart that I'd like to take.  Nothing too fancy, just something that says what attracts me specifically to their school.

I'm probably going to get working on my personal statement in the next few weeks.  I know you've volunteered to help people out; if you want anyone to take a second pass on it, let me know.  I'm a pretty good writer for an engineer, the quality of my quickly jotted posts notwithstanding