영문 서류 작성법 (한글)

영문서류 작성법 대학에서 Autobiography, Statement of Purpose 및 Essay 등을 제출하라고 하는 것에는 여러 가지 목적이 있다. 물론 일차적으로는 이런 서류 등을 통해서 지원자가 어떤 사람이냐 하는 것을 알려고 하는 것이지만 그 외에 제출하는 사람의 기본적인 자질도 보게 된다. 하다 못해 철자가 맞았나, 문법이 맞았나, 문장의 logic은 있는가, 여러 문장을 연결할 수 있는 능력이 되는가, 자기의 생각을 충분히 쓸 능력이 되는가 하는 것도 동시에 체크하게 되는 것이다. 이런 서류들이 입학을 결정하는데 있어서 얼마나 중요한 역할을 하느냐 하는 것은 학교에 따라 다르고 년도에 따라서 어느 정도 다르다고 할 수 있으며, 또한 입학을 결정하는 Committee member 의 구성에 따라서 다를 수 있다. 그러나 학교성적 및 영어성적 등이 이미 fix가 된 상황에서 자기소개서, 학업계획서, 추천서 등의 역할은 절대적이라고 할 수 있다.

아래의 Checkpoint는 Autobiography, Personal Essay, Statement of Purpose, 그리고 Letter of Recommendation의 작성시에도 적용될 수 있는 사항들이므로, 아래의 내용에 대한 기본적인 골격을 머리에 넣고 있는 것이 좋겠다. 또한 서류가 작성이 되었을 경우에도 다시 한번 아래 내용을 체크하여 내용이 충분히 반영이 되었나를 다시 한번 살펴보면 좋을 것이다.

< TIPS BEFORE YOU WRITE >

1. Read what the University says what it is.
대학을 선정하게 되면 응시원서와 카다로그 등을 요구하게 된다. 요즘은 웬만한 학교도 on-line으로 입학원서를 신청하면 자기들이 돈을 들여 관련 서류를 우송하므로 응시대상에 올라 있는 학교들에 미리 자료를 신청해 놓는 것이 좋다. 신청후 서류를 받는데까지 20일에서 1달 정도 소요되므로 일찍 신청할수록 좋다.
서류를 받으면 서류의 내용을 꼼꼼하게 살펴보아야 한다. 응시원서는 물론이고 동봉해온 카다로그 등을 꼼꼼하게 읽어서 학교(과)에서 어떤류의 학생을 뽑는 것인지 충분히 파악을 해야 한다.

2. Read directions carefully.
응시원서에 써진 작성방법은 꼼꼼하게 읽어야 한다. 만약 중요한 아이템을 잘못 썼을 경우에는 원서가 되돌아 올 수도 있고 그렇지 않으면 입학사정시 어떤 '해'가 미칠지도 모른다. 자기소개서, 엣세이, 학업계획서,진술서 등은 학교측에서 요구하는 내용을 따르되 약간의 파격을 넣고자 할 때는 파격이 허용되는지를 판단해야 한다. 특히, 학교측에서 미리 fix 된 format을 보낼 경우에는 이에 맞추어야 하며 요청하는 내용을 정확하게 써야 한다. 무엇을 물어보는지 아리송한 경우도 있을 수 있는데 이 경우에는 교수나 다른 사람한테 물어봐서 정확한 의미를 파악하는 것이 좋다.

3. Clearly specify your objectives.
본인이 공부하려는 목적을 기술해 본다. 대학에서 해당전공을 택한 이유가 무엇인지, 앞으로 할려는 학과나 분야를 왜 공부하려는 것인지, 전공이 바뀔 경우 왜 바꾸려고 하는지 등 미국의 특정대학에서 공부하여 얻을려고 하는 것이 무엇인지를 기술해 본다.

4. Focus on what makes you different from other candidates.
나는 다른 지원자하고 무엇이, 왜 다른지를 기술한다. 종종 한국학생들끼리 경쟁하는 경우도 있으므로 이것도 염두에 두어야 한다. 만약 한국에서 온 학생을 한명만 뽑는다고 하고 두명이 지원했다고 하면 이 경우는 다른 학생들과의 경쟁이 아니라 한국학생과의 경쟁이 되는 것이다. 자신이 다른 사람과 다른 점이 무엇인지 곰곰히 생각해 보고 이점이 서류를 보는 사람들에게 make sense하게 느껴질 것인지를 생각해야 한다. 자신이 가진 강점이 정말 차별화가 가능한 요소라고 하면 이점을 충분히 강조해야 한다. 미국 대학원의 입학경쟁이 치열해 지면서 차별화전략의 중요성이 점점 증가하고 있다. GRE, GMAT, GPA 등에서 월등히 앞서지 않는 한 각종 writing 서류에서 차별화 하는 것이 당락의 주요 원인이 되는 경우가 많다는 것이다.

5. List what you have done and achieved: academic and extracurricular activities, and job expriences.
학부나 대학원에서 자신이 성취한 것들이나 과외 활동에서 성취한 것들을 나열한다. 그것도 상당히 detail하게 하는 것이 좋다. 석사과정으로 가는 학생이라면 이런 것에 대해 별로 이야기 할 것이 없는 경우가 대부분일 테지만 그래도 나열해야 한다. 학부를 4년이나 다녔는 데 뭔가가 없을 수가 없다. 직장 경력이 있는 사람일 경우 비교적 자신이 성취한 것을 기술하기가 쉽다. 특히, 이 경우는 미국에서 확인이 곤란하다(?). 그렇다고 '반드시' 거짓말을 쓰라는 말은 아니다. 과장이나 미화는 허용될 수 있으나 거짓은 재앙을 불러 올 수 있다. 자신이 성취했다고 내세우는 사항들은 의미가 있는 것이어야 한다. 별 것도 아닌 것을 성취했다고 하면 우습게 된다.

6. List your competitve strengths and weaknesses.
자신의 강점과 약점을 솔직하게 정리해 본다. 자신의 성적 뿐만 아니라 성격까지도 폭넓게 기술한다. 자신의 강점을 부각하고 약점으로 비춰질 수 있는 부분을 덮을 수 있는 방안을 강구한다.

7. Brainstorm your thoughts.
위에 기술한 내용을 참조로 항목별로 적어 놓은 다음에 구체적으로 각각의 항목에 대해 brainstorm을 하는 것이 좋다. 다음은 brainstorm을 할 때 참고할 사항들이다.

Brainstorming points.
- What differentiate me from other applicants?
- How I am different?
- What are the examples that I can say I am different?
- What do I enjoy doing: academic and extracurricular?
- What have I accomplished: academic, extracurricular, job?
- What am I proud of?
- What experiences do I have in the field I am applying to?
- How do I project myself in 10 years? What do I want to be?
- Why do I think the school is right for me?
- What do I know about the school and the department?
- What are the main issues in the field I am applying to?
- What are the main issues in the subject I want to study?
- What are the basic necessities for studying the area that I want to study?
- Do I have those basic necessities? On what ground can I say that?
- What are the reputations I have: from my friends, teachers, and family members?

< TIPS WHEN YOU WRITE >

1. Try to show yourself-don't just tell: use examples instead of stating things.
'저는 일찍이 충남의 한 시골에서 둘째로 태어나서...' 이런 소리는 적어봤자 별 도움이 안된다. 자신의 가치를 어떻게 하면 나타낼 수 있는가가 중요하다. 어떻게 해야 자신의 가치를 부각시킬 것인가를 생각하고 이를 표현해야 한다. 또한 문장의 전체 구성도 전략적으로 접근할 필요가 있다. 예를 들어 도입부에서 결론을 내리고 진행한다거나, 도입부에서 약간은 shocking한 출발을 하는 것도 괜찮다고 본다. committee member들은 엄청나게 많은 서류를 본다. 재미없는 도입부보다는 흥미있거나 shocking한 도입부로 시작하면 보는 사람의 눈을 끝까지 잡는데 유리하다.

2. Write positive and proactive.
글에는 자신이 긍적적이고 진취적 또는 적극적인 사고를 가진 사람이라는 것이 나타나야 한다. 공부할 기회를 적극적으로 추구하고 있다는 것이 문장의 tone & manner에 나타나야 한다.

3. Be a main actor, not a supporting actor.
글의 tone & manner 에 있어서도 남의 이야기 하듯이 서술적으로 쓰는 것 보다는 주관적으로 쓰는 것이 좋다. 자기소개서, 학업계획서 등은 일종의 광고와도 같다. 자기를 제품으로 하여 Committee 에 자신을 파는 것과 같다. 따라서 허황된 광고는 금물이나 자기자신을 팔기에 충분한 '자신의 이야기'가 들어 있어야 한다.

4. Be clear, conscise, direct and meaningful.
모호한 문장이나 문체, 단어는 피하는 것이 좋다. 분명하고 단호하되 직접적인 용어를 고르는 것이 좋다. 또한 현란한 수식어는 피하고 sentence 하나 하나가 완전하기 보다는 하나 하나의 단락이 완전한 것이 중요하다. 단어는 자신이 뜻하는 바를 정확히 전달할 수 있는 단어를 신중히 선택하는 것이 좋다. 서류는 보는 사람에게 자신이 하고 싶은 바를 'simple, clear & fast'하게 전달하는 것이 중요하다.

5. Don't be redundant.
경우에 따라 알게 모르게 쓴 내용을 또 쓰는 경우가 있다. 똑같지는 않아도 내용이 비슷한 문장은 선택을 하여 삭제하는 것이 좋다.

6. Don't put too many ideas. 자기소개서나 학업계획서에 너무 많은 아이디어가 들어가 있으면 곤란하다. 똘똘한 놈 하나가 잡동사니 여럿보다 더 낫다.

7. Be formal.
입학을 위한 서류는 공식서류이다. 주관적인 시각을 견지해야 하나 'personal'한 인식을 주면 안된다. 좀 어려울 지 모르나, 내용은 personal해도 tone & manner는 공식적이어야 하고 단어의 사용도 공식적이어야 하며, 특히 문장작성의 형식도 통일되어 있어야 한다.

< TIPS AFTER YOU WRITE >

1. Take a break a few days and review it yourself.
작성을 끝마치고 나서 본인이 약간의 시간을 가진 다음 서류를 다시 보는 것이 좋다. 종종 어제 쓴 글이 아침에 일어나서 보면 우스운 생각이 들 때가 있다. 따라서 약간 시간이 지난 후에 다시 보되, 이때의 포인트는 글의 전체 윤곽이 잡혀 있는가, 학교에서 요구하는 사항이 충분히 반영이 되어 있는가, 내가 보기에 다른 지원자가 쓴 것보다 차별화가 될 수 있는가, 보는 사람이 관심을 보일 만한 내용이 충분하게 들어 있는가 등에 초점을 맞추어야 한다. 본인이 보기에 좀 이상한 단락이나 문장이 있으면 그것은 다른 사람도 그렇게 본다고 생각하는 것이 정확할 것이다.

2. Have someone review what you wrote.
대부분의 한국지원자가 TOEFL이나 GRE, GMAT 등의 점수와 관계없이 영작이 서투른게 정상이다. 또한 문법적으로 아무리 완전하더라도 syntax나 문장의 flow에 문제가 발생하는 경우가 다반사이다. 외국인이 지원한 것이니 좀 감안을 해 줄 것이다 하는 기대는 안하는 것이 좋다. 어느정도 랭킹이 되는 학교의 경우 그러기가 힘이 들다. 특히, 박사과정의 경우는 꿈 깨는 것이 좋고, 석사과정의 경우라 해도 다른 한국학생이나 다른 외국학생과 비교가 된다는 것을 염두에 두어야 한다. Review는 다음과 같이 받는 것이 좋다. 우선은 정상적으로 미국에서 학사과정 이상을 이수한 미국인한테 받는다. 철자, 문법, 문장의 흐름등을 review point로 하고, 그런 다음에 해당 학과의 교수한테 review를 받는다. 이 때에는 글 내용의 적절성, 문장의 logic 등에 point를 맞춘다. 가능하다면 영문과 교수한테 가서 자문을 받는다. 최종적으로 수정이 되면 다시 한번 미국인한테 proofreading을 받는 것도 좋다.

[출처] [본문 스크랩] 학업계획서 작성법|

영문 학업계획서 작성법 (Hot to wirte personal statment)

Writing a personal statement is probably one of the most difficult parts of the UCAS form. Many students won't have done much creative writing since GCSE and even if you have, it's still very hard to write about yourself.

We've produced this short guide to try and help you write a personal statement. Just read through it, follow the steps, and you should be ok.

We suggest you have a pretty good idea of what course you want to study before continuing much further with your personal statement. Generally personal statements are quite specific so if you decide to change the course you are applying for you would need to rewrite your personal statement.

Before you start remember this is a "personal" statement - i.e. it's about you, and there is no real right or wrong way to do it. What we've written below is just a guide, and should not be stuck to rigidly. You may find by choosing your own structure, and writing what you want to write about, gives a better picture of yourself to the reader than anyone else can.

 

UCAS advice - read what UCAS tell you first to get a general overview
Aims of the statement - Why write a personal statement, what are you aiming to do
Notes about yourself - Make notes about what to put in your statement before you start
You and your subject - Why do you want to take this subject?
Read example statements - Read other peoples statements to give you some ideas
Personal goals of your statement - What do you think will work well in your statement
Language of the statement - How are you going to make your statement sound
Structure of the statement - How are you going to layout and write your statement
Writing the statement - A few last minute tips before you begin
After writing the statement - After you first draft is complete what's left to do
Formatting the statement - Now your statement is perfect you've got to format it

 

UCAS advice

In the advice for applicants book, UCAS give you a short overview of the personal statement. This doesn't really tell you much, but should tell you enough to get you started. You get a description of the personal statement, a list of bullet points of information you want to include and some information about printing it. You may also find you college or school gives you some additional information. If you think this information is enough to go on, and your statement is already forming in your mind then you can stop reading here and get on with your statement!

Aims of the personal statement

Many universities don't interview applicants, so the only information they have about you is your UCAS form. Most of the UCAS form only contains your details, the bits the universities are interested in is your grades, your references and your personal statement. The personal statement is the only bit you really have control over, so this is your chance to present a good image to the admissions tutor, even if your grades don't really reflect that image.

If you are applying to an oversubscribed university course, and everyone applying is likely to have good grades, the personal statement is the only thing that tells you apart from other applicants, so you want to try and make yours as good as possible.

When the admissions and subject tutors look at your personal statement, they are likely to be asking two main questions:

1. Do we want this student on this course?
2. Do we want this student at this university?

These can be broken down into a number of easier to answer questions:

• Is the student suited to the course that they are applying for?
• Does the student have the necessary qualifications and qualities for the course?
• Is the student conscientious, hardworking and unlikely to drop out?
• Will the student do their best and cope with the demands of the course?
• Can the student work under pressure?
• Will the student be able to adjust to their new environment at university?
• What are their communication skills like?
• Are they dedicated to this course and have researched it well?
• Do they have a genuine interest in the subject and a desire to learn more about it?

These are the sort of questions you need to answer in your personal statement. Unfortunately you cannot answer them directly, you need to provide evidence and make it sound believable.

Ultimately, admissions tutors are human too, and may well have hundreds of personal statements to shift through, so even if you think you've answered all these questions really well you may still be unlucky. There are other techniques you can use to make your statement stand out and appeal to admissions tutors, but remember they are all different and may have different ideas about what they look for in a prospective student. Some of these techniques are discussed in the personal goals section.

Notes about yourself

Now you have some idea of why you're writing a personal statement you need to think about what you're going to write in it. You don't need to start thinking about the wording or structure yet, just get down some ideas of the things you think you could put down.

The best way to do this is to use a set of headings and write bullet points about how you relate to these headings. Here are some headings to think about.

What you want to study at university and why

• Specific aspects of the courses that interest you
• Examples of coursework you have completed
• Practical work you have enjoyed
• Things you have read related to the subject area
• Work experience or voluntary work in this area
• Conferences you have attended
• Personal experiences which lead to the decision to take this subject
• Where you hope a degree in this subject will lead

Experiences that show you are a reliable and responsible person

• Part-time job
• Business enterprise
• Community and charity work
• Sixth form committee
• Helping out at school events and open days
• Young Enterprise, World Challenge, Duke of Edinburgh award, Asdan Award Debating societies and what you've gained from these experiences.

Your interests and skills

• What you like to do in your free time
• Sport and leisure activities
• Subjects you study which are not examined
• Musical instrument which you play
• Languages which you speak
• Prizes you have won or positions achieved in your interests

Gap year

• Why you're taking a Gap year (if you are)
• Why you want to take a gap year
• What you plan to do
• How this may relate to your course

If you're not taking a gap year avoid this section. If you are it could still be left out, but you may be asked why you're taking it at an interview.

You should now have lots of bullet points about yourself, all of which will be useful in preparing your personal statement. Don't worry too much if you don't seem to have done much off the list, just think about things you've done which show all your good qualities, or could be written as to show your good qualities.

The important thing is that you have a good reason for why you want to study the course, it doesn't matter if the reason sounds stupid at the moment - you can work on the language later. All admissions tutors will be looking for people who are enthusiastic and passionate about the subjects they want to study, so make sure you really are. If you're choosing this course just because you can't think of anything better to do, that's not a good enough reason, and maybe you should consider looking for a course you enjoy more.

Now you've got some ideas together, it's time to think about turning them into a personal statement - almost.

You and your subject

Saying why you want to take your course is possibly the most important part of your personal statement. You can have perfect grades, great extra curricular activities and be a really great person, but if admissions tutors feel you aren't committed to your course, you won't get a place.

Hopefully the notes you have written for the section above have already given you a good idea of what to write about why you want to take your course. If not then you should at least be sure you want to take that subject - writing a personal statement is a lot of work, and you don't really want to get to the end of it and decide you want to study a different subject, so before you go much further be sure you have chosen the right subject for you. Remember you don't actually have to choose the course you want to take yet, just have a rough idea of the subject area or areas you might be interested in.

Now you need to think about exactly why you want to take this subject. Even if you are 100% sure that this is the course for you, you still need to get this idea across to the admissions tutors. If they accept you, you are going to be studying this course for at least the next three years, and you need to convince them that you are committed to it. Have a think about exactly why the subject appeals to you, and write down as much as you can about it. It doesn't matter if you only scribble a few notes, you can modify them before you write the statement, the important thing is you can be sure of the key reasons why you want to take the subject. Write down as many as you can, if you have too many you can always just pick the best. Other than that I can't give you much more advice - only you know exactly why you want to take your chosen course, but bear in mind, if you can't think of any good reasons - should you really be taking that subject?

What if I want to do a joint degree?

There are two options you can use to tailor your personal statement to joint degrees (ones where you take two subjects e.g. economics and politics). You can talk about just one subject which you feel is most important, and not mention the other. This has the advantage that you can apply for two different joint degrees and only talk about the common element e.g. for economics and politics and politics and law, you would only talk about law. If you decide to do this make sure you talk about the qualities you have which show you are suitable for the other part of your joint degree. Alternatively you can just talk a bit about why you want to do both subjects, although the approach you choose will probably depend on how closely related your subjects are.

What if I want to apply for different subjects?

There is no easy way to write personal statements for two unrelated subjects. If the subjects are similar such as maths and statistics or accounting and business studies you may find you can write a general personal statement which applies equally to both courses. If this is the case you many not want to mention either of the subjects by name, and instead talk about the related work that you've already done and how you've enjoyed it.

If your subjects are totally unrelated there is no way you wan write a personal statement which will cover all of them. Instead you need to come up with a statement that gives you the best chance of being accepted. For example if you are applying for one subject at four of your choices and another subject at the other two, you may just want to write a statement related to the subject you chose to study at four universities and either forget about, or change the course at your other two choices.

You also want to consider your predicted grades in relation to the universities you are applying to. Universities which normally make lower offers are less likely to be concerned about a badly targeted personal statement, whereas for universities which make high offers, the statement will be much more important. Try and alter your statement so it is more specific to the universities which ask for higher grades, as this will give you the best chance of being offered places at all your choices.

There will probably be some cases where there is nothing you can do, for example, if you are applying for three totally unrelated subjects each at two different universities. There is no advice which will help in a situation like this, except just to consider whether this is really what you want to do. Even if you do apply for three different courses, you will only be able to study one of them, so if you can try to limit your choices to similar subjects.

Read example statements

Some people may know exactly how they are going to lay out and write their personal statement, but for the rest of us it's a bit more difficult. Even though you now know what you're going to put in your statement, do you know how to make it read well?

The best way to get an idea of how to go about producing your personal statement is to look at some other people's statements. This gives you a chance to see the sort of structure and language other people use, how they explained why they wanted to study their chosen course and also their own interests and abilities.

When you read through statements have your own notes from the section above ready, if you find anything you've done but haven't already thought about note it down. Also after reading lots of personal statements you will be able to judge which ones you think are good or bad, and fine parts of statements you really like or dislike, this will come in useful in the next section.

Hopefully your school or college will give you some example personal statements, but if they don't, there are some personal statements on Studential, and also a list of links to personal statements on other sites. Also if should be easy to find personal statements by searching on Google.

See the personal statements on Studential

Personal goals of your statement

Now you've looked at some personal statements, you may have an idea of how you think yours might go. Whether you do or you don't you should have seen lots of statements you do like, and also a few that you don't. Use this knowledge to decide how you are going to write yours. At this stage you don't need to think about structure very much just think about what your are, and what you are not going to do, to give yourself a set of guidelines to follow when writing your statement.

If you still have no idea what I'm talking about here are some example guidelines or goals for a personal statement:

Not sound arrogant and pretentious
I would try not to start any sentences with I
Try and have an interesting phrase to start and finish on
Try not to quote books, magazines or publications and make it sound like I had only read them so I could put them on the statement
Not lie outright and stay as close to the truth as possible

Goals like this give you an idea of things to focus on and think about when writing your own statement. They also stop your statement from looking too much like one of the examples which you might have copied bits from.

Some example goals you may or may not want to use:

Don't try to be funny or make jokes in your statement
Don't start every sentence with I
Don't include your hobbies and interests unless they are relevant
Don't use vocabulary you don't normally use and just looked up in a dictionary
Don't use famous quotes in your statement
Don't repeat things already on your UCAS form
Don't write a list of all your hobbies and interests without explaining them
Don't lie or embellish the truth
Don't say you are going to do something before you come to university
Don't include boring phrases or hobbies which everyone does
Don't take any political viewpoints

View the personal goals in more depth

Remember you don't have to have any of these goals as your own. If you think you are really witty and some light humour will go down well in your statement then put it down. These goals are really just ideas you might want to use - remember a personal statement is supposed to be personal and you should write whatever you think will work for you.

Language of the statement

From looking at example personal statements you have probably found some language which you like or think works well. The first thing to remember is don't directly copy any of it - not even a single sentence! The reason is, copying statements is plagiarism, and if an admissions tutor sees a statement they recognise they will probably reject you instantly. You should also not copy single sentences for the same reason, sentences which stick out in your mind, may stick out in the examiners also. It is ok to find a sentence or paragraph which is saying what you want to say and adapt it to fit yourself though.

You need to use language which makes you sound enthusiastic about your courses and an interesting person. If you're still wondering what sort of language to use look at existing personal statements, prospectuses and on the web to find sentences which you think fit your views.

University prospectuses are a good place to look, find your course, see how it is described and see if you can work anything similar into your personal statement. Write down a list of words or sentences you would like to use like this:

to gain greater understanding of the world around you.

sends a signal to prospective employers and graduate schools

students of economics become problem-solvers.

the fact is economics affects our daily lives.

a challenging and diverse discipline

develops analytical skills, quantative skills, research skills

It's interesting and relevant

Don't copy the sentences you find outright, change them or write your own sentence in a similar style. If you can't find any sentences you like try and write your own - it is a personal statement after all.

Structure of the statement

Now it's time to think about the structure of your statement, you should have read lots already, and may have a fair idea about how yours is going to look, but this section should clarify things a bit if you don't.

Most statements are written in an essay format, but you don't have to do yours like this. I wouldn't recommend writing it as one large block of text. Even though you can fit more words in, this just makes it hard to read. You could however use headings rather than write in an essay style. I haven't seen many statements which do this but if you think yours would work better like that then do it.

A starting guideline is to spend half the statement talking about the course and why you want to take it, and spend the other half writing about yourself and your own abilities, though one you get into it this can be easily changed. Another approach is to split up your notes into a few categories and write a paragraph on each category. For example:

Paragraph 1: Introduction to my subject, the parts I'm interested in and why
Paragraph 2: What I had done related to my subject which wasn't on the UCAS form
Paragraphs 3 and 4: work experience and things I had done in school
Paragraph 5: My interests outside of school (also contained my responsibilities)
Paragraph 6: My goal of going to university and closing comment

Again this is only a guideline, and depending on yourself and your course you may want to change things. The last option is to simply find a statement you like and use it as a template. Take its structure and write your personal statement using this structure, being careful that you don't use any of the language mentioned there.

Spend most of your time on the start and finish of the personal statement. A good start will interest the reader and cause them to read the statement properly rather than just scanning it. A good ending will mean the reader remembers what you wrote, and hopefully will recommend you. In my opinion it's a good idea to start with why you want to take your subject, and finish with why you want to go to university or what you want to do next.

Writing the statement

Hopefully you now have your notes ready, you've thought about how you want your language and structure and the goals of your statement. You are almost ready to start writing it, here are a few things to bear in mind before you start.

Remember the aims of a personal statement. You need to show the admissions tutor why you should be accepted on your chosen course at your chosen university. In addition to what you say in your statement, the language you use and the way it is laid out will be judged as well.

Also remember you only have a limited amount of space, but don't let this put you off too much. A long personal statement can easily be trimmed down. It's harder to increase the length of a short personal statement, but if yours it too short don't worry. There is no requirement that you fill the entire space, its better to have a short and well written statement than a long and irrelevant one.

Be positive and interesting, if there is something you are unhappy about, try to portray it in an attractive light. You can find more information about how to write about bad things in your personal statement here (link)

Before you go, have a look at the websites and prospectuses of universities you are applying for, and see if they say anything about writing personal statements. This information would probably be written by the admissions tutors, and would give you a much better idea of what sort of things to put down.

Now you're ready to go. You want to write in a way that is informative, interesting and useful. Along with writing about what you've done, try and explain why you did it, or what you think you learned from it. For example:

I currently have a part time job and this has taught me much about teamwork, responsibility and time management in the workplace.

From this point, you're more or less on your own, so move on to the next section when you've got a complete (draft) statement.

After writing the statement

By now you should have a pretty much complete first draft of your statement. Don't worry if it sounds disjointed, you've missed bits out or it's too long or too short, you can correct things like this later.

First read through what you've written slowly and try to read it from someone else's point of view. Make sure it's easy to read and not confusing, make sure you've said everything you want to say and not under or oversold yourself - if you are confused by reading your own personal statement, it is likely anyone else reading it will be too.

Next get other people to read it, mainly your family, friends, teachers and anyone else who you think will be able to give you a good opinion. As well as checking for spelling and grammar mistakes, they will be able to tell you if they think there is anything you've missed out. Also show it to head of year or career advisers, people like this will have seen a lot of statements, and have a good idea what they should sound like.

You could also get people on the internet to look at your statement, and see what they think. There are many web based communities where you can post your statement or email it to people and they will happily give you advice for free. There is one downside though: if you post your statement on a message board or forum, anyone can look at it, so you may get people who steal parts of your statement.

Hopefully by looking at your statement again and showing to other people you should have a whole bunch of changes to make to your original statement. Before making these changes, save a copy of your original statement so you can go back to it if you need too. Keep making changes, showing people your statement, and making more changes - it's not unusual for people to have done 10-20 drafts (though many do much less) before they are happy with their statement.

Once you've got a statement which reads well, and you are happy with it, it's time to look at the size of it.

Formatting the statement

Personal statements can no longer be submitted on paper, so not much formatting is required. The software used to upload your personal statement to UCAS can be quite temperamental, so carefully check through your statement line by line once you've submitted it. I've also written a few guidelines on particular things to check for - though this may change as the software is updated and improved.

Online applications using UCAS Apply

Now that UCAS are phasing out applications, the dynamics of the online form become more important. There are still little tricks to squeeze more words in, but take care using them, as using them will only clear you through the automatic preview – you can’t tell how it will appear to the admissions tutors.

Now that UCAS are phasing out applications, the dynamics of the online form become more important. There are still little tricks to squeeze more words in, but take care using them, as using them will only clear you through the automatic preview - you can't tell how it will appear to the admissions tutors.

Word, character and line limits

Firstly remember, there is no word limit - instead you're concentrating on a character limit (4000 characters including spaces) and a line limit (47). Both of these must be satisfied to allow you to save your personal statement.

Checking you're within the character limit is easy, just use the “word count