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Philosophy Personal Statement

The following philosophy personal statement example should be used as a guide only. When applying to your dream university in the UK, write a personal statement to match your profile for the programme you are applying for. 

Philosophy Personal Statement Example 

As a recent graduate of Wycombe Abbey School, I have a strong foundation in the liberal arts and a passion for philosophy. I have always been fascinated by the big questions that philosophy grapples with, such as the nature of reality, the limits of human knowledge, and the principles of morality.

I have had the opportunity to explore these topics in depth through my coursework at Wycombe Abbey, and have found that studying philosophy has sharpened my critical thinking skills and has taught me how to approach complex problems in a systematic and logical way.

In college, I hope to continue my studies in philosophy and delve even deeper into these fascinating questions. I believe that studying philosophy will not only provide me with a broad and well-rounded education but will also equip me with the critical thinking skills that are necessary for success in any field.

I am particularly interested in exploring the connections between philosophy and other disciplines, such as psychology and neuroscience. I believe that a better understanding of the human mind and how it works can shed light on some of the most fundamental philosophical questions.

In addition to my academic pursuits, I am also an avid reader and a passionate writer. I enjoy reading a wide range of literature, from classic philosophical texts to contemporary fiction. I have also been involved in my school’s literary magazine, where I have had the opportunity to develop my writing skills and share my love of literature with others.

I am excited about the prospect of continuing my studies in philosophy at the university level and I am confident that with hard work and dedication, I will be able to achieve my goals and make the most of this exciting opportunity.

Tips For Philosophy Personal Statement

As a additional help, follow our writing tips for philosophy personal statement:

• Start by brainstorming and outlining your ideas to organise your thoughts and create a clear structure for your statement.
• Keep your personal statement focused on your passion for philosophy and how studying it will benefit your academic and professional goals.
• Use specific examples from your coursework, extracurricular activities, and life experiences to illustrate your passion for philosophy and your potential as a student.
• Avoid using overly complex language or philosophical jargon, and instead, aim for clear and concise writing that is easy to understand.
• Proofread your statement carefully to ensure that it is free of spelling and grammar errors, and have someone else review it as well to catch any mistakes you may have missed.
• Be authentic and genuine in your writing, and avoid trying to impress the admissions committee with pretentious language or overblown claims.
• Use your personal statement to showcase your unique perspective and interests, and to demonstrate why you are a good fit for the programme and the university.

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University Philosophy Personal Statement Help

Your philosophy personal statement is your first opportunity to demonstrate the twin virtues, much prized by analytical philosophers, of clarity and rigour. So if your personal statement is is confused and maundering you will undermine your application. As a professional philosopher, I have considerable experience of helping philosophy candidates hone their personal statements. Your personal statement must also make it clear to the admissions tutors that you understand what philosophy is and what the study of philosophy at university involves. I have a collection of multi-media resources to help you understand precisely the nature of philosophy as it is studied at contemporary universities. Finally, your personal statement needs to give some indication of why you are applying to study philosophy. Philosophers are highly-tuned to discussions of personal motivation, so your claims here need to be plausible. I offer help and advice on all aspects of your philosophy personal statement:

• proofreading
• analysing for possible interview questions

Planning your university philosophy personal statement

Your philosophy personal statement needs to address two fundamental questions:

• Does the candidate know what the study of philosophy at university involves?
• Will the candidate make the most of any opportunity given?

In planning your philosophy personal statement you can address the first question by linking your motivation to study philosophy to what you take to be its principal benefits. To address the second question your philosophy personal statement, at the very least, needs to convey the enthusiasm you feel for the subject.

Writing your university philosophy personal statement

Whilst I don't write personal statements for my students, I do help them perfect their statements so that they present themselves in the best possible light. My standard service is to review, and comment upon, successive drafts; passing the statement back and forth until we're happy with it. I advise on logical structure and philosophical content; and, if necessary, correct spelling, grammar, punctuation and style. If you send me the latest, rough draft of your personal statement, I'll return it marked-up in colour-coded contextual comments.

Proofreading your university philosophy personal statement

You may be at an advanced stage with your personal statement, or are pressed for time, and simply want the reassurance that a professional philosopher has read what you've written and checked it for basic mistakes. I offer a simple proofreading service of philosophy personal statements where I correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, style and any obvious philosophical mistakes.

Analysing your philosophy personal statement for possible interview questions

If you're applying to a philosophy department that calls candidates for interview, then the personal statement can be a significant hostage to fortune. For what you've said in the statement may come back to haunt you in the interview. I therefore offer a statement analysis service where I examine your personal statement and list a number of questions that spring to mind. You can use the analysis of your personal statement as part of your interview preparation, including any practice interviews that you schedule with me.

Examples of university philosophy personal statements

Comments on your university philosophy personal statement

Of course, no candidate has ever been offered a place on the strength of their personal statement alone. Equally, however, an otherwise promising philosophy application can be seriously undermined by a poor statement. I work with you to develop a philosophy personal statement that strengthens, rather than weakens, your application. I send you some preliminary advice on beginning your philosophy personal statement, if you haven't already. We then pass consecutive drafts between us until we're happy with it.

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Successful Personal Statement For Philosophy At Cambridge

Last Updated: 27th March 2024

Author: Rob Needleman

Table of Contents

Welcome to our popular Personal Statement series where we present a successful Personal Statement, and our Oxbridge Tutors provide their feedback on it. 

Today, we are looking through a Philosophy applicant’s Personal Statement that helped secure a place at Cambridge University. The Philosophy Course at Cambridge explores human thought, the basis of knowledge, the nature of reason, consciousness and cognition, as well as the foundations of value and political theory.

Read on to see how this candidate managed to navigate philosophical thinking to successfully receive a Cambridge offer.   

Here’s a breakdown of the Personal Statement:

SUCCESSFUL?

The universities this candidate applied to were the following:

Enrolling on our Cambridge Philosophy comprehensive Programme will give you access to Personal Statement redrafts. 

With our Cambridge Philosophy  Premium Programme, your tutor will give you regular actionable feedback with insider tips on how to improve and make your Personal Statement Oxbridge quality for the best chances of success.  

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Philosophy Personal Statement

“And if you find her poor, Ithaka has not fooled you. / Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, / You will have understood by then, what these Ithakas mean.”

Cavafy was right, indeed. Like any other reflective person, I am essentially a philosophical entity. While most people, perhaps those outside academic philosophy, would consider it a prime example, maybe along with Mathematics, of an established body of a priori truths, of some kind of Ithaka (thus excluding themselves from the possibility of realizing their philosophical essence), I beg to differ. For years, though, unwise as I was according to Cavafy, I was looking for Ithakas like most men, misled by this major misconception. For years, I have been reading Plato and Aristotle, Descartes and Nietzsche always, hastily and impatiently, heading towards truth; towards my rich Ithaka, and always falling on reefs and mythical objections raised by one philosopher against the truths of the other. Always, en route.

When, “wise as I had become” on the road, like old Ulysses, I realized that philosophy is much more than just a truth per se. Instead, philosophy is the pursuit of truth, irrespective of whether that truth is ever achieved; in fact, if and when something ever counts as truth, it does not belong to the realm of philosophy any more. Not until I read Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, had I realized that the aim of philosophy is to designate what can be said and what not, what is non-sense or what might be senseless. This very sub specie aeternitatis realization of philosophy as an activity, a method of approaching truth and reflecting on reality rather than as an established body of justified true belief, was crucial in my selection of philosophy as the subject of my academic study. Since this realization, my chief preoccupation has been to learn as much as possible from the journey to Ithaka, to hone this ability to philosophize effectively, to exercise and engage philosophy as much as possible, whenever and wherever possible.

A culmination of this constant struggle to sharpen my philosophical essence happened this summer in the Epic Questions Summer Institute of U of Va, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. In this intensive, three-week seminar for high-school teachers, I was the official note-taker and the only high-school student to be accepted among the scholars as an intern of Dr. Mitchell S. Green. Courses in Epistemology, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind, Formal Logic, Philosophy of Language, Ethics, Political Philosophy and Bioethics unprecedentedly furthered this philosophical activity and I made the acquaintance of contemporary philosophical thought, reading, such as T. Nagel, R. Chisholm, D. Papineau, B. Williams, along with classical readings.

Hence, to my readings of Plato’s Five Dialogues, Descartes’s Meditations on First Philosophy and Nietzsche’s Übermensch, were added those of the British Empiricists, esp. some of Hume’s Enquiries, Kant, B. Rusell’s The Problems of Philosophy and Mill’s Utilitarianism.

I must admit that I have been uncritically assuming a certain account of human nature (as inherently philosophical), which many may find controversial. And this, itself, thus, turns into a philosophical question. And so on and so forth.

This is exactly the philosophical beauty I live for.

For more inspiration, take a look through our other successful Personal Statement a nalysis articles:

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Download our Free Personal Statement Starter Guide 

Good Points Of The Personal Statement

The statement is well written, and the student clearly demonstrates their passion for philosophy, as well as their motivation for pursuing further study of it, and something of a personal journey through which their philosophical thinking has developed. The discussion of the nature of philosophical thought ties nicely into their own motivation to study philosophy. The statement shows their broad philosophical education, as well as indicating a strong self-motivating passion for learning (in a much more subtle manner than simply stating that they are self-motivated), as much of this education is in the form of private study. Acceptance to the prestigious seminar is an impressive achievement, and the student is right to stress this, and the ‘unprecedented’ effect it had on their philosophical activity.

Bad Points Of The Personal Statement

The statement is vague in what it terms ‘philosophy’; though the student clearly has an interest in some vague notion of ‘human nature’, they don’t narrow down exactly what they wish to study at university (philosophy being such a broad subject that quite a bit of specialisation is necessary). The time spent listing impressive works that they had read would have been better invested in mentioning just one (or even just one subject that they had read around) that had particularly affected them and expanding on it. Similarly, they could have expanded further on the experience of the seminar (how it affected their philosophical thinking, new ideas encountered while there, etc.), rather than listing the respected philosophers they had met. The grammar is, at points, questionable, indicating the statement required closer proofreading prior to being submitted.

UniAdmissions Overall Score:

This statement is very strong; it conveys a rare passion for the subject and, more importantly, a passion that has been actively pursued in the student’s own time. It could, however, benefit from a little more specificity regarding their thoughts on specific readings, and from reading less like a list of books and philosophers. Overall, the statement reads like an intriguing personal philosophical work.

This Personal Statement for Philosophy is a great example of demonstrating passion which is vital to Admissions Tutors.

Remember, at Cambridge, these Admissions Tutors are often the people who will be teaching you for the next few years, so you need to appeal directly to them.

There are plenty more successful personal statements and expert guides on our Free Personal Statement Resources page.

Our expert tutors are on hand to help you craft the perfect Personal Statement for your Cambridge Philosophy application.

With our  Cambridge Philosophy Premium Programme, we help you craft the perfect Personal   Statement , score highly on the PAA and teach you how to  Interview effectively .

Discover our Cambridge Philosophy Premium Programme  by clicking the button below to  enrol and triple your chances of success.

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Philosophy personal statement example 5.

Philosophy has shaped the foundations of all human life and thought. The importance of philosophic enquiry can be traced from the beginning of civilization to the heart of modern society, and I believe that the ability to ask and attempt to answer philosophical questions is one of the key attributes we associate with being human.

I have begun to pursue my fascination with philosophy this year through a distance learning AS Level course, which has allowed me to structure and focus my curiosity. By reading Plato's Republic I have become particularly intrigued by the field of ethics, and I am especially interested in the apparent conflict between causation and free will. This issue is one that has profound significance to society and to social justice, the ways in which we choose to punish and reward, and I believe my study of sociology will illuminate my understanding of this and the countless other philosophical issues tied closely to human behaviour.

Simon Blackburn contended that philosophy is essentially 'conceptual engineering', the process by which our often-paradoxical thoughts are torn down and reconstructed coherently. I find Descartes' First and Second Meditations captivating for the rigour in which he attempts to do this, dismissing every one of his beliefs in the search for indubitable truth. Global scepticism is unsustainable in everyday life. However, it illustrates how philosophers can challenge every one of our preconceptions in the search for unprejudiced truth - and studying the logical roots of philosophy has revealed to me how little of this there is in the world. I believe that the ability to think in three dimensions, so inherent to philosophy, has never been more useful in an age when distorted information flaunted by the media has such sway over millions of lives.

Logic and reason have been invaluable to me during my year as Manager of a Young Enterprise company, which won Best Report in the regional competition. I relish the prospect for change made possible by leadership responsibilities, and my position as Head Girl has given me a real opportunity to instigate improvement. Through cooperation with sixth-form management I have helped expand the role of younger pupils in decision-making, and I plan to work with the senior student team to increase participation in sports and charity events.

I enjoy music and gained a Distinction in my Grade Five Singing Certificate. I have also achieved my Millennium Volunteers Award for 100 hours voluntary service, involving charity fundraising and shop work. While completing my Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award I discovered a keen interest in conservation, and during my gap year I will be assisting the charity Greenforce with sustainable resource management off the coast of Fiji. I believe that the opportunity to travel and experience other cultures will only reiterate to me that philosophy is endlessly relevant to modern life - for until all the world's questions are answered, its work will not be complete.

Profile info

This personal statement was written by Mishael for application in 2004.

Mishael's university choices The University of Durham The University of Edinburgh

Green : offer made Red : no offer made

Degree Philosophy at The University of Durham

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This is a fantastic personal.

Wed, 19/07/2006 - 00:00

This is a fantastic personal statement - the best I've seen, and I've looked at most of them. Well done for getting into all of your universities!

Amazing statement! I really

Sat, 19/08/2006 - 00:00

Amazing statement! I really am giving up now!

too academic

Mon, 21/08/2006 - 00:00

this s far too academic and is missinf the point of a personal statement. it reads like an essay and is telling the tutors what they already know. I should know being an admissions tutor!

Blatantly the person above is

Thu, 24/08/2006 - 00:00

Blatantly the person above is no admissions tutor, and if they are then the University is probably in Nevernever Land eh?!? HAHA. I realy feel that this statement is fantastic. I am applying for a joint Philosophy and Physics course and this has been really helpful so thankyou. I think the last paragraph is truly wonderful - demonstrating how a gap year completely unrelated to philosophy will actually be useful for it. Well done

ah, this has become more verbose than I intended..

Mon, 11/09/2006 - 00:00

Admissions tutor or not, there's more than a trace of sense in the criticism. Although it's undeniably a very articulate and eloquent piece, I feel there's a tad too much 'flagging' of knowledge: would you really want to have to prepare all that for an interview? Particularly if this were a Cambridge application, in which case Blackburn himself might be asking you to explain what exactly he meant? No doubt the admissions are interested in your words and less in those of other philosophers. So, this statement is manifestly dismantlable at interview, unless the applicant is ridiculously well-prepared.

this personal statement is

Mon, 18/09/2006 - 00:00

this personal statement is really amazing and shows some real effort on your part..if people are slatting it, its only because their jealous. It shows a great love of the subject and a countless amount of ability to write with meaning. well done

Wed, 04/10/2006 - 11:50

this is such a good personal ststament, looking at this gives me great inspiration to write mine, not that im goona copy it that much :)thanks dudues

Wed, 25/10/2006 - 13:04

I really like hope you finished off your statement. It's very fitting for the subject and ties it all up nicely. V well done!

Haha Jolly good show an

Mon, 13/11/2006 - 11:20

Haha Jolly good show an excellent statement but missed too much inofrmation about plato's ruplic the best source of information for a philosophy personal statement!!!

this is a very good statement

Wed, 31/01/2007 - 08:57

this is a very good statement i was amazed by it it however i feel it is to technical and focus' more on fancy words and idea than it does the person themself.

Thought in three dimensions?!

Wed, 07/03/2007 - 22:02

Thought in three dimensions?!?! Sounds like something out of the matrix.

Do you have to be this clever

Sun, 25/03/2007 - 21:34

Do you have to be this clever to do philosophy?! Im re-thinking!...

This is a very good personal

Sat, 28/07/2007 - 14:09

This is a very good personal statement, when writing mine, I've found it had to explain my interest in philosophy without using the "i've always loved" / "I'm interested in" and this statement has managed to avoid the cliches and sell the candidate well.

It obviously worked. bravo.

Sun, 02/09/2007 - 20:54

Your ending statement is the

Thu, 06/09/2007 - 18:12

Your ending statement is the best I've ever seen. Congratulations on your offers.

the last sentence is ABSOLUTE

Thu, 04/10/2007 - 15:44

the last sentence is ABSOLUTE CHEESE!!! lol well done on your offers tho

Without question very good,

Tue, 16/09/2008 - 11:09

Without question very good, but when you go out, will people want to talk to you?

Thu, 18/09/2008 - 13:24

wow! this is brilliant... quite academic but very focussed and to the point. i need to write mine and i think this will be a great help.

wow! this is brilliant...

Thu, 18/09/2008 - 13:26

brilliant PS mate, but just

Tue, 07/10/2008 - 15:03

brilliant PS mate, but just wondering, how did you manage to apply for 6 universities? again, good stuff.

It's nice to see that you

Sat, 29/11/2008 - 18:01

It's nice to see that you have clearly done your research on the subject, but there are other ways you can get that point across rather than directly talking about the theories. You should have taken a "show and not tell" approach. Tutors don't want to be patronised about what they already know.

Although, I have to say I dislike the final statement. Humans and the world we inhabit are imperfect, so it is impossible to find absolute answers. Philosophy is not necessarily about finding complete answers, but helping the individual's understanding in order to make more informed opinions about the world.

Otherwise, very good personal statement, and I am not surprised you got the offers.

Sat, 09/01/2010 - 20:50

Your last sentence is the

Fri, 27/08/2010 - 19:42

Your last sentence is the most ignorant cliche i'e ever read. By even claiming that every question can be answered you are illustrating immaturity. None the less I enjoyed reading this, mainly as an essay however. You are right about Descartes' meditations and his scrutiny of all dogmas, mantras and beliefs however you could have just got the idea from wikipedia and phrased it more eloquently!

Why is everyone criticising

Tue, 21/09/2010 - 18:34

Why is everyone criticising this when it got offers from all those amazing universities?

Miss the point?

Fri, 22/10/2010 - 12:46

Great persoanl statement, but I think the last sentence really misses the whole point of philosophy. As a subject, philosophy is based on unanswerable questions, any that are answered become an area of science. So what is he trying to gain by doing this course? He certainly doesn't the subject for it's true nature

A helpful personal statement,

Sun, 31/10/2010 - 11:32

A helpful personal statement, but I still need help writing mine.

Tue, 25/03/2014 - 11:38

Alexander Harding sucks Teh lelz

Add new comment

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Applying to Grad School: What should I say in my Personal Statement?

As the graduate adviser for my department’s terminal MA program at NIU, I answer a lot of questions about applying to PhD programs in philosophy. I feel pretty confident about my answers to most of them. But there is one question about which I don’t feel confident at all:

What should I say in my personal statement?

Departmental websites tend to be pretty vague about what they’re looking for in this part of the application. “[I]f you can tell us a bit more about your background and interests, this information might be helpful,” Yale advises. Rutgers asks for “a short essay on why you are interested in applying to your program.” These instructions are pretty representative.

Since now is the time of year when prospective applicants start to worry about these things, I thought it would be useful to share the general advice I give in response to this question, and find out how it squares with the expectations and experiences of the people reading them. If it’s terrible advice, I’d like to know! And if it’s good advice, it seems worth sharing with others. So, here goes:

This should be your guiding principle. A great personal statement is unlikely to make the difference between your application being accepted and being rejected, but a terrible personal statement might result in a borderline application being moved to the reject pile. People on admissions committees will pay significantly closer attention to your writing sample, grades, test scores, and letters of recommendation. Taking risks in your writing sample can pay off; taking risks in your personal statement is unlikely to help and may very well hurt.

Be concise and substantive

Less than one double-spaced page is probably too short; anything more than three full double-spaced pages is probably too long. Don’t waste time on platitudes about how much you love philosophy, how deeply you cherish the life of the mind, what a privilege it would be to join the department at X, etc. Everybody reading your statement already assumes those things are true. Why else would you be applying to their program? Make each sentence count; don’t make your reader feel like she has to work to get to the point.

Be specific, but non-committal, about your interests

Describe your philosophical interests honestly, intelligently, and in specific terms. Don’t just say you’re interested in epistemology (for example); say what problems or topics in epistemology interest you and why. If you can, show you know something about what is going on in the field, talk about your best paper or conference presentation on relevant questions, and describe some issues and arguments you’d like to work on further. If you wrote a thesis that lays a groundwork for future research, it can be good to describe it. But don’t give the impression that you already know what you’re going to argue in your dissertation. You’ll have two years of coursework and probably another year or two of guided research before your dissertation topic is even settled. Departments aren’t interested in applicants who don’t think they have anything to learn .

Show you’ve done your homework, but only if you really have

If there is a particular researcher or group you’re excited about at the department, talk about this. But only do this if your excitement is based on real knowledge of what those folks are actually doing — ideally knowledge acquired by reading their work, seeing them give talks, having conversations with them, talking with your own professors, etc. Do not just copypaste the names of all the people who work in your areas from the department website and proclaim your excitement about working with them. This makes you look like a bullshitter.  In my experience, students invest the most time and energy into trying to sell their interests as a good fit to the most prestigious, competitive departments to which they’re applying. This is not an unreasonable strategy, but I think you can expect more bang for your homework buck by researching the departments that may not be your top choices. Just about everybody applying to NYU with an interest in metaphysics is going to talk about Kit Fine; you won’t stand out by showing off what you know about his work on vagueness or grounding. There are brilliant philosophers doing fascinating, exciting work at all of the departments you’re likely to consider, even the places you might think of as your “safety” schools. You can make a great impression by showing that you’re familiar with what’s going on at somewhat lower-prestige programs, and evincing genuine enthusiasm about them.

If you have a compelling history or relevant personal background, mention it, but don’t disclose too much

If you’ve had to overcome significant hurdles to make it where you are today, it can be helpful to tell your story (briefly). If there is some cool, interesting, memorable element of your personal history, feel free to work it into the statement. (I still remember the applicant who grew up in a travelling circus!) If you have a non-standard background — you’re in the midst of changing careers or fields, you aren’t currently enrolled in a philosophy degree program, or you didn’t graduate from one within the last few years — say what led you to philosophy and how your background prepares you to succeed in graduate school.

However, be cautious about disclosing too much personal information. I’ve read statements from applicants describing their struggles with addiction, eating disorders, mental health problems, appearances before disciplinary boards, family troubles, and run-ins with the law. Personally, I am drawn to people who have dealt with these kinds of struggles, so these stories tend to make me like the applicants more. But that attitude is not universally shared! There are some tricky moral and legal issues here, but you should avoid giving the admissions committee reason to worry that you are going to have trouble completing the program, or become a “problem” student.

On the other hand, if your personal situation is directly relevant to the academic work you want to do, it would probably be helpful to talk about it. So, for example, if you want to work on the philosophy of disability, and you have a disability, it would probably be helpful to discuss how your own experience as a person with a disability has shaped this interest, if it has. But even in a case like this, you would do well to talk with a trusted advisor, preferably someone who is also writing one of your recommendation letters, when thinking about how to frame your personal story. Unless they are directly relevant to your interests, avoid discussion of your political views or religious beliefs (and even if they are, err on the side of caution).

Unless it’s major, avoid the temptation to explain any weaknesses in your application

Perhaps your Verbal GRE score is low. Though many philosophers say that they do not care about GRE scores, my inductive evidence strongly suggests that many do. A poor GRE score is likely to hurt your chances, at least at some programs. But attempting to explain this problem away in your personal statement (“I have always struggled with standardized tests…”) is almost certainly not going to help. Moreover, it may hurt by calling attention to something the people reading your application may not have been worried about before. One exception to this piece of advice is when there is a major problem with your academic record; e.g., if you got terrible grades in most of your classes one semester because of a medical emergency or family tragedy. Then it is worth explaining the situation briefly, again keeping in mind the advice above about not disclosing too much. If you can, you should discuss how to discuss major issues like this with your recommendation letter writers. The assurances they can provide in their letters that the issue does not reflect your abilities or current situation may be more valuable than your own.

Miscellania: be professional but humble; be polished; don’t be cutesy

You should come across as an early career academic, a self-driven grown-up who can be expected to meet the demands of an exacting program. You should not come across as someone who thinks they are the next Wittgenstein, or as someone who regards themselves as an academic peer with the people reading your application. Don’t refer to your professors or those at the program by their first names, even if you know them and would do so in person; be deferential and respectful. Keep in mind that whatever else it does, your personal statement provides further evidence about your writing skills, so ask at least one person who is a good writer to carefully proofread your statement. Don’t be jokey, self-deprecating, or overly clever. Remember the guiding principle: do no harm.

Don’t mention your two-or-more-body problem

It’s best not to call attention to the fact that your ultimate decision about where to attend graduate school will depend in part upon your significant other’s (or others’) decisions, even if this is true. (This is the piece of advice I am least confident about.)

These are only meant as general guidelines. I am certain that some applicants have been helped by personal statements that violate all of them! And as I said before, I’m not especially confident in them: they seem plausible, and the people I’ve asked about them tend to agree, but it is hard to know. I’m quite interested to hear what others think.

Let us know in the comments section below!

Geoff Pynn is associate professor of philosophy at Northern Illinois University, where he has been the graduate adviser for the department’s terminal MA program since 2011.

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Having served on grad admissions at two places, this seems to me to be excellent advice. I agree with every bit of it. One small thing, just strengthening one of the points you make: be very careful about how/if you “name names” regarding who you might be interested in working with.

There are errors on the side of over-inclusion: you mention people who (a) are never around or are not taking on new students or are leaving, or (b) are not really working on the topics you are in interested in any more. Knowing either (a) or (b) can require a lot of very current local knowledge, and while you can’t be blamed for not having it, it can make us worry about your interest/fit in the program if it turns out (a) or (b) is the situation.

And there are errors on the side of under-inclusion: you don’t mention people who (c) are working in the area and (d) might be offended (we all have our frail egos…) not to be mentioned and who might be reading your file. You can sometimes be blamed for not knowing (c), but not always, if people’s interests don’t align perfectly with what they have already published, etc.

All of this makes it kind of dicey to name people, rather than areas. And I don’t see much upside to “naming names,” given that you shouldn’t get so much credit for being able to identify who works on what topics…

Programs want people who are likely to succeed in completing their graduate work on time and getting hired in the profession. But if you eat, drink and sleep philosophy you’ll come across as someone who is not well-rounded, or, worse, as someone who is unbalanced! So, mention (one sentence will do) other interests: from cooking to camping to children–DO mention that you compete in chili cook-offs, or go camping and forage for wild edibles, or volunteer at the local library to read books at storytime on Saturday mornings. Hobbies and non-academic interests show that you are a well-rounded human being, not some nut case who is seeking nirvana through the study of Nietzsche.

Dr. Pynn, thank you for the thoughtful comments on preparing a statement of purpose. As you are in the position of interacting with students both applying to enter MA programs as well as students moving on to PhD programs, I’m curious: Would your advice remain the same for students writing statements of purpose directed at MA programs, or would you tweak any of your emphases above?

Hi Connor, good question. I would say in general for MA applicants it is less important to have a detailed and specific statement describing your interests than it is for a doctoral program, but that may vary from program to program (some departments, eg Georgia State, have fellowships reserved for people working in specific areas, and if I were applying to such a program and had the relevant interests, I would definitely play that up in my statement). But speaking just about us, everyone will be required to take a broad range of courses, which we expect them to approach with equal gusto across the board, and there is no thesis requirement, so you aren’t going to develop any long term research relationships with your professors here. So while evincing some familiarity with the general thrust of our department (contemporary “analytic” philosophy, faculty who work in epistemology, ethics, language, metaphysics, and philosophy of science) and expressing an interest in stuff within that broad purview is good, we aren’t worried about whether your interests align with the research interests of our faculty. Hence concerns about “fit” are somewhat less important for us.

On all the other points I would say yes, my advice remains the same.

What a great article I have found finally, dear author, thank you very much for it! And I would like to add that not so long ago I was looking for some im personal statement for graduate school, but unfortunately I have not found it in the internet at all. And that is why I am really very happy that now I have seen your very helpful and well structured article. And please do not stop to write them, because I am completely sure that they can help to many of other people who are looking for some help as well as me!

The best of your ideas can come to your mind when you are not sitting in front of your computer and that is very much required to make your mind fresh at times because if you pay someone to write personal statements so you need to know that what is inside if that content and how that content is going to content is going to help you.

Dear author, I want to apply to grad school in a year’s time for a doctorates in Psychology. In many cases, the universities I am considering mention a personal statement – one of them even has a topic for an essay in the application that is about your personal background. I have experienced (personally) the speciality I want to go into – it is quite personal, therefore I shall not name it, but I think you can guess in what direction I am going. Should I mention it in my statement? It is very personal information and I am afraid that it would make a less attractive applicant. What do you think?

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• Personal Statements
• Philosophy personal statement

Philosophy Personal Statement Example

Sample statement.

Philosophy is one of the oldest, some might say the oldest, subjects in the world and studying it will give you the chance to ask some of life’s most important questions. If you’re applying to study Philosophy at university and you’re struggling with your personal statement, here is our example to give you a helping hand:

The world, and life, brings many important questions into our minds and I hope that studying Philosophy at a higher level will enable me to answer these questions clearly and logically.

From a young age I always asked a lot of “Why” questions and was very interested in how society works and why humans form certain belief systems and understandings about the world.

At A Level I was able to pick up the study of Psychology and Sociology which helped me to start to answer some of these questions and I hope that studying Philosophy at university will give me further insight into life’s many questions.

As well as achieving high academic standards I also felt it was important to have a good work ethic and learn more about society from a working person’s point of view. During my final years at school and throughout college I worked part time in a busy local restaurant.

Not only did this teach me valuable communication and teamwork skills but it also gave me a valuable insight into how people interact with each other. My part time work also gave me a sense of responsibility and taught me to use my own initiative when faced with challenging situations.

During the holidays I spent some time volunteering as a coach for my local under-10 football team, a sport that I have been passionate about since childhood. I thoroughly enjoy it and hope to volunteer with more youth organisations whilst studying at university.

After completing my degree in Philosophy I am considering a career in teaching. I look forward to the new challenges that life at university will bring and hope that studying will help me make concrete plans for the future.

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Gre prep online guides and tips, 3 successful graduate school personal statement examples.

Looking for grad school personal statement examples? Look no further! In this total guide to graduate school personal statement examples, we’ll discuss why you need a personal statement for grad school and what makes a good one. Then we’ll provide three graduate school personal statement samples from our grad school experts. After that, we’ll do a deep dive on one of our personal statement for graduate school examples. Finally, we’ll wrap up with a list of other grad school personal statements you can find online.

Why Do You Need a Personal Statement?

A personal statement is a chance for admissions committees to get to know you: your goals and passions, what you’ll bring to the program, and what you’re hoping to get out of the program.  You need to sell the admissions committee on what makes you a worthwhile applicant. The personal statement is a good chance to highlight significant things about you that don’t appear elsewhere on your application.

A personal statement is slightly different from a statement of purpose (also known as a letter of intent). A statement of purpose/letter of intent tends to be more tightly focused on your academic or professional credentials and your future research and/or professional interests.

While a personal statement also addresses your academic experiences and goals, you have more leeway to be a little more, well, personal. In a personal statement, it’s often appropriate to include information on significant life experiences or challenges that aren’t necessarily directly relevant to your field of interest.

Some programs ask for both a personal statement and a statement of purpose/letter of intent. In this case, the personal statement is likely to be much more tightly focused on your life experience and personality assets while the statement of purpose will focus in much more on your academic/research experiences and goals.

However, there’s not always a hard-and-fast demarcation between a personal statement and a statement of purpose. The two statement types should address a lot of the same themes, especially as relates to your future goals and the valuable assets you bring to the program. Some programs will ask for a personal statement but the prompt will be focused primarily on your research and professional experiences and interests. Some will ask for a statement of purpose but the prompt will be more focused on your general life experiences.

When in doubt, give the program what they are asking for in the prompt and don’t get too hung up on whether they call it a personal statement or statement of purpose. You can always call the admissions office to get more clarification on what they want you to address in your admissions essay.

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What Makes a Good Grad School Personal Statement?

A great graduate school personal statement can come in many forms and styles. However, strong grad school personal statement examples all share the same following elements:

A Clear Narrative

Above all, a good personal statement communicates clear messages about what makes you a strong applicant who is likely to have success in graduate school. So to that extent, think about a couple of key points that you want to communicate about yourself and then drill down on how you can best communicate those points. (Your key points should of course be related to what you can bring to the field and to the program specifically).

You can also decide whether to address things like setbacks or gaps in your application as part of your narrative. Have a low GPA for a couple semesters due to a health issue? Been out of a job for a while taking care of a family member? If you do decide to explain an issue like this, make sure that the overall arc is more about demonstrating positive qualities like resilience and diligence than about providing excuses.

Specific Examples

A great statement of purpose uses specific examples to illustrate its key messages. This can include anecdotes that demonstrate particular traits or even references to scholars and works that have influenced your academic trajectory to show that you are familiar and insightful about the relevant literature in your field.

Just saying “I love plants,” is pretty vague. Describing how you worked in a plant lab during undergrad and then went home and carefully cultivated your own greenhouse where you cross-bred new flower colors by hand is much more specific and vivid, which makes for better evidence.

A strong personal statement will describe why you are a good fit for the program, and why the program is a good fit for you. It’s important to identify specific things about the program that appeal to you, and how you’ll take advantage of those opportunities. It’s also a good idea to talk about specific professors you might be interested in working with. This shows that you are informed about and genuinely invested in the program.

Strong Writing

Even quantitative and science disciplines typically require some writing, so it’s important that your personal statement shows strong writing skills. Make sure that you are communicating clearly and that you don’t have any grammar and spelling errors. It’s helpful to get other people to read your statement and provide feedback. Plan on going through multiple drafts.

Another important thing here is to avoid cliches and gimmicks. Don’t deploy overused phrases and openings like “ever since I was a child.” Don’t structure your statement in a gimmicky way (i.e., writing a faux legal brief about yourself for a law school statement of purpose). The first will make your writing banal; the second is likely to make you stand out in a bad way.

Appropriate Boundaries

While you can be more personal in a personal statement than in a statement of purpose, it’s important to maintain appropriate boundaries in your writing. Don’t overshare anything too personal about relationships, bodily functions, or illegal activities. Similarly, don’t share anything that makes it seem like you may be out of control, unstable, or an otherwise risky investment. The personal statement is not a confessional booth. If you share inappropriately, you may seem like you have bad judgment, which is a huge red flag to admissions committees.

You should also be careful with how you deploy humor and jokes. Your statement doesn’t have to be totally joyless and serious, but bear in mind that the person reading the statement may not have the same sense of humor as you do. When in doubt, err towards the side of being as inoffensive as possible.

Just as being too intimate in your statement can hurt you, it’s also important not to be overly formal or staid. You should be professional, but conversational.

Graduate School Personal Statement Examples

Our graduate school experts have been kind enough to provide some successful grad school personal statement examples. We’ll provide three examples here, along with brief analysis of what makes each one successful.

Sample Personal Statement for Graduate School 1

PDF of Sample Personal Statement 1 – Japanese Studies

For this Japanese Studies master’s degree, the applicant had to provide a statement of purpose outlining her academic goals and experience with Japanese and a separate personal statement describing her personal relationship with Japanese Studies and what led her to pursue a master’s degree.

Here’s what’s successful about this personal statement:

• An attention-grabbing beginning: The applicant begins with the statement that Japanese has never come easily to her and that it’s a brutal language to learn. Seeing as how this is an application for a Japanese Studies program, this is an intriguing beginning that makes the reader want to keep going.
• A compelling narrative: From this attention-grabbing beginning, the applicant builds a well-structured and dramatic narrative tracking her engagement with the Japanese language over time. The clear turning point is her experience studying abroad, leading to a resolution in which she has clarity about her plans. Seeing as how the applicant wants to be a translator of Japanese literature, the tight narrative structure here is a great way to show her writing skills.
• Specific examples that show important traits: The applicant clearly communicates both a deep passion for Japanese through examples of her continued engagement with Japanese and her determination and work ethic by highlighting the challenges she’s faced (and overcome) in her study of the language. This gives the impression that she is an engaged and dedicated student.

Overall, this is a very strong statement both in terms of style and content. It flows well, is memorable, and communicates that the applicant would make the most of the graduate school experience.

Sample Personal Statement for Graduate School 2

PDF of Sample Graduate School Personal Statement 2 – Musical Composition

This personal statement for a Music Composition master’s degree discusses the factors that motivate the applicant to pursue graduate study.

Here’s what works well in this statement:

• The applicant provides two clear reasons motivating the student to pursue graduate study: her experiences with music growing up, and her family’s musical history. She then supports those two reasons with examples and analysis.
• The description of her ancestors’ engagement with music is very compelling and memorable. The applicant paints her own involvement with music as almost inevitable based on her family’s long history with musical pursuits.
• The applicant gives thoughtful analysis of the advantages she has been afforded that have allowed her to study music so extensively. We get the sense that she is insightful and empathetic—qualities that would add greatly to any academic community.

This is a strong, serviceable personal statement. And in truth, given that this for a masters in music composition, other elements of the application (like work samples) are probably the most important.  However, here are two small changes I would make to improve it:

• I would probably to split the massive second paragraph into 2-3 separate paragraphs. I might use one paragraph to orient the reader to the family’s musical history, one paragraph to discuss Giacomo and Antonio, and one paragraph to discuss how the family has influenced the applicant. As it stands, it’s a little unwieldy and the second paragraph doesn’t have a super-clear focus even though it’s all loosely related to the applicant’s family history with music.
• I would also slightly shorten the anecdote about the applicant’s ancestors and expand more on how this family history has motivated the applicant’s interest in music. In what specific ways has her ancestors’ perseverance inspired her? Did she think about them during hard practice sessions? Is she interested in composing music in a style they might have played? More specific examples here would lend greater depth and clarity to the statement.

Sample Personal Statement for Graduate School 3

PDF of Sample Graduate School Personal Statement 3 – Public Health

This is my successful personal statement for Columbia’s Master’s program in Public Health. We’ll do a deep dive on this statement paragraph-by-paragraph in the next section, but I’ll highlight a couple of things that work in this statement here:

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• This statement is clearly organized. Almost every paragraph has a distinct focus and message, and when I move on to a new idea, I move on to a new paragraph with a logical transitions.
• This statement covers a lot of ground in a pretty short space. I discuss my family history, my goals, my educational background, and my professional background. But because the paragraphs are organized and I use specific examples, it doesn’t feel too vague or scattered.
• In addition to including information about my personal motivations, like my family, I also include some analysis about tailoring health interventions with my example of the Zande. This is a good way to show off what kinds of insights I might bring to the program based on my academic background.

Grad School Personal Statement Example: Deep Dive

Now let’s do a deep dive, paragraph-by-paragraph, on one of these sample graduate school personal statements. We’ll use my personal statement that I used when I applied to Columbia’s public health program.

Paragraph One: For twenty-three years, my grandmother (a Veterinarian and an Epidemiologist) ran the Communicable Disease Department of a mid-sized urban public health department. The stories of Grandma Betty doggedly tracking down the named sexual partners of the infected are part of our family lore. Grandma Betty would persuade people to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases, encourage safer sexual practices, document the spread of infection and strive to contain and prevent it. Indeed, due to the large gay population in the city where she worked, Grandma Betty was at the forefront of the AIDS crises, and her analysis contributed greatly towards understanding how the disease was contracted and spread. My grandmother has always been a huge inspiration to me, and the reason why a career in public health was always on my radar.

This is an attention-grabbing opening anecdote that avoids most of the usual cliches about childhood dreams and proclivities. This story also subtly shows that I have a sense of public health history, given the significance of the AIDs crisis for public health as a field.

It’s good that I connect this family history to my own interests. However, if I were to revise this paragraph again, I might cut down on some of the detail because when it comes down to it, this story isn’t really about me. It’s important that even (sparingly used) anecdotes about other people ultimately reveal something about you in a personal statement.

Paragraph Two: Recent years have cemented that interest. In January 2012, my parents adopted my little brother Fred from China. Doctors in America subsequently diagnosed Fred with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). My parents were told that if Fred’s condition had been discovered in China, the (very poor) orphanage in which he spent the first 8+ years of his life would have recognized his DMD as a death sentence and denied him sustenance to hasten his demise.

Here’s another compelling anecdote to help explain my interest in public health. This is an appropriately personal detail for a personal statement—it’s a serious thing about my immediate family, but it doesn’t disclose anything that the admissions committee might find concerning or inappropriate.

If I were to take another pass through this paragraph, the main thing I would change is the last phrase. “Denied him sustenance to hasten his demise” is a little flowery. “Denied him food to hasten his death” is actually more powerful because it’s clearer and more direct.

Paragraph Three: It is not right that some people have access to the best doctors and treatment while others have no medical care. I want to pursue an MPH in Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia because studying social factors in health, with a particular focus on socio-health inequities, will prepare me to address these inequities. The interdisciplinary approach of the program appeals to me greatly as I believe interdisciplinary approaches are the most effective way to develop meaningful solutions to complex problems.

In this paragraph I make a neat and clear transition from discussing what sparked my interest in public health and health equity to what I am interested in about Columbia specifically: the interdisciplinary focus of the program, and how that focus will prepare me to solve complex health problems. This paragraph also serves as a good pivot point to start discussing my academic and professional background.

Paragraph Four: My undergraduate education has prepared me well for my chosen career. Understanding the underlying structure of a group’s culture is essential to successfully communicating with the group. In studying folklore and mythology, I’ve learned how to parse the unspoken structures of folk groups, and how those structures can be used to build bridges of understanding. For example, in a culture where most illnesses are believed to be caused by witchcraft, as is the case for the Zande people of central Africa, any successful health intervention or education program would of necessity take into account their very real belief in witchcraft.

In this paragraph, I link my undergraduate education and the skills I learned there to public health. The (very brief) analysis of tailoring health interventions to the Zande is a good way to show insight and show off the competencies I would bring to the program.

Paragraph Five: I now work in the healthcare industry for one of the largest providers of health benefits in the world. In addition to reigniting my passion for data and quantitative analytics, working for this company has immersed me in the business side of healthcare, a critical component of public health.

This brief paragraph highlights my relevant work experience in the healthcare industry. It also allows me to mention my work with data and quantitative analytics, which isn’t necessarily obvious from my academic background, which was primarily based in the social sciences.

Paragraph Six: I intend to pursue a PhD in order to become an expert in how social factors affect health, particularly as related to gender and sexuality. I intend to pursue a certificate in Sexuality, Sexual Health, and Reproduction. Working together with other experts to create effective interventions across cultures and societies, I want to help transform health landscapes both in America and abroad.

This final paragraph is about my future plans and intentions. Unfortunately, it’s a little disjointed, primarily because I discuss goals of pursuing a PhD before I talk about what certificate I want to pursue within the MPH program! Switching those two sentences and discussing my certificate goals within the MPH and then mentioning my PhD plans would make a lot more sense.

I also start two sentences in a row with “I intend,” which is repetitive.

The final sentence is a little bit generic; I might tailor it to specifically discuss a gender and sexual health issue, since that is the primary area of interest I’ve identified.

This was a successful personal statement; I got into (and attended!) the program. It has strong examples, clear organization, and outlines what interests me about the program (its interdisciplinary focus) and what competencies I would bring (a background in cultural analysis and experience with the business side of healthcare). However, a few slight tweaks would elevate this statement to the next level.

Graduate School Personal Statement Examples You Can Find Online

So you need more samples for your personal statement for graduate school? Examples are everywhere on the internet, but they aren’t all of equal quality.

Most of examples are posted as part of writing guides published online by educational institutions. We’ve rounded up some of the best ones here if you are looking for more personal statement examples for graduate school.

Penn State Personal Statement Examples for Graduate School

This selection of ten short personal statements for graduate school and fellowship programs offers an interesting mix of approaches. Some focus more on personal adversity while others focus more closely on professional work within the field.

The writing in some of these statements is a little dry, and most deploy at least a few cliches. However, these are generally strong, serviceable statements that communicate clearly why the student is interested in the field, their skills and competencies, and what about the specific program appeals to them.

Cal State Sample Graduate School Personal Statements

These are good examples of personal statements for graduate school where students deploy lots of very vivid imagery and illustrative anecdotes of life experiences. There are also helpful comments about what works in each of these essays.

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However, all of these statements are definitely pushing the boundaries of acceptable length, as all are above 1000 and one is almost 1500 words! Many programs limit you to 500 words; if you don’t have a limit, you should try to keep it to two single-spaced pages at most (which is about 1000 words).

University of Chicago Personal Statement for Graduate School Examples

These examples of successful essays to the University of Chicago law school cover a wide range of life experiences and topics. The writing in all is very vivid, and all communicate clear messages about the students’ strengths and competencies.

Note, however, that these are all essays that specifically worked for University of Chicago law school. That does not mean that they would work everywhere. In fact, one major thing to note is that many of these responses, while well-written and vivid, barely address the students’ interest in law school at all! This is something that might not work well for most graduate programs.

Wheaton College Personal Statement for Graduate School Sample 10

This successful essay for law school from a Wheaton College undergraduate does a great job tracking the student’s interest in the law in a compelling and personal way. Wheaton offers other graduate school personal statement examples, but this one offers the most persuasive case for the students’ competencies. The student accomplishes this by using clear, well-elaborated examples, showing strong and vivid writing, and highlighting positive qualities like an interest in justice and empathy without seeming grandiose or out of touch.

Wheaton College Personal Statement for Graduate School Sample 1

Based on the background information provided at the bottom of the essay, this essay was apparently successful for this applicant. However, I’ve actually included this essay because it demonstrates an extremely risky approach. While this personal statement is strikingly written and the story is very memorable, it could definitely communicate the wrong message to some admissions committees. The student’s decision not to report the drill sergeant may read incredibly poorly to some admissions committees. They may wonder if the student’s failure to report the sergeant’s violence will ultimately expose more soldiers-in-training to the same kinds of abuses. This incident perhaps reads especially poorly in light of the fact that the military has such a notable problem with violence against women being covered up and otherwise mishandled

It’s actually hard to get a complete picture of the student’s true motivations from this essay, and what we have might raise real questions about the student’s character to some admissions committees. This student took a risk and it paid off, but it could have just as easily backfired spectacularly.

Key Takeaways: Graduate School Personal Statement Examples

In this guide, we discussed why you need a personal statement and how it differs from a statement of purpose. (It’s more personal!)

We also discussed what you’ll find in a strong sample personal statement for graduate school:

• A clear narrative about the applicant and why they are qualified for graduate study.
• Specific examples to support that narrative.
• Compelling reasons why the applicant and the program are a good fit for each other.
• Strong writing, including clear organization and error-free, cliche-free language.
• Appropriate boundaries—sharing without over-sharing.

Then, we provided three strong graduate school personal statement examples for different fields, along with analysis. We did a deep-dive on the third statement.

Finally, we provided a list of other sample grad school personal statements online.

What’s Next?

Want more advice on writing a personal statement ? See our guide.

Writing a graduate school statement of purpose? See our statement of purpose samples  and a nine-step process for writing the best statement of purpose possible .

If you’re writing a graduate school CV or resume, see our how-to guide to writing a CV , a how-to guide to writing a resume , our list of sample resumes and CVs , resume and CV templates , and a special guide for writing resume objectives .

Need stellar graduate school recommendation letters ? See our guide.

See our 29 tips for successfully applying to graduate school .

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Author: Ellen McCammon

Ellen is a public health graduate student and education expert. She has extensive experience mentoring students of all ages to reach their goals and in-depth knowledge on a variety of health topics. View all posts by Ellen McCammon