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Admission to a school, college, or university is a labor-consuming process that requires a lot of time, effort, and nerves. The list of documents that the applicant must prepare is quite impressive. Educational facilities are interested in up-and-comers who will study well and take an active part in academic life.
When enrolling in a nursing school, applicants are required to tell about themselves. What’s more, they should explain their decision to become a health worker. We talked to Anna Reed, who successfully entered the nursing school last year. In this article, she shared her experience of writing a personal statement and made up a list of tips for applicants.
What is a personal statement?
A personal statement is an essay that colleges and universities require from applicants. Usually, this is a self-introduction of 250 to 650 words written in free form. Its goal is to show your interest in the chosen program, reveal your personality, and impress the admissions committee.
What should I focus on when writing a personal statement?
An effective essay combines a good structure, a student’s personality, and a creative approach. The best personal statements are based on conclusions from life experience. They reflect the applicant’s ability to overcome difficulties and learn from mistakes. However, I don’t recommend you to focus on expertise and claim absolute knowledge of the subject. Show that you have something to learn.
What should I write about?
Frankly, there are no clear rules for a personal statement for nursing school. Students are not obliged to adhere to any style or answer the questions posed. You decide for yourself how to fill one page of text typed in Times New Roman font with a single interval. On the one hand, this is a great reason to show imagination and creativity. On the other hand, there is a risk of getting lost and failing the task. If you are afraid of failing the task, I recommend you order a personal statement from a nursing writing service. Those who want to write the essay themselves and stick to the topic follow the six steps for writing an outstanding personal statement.
How to write an adult nursing personal statement in 5 steps
- Find out the requirements for the personal statement on the website of your nursing school
There are no strict rules for writing motivation letters — only general recommendations on the volume and content. When applying to nursing school, you need to base on the specific program requirements.
- Structure the information that you want to reflect in the nursing personal statement
The structure of a nursing personal statement should include the following blocks:
Introduction
Brief information about yourself, your so-called business card. It can include both information about your scientific interests and hobbies;
Description of your career plans and goals;
The skills and qualities that you need to achieve the goals that you already possess;
How will the program of the chosen faculty help you develop these skills;
What can you bring to the learning process;
Conclusion. - Answer the question about choosing a program
Why did you choose this particular program? Being attracted to biology is not a solid argument for the admissions committee. Add details! Have you already learned the names of all human bones before entering school? Have you been treating animals since childhood? Do tell the admissions committee about it!
- Write about your plans on post-graduation
In your personal statement, it’s necessary to explain how the years of studying at the nursing school will help you in the future. Are you planning to enter university after graduation? Write about the program you want to choose. Don’t be afraid to set ambitious goals! It perfectly demonstrates your motivation. But don’t overdo it: the goals should be complex but yet achievable.
- Describe your advantages
It’s hard to praise yourself. Write about your advantages, taking into account what qualities the chosen school values in students. If the educational institution and the program are suitable for you, it will be easy to find matches.
Even though the personal statement carries a lot of information about you, it’s a rather short document. Its standard size is one A4 sheet unless the selected nursing school has indicated otherwise. Be sure to adhere to the stated volume. In this regard, each sentence should be as informative as possible! In a personal statement, you should avoid complex grammar constructions. In general, the length of each sentence should not exceed 20 words.
The most common mistakes when writing a personal statement for nursing school
- Copying someone else’s thoughts
A nursing personal statement must reflect exactly your plans and aspirations. An essay copied from the Internet will unlikely make a positive impression on the admissions committee. For the same reason, you should not ask someone else to write an essay for you. Get inspiration from nursing school personal statement examples.
- Wooden language
An applicant who uses too many catchalls won’t be remembered by the commission. Make your statement individual and increase your chances.
- Excessive emotionality
An abundance of inappropriate jokes and exclamation marks won’t do good for you. Remember that a motivation letter is, after all, a serious document.
- Fancy talk
It won’t be superfluous to list your academic success if the main emphasis is not placed on this. Whatever your achievements, mention that there are areas in which you would like to succeed even more. Highlight that the chosen nursing school could help you do that.
- Excessive modesty
Even if you have never won prizes at competitions, you probably have achievements that would be worth mentioning. Have you succeeded in sports or have a creative hobby? Such details will make your statement more individual.
Bottom line
A personal statement is one of the most important documents that are necessary for admission to nursing school. It’s an essay where the applicant explains why he chose a particular educational institution and program. It’s the personal statement that can become a decisive factor when enrolling. It should reflect not only the achievements but also the aptitudes and aspirations of the applicant.
There are a lot of nursing school personal statement examples to be found. However, to increase your chances to be chosen, you have to write it independently. In this article, ex-applicant Anna Reed shared her experience of entering nursing school. She answered the most common questions regarding personal statements and prepared the list of 5 steps for writing a good one.
