UCAS Psychology - How do I write a personal statement for Psychology?

Follow this step by step process to get your personal statement to the point you can show it to your reviewers for feedback…

Step One: Think and jot

Think about yourself… write down all your

1) Personal achievements 2) Experience and 3) Spare time interests

Step Two: Think ‘Why Psychology?’

Write down your answers to these questions..

Do you have any career plans? How do they relate to Psychology?

Have you had any life/work experiences that relate to Psychology? Don’t get too personal though...

Which parts of the A level have you been fascinated by? Have you read any books that have sparked your interest?

Step Three: Think ‘Why did I choose my A levels?

Ask yourself… How do my A levels relate to Psychology?

Is it the scientific aspects? ( e.g. chemistry, biology, physics) Statistics? ( Maths) Evaluation of evidence? ( History or Politics) The reasons why people do or write what they do? ( English Lit , History, Polictics, Human Geography etc....

Step Four: Think ‘What do I need to include?’ and ‘Is there anything I’ve not written down so far that I need to include?

Step Five: Sort it into paragraphs. Here is an idea of the format you might use

Paragraph one….Why Psychology? Talk about the reasons for your choice…

Paragraph two… How does my academic record and choice of A levels make me well placed to study for a Psychology degree? Talk about your A level choices.

Paragraph three…Who am I? This is the paragraph about you…who are you? What are you interested in? What do you do in your spare time? What achievements have you had?

Paragraph four: … The ‘Pick me’ Paragraph. This paragraph should be forward looking. Talk about careers etc

Remember…

• You will have to do many drafts, there is rarely a statement that is perfect first time.

• Show it to as many people ( who will help!) as you can

• Don’t give up, you will get there

• Don’t lie…you could be caught out at interview

• Don’t use any readymade ones. Admissions officers know them all and can spot them easily.

• Work on it and then put it away for a day or so. Then when you do read it again, read it out loud to yourself. It’s a great way to pick up on flow, repetition and grammatical errors.