Written by the faculty of the Assessment and Measurement PhD Program

Many students are unsure what to include in their personal statements. We see this as an issue of inequity in which some students have more access to tacit knowledge about graduate school admissions than others. In the interest of increasing equity and fairness in our graduate application process, we have created this document to provide specific guidance about what we are looking for in applicants’ personal statements.

When we read your statement, we are hoping to learn more about your interest in the field of assessment and measurement, why you chose our program, and your future career goals. Tell us what it is about the field of assessment and measurement that interests you. Are there specific lines of research that appeal to you? If so, tell us what those are. We are also interested in your reasons for choosing our specific program. For example, did your reasons have to do with our geographic location, particular aspects of our program, faculty members, or something else? We understand that you may not be sure about your career goals at this point in your career. However, if there are specific careers you are interested in pursuing, tell us what those are. If you have not done so already, you might want to look at our alumni page to see the types of jobs our graduates have taken.  

Reread your personal statement carefully and make sure it is free from typos, grammatical errors, and punctuation errors. Your statement should be well written, but it is not the place to demonstrate your creative writing skills. It should focus on the information detailed in the previous paragraph rather than on stories from your personal life. However, you should include details from your life that you feel are important for us to know. For example, your statement is a good place to explain any personal circumstances that may have resulted in low grades, low test scores, or lapses in your education.

If you would like to read more about the graduate school application process, we find the article “Kisses of death in the graduate school application process” useful.
(Appleby & Appleby, 2006, Teaching of Psychology, 33(1)