Although most undergraduates are fretting over acceptance letters1, there has been recent interest in personal statements2,3,4. Below is an outline of what I would consider a typical chemical personal statement. With slight modification, it can also be used as a general outline for all bright-eyed science undergraduate personal statements.

1st paragraph:

© Molly Kelly

2nd paragraph:

3rd paragraph

4th paragraph

In my personal opinion, personal statements should only be one page; you really should be able to summarize yourself that succinctly. If you have a blemish on your record, I’m not convinced it should be mentioned in a personal statement. Negative statements about yourself will stick out more than all your positive ones; so it’s upon you, to make sure your negatives are even worth discussing.

Addendum: From my P.I. Heino Nitsche

I am asking students requesting a letter of recommendation from me to send in electronic form (preferably WORD not PDF so that cut and paste is as easy as possible) the following material:

1. Newest unofficial transcript;

2. Updated resume, including honors, etc., and undergraduate research

experience;

3. Statement about their academic future;

4. List of anything good/volunteer work they have ever done;

5. List of Universities (including detailed addresses,points of

contact, and deadlines) they are applying to;

6. Pre-addressed and stamped envelopes for mailing of the

recommendations.

A very important point is that the recommendation that will take the least amount of time for me is the one which I will provide first, i.e,. the better the students prepare their case, the less effort I will have to write it. I usually ask the students to use the letter recommendation service of their university. This makes thing so much easier for me because I have to write only one letter and the rest is

taken care of by the service.