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PUNCTUATION POINTS
 Avoid exclamation marks. They are too dramatic
and emphatic
 A semi-colon is used to join two sentences
which are related to each other eg I really enjoy
plays; I go to the theatre at least once a month.
NOT
I really enjoy plays, I go to the theatre at least
once a month.
 A colon can be used where you make a statement
and follow it with more information eg Physics affects
us all: it shows us how the world works. Or it can
introduce a list of things eg I enjoy a number of
sports: football, judo, swimming and athletics.
 Hyphenate compound words eg. First-generation,
part-time.
 Make sure you use apostrophes correctly.
eg teacher’s help – one teacher
teachers’ help – more than one teacher
it’s – it is
its – belonging to it
 commas give you a pause in your sentence, but
they mustn't be used to join two sentences.
SURVIVOR’S GUIDE
TO
WRITING YOUR
PERSONAL STATEMENT
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CAPITAL IDEA
 The thesaurus
What should you capitalise in your personal
statement?
 Names of subjects (Physics, English
Literature, Media Studies.)
• Place names.
Use it to find different ways of expressing the same,
or similar, concepts. Rather than use ‘interesting’
several times to describe topics or subjects, your
thesaurus will suggest to you ‘absorbing’,
‘fascinating’, ‘challenging’, ‘intriguing’, among others.
• Proper nouns eg Christianity.
• Significant words in any book, newspaper or
journal titles eg New Scientist, A Brief History of
Time, The Daily Telegraph.
 The computer spell-checker
Use it with care, though: it is probably American so
will want you to use ‘realize’, ‘color;’ ‘rigor’ and
other American versions of spellings.
HAVE YOU SPLIT YOUR INFINITIVE?
Star Trek made it famous: ‘To boldly go where no man has
gone before’. Try to avoid this in formal writing. The infinitive
is the basic form of the verb: to write, to learn, to develop. If
you want to use an adverb with this form of verb, move it to
a different place in the sentence.
eg I’d like to understand completely the causes of the
Holocaust.’
NOT
‘I’d like to completely understand the causes of the
Holocaust.’
 A trusted adult
These adults may include your form tutor, a
subject teacher, a parent or family friend, a
member of the Sixth Form team or library staff.
Show them a draft of your statement and ask
for advice. Weigh all advice carefully before
making changes.
Beware of showing it to too many people
though. A wide variety of conflicting advice will
leave you confused.
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SETTING THE TONE
 Your personal statement must be formal
in tone. Avoid chattiness; avoid exclamation
marks; avoid words like ‘brilliant’, ‘fantastic’,
‘amazing’.
 Equally, make sure you’re not pompous.
Use varied language but not vocabulary you
wouldn’t normally use eg ‘commence’
 Don’t use a cliché (eg “The only place
success comes before work is in the
dictionary.”) It’s unoriginal, and a waste of
your space.
 It’s best not to abbreviate ( don’t, can’t,
isn’t, should’ve etc). Writing it out in full is
better for formal writing.
YOUR BEST FRIENDS
HOW TO PROMOTE YOURSELF … NICELY
Have you found
subjects or topics:
You may have
enjoyed,
relished,
found absorbing,
appreciated the chance to,
explored,
welcomed a chance or an opportunity,
found ……………. a challenge,
been engrossed by………
rewarding
satisfying
gratifying
fascinating
engrossing
Do you think you are:
conscientious
involved
tenacious
determined
patient,
thorough,
persistent,
enthusiastic.
Useful Phrases
Doing …… has developed my skills of…..,
I have brought enthusiasm to my …….studies,
I have approached…….. with energy,
I have used this opportunity to….
Have you included…..
• The dictionary
 If you want to use a word but feel unsure
of its meaning, look it up. Make sure the
spelling is correct too.
• your subjects and why you like them
• service to the school
• other service/charitable things you do
• musical instruments
• groups such as theatre workshops
• part-time employment, work experience
• sports/games
• your reading tastes (you should have some!)
• why you want to do the course