It can be difficult to write about yourself and all of your achievements but now is the time to really sell yourself! A tip we always give is to do a skills audit first. A skills audit is when you write down all the qualities and skills that you have, regardless of if they apply to your artform. If you struggle with this, ask your friends or family to give you three words they would use to describe you. Once you have these skills/traits/qualities then you can write stories of when you have shown these off. It is always better to give concrete examples of when you have demonstrated these.
Example
Skills Audit: kind, good at timekeeping, and I sing in my school choir.
- Kind: I am able to work in a team with others and I enjoy helping out my teammates and collaborating using different ideas to complete a task.
- Timekeeping: During school I am always punctual to my classes and to school. When meeting my friends for social activities such as going to the cinema, I am always the first person to arrive as I always arrive 15 minutes early to everything.
- Choir: I have been singing in my school choir since first year, I feel confident taking direction and performing in front of others, recently I performed in my Christmas concert and sang a solo in front of parents, carers and fellow peers.
The personal statement would then read like:
I am able to work in a team with others and I enjoy helping out my teammates and collaborating using different ideas to complete a task. During school I am always punctual to my classes and to school. When meeting my friends for social activities such as going to the cinema, I am always the first person to arrive as I always arrive 15 minutes early to everything. I have been singing in my school choir since first year, I feel confident taking direction and performing in front of others, recently I performed in my Christmas concert and sang a solo in front of parents, carers and fellow peers.
Other Information to Include
Remember to highlight your unique selling point too, why should they pick you above everyone else? Is it your experiences? Your skills? What can you bring to the course? You should be thinking about what you are bringing with you not just what you want to get from the course/Institution.
Finally, remember to make it clear why you are choosing to apply for the course – imagine someone asking you that question ‘why this course specifically?’. If you are applying to multiple Institutions you will need to be quite generic and focus on why you want to follow the course of study but if you are applying to one i.e. the RCS, do your homework. Who has studied there, who teaches there, what do you like about the ethos, the building, the people. Be enthusiastic and most of all, Be You!
