sample personal statement for fellowship application

Fellowship Personal Statement Examples

by Talha Omer, M.Eng., Cornell Grad

In personal statement samples for scholarships.

Here is the personal statement of an applicant who got admitted on a fellowship to  the MIT Sloan fellows MBA program . This fellowship paid for the complete tuition fee, the cost of living, and the cost of health insurance. In addition, the MIT fellowship covered the entire program duration, which was one year.

For the fellowship personal statement, MIT poses several questions to applicants, which the admissions committee expects to be answered in an essay form. MIT provides these personal statement prompts to encourage students to self-reflect and share their insights with the program. 

In this Article

Fellowship Personal Statement Prompt 1

Fellowship personal statement prompt 2, fellowship personal statement prompt 3.

What are your short-term and long-term professional objectives for attending the program? Specifically, please indicate your objectives and how they fit with the purposes of the Program. How would your unique background contribute to the diversity of the Fellows community? 

Ten years of diverse experience driving commercial functions of Fortune 500 firms has established me as a well-versed sales leader. To further enrich my experience, I intend to work on international assignments as a sales expert in global consultancy firms. This career progression would help me understand the corporate DNA of various organizations across industries spread around the world. After receiving adequate multi-faceted exposure in global consultancy, my ultimate objective is to land back in my home country and lead any sales and distribution company as a C-level executive and derive satisfaction by positively influencing the lives of employees and their families, customers, and business partners and the society at large.

I am inclined to the MIT fellowship program as its core philosophy of innovation and leadership resonates with my key strengths and career background. My undergraduate studies in computer sciences and my initial work experience in the software industry imbued in me the significance of framing systems and structures to enhance an organization’s performance capabilities. My undergrad from the top business school in Switzerland and my experience in key leadership roles in commercial functions of fortune 500 companies further polished my leadership skills.

Because learning innovations in technology and leading diverse teams have been the key motivating factors for me, the more I read about the fellowship program, the more I feel I belong here. This program would also provide a window to the world and make me more relevant and worthy of consideration for international positions. As I aim to work internationally, this program is the perfect platform to develop the knowledge, skills, and network I need. By traveling to essential centers of enterprise and government during the Seminar in a Leadership course, having direct interactions with world-class leaders through Dean’s Innovative Leader Series, and networking with classmates coming from 30+ different nations, I would gain the essential exposure needed to become a globally relevant team lead.

Not only is the fellowship program a perfect fit for me, but I am also confident I could enrich other fellows’ experiences. My personality reflects my culture, religion, and family values, and my presence in the cohort will help my fellows learn more about this part of the world. Because Singapore is one of the fastest-growing markets internationally, understanding how the business operates in this area would be invaluable to anyone wanting to work internationally. Having spent most of my life in Singapore and Malaysia, I possess deep knowledge of its indigenous culture, the opportunities this land offers, and the challenges companies face. My experience would help others understand the application of innovation and leadership from the perspective of a small country.

I started my career as a software engineer, firmly believing in systems and processes, but my career taught me the importance of people in an organization. The experiences from this transition from a system enthusiast to a transformational leader have stories worth sharing.

Give an example of how you have used your strengths to demonstrate leadership. Now consider the leader you aspire to be – what areas of personal development do you want to focus on in this fellows program to become that leader?

During my career at Nestle, Singapore, I developed a strong reputation for being a change agent and a leader of high competence and integrity. Because of this, I was handed the extraordinary task of rejuvenating the biggest region in constant negative growth. The management gave me complete autonomy to get the house in order.   

My leadership style was very transformational. I articulated my vision to become number one and then motivated people to turn this vision into reality. Being very friendly and democratic, I opened candid discussions to identify problems and find their solutions collectively. I focused on positive reinforcement and introduced an employee recognition program called ‘Champion of the month’ to encourage initiatives and developed a ‘Wall of Champions’ to create a high-performance culture. My core job was to establish a culture of a supportive climate to promote creativity, autonomy, and ownership, an environment where people feel excited to contribute. By motivating the team and making them believe in themselves, I could deliver results surpassing management’s expectations.

The business required some tough decisions to be taken as well. A few team members and business partners needed to be set off the bus. But first, I had to establish that the decisions taken were for the right reason and the bigger interest of the organization and not based on personal interest or ego. My fair and honest treatment of all the team members helped them accept a not-so-popular decision. I suppose my people leadership skills blended with the system-oriented mindset, creating a positive difference in the region.

There is an adage that the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. The world is full of diversity – race, faith, values, cultures, traditions, and languages, and there is much to learn from. Therefore, to continue the lifelong learning journey, I aspire to see the next phase of my life unfold while working in different parts of the world. Hence, being a global leader defines my passion and future career aspiration. The fellowship program would be the perfect platform to prepare me for the international arena. I would improve my effectiveness as a multicultural leader and work on social and networking skills. The 360° Leadership Assessment would also be beneficial in identifying the improvement areas and eventually developing me into a distinctive and effective leader. I believe the more I want to grow outwardly, the more I need to develop inwardly.  

So, this 10-month fellowship would give me the space and time to self-reflect and develop personal leadership skills. The ultimate objective, however, is to become a better human being and serve humanity.

Tell us about the most challenging experience you have had in collaborating with a person or group who did not share the same ideas. What did you learn from this experience, and did it change how you dealt with similar situations afterwards?

After my undergrad from NUS, I was hired as Area Sales Manager at Nestle Singapore. Coincidently, one of the third-party distributors in my area also got appointed simultaneously. The first task I was assigned was to chalk out the commercial plan for the current year, which included presenting the growth forecast and a detailed action plan. The analysis revealed that the area under the newly appointed distributor had tremendous growth potential. However, the plan required increased fleet infrastructure, additional headcount in the sales team, and injection of further credit investment in the market. 

When the plan was discussed with the distributor, he rightly rejected it as he considered the forecast highly exaggerated and impossible to achieve. Hence, he did not want to invest any further. The fundamental reason for the conflict was the lack of confidence the distributor had in me; I was naïve to propose a concrete business plan. Since the initial few discussions didn’t work out well, I tried to delay further talks to avoid conflict and let him take his time to digest my proposal. However, subsequent discussions also didn’t turn out to be positive. Instead, the confrontation kept increasing to the extent that the distributor started taking it personally as a matter of his ego.

To sort the confrontation amicably, I tried to find a middle ground and convert the negative conflict into creative tension. Since the core objective was shared between us to increase profitability, we decided to kick start the plan while partially compensating him for additional expenses. We also announced target achievement incentives to make him stretch for the set goals. The distributor agreed, and a collective effort was made in the new direction. The recent developments brought success beyond our expectations and improved profitability by leaps and bounds. Thus, both of us have a great sense of achievement and recognition.

Later, while reflecting on the initial conflicts we faced, I realized that the situation might have been tackled much better if I had invested more time in rapport and trust-building at the start. Suppose I had built more confidence that I cared about him and his business, the matter would have been resolved much more amicably. I learned that trust leads to acceptance and willingness to collaborate, and building trust is much more important than conquering discussion through logic and numbers. Since then, I got to work with different teams and business partners. However, I ensured I did not initiate business discussions before achieving personal rapport and a bond of trust.

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EXPLORE OUR FELLOWSHIP PERSONAL STATEMENT EXAMPLES & GET EXPERT HELP

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Dear Committee,

I am writing to show my interest in and desire to join your fellowship program. Since my early years, my interest in radiology immunology has grown rapidly. Whether it was research or a conducted experiment, I`ve always wanted to keep going. 

I have multiplied this passion during my academic journey by pursuing and getting a bachelor’s degree in radiology immunology. This helped me to improve my [skills], which I hope to expand and advance during the fellowship program.

I used all opportunities to study radiology immunology beyond my bachelor’s. Internships, research projects, and volunteering gave me priceless experiences that helped me understand how knowledge in radiology immunology could be practically implemented in multiple situations. The experience of studying the growth dynamics of immune cells while participating in [research project name] helped me understand the specifics of cooperation with multidisciplinary specialists. It boosted my skills working on a team and taught me that the best outcome is only possible with coordinated work.

In conclusion, I am convinced that the radiology immunology program is the chance I will use to develop myself as a specialist. Besides sharing the workspace with top-class specialists and running research projects, I want to contribute to the radiology immunology program I am a part of. I feel confident about joining the program because my passion and confidence always lead me to the top.

I appreciate your consideration of my application. I see myself as a member of the radiology immunology fellowship program, and I’m looking to make a step forward.

[The applicant’s name]

Explore Our Best Examples of a Personal Statement for Fellowships

Fellowship programs set strict requirements and choose candidates carefully, so convincing the admission board that you’re their #1 candidate is not easy. Still, you can get this chance effortlessly by preparing a compelling personal fellowship statement that will perfectly present your desire and ability to become a fellow. Moreover, we provide good ready-made fellowship personal statement samples to simplify this task additionally.

Just choose one example that best correlates with your needs, and let’s start.

How Medical Fellowship Personal Statement Examples Can Help You

Someone may think completed writing pieces may be used for copypaste and rewriting. However, it’s a critical mistake because such things in personal statement for fellowship examples are immediately considered plagiarism, and the institution officials will immediately deny the applications. Reasons why a suitable example may help aren’t so obvious, but knowing them can help a lot while writing your own fellowship application doc.

• It’s invaluable for understanding requirements

When applicants examine examples, they see what format these texts have. Moreover, they understand how the information is organized, starting with the introduction, moving to the self-description mentioning the main achievements that made them who they are today. Moreover, personal statement examples for fellowship help to understand how to combine parts in a well-composed statement.

• It’s a great tool to visualize writing tips

Having several medical fellowship personal statement examples on hand may assist you while exploring expert tips and recommendations. Most people perceive information better only with visual materials, and pro-made samples can cope with this task perfectly.

• It’s necessary to define key components

Another advantage of using already-composed personal statement fellowships is that they help people see what writing components should and shouldn’t be included. Once individuals see what works for solid personal statement examples and what doesn’t, they understand how to strengthen it.

• It provides good ideas to manage your thoughts

In successful medical fellowship essays/applications, the writers’ main goal is to reveal their  strengths that will be valuable for the chosen program. Seeing how others compose their examples can help individuals tailor personal statements, emphasizing their strengths and motivating them to join the preferred program.

• It can help to avoid common mistakes

Fellowship personal statement examples are ideal for debriefing dos & don’ts and working on bugs. This works exceptionally well when visuals are accompanied by expert commentary. However, it is essential to remember that not all examples are suitable, but only from sources you can trust.

Top Personal Statement for Fellowship Examples From Proven Experts

There are two main reasons why you should explore our database with medical fellowship personal statement examples. First, it’s their variety – radiology, pathology, dentistry, orthopedics, and internal medicine are just some of the fields we can help you with. Secondly, it’s their authors. Every example is made by a proficient field-related expert knowing all the admission process nuances and program features that must be considered.

Of course, you cannot copy from a fellowship personal statement sample, as your own document should be well-personalized and tailored to a particular program. Nevertheless, there’re no restrictions to getting inspired with content structure, transitions, and things that need to be revealed.

How to Work With a Personal Statement for Fellowship Sample Properly

Preparing admission documents takes a while, especially if applicants pretend to join a competitive program. Composing everything in one night is not an option. So, here are some tips to help you better prepare your medical fellowship personal statement using our examples.

• Create an outline

With a plan, you understand your document’s appearance. Divide the text into paragraphs, with an introduction, a body part consisting of three sections, and a conclusion. Look at fellowship personal statement examples to define what needs to be included in these structural parts, and consider adding them to your document.

• Explore how the example author engages readers

Whether it’s an introductory hook, calls to action in conclusion, or exciting anecdotes in the body. Personal statements fellowships are formal pieces, so use engagement methods in your writing wisely. See how examples writers manage it to get more ideas.

• Define accents and things to focus on

The fellowship application personal statement should be program-focused and contain information that describes an individual as a skillful specialist. Moreover, the writing should include the most valuable career and educational path facts. Try to find this information in pro-made examples and explore how authors manage it.

About Medical Fellowship Personal Statement Grammar and Spelling

Besides learning about the text’s structure and format, it’s also important to consider simple elements like grammar and spelling. Institution officials carefully revise each piece and pay attention to all details. Once they spot even the slightest mistake, it may harm your personal statement for fellowship sample.

Your grammar should be correct and simple, as the text should be easy to understand. Grammar continues to be one of the most problematic points when preparing personal statements for fellowship and other application docs. Spelling is also necessary and should be given as much attention as grammar. Let someone else read the text to ensure you don’t miss anything. A fresh look may identify issues that should have been included during the first check.

How to Pick up a Right Sample Fellowship Personal Statement

We’d like to recommend you prepare several fellowship personal statement examples because hardly only one will 100% match your needs. And it’s not about competence but the fact that each program is unique, even if you’re applying to the same specialty. Faculty culture, values, and capabilities vary from institution to institution. Therefore, having only one sample fellowship personal statement to work with would be a bad decision. Consider the following factors when looking for suitable examples:

• Level and type of program
• Direction, if the program is highly specialized
• The specifics of the program and its features
• Focus and opportunities (practice, research, teaching, etc.)
• Requirements for their fellowship candidates

Let’s Create Your Own Personal Statement Fellowship Example

A solid and consistent personal statement is your golden ticket to new opportunities, and it’s worth all efforts and time spent creating it. However, sometimes people may worry a lot due to great responsibility or feel a lack of competency to cope with this writing themselves. And that’s where professional help preparing a personal statement for fellowships is the best solution.

From comprehensive guides & examples to expert writing & editing assistance – our service is qualified enough to boost your admission prospects significantly. With years of expertise and hundreds of successful admission cases, we are well aware of ways to make a lasting impression on the committee with your sample personal statement for fellowship application.

All you need is just place an order with your requirements and the filled questionnaire. You can also add an appropriate personal statement fellowship example as a reference to help experts understand your needs better. But don’t worry if there’s no suitable example – your materials are enough to make your own perfectly.

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Develop a Strong Personal Statement

Jane Halfhill, 2023 recipient of a Fulbright research grant to study in Italy.

For students, the personal statement is one of the most difficult and most important documents they will ever write. We have the resources to boost your confidence and the know-how to help you write a powerful personal statement.

Debunking the Personal Statement

What it is:.

• Your introduction to the selection committee. This is your story, written by you. It should describe your interests, skills, questions and goals. It should clearly portray continued interest in your field of research and desire to learn more.
• A chance to demonstrate your ability to write and communicate effectively. A well-written personal statement demonstrates your ability to organize your thoughts and communicate clearly. Conversely, an unpolished statement can unintentionally portray the writer as disinterested, unprofessional and careless.
• Your personal statement should articulate your preparedness by clarifying how your past experiences, education and extra-curricular activities have prepared you for your field.

What it isn't:

• A personal autobiography. A personal statement is not the time to write about your childhood, family or hobbies that are not relevant to your field or academic development.
• A resume of accomplishments in essay form. Do not simply list information that is available in your other supporting documents (e.g., resume, transcript). Rather, you should provide context as to why your past accomplishments and experiences are significant to your academic and professional development.
• A plea for the scholarship. This is not the time to beg, plea or justify why you are more deserving of the scholarship than the other applicants. You are eligible for this scholarship for a reason. Focus on your accomplishments, not why your accomplishments make you better than others.

What to Include in Your Personal Statement

Professor Stacy Hubbard from UB's department of English breaks down what you should include in your personal statement.

• Origins of interest in a particular field. This could be a book you read, a lecture you attended or an experience you had.
• Ways in which you have developed your interest. Additional reading, experiments, internships, coursework, summer jobs, science fairs, travel experiences, writing projects, etc. Provide details about what you gained from a particular course or how a particular project or paper has helped you to develop intellectually.
• Reasons for changes in your interests and goals. These changes could be addressed in positive, rather than negative, terms. Instead of saying "I became bored with engineering and switched to physics," try "Through a bridge-design project, I discovered a new interest in thermodynamics and decided to focus my studies on physics."
• Reasons for inconsistencies in your record.  If there is anything unusual or problematic in your record (poor grades, several school transfers, time away from school, etc.) this information needs to be explained in as positive a way, as possible. If you were immature and screwed up, then you matured and shaped up, say so and point to the proof (improved grades, a stellar recent employment record, etc.). Remember, failure of one kind or another, if you learn from it, is good preparation for future success.
• Special skills you have developed, relevant to the planned research.  This could be general knowledge of a field acquired through reading and study or special practical skills (data analysis, fossil preservation, interviewing techniques, writing skills, etc.) that will qualify you to conduct a particular type of research. Be specific about how you acquired these skills and at what level you possess them.
• Character traits, talents or extra-curricular activities outside the field that help to qualify you. If you are particularly tenacious about overcoming obstacles, creative at problem-solving, adaptable to unfamiliar circumstances or just great at organizing teams of people, these qualities can be mentioned as relevant to the research experience. Sometimes the evidence for these traits may be other than academic. Have you have overcome a disability or disadvantage of some kind in your life? Have you persisted in a particularly challenging task? Have lived in different parts of the world and adapted to difference cultures? Have you organized teams of volunteers in the community? Make clear what traits have been developed by these experiences and how these will help you in the research experience. Acknowledge your strengths, but do so humbly.
• Knowledge and/or skills that you hope to acquire through participation in this opportunity.  What is particularly intriguing to you about this opportunity? How will it help you to acquire new skills or carry forward your own research questions?
• Emerging and ongoing questions.  What kinds of unsolved puzzles, problems or potential research paths are of interest to you? Which of these have you explored in school or extra-curricular projects? What sorts of projects do you hope to pursue in the future?
• Future plans and goals.  Do you plan to go to graduate or professional school and in what field? What are your post-graduation goals and why? How would this research opportunity help you to achieve those goals?

The Do's and Don'ts of Writing a Personal Statement

• Adhere to the rules. Note the proper page layout, format and length, and adhere to it.
• Use proper spelling and grammar. An easy way to have your application overlooked is to submit it with spelling and grammatical errors. Use spell-checkers, proof-read and let others review your application, before you submit it.
• Show your audience, don't tell them. It's easy to say "I am a leader," but without concrete examples, your claim isn't valid. Give an example of why you believe you are a leader.
• Don't try to tell them everything. You can't cram your entire life into one personal statement. Choose a few key points to talk about and let your other application materials (resume, letter(s) of recommendation, application, interview, etc.) tell the rest of your story.
• Don't use clichés. Things like "since I was a child" or "the world we live in today" are commonly found in personal statements and don't add any value.
• Don't lie or make things up. This is not the time to fabricate or inflate your accomplishments. Don't try to guess what the committee is looking for and write what you think they want to hear. Invite them in to get to know the real you.

At the end of your personal statement, you want people to think "I'd like to meet this person." That is your end-goal.

UB Resources

• Center for Excellence in Writing
• Graduate Student Association Editing Services

Additional Resources

• Helping Students to Tell Their Stories , The Chronicle of Higher Education
• Preparing a Compelling Personal Statement , profellow.com
• Proposal Writing Resources , University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
• Purdue Online Writing Lab , Purdue University
• Writing a Winning Personal Statement for Grad School , gograd.com

5 More Powerful Personal Statement Openings of Fellowship Winners

By ProFellow Founder Dr. Vicki Johnson

A personal statement is your opportunity to express why you are a great candidate for a fellowship or graduate school application. One of the most important lines of your personal statement is the first one, which is where you have a chance to grab your reader’s attention. Ideally, your first sentence or two opens up a brief story or vignette that will demonstrate to the reader why you are motivated to apply to the program or fellowship, and how you embody some of their ideal candidate characteristics, like passion for the subject, intellectual curiosity, leadership skills, community service experience, international experience, or other qualities.

Here are five examples of powerful personal statement openings for winners of highly competitive fellowships.

• “I still remember the damaged smiles of the abandoned, elderly residents at the St. Vincent de Paul house in Curitiba, Brazil like it was yesterday. Their weathered faces lit up as the junior team of Clube Atletico Paranaense and I climbed out of the bus to spend the day with them. I was just seventeen and barely spoke Portuguese, but I immediately wanted to be able to help these people.”

This opening for a Rhodes Scholarship personal statement builds a powerful image in the reader’s mind from the very beginning. It shows the applicant’s passion for helping other people and where that passion came from, his interest in different cultures, and his facility with language.

• “I was singing German long before I ever spoke it. As a classical voice major, I learned early on that the ‘holy trinity’ of languages to be familiar with (if not fluent in) is German, French and Italian.”

This opening for a personal statement for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Germany shows a strong personal connection to Germany, demonstrates experience in learning languages, and showcases a serious interest in the creative arts–each of which is desirable in a Fulbright ETA candidate.

• “Lady Macbeth was the first role for which I knew I was perfect. In fifth grade I tried to produce Macbeth in my back yard with a bunch of my ten-year-old friends and I cast myself as lady M. However, when the parents found out about my overly-rigorous rehearsal schedule the project was shut down.”

This opening for a personal statement for a Fulbright U.S. Student Award to fund a Master’s in Theater at the University of Exeter quickly establishes the applicant as being passionate about theater in a fun and compelling way. It showcases the applicant’s personality and sets the stage to explore their lifelong interest in theater, building a case that they would be a great fit in the University of Exeter’s MA program.

• “At thirteen, I wanted to explore creativity through reproducing an intricate Renaissance painting. Using dozens of blues and greens, I emulated the brush strokes and shading. And after much toil, I felt confident that museum curators would have a hard time distinguishing between mine and the original.”

This opening for a personal statement for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship gives a unique introduction to the applicant’s strong desire to be creative from a young age. This opening leads into a narrative about how, after exploring the arts, and he ultimately began to see scientific research as a way to channel his innate creativity.

• “I waited patiently by the bench in what all Harvey Mudd chemistry majors call the ‘Super Lab,’ staring for what seemed to be hours at a small flask bubbling with something that looked like a cross between Pepto-Bismol and whipped cream. I was waiting for the color to turn just the right shade of blue before I could go home for a late dinner, but it was obvious that this solution was as far from blue as baseball is from rugby. I realized then that ‘Super Lab’ was not so Super, and neither was a career as a chemist.”

This opening for a personal statement to a law school is very memorable! It sets up the applicant’s story, in which an experience in a lab piqued his interest in intellectual property law. It also showcases his personality and excellent writing ability.

Each of these opening lines draws the reader into a unique and memorable story that explains why the applicant is interested in the fellowship or graduate program. You can identify more personal statement samples like these online by Googling personal statement example pdf with the name of the fellowship or graduate program.

If you would like to see 5 more powerful personal statement openings and why they work, check out this article .

Seeking funding for graduate school? Get our free  Directory of Fully Funded Graduate Programs and Full Funding Awards listing more than 1000+ fully funded PhD and master’s program. 

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Related Posts:

• What Makes a Great Personal Statement?
• 5 Powerful Personal Statement Openings of Fellowship Winners
• Register Now: Personal Statement Bootcamp with Dr. Vicki Johnson
• How to a Write Personal Statement for Graduate School
• How to Write a Personal Statement: 6 Exercises to Conquer Writer’s Block

Fulbright Application Tips , Personal Statement Tips

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25 May 2024

6 minutes read

How to Write a Fellowship Personal Statement for Admission

Dirghayu Kaushik

Key Takeaways

• Craft a compelling personal narrative highlighting your motivations and aspirations.
• Follow the program’s format and word count guidelines precisely.
• Strategically highlight relevant experiences demonstrating problem-solving skills and alignment with the fellowship’s goals.
• Use vivid examples to convey authentic passion for your pursuits.
• Seek feedback and revise multiple drafts to maximize impact.

Applying for prestigious fellowship programs requires a strong personal statement that allows the selection committee to truly get to know you as an applicant. This make-or-break fellowship essay is a crucial component of the fellowship application process for highly competitive programs. One of the most important factors fellowship advisors consider is your authentic voice shining through the statement draft.

An effective personal statement artfully contains your motivations, research experiences, and future aspirations into a cohesive narrative that demonstrates your fit as a potential fellowship recipient. With a blend of storytelling and self-reflection highlighting your unique qualifications and scholarship, you can compose a standout cover letter that captures the committee’s attention from the first sentence.

In this guide, we will mention all the things you need to know before you start writing your personal statements for fellowship programs.

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• What Are The Multiple Statement Formats To Choose?

When it comes to crafting a strong statement for fellowship applications, there are typically multiple formats or styles to choose from. The specific format requirements may vary depending on the fellowship program, but some common personal statement formats include:

Traditional Narrative Essay

This format follows a more conventional essay structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. It allows you to tell a cohesive story about your background, motivations, and goals, often with a central theme or message.

Question/Prompt Responses

Many fellowship applications provide specific questions or prompts that you must address in your personal statement. In this format, you structure your statement as separate responses to each question or prompt, ensuring you cover all the required topics.

Statements of Purpose

Similar to a traditional narrative essay, but with a stronger focus on your academic and research interests, goals, and plans for the fellowship. This format emphasizes your intellectual curiosity and potential contributions to the field.

Hybrid Format

Some programs may allow for a combination of formats, where you can include both narrative sections and specific prompt responses. This hybrid approach can provide flexibility to showcase different aspects of your background and qualifications.

Video or Multimedia Statements

Although less common, some fellowships may accept or encourage cover statements in video or multimedia formats. This allows you to convey your message through a more dynamic and engaging medium.

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• 6 Best Tips For Fellowship Personal Statement Writing

The statement is a make-or-break component of fellowship applications. This essay requires going beyond just listing accomplishments to provide insight into your motivations, relevant experiences, and future goals aligned with the particular fellowship.

Writing a strong, engaging cover letter can be challenging, but following best practices can help your application stand out. Here are 6 tips for crafting an excellent fellowship personal statement:

Understand the Prompt and Adhere to the Guidelines 

Every fellowship has unique requirements for the statement. Carefully review the prompts and instructions, ensuring you respond accordingly. Strict word limits are common, so make every word impactful while respecting the specified length.

Craft a Compelling Narrative

The statement should transport readers into your journey through a well-structured, engaging narrative. Go beyond listing achievements to weave your motivations, pivotal experiences, and aspirations into a cohesive and captivating story.

Showcase Relevant Experiences and Growth

Select anecdotes and examples that demonstrate not just your successes but also your ability to persevere, problem-solve, and continually develop relevant skills aligning with the fellowship’s objectives. Provide context for challenges overcome.

Convey Authentic Passion and Purpose

Help reviewers understand the driving forces behind your ambitions by vividly describing defining moments or realizations that sparked your current pursuits. Authentic passion and purpose will shine through sincere, avoidance of clichés.

Seek Objective Feedback and Revision

Personal statements require substantial drafting, editing, and refinement. Solicit honest feedback from mentors, writing centres, or those familiar with fellowships. An objective critique can elevate your statement’s impact.

Customize Purposefully for Each Application

While some content can be repurposed, ensure your statement feels tailored to each specific fellowship’s mission, values, and criteria. Thoughtful customization conveys intentionality in your pursuit of that particular opportunity.

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• 2 Fellowship Personal Statement Examples For Application

Here are two different examples of statements that have worked for the students – perhaps it is not suitable for everyone, but you can have an idea how an effective statement looks like:

Cancer Research Driven by Personal Experience

Coming from a small town, the idea of pursuing cutting-edge cancer research always seemed like an impossible dream. That changed when I had the opportunity to work in Dr. Winston’s lab during my sophomore year. Initially apprehensive, I was soon captivated by the intricacies of targeted drug delivery systems. Witnessing the potential to revolutionize treatment resonated deeply with my passion for improving lives.

That summer, my grandfather’s cancer diagnosis strengthened my resolve. As I spent hours by his bedside, I was struck by the physical and emotional toll of chemotherapy. At that moment, I realized my true calling was to make these life-saving treatments more effective and less gruelling for patients like him. The XYZ Fellowship would allow me to work alongside pioneers in the field, providing invaluable mentorship and resources to bring my aspirations to reality.

Sustainable Development Through an Anthropological Lens

As an undergrad, I was always the student asking “Why?” Textbook explanations never felt complete without understanding the deeper roots and societal implications. This inquisitive nature led me to anthropology, where I could study human behaviour through an interdisciplinary lens.

During a fieldwork trip to Peru, I experienced firsthand how environmental changes disrupt the cultural fabric of indigenous communities. Witnessing their resilience and traditional ecological knowledge inspired me to focus my research on sustainable development practices. The proposed fellowship would enable me to spend a year immersed in the Amazon, collaborating with local tribes to develop adaptive strategies for climate resilience.

Receiving this opportunity would be a dream come true – to not only deepen my scholarship but also have a tangible positive impact. My background in anthropology, policy studies, and Spanish linguistic training position me to thrive as a fellow.

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Look, in a nutshell, writing an effective personal statement for competitive fellowship programs is both an art and a science. It requires striking the right balance between showcasing your achievements and telling an engaging story that resonates with the selection committee. By following the tips outlined in this guide, you can increase your chances of creating a personal statement that truly sets you apart from other applicants.

We would recommend to consider incorporating a powerful anecdote or defining moment that encapsulates your journey and aspirations. A well-crafted anecdote can be a compelling hook that draws the reader in and leaves a lasting impression. Just be sure to tie it back to the broader narrative and align it with the fellowship’s goals and values.

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What is the purpose of a fellowship personal statement?

The purpose of a fellowship personal statement is to provide the selection committee with a clear picture of who you are, your motivations, and how you would benefit from and contribute to the fellowship program. It allows you to showcase your unique experiences, skills, and goals that make you a strong candidate for the fellowship.

What should be included in a fellowship personal statement?

A strong fellowship personal statement should clearly state the specialty, describe your career goals and reasons for applying, highlight accomplishments during residency, outline your career direction post-fellowship, explain how the fellowship aligns with your goals, and showcase personal stories or experiences that have influenced your passion for the subspecialty.

How do I structure my fellowship personal statement?

The sources emphasize the importance of a fellowship personal statement in showcasing your qualifications, aligning with the fellowship’s goals, and demonstrating a clear career trajectory. They stress the need for authenticity, alignment with fellowship criteria, and a cohesive narrative that highlights your unique qualities and aspirations.

What tone should I use in my fellowship personal statement?

Your personal statement should have a professional yet personal tone. Use clear, concise language and avoid jargon. Be authentic and let your personality shine through. Convey your passion for the field and your commitment to making a positive impact.

How do I make my fellowship personal statement stand out?

To make your fellowship personal statement stand out, focus on crafting an authentic and coherent narrative that highlights your career journey, demonstrates genuine interest in the program, and aligns with your future goals.

How do I revise and edit my fellowship personal statement?

Revise and edit your personal statement multiple times. Get feedback from others, such as professors, mentors, or writing centres. Check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Ensure that your statement is clear, concise, and compelling. Finally, proofread it one last time before submitting it.

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Table of Contents

• • What Are The Multiple Statement Formats To Choose?
• • 6 Best Tips For Fellowship Personal Statement Writing
• • 2 Fellowship Personal Statement Examples For Application
• • Conclusion

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General Advice

A good fellowship application always has a compelling narrative. The basic narrative should connect your past experiences with your future goals and explain how the fellowship opportunity will bridge between the two. The Personal Statement gives you an opportunity to flesh out this narrative and tell your unique story. Selection committees will already know quite a bit about you from other application materials—they will know which classes you took and how you did, the jobs you have had and your extracurricular involvements, the opinions of your professors. However, what they will not know is what it has all meant to you. What do you care about? Why have you focused on these particular goals? Who influenced you? What put you on this particular path?

Think about the people you know best—friends and family members. Now imagine their lives as a series of data points, transcripts, resumes, and letters of recommendation. What part of the picture would be missing? Their individual stories, personalities, and the summation of their experiences. Everything that makes them particularly unique. You may, for instance, have two friends who both have the same GPA, have played the same sport, are majoring in the same subject, and active in the same clubs. But beyond this basic biographical data, your friends are each entirely different. Your Personal Statement is your chance to fill in the story that only you can tell, and which cannot possibly be communicated through the record of your achievements alone. Your GPA and other data tell the committee that you are a strong candidate, while your Personal Essay should convince them that you are someone they want to interview or select for their fellowship.

Beyond telling your story, the Personal Essay is also a place to discuss your goals. You want to strike a balance between being ambitious and realistic. Remember that fellowship committees are looking for a reason to invest in you. If they give you this opportunity, what might you be able to do as a result? No one can say with absolute certainty what the future holds, but you should be able to speak with conviction about your current plans and what you hope to achieve. Be sure you have researched your goals and plans. If you want to get a master’s degree in Sociology, for instance, talk to professors in your field about the best schools and programs—and know for sure if it makes sense to pursue an MA or a PhD based on what you hope to do. Likewise, if, for instance, you hope to run for office, figure out some possible trajectories to achieve what you hope to achieve (where would you run? What level? How would you build a coalition)?

Leadership Essays

Several fellowships now require separate essays on Leadership, often asking you to describe your most significant leadership experience. Keep in mind that leadership is not just about leading an organization. You are exhibiting leadership any time you have an idea and are able to get other people behind your idea. Thus, leadership can be intellectual and artistic as well as political or organizational. The leadership essay is a type of personal essay, another way for the selection committee to get to know you. Be sure to tell a compelling story and keep the focus on you, not on the organization. While many leadership experiences are collaborative, be careful about over-using a vague “we” pronoun (“Because we took this new approach, we were able to raise more than $1000.).” Be clear about your own personal contributions as a leader.

Word Counts and Character Issues

Most scholarships set word or character limits for personal statements and other essays. You should aim to get as close to the word or character limit as reasonably possible without going over it—you want to use every opportunity to tell your story, but must always follow the rules and guidelines set forth by each scholarship.

As a general rule, first compose and revise your essays without thinking too much about the length. For your first draft, get out everything you want to say without thinking at all about how many words or characters you are using. As you revise, you should get within the general range of the word count, but keep your focus on content, not on word count. Once you have a near-final draft, you are then ready to pare down your essay to get it within the word count. Take a rigorous and dispassionate approach to your writing—it is often helpful at this step to print out your essay and use a red pen. In addition to looking for unnecessary content, you also want to look for ways to make your writing more concise. Although this process can be time consuming, it will inevitably make your writing stronger and more direct. Be sure to budget for the extra time it will take for this final paring-down editing pass. For ideas on what types of extra verbiage to target as you are editing down your essay, see Joseph Williams and Joseph Bizup’s helpful discussion of “Concision” from Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace, Fifth Edition (New York: Pearson, 2015, pp 82-88). Applicants can contact Dr. Smolin directly for a copy of the relevant pages.

Things to Watch Out For

Dartmouth’s fellowship advisors read many personal statements. Below are some issues we often find come up—either things we recommend against or issues that you should consider carefully.

Acronyms can be frustrating for selection committee readers, who must read and process essays quickly. Even if you introduce a term first (“I worked for the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network [DEN],” readers will likely not remember the meaning later in the essay. Unless the acronym is broadly understood (NASA, Scuba, EPA, NEH, etc.), avoid it.

Contractions

Contractions like “I’m,” “isn’t,” “can’t,” etc., are informal. Generally, you should avoid them in application essays and adopt a more formal tone. Some scholarships, however, such as the Truman, prefer that you write closer to how you speak, in which case you might decide to use them.

Controversial Subjects/Partisan Opinions

You should never avoid a subject that you are passionate about and that is relevant to your goals because of fears that you may alienate a partisan/conservative/liberal committee. At the same time, anticipate a selection committee with widely varying opinions. Focus on explaining why the issue is important to you. A reader might personally disagree with you but still feel strongly that you are an ideal recipient for the scholarship. Committees are looking for people to support, not ideas or issues to support.

Dartmouth Jargon

Selection committees for national fellowships will likely not be familiar at all with campus life at Dartmouth and may not even have heard of Dartmouth. Avoid terms that are Dartmouth-specific (for instance, D-Plan, Trips, etc.) and give context or explanations where needed. It is generally also good to avoid phrases like, “When I graduate from Dartmouth…” Readers familiar with Dartmouth might think that you are name-dropping, and readers unfamiliar with Dartmouth (there are some out there!) may find this tedious.

Pop Culture References

Approach these with an excess of caution. It is extremely likely that some members of a selection committee (or all) will not understand a pop culture reference that seems simple and obvious to you. A reference that no one gets gets you nowhere.

Sensitive Personal Information

Application essays are all about telling your story and letting the selection committee get to know you. While you can get personal, you should be careful about getting too personal—avoid oversharing, too much self-deprecation, or personal stories that do not have a greater relevance. While applicants often write movingly about overcoming doubts and challenges, it’s essential to tie such anecdotes to a broader theme. Also take care not to inadvertently give selection committees reasons to doubt your ability to carry out your project.

Seeking Help

Before you seek feedback or input on your essay, make sure that the fellowship to which you are applying allows you to get help. Some fellowships, such as the Rhodes and Mitchell, expressly forbid you from getting any assistance.

The Fellowship Advisors at the Office of Fellowship Advising provide feedback on personal essays for endorsed scholarships when it is permissible to do so. We ask that you send drafts at least 24-hours before you wish to meet to discuss them and at least two weeks before the deadline of the fellowship.

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Ten Steps for Writing an Exceptional Personal Statement

Danielle jones.

All authors are with Emory University School of Medicine

Danielle Jones, MD, is Associate Professor of Medicine, Associate Section Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine Grady Section, and Associate Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency

J. Richard Pittman, Jr

J. Richard Pittman Jr, MD, is Associate Professor of Medicine, and Program Director, Fourth Year Internal Medicine Sub-Internship

Kimberly D. Manning

Kimberly D. Manning, MD, FACP, FAAP, is Professor of Medicine, and Associate Vice Chair, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Department of Medicine

The personal statement is an important requirement for residency and fellowship applications that many applicants find daunting. Beyond the cognitive challenge of writing an essay, time limitations for busy senior residents on clinical rotations present added pressure. Objective measures such as scores and evaluations paint only a partial picture of clinical and academic performance, leaving gaps in a candidate's full portrait. 1 , 2 Applicants, seemingly similar on paper, may have striking differences in experiences and distances traveled that would not be captured without a personal narrative. 2 , 3 We recommend, therefore, reframing personal statements as the way to best highlight applicants' greatest strengths and accomplishments. A well-written personal statement may be the tipping point for a residency or fellowship interview invitation, 4 , 5 which is particularly important given the heightened competition for slots due to increased participation on virtual platforms. Data show that 74% to 78% of residency programs use personal statements in their interview selection process, and 48% to 54% use them in the final rank. 6 , 7 With our combined 50 years of experience as clerkship and residency program directors (PDs) we value the personal statement and strongly encourage our trainees to seize the opportunity to feature themselves in their words.

Our residency and medical school leadership roles position us to edit and review numerous resident and student personal statements annually. This collective experience has helped us identify patterns of struggle for trainees: trouble starting, difficulty organizing a cogent narrative, losing the “personal” in the statement, and failing to display unique or notable attributes. While a bland personal statement may not hurt an applicant, it is a missed opportunity. 4 , 8 We also have distinguished helpful personal statement elements that allow PDs to establish candidates' “fit” with their desired residency or fellowship. A recent study supports that PDs find unique applicant information from personal statements helpful to determine fit. 4 Personal statement information also helps programs curate individualized interview days (eg, pair interviewers, guide conversations, highlight desirable curricula). Through our work with learners, we developed the structured approach presented here ( Figure 1 ). Applicants can use our approach to minimize typical struggles and efficiently craft personal statements that help them stand out. Busy residents, particularly, have minimal time to complete fellowship applications. We acknowledge there is no gold standard or objective measures for effective personal statement preparation. 9 Our approach, however, combined with a practical tool ( Figure 2 ), has streamlined the process for many of our mentees. Moreover, faculty advisors and program leaders, already challenged by time constraints, can use this tool to enhance their coaching and save time, effort, and cognitive energy.

Structured Approach to Writing a Personal Statement

Ten Steps for Writing an Exceptional Personal Statement: Digital Tool

Note: Use the QR code to download the digital tool and follow the 10 steps highlighted in Figure 1.

Given word count and space limitations, deciding what to include in a personal statement can be challenging. An initial brainstorm helps applicants recall personal attributes and experiences that best underscore key strengths (Step 1). 10 Writing explicit self-affirmations is challenging, so we recommend pairing with a near peer who may offer insight. Useful prompts include:

• ▪ What 3 words best encapsulate me?
• ▪ What accomplishments make me proud?
• ▪ What should every program know about me?

Reflecting on these questions (Step 2) helps elucidate the foundations of the narrative, 10 including strengths, accomplishments, and unique elements to be included. Additionally, the preparation steps help uncover the “thread” that connects the story sequentially. While not all agree that personal or patient stories are necessary, they are commonly included. 5 One genre analysis showed that 97% of applicants to residency programs in internal medicine, family medicine, and surgery used an opening that included either a personal narrative (66%) and/or a decision to enter medicine (54%) or the specialty of choice (72%). 9 Radiology PDs ranked personal attributes as the second most important component in personal statements behind choice of specialty. 9 Further, a descriptive study of anesthesia applicants' personal statements ranked those that included elements such as discussion of a family's or friend's illness or a patient case as more original. 3 We feel that personal and patient stories often provide an interesting hook to engage readers, as well as a mechanism to highlight (1) personal characteristics, (2) journey to and/or enthusiasm for desired discipline, and (3) professional growth, all without giving the impression of being boastful. Sketching these Step 2 fundamentals prepares applicants to begin writing with intention.

Writing and Structuring

Once key elements are identified, the next steps assist with the actual writing. Utilizing information gleaned from the “Preparing” steps, start with a freewriting exercise (Step 3), an unrestricted association of ideas aimed at answering, “What experiences have cultivated my strong interest in pursuing [______]?” At this stage, ignore spelling and grammar. Just write, even if the product is the roughest, rough draft imaginable. 10 Setting a timer for 10 to 15 minutes establishes a less intimidating window to start. Freewriting generates the essential initial content that typically will require multiple revisions. 10

Next, we recommend structuring the freewriting content into suggested paragraphs (Step 4), using the following framework to configure the first draft:

• ▪ Introductory paragraph: A compelling story, experience, or something that introduces the applicant and makes the reader want to know more (the hook). If related to a patient or other person, it should underscore the writer's qualities.
• ▪ Paragraph 2: Essential details that a program must know about the applicant and their proudest accomplishments.
• ▪ Paragraph(s) 3-4: Specific strengths related to the specialty of choice and leadership experiences.
• ▪ Closing paragraph: What the applicant values in a training program and what they believe they can contribute.

Evaluate what has been written and ensure that, after the engaging hook, the body incorporates the best pieces identified during the preparation steps (Step 5). A final paragraph affords ample space for a solid conclusion to the thread. Occasionally the narrative flows better with separate strengths and leadership paragraphs for a total of 5, but we strongly recommend the final statement not exceed 1 single-spaced page to reduce cognitive load on the reader.

This part of the process involves revising the piece into a final polished personal statement. Before an early draft is shared with others, it should be evaluated for several important factors by returning to the initial questions and then asking (Step 6):

“Does this personal statement…”

• Amplify my strengths, highlight my proudest accomplishments, and emphasize what a program must know about me?
• Have a logical flow?
• Accurately attribute content and avoid plagiarism?
• Use proper grammar and avoid slang or profanity?

While not as challenging as the other steps, optimization takes time. 10 At this stage, “resting” the draft for 1 week minimum (Step 7) puts a helpful distance between the writer and their work before returning, reading, and editing. 10 Writers can edit their own work to a point, but they often benefit by enlisting a trusted peer or advisor for critiques. Hearing their draft read aloud by a peer or advisor allows the applicant to evaluate the work from another perspective while noting how well it meets the criteria from the tool (provided as online supplementary data).

A virtual or in-person meeting between applicant and mentor ultimately saves time and advances the writer to a final product more quickly than an email exchange. Sending the personal statement in advance helps facilitate the meeting. Invite the advisor to candidly comment on the tool's criteria to yield the most useful feedback (Step 8). When done effectively, edits can be made in real time with the mentor's input.

We bring closure to the process by focusing on spelling and grammar checks (Step 9). Clarity, conciseness, and the use of proper English were rated as extremely important by PDs. 3 , 9 Grammatical errors distract readers, highlight inattention to detail, and detract from the personal statement. 3 , 9 Once more, we recommend resting the draft before calling it final (Step 10). If the piece required starting over or significant rewriting based on feedback received, we also suggest seeking additional feedback on this draft, ideally from someone in the desired residency or fellowship discipline. If only minor edits (eg, flow, language) were incorporated, the personal statement can be considered complete at this time.

Writing a personal statement represents a unique opportunity for residency and fellowship applicants to amplify their ERAS application beyond the confines of its objective components. 3 Using this stepwise approach encourages each personal statement to be truly personal and streamlines the process for applicants and reviewers alike. All stakeholders benefit: applicants, regardless of their scores and academic metrics, can arm themselves with powerful means for self-advocacy; PDs gain a clearer idea of individual applicants, allowing them to augment the selection process and curate the individual interview day; and faculty mentors can offer concrete direction to every mentee seeking their help.

FSU | Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards

Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards

Personal statement.

Certain applications request a brief personal statement, which is, above all, an academic personal statement. This provides you with an opportunity to illustrate your motivation, goals, and dedication to your studies . It is important to consider how your personal statement enhances your overall proposal and how you fit the mission of the funding sponsor.

Every suitable candidate for the most competitive academic fellowships has a high GPA and outstanding recommendations. What distinguishes the top candidates from the others is the quality of their personal statement. It needs to showcase your accomplishments as well as communicate your vision for what you could achieve in the future. Most importantly, your personal statement should make the selection committee members remember you.

Many students have said this is the hardest thing to write. You are introducing your best self to people who do not know you and who are reading hundreds of these applications. Show that you are acquainted with your chosen field and that you know the central questions and issues in that field.

It is absolutely essential that you have faculty members review this document. Give it to anyone who is writing you a letter of recommendation, and ask for their feedback.

Pro-Tip by a Graduate Student

Natali Ramirez-Bullon, Recipient of multiple Fellowships and Awards such as AAUW American Dissertation Fellowship (2021)

“When I am preparing my application to any grant or fellowship, I always read the objectives and mission of the institution so I can align my application to them. In the case of AAUW, their mission is “to advance gender equity for women and girls through research, education, and advocacy.”  I used that as my guideline to select the examples I used to demonstrate my commitment to women. I also incorporated some of those examples into my career goals. For example, I highlighted my commitment to mentoring women to reduce gender disparity in conservation decision-making (my research focuses on conservation biology). I looked for examples where it has been shown that a greater proportion of women in leadership roles increased conservation success. I mentioned my involvement on co-creating our department’s first diversity statement and other initiatives. In the commitment to women and girls’ section, I shared my personal story about how I perceive gender inequality and what actions I took to try to do my part.

To plan my application, I made a list of all the things I did to help women since middle school. Then I selected the examples that were the most relevant. I chose some that reflected advocacy, leadership, and education and provided examples for each step of my career starting from high school to the present so that I could show a longer term commitment to this issue, which was of central importance for the fellowship."

Workshop: Crafting a Competitive Personal Statement

Join Emily Saras, doctoral candidate and recipient of multiple awards including Fulbright and the PEO Scholar Award, in this workshop entitled ”Crafting a Competitive Personal Statement.” In this session, she provides tips on crafting a competitive personal statement from scratch to finish.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 

Crafting Competitive Personal Statements | FSU Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards

How do I write my letter of motivation? | DAAD

Writing a Personal Statement for Scholarships and Fellowships | Pomona College

Writing the Personal Statement | Purdue Online Writing Lab

Tips for Writing a Personal Statement | Carnegie Mellon University

Writing Personal Statements | Cornell College

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR NON-NATIVE SPEAKERS

Handout Prompts and Language | FSU Center for Intensive English Studies

Statement of Purpose for Applications | FSU Center for Intensive English Studies

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How to Write a Strong Personal Statement

• Ruth Gotian
• Ushma S. Neill

A few adjustments can get your application noticed.

Whether applying for a summer internship, a professional development opportunity, such as a Fulbright, an executive MBA program, or a senior leadership development course, a personal statement threads the ideas of your CV, and is longer and has a different tone and purpose than a traditional cover letter. A few adjustments to your personal statement can get your application noticed by the reviewer.

• Make sure you’re writing what they want to hear. Most organizations that offer a fellowship or internship are using the experience as a pipeline: It’s smart to spend 10 weeks and $15,000 on someone before committing five years and $300,000. Rarely are the organizations being charitable or altruistic, so align your stated goals with theirs
• Know when to bury the lead, and when to get to the point. It’s hard to paint a picture and explain your motivations in 200 words, but if you have two pages, give the reader a story arc or ease into your point by setting the scene.
• Recognize that the reviewer will be reading your statement subjectively, meaning you’re being assessed on unknowable criteria. Most people on evaluation committees are reading for whether or not you’re interesting. Stated differently, do they want to go out to dinner with you to hear more? Write it so that the person reading it wants to hear more.
• Address the elephant in the room (if there is one). Maybe your grades weren’t great in core courses, or perhaps you’ve never worked in the field you’re applying to. Make sure to address the deficiency rather than hoping the reader ignores it because they won’t. A few sentences suffice. Deficiencies do not need to be the cornerstone of the application.

At multiple points in your life, you will need to take action to transition from where you are to where you want to be. This process is layered and time-consuming, and getting yourself to stand out among the masses is an arduous but not impossible task. Having a polished resume that explains what you’ve done is the common first step. But, when an application asks for it, a personal statement can add color and depth to your list of accomplishments. It moves you from a one-dimensional indistinguishable candidate to someone with drive, interest, and nuance.

• Ruth Gotian is the chief learning officer and associate professor of education in anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, and the author of The Success Factor and Financial Times Guide to Mentoring . She was named the #1 emerging management thinker by Thinkers50. You can access her free list of conversation starters and test your mentoring impact . RuthGotian
• Ushma S. Neill is the Vice President, Scientific Education & Training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. She runs several summer internships and is involved with the NYC Marshall Scholar Selection Committee. ushmaneill

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Personal Statement

What is the personal statement.

Most fellowship applications include a personal statement. This is an opportunity for you to show your critical thinking skills in a creative format. It is where you get to add your voice to the mix of materials that reviewers see when you apply for fellowships. Use the personal statement to highlight positive aspects about yourself that may not be apparent in other parts of your application.

The personal statement is your place to ask and answer questions about your past, present and future, including:

• What has brought you to this point in your life?
• What have you learned from your past experiences?
• What do you want to do with your studies?
• How will this fellowship help you pursue you goals?
• Why should this fellowship want to invest in you?

The personal statement should not simply list your activities and accomplishments. Instead, try to craft a narrative that shows the review committee reader that you have the qualities the fellowship is looking for.

How to write a personal statement

You can approach the personal statement in many different ways. Some students like to start with an outline, while others start by brainstorming. The main points are: What are a few things you want people to know about you? Why is this fellowship right for you?

Writing improves with successive drafts. It is not unusual to write several drafts of the personal statement. As long as the fellowship rules allow it (and most do), you should bring your writing to the URF advisers. We can discuss your ideas at any stage and speak with you in detail about your statement. We don't try to fit you into a mold. Instead, our goal is to help you write a statement that you feel best represents you!

Keep these ideas in mind as you write:

• Use specific examples from your life to highlight your positive qualities--the more concrete the better.
• Include stories from your life, your favorite quotes, or anecdotes that reveal how you define yourself and see the world
• Show your reader that the issues that move you are important. Get them to want to "fight the fight" with you.
• Describe the ways you want to make an impact in the world.

Once you have written your personal statement, invite friends and family to read it. Do they think it portrays the person they know? Fellowship committees value authenticity above all other qualities. Make sure your statement reflects your true values and aspirations.

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• Letters of Recommendation

How to Write a Residency Personal Statement with Examples from a Program Director

Residency programs receive thousands of applications from qualified candidates, and your personal statement provides the chance for you to show a program why they should choose you.

For Kamran M. Mirza, MD, PhD, Professor of Pathology Education at Godfrey D. Stobbe, the residency personal statement is the first piece of the application that he reads. So, it’s important to make it count. 

Use your voice to show them why you’re the perfect match for their program. It could be the thing that tips the scales in your favor.

Remember, it’s called the residency “match” for a reason. Programs aren’t just looking for the best candidates; they’re looking for the best match for their team and culture. Your personal statement is your opportunity to showcase why you belong there.

Key Takeaways:

• Invest time in your personal statement, as this can be the first piece of your application that a program director reads.
• Start with an engaging opening, use illustrative incidents to maintain the reader’s interest, and conclude by reinforcing your main points and linking back to your introduction.
• If there are any gaps, unexplained grades, or other potential red flags in your application, use your personal statement to provide context and show the lessons you have learned from these challenges. 
• Steer clear of clichés, rehashing old statements, and focusing too much on experiences before your time in medical school. Instead, emphasize current interests and future aspirations. 
• Ensure your writing is polished, free of grammatical errors, and avoid controversial topics unless they are presented thoughtfully and professionally.

What is the Purpose of a Personal Statement?

A personal statement paints a picture of you. While your ERAS application introduces your accomplishments, it doesn’t fully capture the essence of you . There’s a whole history behind why you’re on this journey to becoming a doctor, and your personal statement is where you get to tell that story. Show the program why this path matters to you.

A personal statement highlights your unique qualifications and experiences. It’s your opportunity to talk about your professional aspirations and showcase the experiences that make you stand out—whether it’s research, clinical skills, leadership, or even your ability to communicate effectively. Explain how these experiences have shaped you and how they’ll influence the way you practice in your chosen specialty.

A personal statement shows your commitment. Demonstrate how you’ve gone above and beyond the basic requirements. Make it personal. Share what you believe in, what you love about the specialty, what fascinates you, and what you find most rewarding. This is where you show the program what you will bring to the table to make an impact in the lives of the patients you will serve.

A personal statement sells you. Residency programs are going to be reading hundreds of these, so it’s crucial that yours makes an impact. Think of your motivation as the trunk of a tree, with specific incidents or work experiences branching out from there. Remember—be genuine. Don’t feel like you have to oversell yourself. Just be true to who you are, and let your passion and experiences speak for themselves. That’s what’s going to resonate the most.

How to Write a Residency Personal Statement 

The personal statement is your chance to help residency programs really understand who you are, what draws you to your desired specialty, and what sets you apart from other candidates. To make sure your personal statement is top-notch, here’s what you should include:

• Lead with a catchy opening paragraph that grabs the reader’s attention and makes them want to read more. This is the most critical part of your personal statement, and a strong start sets the tone for the rest of your narrative.
• Recapture the reader’s attention about halfway through your statement with insight that reinforces your overall theme.
• Focus on a few illustrative incidents that have shaped your journey. Unite these incidents with a theme or thesis that ties your story together and highlights what makes you unique.
• Outline what you want to say and the order in which you want to say it. This will help you create a coherent and well-structured narrative.
• Use concrete examples of experiences that help distinguish you from others and make your story more relatable and memorable.
• Write about interests that excite you. When you share what you are passionate about, it will come through in your writing and resonate with the reader.
• End your message with a conclusion that refers back to your opening and restates your thesis. This brings your personal statement full circle and leaves a lasting impression on the reader.

 Effective Residency Personal Statement Examples 

During the 2025 Match Summit event, Dr. Kamran Mirza presented several personal statements to help guide medical students through the process.

As a program director who has read many residency personal statements as part of the ERAS application process, Dr. Mirza shares some of the best residency personal statement examples.

Example #1 – The Introduction

I love dinosaurs. 

When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was learn everything I could about them – how they lived, what they ate, and what they looked like. My love of dinosaurs led me to apply to college as a paleontology major. Like any eager student, I wanted a head start in college so I decided to take a human anatomy class. My goal was to learn the names of bones. One day in class, the teacher showed us a video of total hip replacement and that was it. My entire life’s dream shifted. From that day on, I knew I wanted to be a surgeon. 

Example #2 – A Story of Family Hardship

My mother immigrated from the Philippines to Minnesota as a mail-order bride. Amidst the improved living conditions and snowy winters, she was physically abused by my father and repeatedly threatened for her life. Between episodes of abuse, she gave birth to me, her firstborn child. In the thick of her celebration and under postpartum care, her OBGYN connected her with the resources necessary to exit her dangerous situation. This was the first of many instances that would provide me insight into the immense privilege that OBGYNs have of caring for extremely vulnerable patients, such as my mother. And so, my mother left for California with her newborn infant, and if not for her OBGYN, she – and I – might not have survived. 

Example #3 – The Theme

The key to a perfect choux pastry, or any pastry for that matter, and the singular quality I’m convinced separates good surgeons from great ones are one in the same.

Mise en place is a French culinary adage meaning, “everything in its place.” In short, one’s ability to prepare is the major determinant of quality.

The best preparation, however, is informed by experience. I can tell you every ingredient, tool, and step to follow to make choux, but I can’t tell you how many eggs you’ll need. Recognizing the perfect texture comes only through practice and repetition. In these iterations one learns what could go wrong, what’s likely to go wrong, and whether those are the same. 

Example #4 – Turning Around Your Red Flag

During my senior year of undergrad, I was diagnosed with depression and got the help I needed to become the best student I could be. Through this experience, I learned the importance of advocacy for myself and others. Once I sought help for my mental health, my entire academic career changed. I use this skill now to advocate for my patients. 

For more examples, be sure to watch Dr. Mirza’s entire presentation below.

How to Address Red Flags

Your residency personal statement is a great way to address any gaps in your education, unexplained grades, or any other potential red flags in your application that may stand in your way of showcasing your strengths for a potential program.

There is no need to focus too much on any red flags you are able to address within your ERAS application. However, if there is something that you need to provide further explanation for, the best way to do so is to use your personal statement to turn it around to show how this challenge in your life shaped you in a positive way, and the lessons you learned. 

What to Avoid When Writing Your Personal Statement 

As you begin mapping out your residency personal statement, there are some common drawbacks that can prevent your statement from standing out.

As a rule of thumb, here are some things you should avoid: 

• Cliches . Saying, “I want to help people,” isn’t going to set you apart—it’s something we innately hope all of you feel strongly about! However, what did you have to overcome to get here, and what part of your story led you to this moment? Stay clear of cliche stories that make it look like you didn’t put effort into your personal statement. Give specific examples of experiences that inform your career choice and demonstrate your skills.
• Rehashing medical school statements. Your time in medical school has helped shape who you are and why you are pursuing your desired specialty. Focus on experiences and challenges you have overcome in the present day and try to steer clear from anything before medical school. 
• Focusing too much on what led you to your specialty. While it’s important to touch on this, it shouldn’t dominate your narrative. Leave room to discuss your current interests and future aspirations. What excites you about the residency ahead? What are your goals for the future, both in residency and beyond? Programs want to see that you are forward-thinking and have a clear vision for your career.
• Informal writing. Your statement should be polished and well-structured, demonstrating your ability to communicate effectively.The best advice you can receive is revise, revise, and revise some more. Plan to read your personal statement several times, as well as others, to make sure your story stays on track, is free of grammatical errors, and remains engaging throughout.
• Controversial topics. It’s wise to avoid topics that include political, ethical, or religious issues. While it’s important to share your personal experiences, you don’t want your writing to come off as offensive or cross any lines. However, when relevant, sharing examples of hardships or family problems that have shaped your journey can be powerful, provided they are presented in a way that is thoughtful and professional. You can refer to Dr. Mirza’s example above for how to best position this.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should your residency personal statement be.

The standard recommendation is to keep your residency personal statement to one page, which is around 600-750 words in length.

How to Write a Residency Personal Statement?

Start with an outline to help you begin to narrow down your theme, followed by examples you want to include. Remember to follow our guide on what to avoid, and don’t forget to revise, revise, revise !

Should You Address Red Flags in Your Residency Personal Statement?

Your personal statement is how you are going to sell yourself to your desired program. If you are able to address your red flags in your application, there is no need to bring them up in your essay, especially if it might invoke any doubt. However, if you are able to address it in a way that demonstrates how you overcame your situation and learned lessons from your struggles, this is a great opportunity to show the program how you were able to turn it around into a positive experience. 

What are Some Residency Personal Statement Examples?

While we touch on a few samples in this blog, Dr. Kamran Mirza, a program director who presented on the topic of writing an effective personal statement, shares several more in his presentation. Watch the full clip from TrueLearn’s 2025 Match Summit event here !

Time to Write Your Personal Statement

We know there is a lot of information here, and we hope these insights have given you a solid foundation to start shaping your own personal statement. The most important thing to remember about the residency personal statement is there are no shortcuts in this match application process. Doing things the right way and going the extra mile will set you apart from the hundreds of other applicants. 

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INFORMATION FOR

• Residents & Fellows
• Researchers

A Personal Statement Checklist

Hi everyone,

With fellowship application season approaching, many of you are starting to write personal statements. Even if you plan to apply next year, or the year after that, or even if fellowship’s not for you, you’re still going to write a personal statement someday, so read on.

Before you begin, check out my PD Note on Personal statement “Do’s and Don’ts . The talent pool is deep and you want to rise to the top. A powerful essay will boost you.

Each year, I review more than 30 personal statements and without fail, common errors emerge. You don’t want to spend hours drafting an essay just to be told it needs an overhaul, so hopefully this checklist will help:

• Check your spelling: Make it perfect. Run a spell check.
• Check your grammar: Make this perfect too. Nix the bad syntax, misplaced commas, and run-on sentences. Read your essay out loud and hear how it sounds.
• Be compelling: Make it enticing. If you were a fellowship director, would you choose you?
• One page max: You may think your tome is riveting, but think again. Fellowship directors read hundreds of essays and you don’t want to make them yawn. Take pity. Be brief.
• Explain why you chose your field: Cut the hyperbole and be specific. Fellowship directors can see through dubious odes to their specialty, like how you swoon over pee or dream about diarrhea. You can’t out-love the competition’s affection for hormones or sputum. Instead, explain how a field aligns with your interests and skills. And don’t trash other specialties. Cardiology isn’t the only field that deals with life and death, and oncology isn’t the only specialty with novel treatments. Finally, don’t waste space on this topic: you’re obviously interested, because you’re applying. Move on.
• Show how you will contribute: Fellowship directors don’t really care about your happiness and fulfillment, at least when it comes to choosing fellows, but they’re laser focused on your academic potential. Tell them how you will advance the field.
• Show your sophistication: Demonstrate that you know where the field is going. For example, describe the significance of your research or consider how the specialty is likely to change during your career.
• Describe the skills you seek: These can include procedural, research, and teaching skills, like advanced endoscopy, trial design, and medical education training.
• Outline what you’re looking for in a fellowship: Examples could include basic science opportunities, exposure to specific patient populations, or access to graduate degrees. Make sure the fellowship’s mission aligns with your career plans.
• Map your trajectory: Academic fellowship directors aim to train funded investigators, master educators, and cutting-edge clinicians. They love to brag about their alumni. As much as you can, without being overly specific, look into your future. Be true to yourself- don’t pursue a research-intensive fellowship if you plan to become a master clinician. You’re looking for a match.
• Strive for coherence: Your narrative should make sense. It’s easier to convey an interest in investigation when you have extensive research experience, or an interest in teaching when you’re pursuing a Clinician Education Distinction. You’re permitted to change paths- for example, many MD PhDs become clinician educators, but explain the transition.
• Highlight your accomplishments: What makes you proud? Don’t rehash your CV. Provide context and color, and show your growth.
• If necessary, address questions and concerns: If you failed a test, took an extended leave, or got derailed temporarily, seize the narrative and address the issues here. If you get stuck, talk to a trusted advisor.
• Seek input: It’s easy to lose perspective, particularly after hours of writing and editing. When your eyes start glazing over, ask for help.

In the end, your personal statement should highlight your potential. Use the checklist. Make yourself shine.

Enjoy your Sunday, everyone, and when your drafts are ready, send them to me for review.

Featured in this article

• Mark David Siegel, MD Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary); Program Director, Internal Medicine Traditional Residency Program

Fellowship Personal Statement

Criteria for success.

• You are eligible for the Fellowship, relating to both your personal background and research interests, as well as clerical aspects (age, citizenship, etc.).
• Your personal statement convinces a panel of academics that you are qualified to receive the Fellowship, especially with respect to any key criteria of the organization (e.g., “Intellectual Merit” or “[relevance] to the Defense mission”).
• You show only those skills and experiences that demonstrate how you fit those criteria.
• The skills and experiences that you show are concrete and quantitative .
• Your personal statement meets the formatting and page limit criteria and is submitted on time .

Structure Diagram

NSF Example: 

NDSEG example: 

Figure caption: 

NSF GRFP and NDSEG are just two examples of popular fellowships that people apply for at MIT. The general ideas presented in the above two figures can be extrapolated to any fellowship. If you need help framing these suggested structures in the context of another fellowship or formulating a new structure entirely, you can always talk to a Comm Lab Fellow.

Some remarks:

• The narrative should be cohesive and the section boundaries are not rigid: weave key themes about your goals and match throughout. Sizes of sections are approximate.
• As of 2021, NSF GRFP asks for three pages, whereas NDSEG asks for 500 words (about one page). Your writing goals and prose will be very different as a function of length (see the examples).
• As you plan out your Personal Statement, try color coding your different sections similarly to the above two figures. How long are the sections you have written? Does the distribution make sense based on your narrative?

Identify Your Purpose

Your personal statement is part of an application that should convince the selection committee to award you the Fellowship. The personal statement is the only part of the application where you get to lay out the experiences you’ve had, the goals you intend to pursue, and how those experiences and goals qualify you for the Fellowship. All materials in your application package should have a consistent theme; use the personal statement to tie together disparate experiences or strengthen your eligibility by elaborating on experiences that are particularly meaningful.

Reflect on your short and long term goals as you think about your personal statement. Do they align with the fellowship? Short term, you would like to win the funding award. What story or image about you and your research should this document convince them of? Long term, consider the following: What is your professional trajectory? How will this award further your professional goals? Be honest with yourself: your Personal Statement should be authentic. It is often easy to tell when someone is stretching the truth or doesn’t believe the narrative of their own Statement.

Analyze Your Audience

For most fellowships, your entire application will be reviewed by a panel of scientists or engineers (often with representatives from your field, though sometimes interdisciplinary) and other professionals with experience relevant to the fellowship mission. These can include academics, usually from your broad area of science (e.g., “mechanical engineering”) but not necessarily from your specific area (e.g., robotics and controls), as well as (PhD) subject matter experts from companies, the government, or other organizations. They will judge your application using some combination of ( a ) the official criteria for the Fellowship and ( b ) their own ideas about what makes good science or a good scientist (depending on whether the fellowship is more geared toward funding people or projects).

The people on the committee read many, many applications. Make it easy for them to figure out that you are qualified for the award by referencing and key words that you know to be part of selection criteria (e.g., “Intellectual Merit” and “Broader Impact” for NSF GRFP). Creating a strong narrative with a unified “brand” across your application package will make it more memorable.

Appeal to the criteria of the fellowship

Your Personal Statement is the place you can most clearly identify why you are a qualified match for the fellowship you are applying for. If selected, you will likely be a public representative of your fellowship organization (citing them in your published work and resume or attending conferences with their funds). By demonstrating that you understand what the funding organization is looking for in their fellows, and you meet this criteria, you will make the selection committee’s job easy for them!

Step 1: Identify what makes a fellowship unique. Many fellowships will assess you on a combination of your technical/scientific merit (grades, publications, awards, etc.), and your potential for “impact” in the fellowship area of interest (as a science educator, as a researcher in the defense community, for your potential to transform a specific area such as food and agriculture, etc.). While the NSF GRFP is the most explicit in its division and definition of these two sections, look for comparable categories in all fellowships you apply to. 

In order to compare the “calls” from different fellowships, try the following exercise: 

• Bring up the descriptions of what two fellowships ask for in your personal statement.
• Highlight words that repeat within each description individually.
• Highlight similar words between the two.
• Highlight words that only appear in one of the descriptions.

It is easy to overlook small differences in language when you aren’t paying attention. However, to a funding agency, each word they chose to use will have significance (and may even have a line on their internal rubric). Write your personal statement in a way that makes it as clear as possible that you meet these unique criteria. 

Show what you know about the fellowship through your language. Echoing the language of the call for applicants in your Statement is a good way to demonstrate that a) you understand the unique criteria and b) your narrative is a match for the criteria . It might be against your instincts to repeat the same words verbatim, but judicious repetition will strengthen key points and make your “match” to the fellowship criteria memorable. 

See also the forthcoming MechE CommLab blog post on the NSF criteria of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impact.

Step 2: Customize the experiences in your Statement so that it addresses these criteria. This should not require you to invent a new “personal brand” for every fellowship you apply for, only to be selective in what you choose to highlight. 

For example: you may be able to demonstrate your track record for “impact” through both the makerspace you started and taught at 10 hrs/week in your living community, or through the 500 PPE units you designed, made, and distributed to local first responders at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Your first experience might be a better match for a fellowship expressing an interest in education and teaching, while a fellowship emphasizing hardware realization might value the second example more. 

Create a personal narrative and brand

The narrative: Your personal statement is your opportunity to show the selection panel that your personal goals (e.g., ‘collaborating with foreign scientists’ or ‘mitigating coastal erosion’ in a community you care about) align with the program’s goals (e.g., ‘creating a globally-engaged workforce’ or ‘resilience in the face of a changing climate’). Tell a narrative about yourself that is honest, that you’re excited about, and that shows this alignment. 

Use this narrative through your entire personal statement. It should help you avoid writing a personal statement that is just a resume in essay format. 

Your brand:  You should have a unified “brand” across your whole application package. Draft a mission statement early in your writing process, and refer back to it as you work on each component of the application. Consider including this mission statement verbatim in your application (even bolding or underlining if the formatting criteria allow). Use this mission statement as an anchor and echo it in later parts of your personal and research statements to create a unified message throughout your application. 

Describing your mission statement to your reference letter writers may also help them to make sure their letter parallels what you plan to convey in other parts of your application. Some students even email draft versions of their Personal Statements and Research Proposals to their recommenders.

Concretize and quantify your experiences

Your experiences are the “what” of your essay. Which experiences led you to develop your skill set and passions? Where have you demonstrated accomplishment, leadership, and collaboration? Research, teaching, and relevant extracurriculars are all relevant. State concrete achievements and outcomes like awards, discoveries, or publications.

Quantify your experience or impact to make them more concrete. How many people were on your team? How many protocols did you develop? How many people were in competition for an award? As a TA, how often did you meet with your students?

Remember, when concretizing your experiences, describe your actions rather than changes in your mental or emotional state; your personal statement is not a diary entry.

Explain the meaning of your experiences

The meaning of your experiences is the “why” or “so what” of your personal statement. It’s good to have quantitative and concrete experience; it’s even more important to attribute meaning to those experiences.

Every set of experiences should speak to the selection criteria. For most graduate fellowships these will include:

• How has this experience prepared you to seek a graduate degree?
• Why was this experience important to your growth as a scientist?’
• How will it help you become a knowledge expert or leader?
• How will it help you contribute to research, education, or innovations in science and engineering?
• What did you gain from or demonstrate during that experience?

The connection between your experiences and the fellowship’s goals may feel obvious to you, but you should make these connections explicit for your audience: this will make it easy for them to put you in the “yes” pile.

Style your statement so it is easy to read, and easy to re-read. Use statements about the meaning of experience as transitions between experiences or “wrappers” around individual experiences. A great strategy is to open each paragraph with the forthcoming take-home message of that paragraph. The benefits of this are twofold:

• For reviewers who are reading your Personal Statement in detail, this will let them know what to expect. They will anticipate this take-home message as they read through the paragraph, making it easier for them to understand what you’re getting at.
• For reviewers who are just skimming through your Personal Statement (perhaps as a re-read), they might glance at the first sentence or two of each paragraph. In that case, they won’t miss the key point of each part of your story. 

Reviewers (or reference writers) will have an easier time recommending you for the fellowship if you give them the language to do so. Some reviewers may even directly quote you in their justification for acceptance (or rejection). Putting the meaning at the beginning and end of a paragraph makes it easy for a reader to understand what they should be taking away from the details in the middle.

You can also use meaning as a device to segue from one experience to the other. For example, if you state that experience X “launched your career in the field of Y,” you can flow into the next experience you discuss by saying something to the effect of, “Leveraging the momentum from X, I dove headfirst into my next project on Y, where Z was the personal outcome.” Here, Z might be the take-home message of that new paragraph.

Important Tips to Remember

Write about you , not your role models. One of the most common pitfalls we see in the Comm Lab is students writing touching Personal Statements about family members or role models who have inspired them. There is nothing wrong with including personal stories about people who have helped you understand yourself better or positioned you to succeed in graduate school, but it is important to tread very carefully. Don’t leave the reader wondering why they are reading about someone else in a document that is meant to be about you. If you take time to talk about someone who positively affected you, make sure to be very clear about how that experience with that person molded you into a strong graduate student researcher.

Be judicious with childhood stories. A brief mention of some childhood experience that shaped your interests in STEM is probably okay, but if you talk about it at length (more than ~2 sentences), you are taking up space that should probably be used to talk about who you are today, not who you were over a decade ago.

Don’t simply restate your resume. Your Personal Statement should be a technical document (having evidence, numbers, and supporting facts) with personal outcomes (talking about your motivations, ambitions, and ability to succeed as a researcher who is a match to the fellowship). Of course, you will reiterate parts of your resume in your Personal Statement , but what uniquely makes it a “Personal Statement” is the discussion of how those professional experiences affected you , as a researcher and person well-suited to the fellowship-granting organization’s goals.

Don’t try to squeeze everything in—focus on being concise and insightful. As we discussed in the section about tailoring your application, show what you know about the fellowship by being highly selective about the experiences you choose to share. Trying to squeeze your entire story into your Personal Statements will result in a document that is cluttered and has no room for deeper insights. You can avoid this pitfall by thinking carefully about which experiences best illustrate that you are a qualified match for the fellowship and honing in on those.

Meet formatting requirements. Funding agencies receive more applications than they can fund. Failure to follow simple formatting guidelines is an easy way for your application to be rejected without review.

A final note of reassurance

In general, grants fund projects; fellowships fund the professional and scientific growth of individuals . That said, fellowships are competitive and alignment of your research plan with the fellowship goals may contribute to the final acceptance or rejection. Search out fellowships where your personal and professional (research) match is clear in order to give yourself the best chance of success. The NSF GRFP is historically project-agnostic (with some change in language around this beginning in 2020). By contrast, NDSEG emphasizes the alignment of your proposed research with the DoD mission as a main selection criterion. 

Present your qualifications and match, but understand that even the most qualified applicant might be rejected for a lack of match on the funders side for a specific application cycle . This is out of your control and reapplying (when allowed) with very similar personal statements and research proposals can be successful.

In reading this document, we hope that you have seen that one cannot simply put together a fellowship application and hope to succeed. In order to write a strong Personal Statement, you must be thoughtful, proactive, and knowledgeable about the fellowship program and its goals. A strong resume alone is not enough—you must translate your experiences into personal outcomes and program goals that you can achieve, and that the reviewers can understand. Likewise, a comparatively sparse resume does not preclude you from winning a fellowship. If you are able to take the experiences that you do have and demonstrate a qualified match with the fellowship program criteria, you might find yourself in the “yes” pile. It is all about communication.

Acknowledgements : This content was adapted from the ChemE and NSE Communication Labs’ CommKits for fellowship personal statements.

Resources and Annotated Examples

Annotated example 1, annotated example 2.

Tips for Writing an Impactful Personal Statement

By FAIT Fellowship Staff

The Personal Statement is a key part of your application that will be scored for the Foreign Affairs IT Fellowship. Here’s your chance to shine – to use your personal experiences, values, and feelings to express who you are, what you are passionate about, what motivates you. Why do you want to pursue a career in the Foreign Service? Think of this as a personal essay, in which you have 750 words to tell a story that:

• Illustrates your interpersonal skills or cultural sensitivity through your past experiences, either domestically or abroad.
• Shows your ability to respond to attitudes, feelings or circumstances of various cultures or diverse groups. For example, you may have had volunteer experiences involving interaction with various cultures or socioeconomic groups, such as teaching English or helping in an adolescent literacy program.
• Illustrates any disadvantages or obstacles that you’ve had to overcome to obtain your education. Are you in a single-parent household, or a low-income background? Did you work part- or full-time to finance your education?
• Expresses your interest and availability to travel around the world and to pursue a career in information technology.

Be sure that your personal statement is well-written, uses proper English and provides a clear statement of your goals, interests and background. Do not use any AI writing tools. Authenticity is key – and your personal statement must be your own writing.

Also, the Foreign Service Dimensions infographic can give you insight into what skills, abilities, and personal qualities the State Department is looking for in a candidate.

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Professionals

Resources     >     Advice for Personal Statements     >     Part 4: For Fellowship

Expert Personal Statement Advice - Fellowship vs Residency

Written by David Lombardino   |  Updated March 1, 2024

Medical Fellowship Is About Maturity

The best fellowship personal statements are the ones that reflect both the personal and professional maturity that should come with residency. This means a focused and driven personal statement, one that shows its confidence in being directly and humbly written.

What Subspecialties Does This Advice Apply to?

This advice applies to all fellowship programs, from cardiology and hematology to endocrinology and gastroenterology, surgery, the pediatric subspecialties and everything in between.

Do the Same Rules Apply for Fellowship as for Residency?

Yes, though following the same rules naturally leads to differences.

The fellowship personal statement will distinguish itself by its diligence, focus and maturity.

What Must the Fellowship Personal Statement Include?

At a minimum, to write an outstanding personal statement for fellowship, it must include:

• The first time you realized your interest (or ideally passion) in the particular subspecialty;
• Times since then when your passion for the subspecialty was deepened, refined, reinforced or expanded;
• Any noteworthy accomplishments achieved—and ideally sought intentionally—so far in following that path, including clinical, research and teaching aspects;
• The direction, as a result, you now see yourself taking, including short-, medium- and long-term goals;
• How the program(s) you are applying for would be an ideal match for that direction; and
• How you and your path are an ideal fit for the program(s).

What Must These Items Accomplish?

Each of these items must elucidate a particular quality or qualities about you as a fellowship applicant.

They must be particular to you, as opposed to being able to be said generically by anyone applying for the program.

What Are the Similarities Between the Fellowship and Residency Personal Statement?

Both the fellowship personal statement and the residency personal statement should describe the specific path / specific reasons that has / have led to the decision to apply for the chosen specialty or subspecialty.

They should also detail what the candidate hopes to achieve through the position, including how the candidate sees it will edify their future career.

What Are the Differences?

The general format of the residency personal statement is to describe the candidate's initial interest in medicine and how that was shaped into a desire for the particular field (e.g., internal medicine).

This is fleshed out with details that are relevant to the candidate's pursuit of the program (e.g., elective rotations, research experience, community involvement), with a view toward the future career.

This vision should be informed by significant clinical and, ideally, academic experiences in residency, if not also medical school.

How Does a Resident Applicant See Their Future Career?

Because candidates for residency are writing the personal statement for residency before having begun the training, it is often difficult for them to have a precise view of what they want in their future careers.

While residency applicants may already have some inclinations of what their future careers will be, many of those choices will be made through the course of their residency.

How Should a Fellowship Applicant See Their Future Career?

By contrast, fellowship applicants should know precisely what they anticipate for their future careers.

This means having a clear vision for how fellowship training (and often the fellowship training offered at the particular institution receiving the application) is the necessary next step in that direction.

Fellowship candidates should have a clear idea of who they are as doctors and the specific path they see their careers taking.

The 3 Pillars of a Successful Medical Fellowship Personal Statement

The three pillars of a successful medical fellowship personal statement, which should either have a paragraph devoted to each or be integrated where possible throughout the personal statement, are:

• Clinical: What are the specific clinical experiences that have made you passionate for the subspecialty you are applying for? How do you perform in a clinical setting? Do you have a team-first attitude? Do you seek to edify others? What barriers have you faced, and how have you overcome them?
• Research: What specific research activities have you engaged in either related to your chosen subspecialty or pointing you in its direction? How have your research experiences shaped and defined your future research goals and interests? What specific topics/areas of research are you interested in exploring most in fellowship? What percentage of your future career do you want to devote to research?
• Teaching: Teaching is the acquiring and sharing of knowledge. It includes teaching medical students, interns and junior residents informally at the bedside and in rounds. It includes small group presentations and large presentations (e.g., at Grand Rounds). It includes teaching nurses and techs. It also includes teaching patients and their families. What experiences do you have with teaching, specifically as it relates to the subspecialty you are applying for? What experiences do you have of learning from others, whether an attending, a nurse of 20 years or your patient? What experiences of learning and teaching do you seek in fellowship and in your long-term career?

Make It About the Journey

Through it all, make your fellowship personal statement about the journey you—and your passion for your chosen subspecialty—have taken to get your application to the program director's inbox. What is your story? What are the key moments that have shaped you personally and professionally and your passion for the subspecialty?

Make your fellowship personal statement a story about who you are as a person. Dig deep. What barriers have you faced and overcome on your journey? What keeps you up at night? What is your core drive, your core mission—your core WHY—that happens to bring you now to applying for this fellowship?

How Should the Personal Statement for Fellowship Be Structured?

The personal statement for fellowship should be developed according to the above, centered on the three pillars and composed of, in most cases, five paragraphs as follows:

• Introduction: The first paragraph—and ideally first sentence—should mention the fellowship subspecialty being applied for, or give a clear indication of it.
• Body: The three body paragraphs are for points 2 and 3 from the list above.
• Conclusion: The conclusion to your personal statement is for points 4 and 5.

What Should the Word Count Be?

For most fellowship personal statements, the word count should be about 625 words .

With some exceptions, if your personal statement is longer than 685 words, you have gone on too long and need to streamline your personal statement.

Similarly, with some exceptions, if your personal statement is less than 600 words, you haven't written enough and need to further develop your personal statement.

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Writing Personal Statements for Fellowships and Grants

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A Trainee’s Guide: Crafting a Personal Statement for Laboratory Medicine Fellowship Applications

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Ria C Fyffe-Freil, Joesph R Wiencek, A Trainee’s Guide: Crafting a Personal Statement for Laboratory Medicine Fellowship Applications, The Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine , Volume 9, Issue 5, September 2024, Pages 1091–1094, https://doi.org/10.1093/jalm/jfae067

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There are many unique paths that can lead an individual to the field of laboratory medicine. For some, the profession may be a natural sequence from their current work or research, and for others, the trail might be much more challenging at first to locate. Common paths to the field usually fall into 2 categories: medical doctors (MD, DO, MBBS) and doctorate-degree holders (PhD, DCLS, etc.). For medical doctors, a pathology residency is completed; then subspecialization can be pursued. Doctoral trainees, on the other hand, may be required to use an online tool such as myIDP to explore scientific career options based on aptitude and values ( 1) or may uncover the field by word-of-mouth. Regardless of route, once a prospective trainee commits to a vocation in lab medicine, there is ultimately no reversing course. Fortunately, to help navigate prospective trainees through the process, there are countless individuals in academic, private, and industry job settings who are ready to inspire the next generation by paying it forward. In this laboratory reflection, the goal is to provide some practical advice for one of the most critical aspects of the process—the laboratory medicine fellowship application stage, specifically the personal statement (or letter of intent). And while this piece focuses on clinical chemistry fellowships (as this is what both authors completed), the personal statement “do’s and do not’s” apply more broadly to any clinical laboratory medicine fellowship. Of note, aside from clinical chemistry, there are clinical fellowship opportunities in microbiology, biochemical genetics, laboratory genetics and genomics, as well as clinical immunology/human leukocyte antigen specialties.

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