{"id":3870,"date":"2026-07-07T10:14:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T14:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/home.hamptonu.edu\/graduates\/?page_id=3870"},"modified":"2026-07-07T10:17:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T14:17:01","slug":"writing-a-personal-statement","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/home.hamptonu.edu\/gradcoll\/how-to-apply\/admissions-requirements\/writing-a-personal-statement\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing a Personal Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Thank you for your interest in applying to a graduate program in the Graduate College at Hampton University. <strong>All applications to main campus graduate programs at Hampton University require a\u00a0Personal Statement.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Your personal statement should:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Be approximately 250-500 words;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be written in a professional\/scholarly tone;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Highlight strengths (start with these!) and address weaknesses (e.g. a drop in GPA, a weak test score, an uneven academic record);<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provide a sense of yourself as a person and as a student beyond the information on your transcript and your r\u00e9sum\u00e9\/CV;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Summarize your academic and personal experiences;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Explain how and why those experiences are relevant to your decision to apply to graduate school and to your specific program;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Address how you imagine using your graduate degree or certificate to have an impact;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be concise;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Demonstrate a commitment to personal, professional, and academic integrity in alignment with <a href=\"https:\/\/home.hamptonu.edu\/activities\/code-of-conduct\/\">Hampton University&#8217;s Code of Conduct<\/a>;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For additional guidance, please see the resources below and contact us with any questions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/home.hamptonu.edu\/graduates\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/169\/2025\/04\/placeholder-1024x683.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2652\" style=\"aspect-ratio:3\/4;object-fit:cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/home.hamptonu.edu\/gradcoll\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/169\/2025\/04\/placeholder-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/home.hamptonu.edu\/gradcoll\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/169\/2025\/04\/placeholder-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/home.hamptonu.edu\/gradcoll\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/169\/2025\/04\/placeholder-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/home.hamptonu.edu\/gradcoll\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/169\/2025\/04\/placeholder.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Resources for Writing a Personal Statement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>These are just a few of the many resources out there on writing a personal statement. Our best advice: use what works best for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehbcucareercenter.com\/blog\/four-tips-to-a-great-personal-statement\">&#8220;<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehbcucareercenter.com\/blog\/four-tips-to-a-great-personal-statement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Four Tips to Write a Great Personal Statement&#8221; (HBCU Career Center\/Mississippi Valley State University)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/careers.umbc.edu\/students\/gradschool\/personal-statement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">&#8220;Tips: Writing a Personal Statement for Graduate School&#8221; (UMBC)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/educationonline.ku.edu\/community\/write-a-compelling-grad-school-statement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">&#8220;Write a Compelling Graduate School Personal Statement&#8221; (University of Kansas)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ocs.yale.edu\/blog\/2021\/02\/06\/writing-personal-statements-for-graduate-school\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">&#8220;Writing Personal Statements for Grad School&#8221; (Yale Office of Career Strategy)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.careereducation.columbia.edu\/resources\/how-write-personal-statement-phd-program-application\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">&#8220;How to Write a Personal Statement for a PhD Program&#8221; (Columbia University Center for Career Education)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ets.org\/grad-school-journey\/personal-statement.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">&#8220;What is a Personal Statement&#8221; (ETS)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thank you for your interest in applying to a graduate program in the Graduate College at Hampton University. All applications to main campus graduate programs at Hampton University require a\u00a0Personal Statement. Your personal statement should: For additional guidance, please see the resources below and contact us with any questions. Resources for Writing a Personal Statement [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":232,"featured_media":0,"parent":2998,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-3870","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Writing a Personal Statement - Graduate College<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/home.hamptonu.edu\/gradcoll\/how-to-apply\/admissions-requirements\/writing-a-personal-statement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Writing a Personal Statement - Graduate College\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thank you for your interest in applying to a graduate program in the Graduate College at Hampton University. 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