Writing a Professional Goals (or Personal) Statement
Many programs will ask applicants to submit personal or professional goals statements. This can feel like an ill-defined problem but it need not be a confusing process. These statements are a way for applicants to express their interests in Psychology and a particular graduate program. Keep in mind that a high quality statement will not overcome poor academic performance, unfavorable or lukewarm letters of references, and other clear indicators of lack of preparation (e.g., nearly empty CV), but a poorly written or misguided statement can hurt high-performing students' chances for admissions. Students are encouraged to do the following:
Prepare the statement well in advance of the deadline, preferable with a good draft several months ahead of the due date. This will give students time to ask for feedback from the University Writing Center, their major mentor, instructor(s), and others (see below) whom they think are willing to provide honest constructive feedback.
Personal Statement Feedback program. Denver University has a personal statement feedback program and students interested in this service need not be applying to Denver University. Find out more here.
Be ready to edit and rewrite sections of the statement multiple times! Statements must present a cohesive (and coherent) narrative about why a particular applicant is clearly prepared for graduate training in a particular program. There may be new or past experiences that emerge as being important to mention and weaving that information into the statement will take time.
Learn from experts. Take a look at statement development suggestions from reputable sites, such as the APA and APS sites. See below for a few examples.