My name is Roberta and I’m from Brazil. I started my MSc Biological Anthropology here at BU. I was awarded the 50% Executive Dean’s Scholarship, and for that I had to write a personal statement. It was pretty hard for me to do it, so here are some tips that might help you through the process!

1. Don’t be scared. This might be your first time writing a personal statement for a scholarship in a second language, so the process can be a little overwhelming. It certainly was for me! Just relax, write everything that you find important down and then read what you’ve written. You can fix and link everything once you have that on paper.
2. Be honest. Put your deepest thoughts about yourself in your own words. It’ll show that you are authentic, motivated and believe that you are capable of doing what you have to do to excel in your area.
3. Be yourself. Your are asked to write a personal statement so they can get to know a little bit more about you, so let your personality show.
4. Give it plenty of time. You will probably need to do lots of editing, and also will have to read what you wrote over and over again. So, take some time to do it and keep in mind that you might need more than one day to sleep on it!
5. Don`t overthink. Just write everything down and once you’re done, choose what best represents you. You will receive some guidelines or questions to answer, just follow them and you’ll be fine! And remember, you have a lot of information to put down on paper in only a few words, so choose wisely!

The most important thing that came out of writing my personal statement, besides the amazing scholarship, was that it really helped me understand why I wanted to study Biological Anthropology. It really got me thinking about my motivations and the reasons why I was doing it. It was a very special moment to me and I am sure you will also discover a little more about yourself when writing your personal statement. Good luck!