Personal Statements in Applications Identify the next step in your academic and/or professional career after graduation. Whether applying to a graduate or professional school or for employment, it is common that applicants are asked to write personal statements. Unfortunately, some applicants have developed habits frowned upon by admissions committees and potential employers (e.g., divulging personal or sensitive information about problems or crises). Consider the prompt: Tell us about yourself and why you are interested in a position in our graduate program (or organization). Review the advice in section 8.4 in your text and write a two-paragraph answer to the prompt. Your response should be of the quality to be submitted with an actual application.