The Queens Personal Statement:" It's now optional (unless you've applied to Commerce), but strongly recommended." https://t.co/9qKLYoxzAQ
— Personal Statements (@PStatementPREP) October 2, 2016
The above tweet references a page from the Queen’s site that should be read by ALL! The page includes BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO (read the complete page):
Personal Statement of Experience (PSE) and Supplementary Essay
The PSE and Supplementary Essay requirement has changed. You may have siblings or friends who have had to do a PSE in the past and give you information that will be incorrect! Read on to learn about your PSE and how we use it.
What hasn’t changed is what we want to know about you! We still want to know how your experiences will contribute to the Queen’s community, and we’re still looking for:
Strong leadership
Time management skills
Commitment to your activities
How is the PSE used?
For Most Programs
Admission at Queen’s is very competitive and we use the Personal Statement of Experience (PSE), Supplementary Essay (SE) (where required) and your academic record to help make admission decisions. For all programs, except Commerce, completion of the PSE is optional-but recommended. While we recommend that all applicants submit a PSE, applicants who have not submitted a PSE (with the exception of Commerce) will be considered equally for admission to Queen’s. Your siblings or friends might tell you it’s mandatory. It’s now optional (unless you’ve applied to Commerce), but strongly recommended.
For applicants who fall within a critical range, we may consider your PSE, in support of your application to the program.
The recommended last date to submit the PSE is February 15.
Commerce
For the Commerce program, the PSE and Supplementary Essay are required documents and the recommended last date to submit is February 15th.
The bottom line …
The Queen’s PSE (Personal Statement of Experience) is an important part of the admissions process to the Commerce Program at Queens’.
The Personal Statement is about Personal Marketing …
In life we “market ourselves” in different ways to different people. Your application to Queen’s is an example of “academic marketing”.
Marketing is Job #1
The application file in its entirety is your interview for a seat in the college or university of your choice. Effective applicants treat the application file as a “marketing tool” which is targeted to the specific requirements and personalities of different schools. As a good example of targeted marketing, consider the following excerpt from a recent biography of Bill Gates by Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews:
“Toward the end of the year, Lakeside senior classman Bill Gates took on a different marketing project: the selling of William Henry Gates. Potential customers? College admissions officers. Bill had scored 800 on his math SAT and five achievement tests (although only in the low 700s on the verbal SAT), and he put it, “I wanted to know which personality of mine would appeal to the world at large.”
Witness the transformation! To Harvard, he was Bill Gates, son of a prominent lawyer, someone with connections, “the guy who was into politics… so my whole page experience was the central part of that application.” For Princeton, “I positioned myself as a computer nerd,” the programming magician who could hypnotize a minicomputer or mainframe into doing anything he commanded. For Yale, he was a consummate do-gooder and sensitive artist with thespian aspirations, “the guy who did drama, the guy who was a Boy Scout.” It was one of the earliest displays of his chameleon like, Thomas Crown-like ability to change his skin, to transform his persona – and eventually, his company’s – in order to “do business.”
The personal statement is controllable and affords the most opportunity for “direct applicant input.” They should be targeted to meet the requirements of specific schools.
The Queen’s Personal Statement Workshop is available either LIVE in Toronto or ONLINE from your location
The Queen’s Personal Statement LIVE Workshop …
Who: John Richardson – Author: Mastering The Personal Statement
When: Saturday January 28, 2017 – 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Where: University of Toronto Downtown
Fee: $150 (HST included)
The Queen’s Personal Statement ONLINE Workshop …
Who: John Richardson – Author: Mastering The Personal Statement
When: Sunday January 29, 2017 – 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Toronto (EST) Time
Where: University of Toronto Downtown
Fee: $150 (HST included)
The workshop fee includes a copy of “Mastering The Personal Statement“.
Pre-registration mandatory (use the following form):