The Personal Statement as an Indicator of Writing Skill: A Cautionary Note

The objective of this study was to evaluate the personal statement as an indicator of writing skill. The evaluation was based on a comparison of specially evaluated personal statements with a standardized measure of writing ability requiring examinees to write timed expository essays. A sample of prospective graduate students wrote test essays and provided copies of personal statements they had submitted for application to graduate school. A majority of the sample acknowledged receiving help in either drafting or revising their statements. Correlations of the 2 indicators (test essay and personal statement) with each of several nontest indicators of writing skill (e.g., self-reports of writing ability and grades on writing assignments) revealed that the traditional expository essay was significantly more highly related to nearly all of the indicators. It is suggested that, although the personal statement may provide certain unique and important information about applicants (and thus be valid for this purpose), its validity as an indicator of writing skill (defined as the ability to present and sustain a coherent discussion of a complex issue) needs to be better established.