“我应该怎么样写我的个人陈述开头呢？” – 很多学生都想写出一份能够秒*其他人的个人陈述（personal statement），而怎么写好一个开头往往都是大部分学生会面临的第一个也是最常见的问题。
怎么样去开始构思我们的个人陈述开头呢？
首先，千万不要试图想着在开始就能够写出来一个非常惊艳的开头。这样会导致想的过多，写出来的东西太花里胡哨了。正如UCL中一名招生倒是说过“PS的开头要简洁，要吸引读者，但不要过于花哨。”
（让我看看还有多少同学是这样想的）
招生导师们经常都会提到这一点。根据我们跟多位招生导师的沟通，他们会更加强调希望看到申请人自己的想法，而不是一堆“华丽的辞藻”。
小玺Tips
我们约谈了接近百位，不同学校的招生导师来了解他们更希望看到的是一份怎么样的personal statement。接下来是小玺给大家归纳的专家的建议：
- 'Don't waste time trying to think of a catchy opening; it's often a complete turn-off.'
- 'Your interest in the course is the biggest thing. Start with why you chose it.'
- 'The best personal statements get to the point quickly.'
- 'Start with a short sentence that captures the reason why you are interested in studying the area you are applying for and that communicates your enthusiasm for it.'
- 'Go straight in. Why are you excited about studying this course?'
- 'The opening is your chance to introduce yourself, to explain your motivation for studying the course and to demonstrate your understanding of it.'
- 'It's your enthusiasm for the course we want to know about. Start with that.'
- 'Write what comes naturally.'
- 'What you want to study and why should be in the first two sentences. What excites you about the course and why do you want to learn about it more?'
- 'Be specific from line one.'
- 'Talk about you and your enthusiasm for the subject from the very start.'
- 'In your opening paragraph you need to show that you know what you are applying for. Don't waffle or say you want to study something just because it's interesting. Explain what you find interesting about it.'
- 'It's much better to engage us with something interesting, relevant, specific and current in your opening line, not 'from a young age' or 'I have always wanted to'. Start with what's inspiring you now, not what inspired you when you were six.'
也有专家提议：也可以先写完PS的内容，最后一步再写开头。
- 'I think the opening line is the hardest one to write, so I often say leave it until last and just try and get something down on paper.'
- 'Don't spend too long on the introduction. Concentrate on the main content of your statement and write the introduction last.'
- 'I often advise applicants to start with paragraph two, where you get into why you want to study the course. That's what we're really interested in.'
最好的personal statement往往从一开始就显得真实且具体。因此，在personal statement中多写写对这一专业或者课程的热情、对这一专业的理解以及你想从中获得什么。
说完建议，咱来说说该避免的事情。
在我们跟招生导师们的聊天中，我们发现有一类的开头都比较不受招生导师们的喜欢，甚至有一部分导师看到这些就感觉烦。
是什么呢？这里给大家列出来
- 'From a young age…'
- 'For as long as I can remember…
- 'I am applying for this course because…'
- 'I have always been interested in…'
- 'Throughout my life I have always enjoyed…'
UCAS每年都会发布一份个人陈述中最常见的开场白清单，这些都是往年最多人使用的开头前五名！据USCA的统计，大约60%的personal statement都是这些开头......
想想招生导师们每一年都需要看从全世界各地收集到的成千上万份personal statement。每天都会看到这些重复的开头（是个人都会烦）所以，这五个常见的personal statement开头千万不要再用啦。
还有一类，是什么呢？引用别人的话！
据我们的统计，开头就直接使用引文几乎是导师们最讨厌的一点。特别是那些引用了名人名言之后还不解释为什么要引用的，更是会直接让导师厌恶。
记住，导师们想看到的是你的话；想知道的是你的想法，而不是别人的话。
最后，小玺推荐大家一种写作方法——“necklace approach”。说人话就是“首尾呼应”。就是在PS的开头跟结尾之间建立联系的时候，在结尾处额外再添加一个维度。举个例子，在PS的开头处，我们可以写是什么原因让你喜欢上这一个专业的；在结尾处，我们除了可以呼应开头写一下为什么你会喜欢这一专业，还能额外在此基础上添加一个维度，比如我们可以再写一些你希望在大学中进一步学习到这一方面的什么内容。以此来增加开头和结尾的联系感。
