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Personal Statement Editing

Make A Great First Impression

Professional Personal Statement Proofreading

A good personal statement should set out your qualities, qualifications, experience, and ambitions in a clear, concise manner. Needless to say, it should also be completely error free. And that’s where our expert personal statement  editing services  come in, giving your application the edge you deserve.

Expert Editor

We’re Professional Editors

Our editors know the difference a well-written personal statement can make. They’re also experts at improving written English and correcting errors, so we can help you make the best first impression possible in your application.

Make sure your writing is the best it can be with our expert English proofreading and editing

Personal Statement Editing Services

When you submit a document to our personal statement proofreading service, one of our expert editors will:

• Correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors
• Tweak sentence structure and word choice for readability
• Ensure your statement is clearly structured
• Highlight issues of clarity or consistency
• Provide helpful feedback on writing style in comments

And when we’re done, we’ll provide two copies of your document:

• A ‘Clean’ copy that is ready to use
• And a  Track Changes  copy with all edits highlighted for review

This allows you to check every change we make while editing your personal statement, so you’re always in complete control of the final draft.

Lightning-Fast Delivery

You’ll never miss a deadline with our speedy services: our Next-Day Guarantee means we’ll return any document up to 10,000 words long within 24 hours

And if you need a faster turnaround, simply select your desired delivery speed when you submit your document. We have three options:

We can also meet custom deadlines! Just let us know what you need.

*For documents up to 8,000 words 

**For documents up to 3,000 words

How We Work With Professionals

You’ll never miss a deadline with our speedy services: our Next-Day Guarantee means we’ll return any document up to 8,000 words long within 24 hours.

We can also meet custom deadlines! Just let us know what you need. 

* For documents up to 8,000 words

** For documents up to 3,000 words

Great Pricing

Our pricing is affordable and transparent – the cost is based on the exact length of your document. Check out our pricing calculator for an instant quote, and rest assured that you’ll receive the highest quality proofreading and editing for the best value on the market.

All Major Formats

Our system supports over 15 document formats, making it easy to submit content for proofreading and editing. Click the link below to find out more about how we’ll work with your document.

Learn More About Formats

Subject-Matter Experts

Our team includes 750 professional editors with expertise in thousands of subject areas. This means we can always match you with the best proofreader for your writing, whether you need help with a job application or a conference presentation.

24-Hour Support

Our support team is available around the clock to address any concerns or questions you have about your order. This means you’ll never be left in the dark, no matter where you are or what time it is.

Instant Quote

You can also upload a document to get an instant quote

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Personal Statement Editing & Coaching

Take your personal statement to the next level.

Expert editors polish your writing to reflect the work you put into it. Professional statement editing will:

• Make sure you submit your personal statement with confidence
• Make your personal statement tell a complete, convincing story
• Maximize your chances of getting accepted

• Proofreading & Editing
• Personal statement editing

More than just a spell check

3 hour turnaround, 100% happiness guaranteed.

Personal Statement Editing

Scribbr editors correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors using track changes, but that’s not all. To take your personal statement to the next level, they also give feedback and ensure

• Clear sentence structure
• Concise, coherent phrasing
• Consistent tone and style
• and more…

Rest assured, we make sure your voice remains dominant throughout your personal statement.

Get matched to the perfect editor

At Scribbr, you can rest assured that only the best editors will work on your personal statement.

All our 800+ editors have passed the challenging Scribbr Academy, which has a passing rate of only 2%.

We handpick your editor on several criteria, including field of study.

Janice holds a PhD in German studies from Duke University. As a former professor, she has helped many students refine their application essays for competitive degree programs and study-abroad programs.

Alexandra earned an Erasmus Mundus MA in cultural narratives and a BA in English from Emory University. As a teacher, editor, and writing coach, she has spent nearly a decade helping students find their voice and express their ideas.

Originally from Maryland, Amy headed west to attend Scripps College in California, where she earned a bachelor's degree in music and gender studies. In 2009, she began working for the admissions office of her alma mater, where she focused on reviewing applications and interviewing prospective students.

For the Personal Statement Editing & Coaching service, you’ll be matched with a personal statement editor, who will review your draft and help you strengthen your writing.

You’ll receive…

• A professionally edited personal statement
• Advice on how to tell a clear and compelling story
• Assurance that you’ve made a strong case for your admission
• Suggestions to help you meet your word count

You can receive your feedback in as little as 3 hours or less. Get peace of mind knowing your personal statement is the best it can be, and boost your chances of getting accepted at your top schools.

“Thank you for editing my personal…”

Thank you for editing my personal statement. Your service is always great. I recommend you to my friends.👌👌👌

How it works

Stay in control throughout the editing process, upload your draft.

Send us your draft. Share important information, including your prompt and any questions you have for your editor.

Feedback from an expert

Your editor reviews your work. You’ll receive a polished personal statement along with in-depth content advice.

Apply with confidence

The application process can be stressful, but with the help of your personal statement editor, you can apply with confidence.

Scribbr & academic integrity

Scribbr is committed to protecting academic integrity. Our proofreading service, our AI writing tools ( plagiarism checker , paraphrasing tool , grammar checker , summarizer,  Citation Generator ) as well as our free Knowledge Base content are designed to help students produce quality academic papers.

We make every effort to prevent our software from being used for fraudulent or manipulative purposes.

Your questions, answered.

Yes! Our personal statement editors can help you reduce your word count by up to 25%. You can choose to receive this feedback through direct edits or suggestions in comments – just select your choice when you upload your personal statement.

At Scribbr, we promise to make every customer 100% happy with the service we offer. Our philosophy: Your complaint is always justified – no denial, no doubts.

Our customer support team is here to find the solution that helps you the most, whether that’s a free new edit or a refund for the service.

Get in touch, with real people

We answer your questions quickly and personally from 9:00 to 23:00 CET

• Start live chat
• Email [email protected]
• Call +1 (510) 822-8066
• WhatsApp +31 20 261 6040

Knowledge Base

Finish your personal statement with scribbr’s top-rated guides.

Personal Statement

How to Write Your Personal Statement

How to write a statement of purpose, how to apply for graduate school, how to write a college essay.

Personal Statement Editing Service: Elevate Your Story Fast, Affordable, Professional

Personal statement editing transforms your personal statement into a compelling narrative. Use this service to ensure that your personal statement reflects your unique qualities and aspirations. Let us help you stand out with a polished, persuasive personal statement.

Try before you buy.

Get an instant quote. Services are available 24/7.

• Personal Statement Editing Service: Elevate Your Story

Expert Personal Statement Editing Service

Your personal statement is a pivotal component of your college or graduate school application. It's your opportunity to make a compelling case for admission by showcasing your unique skills, experiences, and aspirations. However, crafting a standout personal statement essay requires time and skill. That's where our Personal Statement Editing service can help.

At Scribendi, we understand the significance of a well-written personal statement. Our team of experienced editors is dedicated to enhancing your writing and ensuring that your personal statement is error-free, clear, and impactful. Get more than just grammar and punctuation; get Structural Editing and constructive feedback to strengthen your content. Let's craft a college admissions or graduate school application that will help you shine.

Our editors are well-versed in what admissions committees and officers seek in a personal statement. They can help you avoid common pitfalls and guide you in effectively communicating your skills and aspirations. Don't let the pressure of writing a personal statement hold you back! Our editing service is here to help you present the best version of yourself to the admissions committee. Whether you need personal statement proofreading or a comprehensive editing service, we're your partner in this crucial phase of your academic journey.

Need Personal Statement Editing?

Your personal statement is your voice in the competitive world of college admissions and graduate school applications. Crafting a compelling and error-free personal statement essay is essential to make a lasting impression. If you find yourself struggling to perfect your statement, our Personal Statement Editing service is here to provide expert assistance .

We recognize the significance of a well-polished personal statement. Our experienced editors are dedicated to helping you achieve the best possible version of your essay. Whether you need assistance with personal statement proofreading or comprehensive personal statement editing , our team is here to ensure your writing is clear, coherent, and impactful.

We understand that the college admissions and graduate school admissions committees are looking for more than just good grammar. They want to get to know you through your writing and understand your unique skills and aspirations. Don't let the pressure of creating a perfect personal statement overwhelm you. Trust our editing service to guide you toward presenting your best self to the admissions officers. Try personal statement editing to take the first step toward success in your academic journey.

What will you receive with Personal Statement Editing? 

• An edited document in which misspellings, grammar errors, and typos have been corrected
• Changes and suggestions to help improve clarity, flow, structure, and readability
• Tracked revisions so that you can see and review all the changes that have been made
• In-depth critical commentary on your personal statement
• A short summary of the work that has been done and any major concerns

What types of documents can you use Personal Statement Editing for?

• Personal statements
• Other admissions documents

Rest assured, whether you're entrusting your confidential personal statement or engaging our expertise in personal statement editing services, your document's privacy is our top concern. We uphold the strictest confidentiality for your work. 

All uploads and downloads to our secure server are encrypted , and our robust privacy policies are in place to protect your personal statement, academic research, and personal data. Assistance for your personal statement editing needs is just a click away. 

We are dedicated to ensuring the highest level of security and quality for your academic work. Get an instant quote for your personal statement editing below and place your order now .

  Get an Instant Quote and Place Your Order

Personal Statement Editing Services FAQ

What do i write in a personal statement.

When it comes to the question of what to write in a personal statement for college or graduate school admissions, personal statement editing can help you craft a compelling essay. A personal statement is a critical component of your college or university application. You should write about your personal experiences, skills, and aspirations. Don't simply list achievements; provide real examples that show who you are and why you're an ideal fit. Personal statement editing services can be of great help in refining your statement, making sure it stands out to admissions committees. Take your time to write a personal statement that truly reflects your unique qualities and ambitions, and seek professional assistance when needed.

How do I start my personal statement?

When beginning your personal statement for college or graduate school admissions, personal statement editing can provide invaluable guidance. To start, focus on a compelling opening that grabs the admissions committee's attention. Share a personal anecdote, relevant skill, or life experience that connects to your educational and career goals. Show, don't just tell, who you are through vivid examples. Personal statement editing services can help refine and structure your introduction, ensuring that it makes a memorable impression on admissions officers. Don't rush the process; take the time to craft an engaging and authentic personal statement.

Why does my personal statement need editing? 

Personal statement editing is essential because it can significantly enhance the quality and impact of your personal statement. A well-crafted personal statement can make a difference in college or graduate school admissions. Editing refines your essay, helping you avoid common pitfalls and ensuring your writing is clear, concise, and error-free. It helps you communicate your skills, experiences, and aspirations effectively, making your personal statement more appealing to admissions committees. Experienced editors can provide constructive feedback and suggestions, ultimately helping you create a personal statement that stands out and resonates with admissions officers.

What are the advantages of hiring an editor to revise my personal statement?

Opting for personal statement editing services offers several advantages in crafting a compelling personal statement. Editors bring a trained eye to your essay, ensuring it's clear, well-structured, and free of errors. They can help you avoid common pitfalls, making your personal statement more effective at capturing admissions committees' attention. With their expertise, editors also provide valuable feedback on your content and writing style, helping you convey your skills, experiences, and aspirations more persuasively.

This assistance can be especially crucial when you're short on time or feel unsure about how to write a personal statement that resonates with admissions officers. Overall, hiring an editor empowers you to submit a polished and memorable personal statement that bolsters your college or graduate school application.

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The Personal Statement Editing Process

Upload Your Personal Statement

Submit your statement and include some background information, such as the school you are planning to apply to and personal statement instructions. We will then match you with one of our admissions editing experts.

Get Expert Revision

You can stay in contact and communicate with your editor throughout the editing process. Give them specific instructions or ask them any questions you might have.

Receive Your Edited Statement

Your admissions editor will not only revise your text but also give you personal feedback, suggestions on how to take your statement to the next level, and tips that will help you with your essay writing in the future.

Calculate Your Price

• Choose your editing service type.
• To calculate the word count of a specific selection of the document, highlight the text and then click [Word Count] .

Journal Manuscripts, Research Papers, Dissertations/Theses, Articles, Abstracts

Application Essays, Scholarship Essays, CVs/Resumes, Recommendation Letters

Extensive feedback, editing checklist, and review letter for admissions documents

High School & University Assignments, Term Papers, College Essays, Class Reports

Proposals, Reports, Press Releases, Marketing Materials, Blog & Website Content

Books, Scripts/Screenplays, Personal Essays & Opinion Pieces, Personal Blogs

Wordvice’s Personal Statement Editors

Features of our personal statement editing services, english proofreading.

Personal statement proofreading includes:

• Correction of syntax and grammar errors
• Revising of spelling, punctuation, and mechanics issues
• Word reduction if necessary

Wordvice guarantees 100% accuracy in grammar and spelling—your edited statement will be completely free of language errors.

Enhancement of English Expressions

Our editors enhance the style, readability, and tone of your personal statement and make it more natural by:

• Correcting word choice mistakes and rephrasing for flow
• Rephrasing to enhance clarity and conciseness
• Providing feedback and comments to explain revisions

Our personal statement editing focuses on helping you get accepted into the school of your choice by showcasing your qualifications, experience, and academic goals in a clear and concise manner.

Premium Personal Statement Editing

Personal Statement Editing includes a premium service that goes beyond quality editing and proofreading and includes the following additional features:

• Editor experience with college and university applications
• A review letter with detailed feedback and suggestions
• Re-editing for up to 20% of your personal statement

Our Premium Admissions Essay Editing Service is ideal for SOPs, personal statements, and other application essays that require several drafts before submission.

Editing Services for College & Graduate Personal Statements

Reviews of our personal statement editing services.

Personal Statement Editing Services Reviews

• Prianka DeSouza "Admissions Essay Improved" I was very confused with the differences between the different parts of my college application, especially how much personal information to include. But my editor was so helpful and explained to me where I could include more about myself and even gave me some examples for writing these sections. I’ll probably use this service again for graduate school.
• David Wilson "Thank you for editing my SOP" Thank you very much for your editing of my SOP. I really appreciate your comments on my writing. Your editing made my SOP much more clear and convincing, and your advice helped me think about what I really want to tell the admissions committee. Now I am confident with my application.

Samples of Our Personal Statement Editing Services

Personal Statement

Personal editing sample.

Personal Statement Editing Services FAQ

What are your personal statement editing rates, how long do your admissions editing services take, do your editors have experience with admissions to top-tier schools, can you also edit my application essay, get your instant quote.

*Apply ACADEMIC50US for a 50% discount (up to $50).

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5 Best Personal Statement Writing Services (2024)

Find the best professional personal statement writing services. Compare writer costs and turnaround times of the top personal statement writers.

2024 Winners: Add your badge to your marketing materials.

A personal statement, or statement of purpose, contains fundamental information about you.

Although it’s sometimes referred to as an admissions essay, a personal statement is different from an essay written on a general topic to assess your writing skills.

A personal statement lets the hiring manager or selection board read about who you are, what you excel at, and what your educational and professional goals are.

It’s perfectly fine to get some help with this.

Hire a professional personal statement writing service!

Of course, there are plenty of personal statement writing services out there and it can be difficult to know which one to choose.

We have done the heavy lifting for you and devoted countless hours to research.

Finally, we have come up with a list of the best personal statement writing services.

Best Personal Statement Writers

Best writers for personal statements.

How We Choose Winners

Each of the personal statement writing services below was reviewed by a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) taking into consideration the following:

The cost of the service compared to other personal statement writers.

The speed at which the personal statement is completed.

Overall experience, awards, and certifications of the writers.

The design, style, and overall look of the personal statement.

Guarantees, number of edits, and reviews.

This list was hand-curated to serve all industries, professions, and career levels. Whether you are in finance, sales, HR, engineering, or any other role, these companies will provide excellent personal statement writing services.

Average Personal Statement Cost

Personal statement writer reviews.

Find My Profession

Find My Profession is much more than a personal statement writing service. They are a global career services company whose work has been featured on sites like Forbes, Inc., Zety, Fast Company, and more.

With their team of elite resume writers who have experience in over 85 industries and professions, they can match you with a writer who understands your unique background and experience. Additionally, every resume comes with a one-on-one phone consultation with your writer.

Find My Profession has an impressive track record of successfully landing clients jobs at top companies such as Apple, Amazon, EA, Oracle, GM, Facebook, DoJ, Morgan Stanley, and Tesla. 

Their 900+ 5-star reviews speak to their commitment to delivering high-quality service. They also offer a 60-day interview guarantee and ensure that every resume created is Applicant Tracking System (ATS) compatible and highly customized to meet your specific needs.

You will work one-on-one with an elite and certified resume writer based in the U.S. Find My Profession is committed to ensuring that every client is 100% satisfied with their resume, which is why they do not limit the number of edits or time spent working with your writer.

Find My Profession is a virtual company allowing them to provide services worldwide. While they do not have a physical office for in-person visits, they ensure direct communication with your writer through email and phone calls.

4.9/5 based on 521 Trustpilot reviews 4.9/5 based on 319 Sitejabber reviews 4.9/5 based on 151 Google reviews 5/5 based on 52 Facebook reviews

3 – 5 business days with resume (can expedite to 2 business days)

$199 – $299 (as an add-on to a resume package)

(831) 888-0967 or [email protected]

Check out some of our 5-star reviews:

Resume & linkedin profile, terrific experience, exceptional resume, findmyprofession helped me, excellent job, 10/10 service & experience, highly recommend, incredible work.

Channel Resume

Channel Resume is a Vancouver-based executive resume writing service founded by Milton Kiang. Milton is a writing expert with 15+ years of experience. He single-handedly manages the company. To fulfill orders, he helps identify your strengths and uses them to craft you an effective personal statement.

Milton is a member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches, National Resume Writers’ Association, and Professional Writers Association of Canada. He has amassed enough training and experience to help meet his clients’ unique writing needs.

This company appears to be run by just one person. This could be a problem, as it may hinder the possibility for diverse input and even lead to a slow turnaround time.

5/5 based on 29 Google reviews

(604) 251-3203 or [email protected]

Need Help With Your Job Search?

Did you know there are companies you can hire to help with your job search? Whether you need resume help or want someone to apply to jobs for you, we’ve reviewed the 20 best agencies to help you find a job.

The Resume Center

The Resume Center is a virtual personal statement writing service with 24+ years of service delivery. The company was founded by James Innes and has been rendering writing services worldwide since 1998. It is made up of over 100 writers, who have written a combined 36,300+ papers since its inception.

The company sports over 100 qualified writers. So, there’d definitely be one who can attend to your unique needs. In addition, details of their personal statement writers can be found on their website.

The company’s website doesn’t explain what the differences in their personal statement packages are. You’ll need to contact the service for more information.

4.7/5 based on 43 Google reviews 2.5/5 based on 3 Yelp reviews

$120 – $275

(551) 356-8010 or [email protected]

Personal Statement Service

Personal Statement Service is based in the United Kingdom, but renders services globally. In fact, they have a physical office in the United States. The company is made up of graduates from the UK’s top universities, and their services support undergraduates, post-graduates, Master’s and PhD applicants.

Depending on your package,  you get one-on-one video consultations with your personal statement writer. These video consultations allow you to discuss the requirements of your personal statement.

If you purchase their standard Gold package, you only have a one-time review option. Also, the details of their personal statement writers are nowhere to be found on their site.

4.7/5 based on 12 Facebook reviews

1 – 5 business days (can expedite to 12 hours)

(646) 568-9741 or [email protected]

Residency Statement

Residency Statement is a personal statement service created by Dr. Musa in 2008. The company specializes in helping medical students craft personal statements for their medical residency application. Since its inception, they have crafted personal statements for over 20,000 medical residency applicants.

You can contact your writer personally through an established communication platform. They do not only craft compelling personal statements, but they also brush up your existing ones.

They only write personal statements for medical statements who are applying for medical residency. Also, details of their personal statement writers are not available on their website.

4/5 based on 9 TrustPilot reviews

7 – 10 business days (can expedite to 3 – 5 days)

(858) 221-8590 or [email protected]

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Need a little help with your personal statement?

With over 15 years of experience helping students complete their UCAS applications, and having reviewed many of the 2000 free personal statements available on Studential, the editing and review service provided by our editors can help you make the most of your university application.

• Specialised editors for UCAS undergraduate applications
• Suitable for all home, EU and International students
• A selection of comprehensive editing and review packages to make your statement a success
• Specialist postgraduate editors
• Opportunity to purchase further reviews
• 4 day turnaround time
• Specialist Oxbridge editors
• A selection of 3 packages depending on level of help required
• Opportunity to upgrade

How does it work?

Each one of our services provides a comprehensive review and edited version of your UCAS personal statement.

We’ll ask you to upload your personal statement along with other relevant information about your university application, and within 5 days, we’ll return your statement fully edited, along with a report detailing the improvements we’ve made.

What’s included in the editing process?

Each personal statement we receive is carefully reviewed against a number of criteria designed to ensure you present yourself to admissions tutors in the best possible light. From fixing single spelling mistakes to rewording whole sections, we will review, edit and polish each line of your personal statement.

Your editor will apply the same techniques used to edit books, newspaper articles and printed publications to your personal statement:

• Correct any spelling and grammar issues
• Fix the misuse of punctuation and capitalisation
• Reword poorly structured sentences
• Prune unnecessary words and over-long sentences
• Ensure a consistent style and ‘voice’ is used throughout your statement
• Check paragraphs flow together cleanly and the statement works as a whole

Your editor will also focus on issues specific to writing UCAS personal statements:

• Show you how to write a memorable introduction
• Ensure all topics for discussion have been adequately covered
• Check the correct proportion of the statement has been dedicated to each topic
• Help you articulate your strengths and skills and help sell yourself to the reader
• Remove references to potential weaknesses or topics to avoid
• Help you round off your statement with a solid conclusion

Who are our editors?

What do we include with your order?

Once we’ve finished editing your personal statement, you’ll be emailed the completed statement along with a report detailing what changes we’ve made to your statement and why.

Your report will contain the following sections to help you fully understand all of our changes:

• A detailed review of your existing personal statement
• A summary of your strengths and weaknesses
• A list of the improvements we’ve made and the reasons for doing so
• Recommendations for other areas which could be improved

Click the button below to download a review and editing report completed on a customer's personal statement:

What do our customers say about us?

“ I was very glad to find this service and it really makes me feel much more confident about my application ”

Elvina, Computer Science, St. Andrews University

“ Nick has been very helpful and his reviews had made me realise where I went wrong. He returned my personal statement with his comments at the exact time he said he would which meant I had time to work on it before I sent it off. ”

Smriti, Chemistry, University College London

What guarantees are included in the price?

All of our services include a complete editing and review package as detailed above. For additional piece of mind we also offer the following guarantees:

• Experienced editors: All our editors are native English speakers holding at least a 2:1 degree classification and based in the UK.

• Plagiarism free: All changes to your personal statement will be written directly by your editor. We never copy from other personal statements, essays or any other sources.

Where can you find out more?

If you have any questions before ordering, please don’t hesitate to ask. You can email us at [email protected] and we’ll respond to your questions as quickly as possible.

Even if you decide not to order from us, please take a look around the rest of the site. We have plenty of free information on writing a personal statement and over 2000 example statements to use for ideas - scroll back up to the site navigation to see everything we have to offer.

Wishing you the best of luck with your personal statement,

Tom, Naomi and the rest of the team at Studential.

UCAS personal statement editing | Oxbridge personal statement editing | Postgraduate personal statement editing

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Personal Statement Review Packages

$ 799.99 – $ 999.99

Finally decided to apply to law school but not sure how to draft a personal statement? Do you have too many stories to tell and are not sure how to fit the “story of you” into just a few pages? Perhaps you’re still looking for just one compelling narrative to demonstrate what you have to offer? A personal statement can be very difficult to write and is unlike almost anything else you’ve written. Yet it is one of the most important components to your application. When done right, it can make the difference between a denial and possible admission.

In our Personal Statement Review packages , our admissions experts will review your personal statement and provide you with in-depth feedback on substance, flow, writing style, grammar, and punctuation to ensure that your personal statement is effectively highlighting the perspective, value, and experience you bring to a school and the legal profession! Our admissions experts are actual attorneys with admissions committee experience.

We have two Personal Statement Review packages to choose from.

• Package 1 : includes one 30-minute initial phone consultation and two sets of edits on your personal statement.
• Package 2 : includes one 45-minute initial phone consultation and three sets of edits on your personal statement.

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3 reviews for Personal Statement Review Packages

Anonymous – August 10, 2020

The quality and level of attention received were excellent. You exceeded my expectations; I would recommend your feedback on admissions materials to anyone applying to law school. Rachel’s feedback was thorough, constructive, and spot-on; I can now apply feeling confident that my application puts my best foot forward.

Anonymous – July 31, 2020

My experience with JD Advising was phenomenal. I was on a time crunch to get my applications in and had my personal statement reviewed and edited within days of finding out about JD Advising. Not only was the service timely, but the comments were immensely constructive and easy to understand. I also really appreciated the personalized attention I received, with one on one phone calls that allowed me to ask questions and discuss the feedback. I wish I would have found out about you earlier so that I could have taken advantage of the other pre-law services you offer! Thank you for all your help, I feel so much more confident in my application now.

Anonymous – June 17, 2020

Rachel was super helpful and gave me clear edits on my PS. She helped with the flow and coherence of my PS. Also, she was nice and gave me advise on what steps to take when applying to law schools. Now, I feel super confident in my essay. Rachel communicated well and fast. I would recommend her to every prospective law student. She is awesome!

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How To Check A Personal Statement: The Best Strategies

No matter how much effort you put into writing your personal statement, if you don’t check it comprehensively, you’re likely to include errors. Not only does this give the reader a poor impression of your academic potential, but the chances are your statement won’t include all the elements needed to make your application successful.

Here are the best strategies for how to check your personal statement before you submit it…

Check your personal statement by ensuring that your spelling, punctuation and grammar are correct whilst retaining your individual voice. Make sure your content is accurate and well-referenced and that each point or paragraph is relevant. Lastly, meet any specific requirements, including length.

Here’s how to break down each of those elements in greater detail…

Get Your Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar Right

Compelling content can be let down by inaccurate spelling, punctuation and grammar, so take the time to get these basics right. Errors here are a clear sign to the reader that you have rushed your personal statement and that you may lack the necessary capability and attention to detail required.

Sometimes that can make the difference between a candidate being offered a place or being rejected, as universities are continually required to maintain high academic standards .

While standard spell-check software is helpful, it can be extremely useful to use more advanced free software packages such as Grammarly . I recommend this frequently when working with applicants in the final stages of developing their content; it costs nothing to download and use the basic version, and not only does it catch a wide range of errors, it also makes far more sophisticated and intuitive substitution suggestions that most word-processing software.

If you’re not sure what Grammarly is, you’re missing a useful tool for not only your personal statement but for broader study too. You can find out all about it here .

Best of all, proofread your work in detail. Start from the end and work backwards a sentence at a time, really focusing on the content. Don’t worry about making it sound formal, just weed out errors and check that each sentence makes logical, grammatical sense. To help you, here’s a very short guide to help you navigate some common mistakes:

Ensure Your Content is Accurate and Referenced

When you include quotes or refer to a specialist or publication in your personal statement, you must reference them accurately. This is key for two reasons. Firstly, the admissions tutor reading your content will soon spot an error and whilst this may not lead to an outright rejection of your application, it will certainly damage your chances.

Spelling names and titles carelessly or incorrectly, or misquoting or misrepresenting the subject by placing their work out of context will also count against your application. If you want more detail on how to manage quotes in your personal statement, check out my detailed post here .

Secondly, in exceptional circumstances, not referencing your sources can lead to charges of plagiarism, with the rejection of your application a possible outcome, even if cheating was not your intention. As the admission team at Durham University indicate on their website :

We also operate a fair and transparent admissions process and as such, need to ensure that all information provided to us is honest and accurate. Durham University

If you are at all unsure about how to avoid plagiarism in your personal statement, you can find a range of useful strategies here .

Check the Relevancy of Each Point or Paragraph

Every point or paragraph you include in your personal statement should be structured to make a relevant point. Think of each element as serving a specific purpose and make sure that you can identify it clearly when you read it back. You might even plan your personal statement by listing the points you want to make in the order you want to make them, to ensure you’ve achieved this goal.

When you check your writing, it is good practice to ask these questions:

• Does each point reinforce your suitability for and connection with the subject or role you are applying for? If not, edit and re-write to ensure that it does.
• Does each point outline personal academic or practical experiences that connect your application with the demands of the course? If not, take the time to make the connection.
• Have you structured your paragraphs to create a compelling narrative in the mind of the reader? If you’re not sure about how to achieve this, check out the po st here.

If there is any ‘filler’ in your writing, you should remove it. It is far better to have less content, and for that content to powerfully communicate your suitability than to include content for the sake of volume.

Make Sure You Include any Specific Requirements

Each course or position will have specific requirements outlined in the supporting documents. If you are using one personal statement to apply for a range of courses, you will need to identify the common requirements and bring them together in a more generalised list.

You need to ensure that you include content that is asked for (such as key skills and knowledge, experiences, evidence of volunteering, qualifications or internships) as well as going beyond the expectations of any description and showing greater depth and suitability.

Look at the example below relating to a Physics and Philosophy degree from the University of York . It shows transferable skills taught during the course and common career outcomes upon graduation. These are exactly the elements you should include in your personal statement; the more an admissions officer or an employer can see clear connections between your application and their offer, the more likely they are to reach out to you positively.

You can see below the qualification level expected for this same course, but more importantly you can see the subjects that are considered of highest importance. That’s a clear indicator to you that those are the subjects you should be focusing on by outlining your deeper understanding and experience of them. If you can prove that you have exceeded the demands of entry, so much the better.

Last of all, make sure that your personal statement is written to the required length. As a rule, this is 4000 characters for a UCAS undergraduate application. Master’s personal statements are usually best when the run to around 800 words. If there is no guide given, then two sides of writing running to no more than 1000 words is usually an appropriate limit.

Do not exceed the word count. You should be able to communicate your suitability, experience and ambition concisely.  

Before you press ‘send’ or hit ‘print’ on your personal statement, it is good practice to ask another person to check it over for you. By this stage, it should be as accurate, concise and relevant as you can make it. Your volunteer should be able to read it and sum up the salient points without identifying any errors, unnecessary content or unclear elements. If you’ve gone through this process and they’ve given you the green light, you’re good to go.

Good luck with your personal statement, and don’t forget to contact me if you’d like some 1-1 support. You’ve got this! D

Research and content verified by Personal Statement Planet.

David Hallen

I've worked in the Further Education and University Admissions sector for nearly 20 years as a teacher, department head, Head of Sixth Form, UCAS Admissions Advisor, UK Centre Lead and freelance personal statement advisor, editor and writer. And now I'm here for you...

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A guide to writing the best personal statement for your college application (with template and examples!)

Why is boasting about a best friend SO much easier than writing about yourself? Unfortunately, writing about yourself is exactly what a personal statement essay requires you to do–whether it’s for your college admissions application, or for a scholarship application to pay for college . Here’s our guide, to ensure you’re well-equipped to write a killer personal statement!

First off, what’s the purpose of a personal statement?

What topics can i write about, how do i decide what to focus on, in my college essay, okay, i’ve got my personal statement topic. but now i have to actually write it. 😱what do i do .

• Do you have personal statement examples? 

Now it’s your turn.

Your personal statement should share something about who you are, something that can’t be found in your resume or transcript.

For colleges:

• It should paint a picture for colleges to understand who we are and what we bring to the table. This is why it’s often better to tell a story, or give examples, rather than just list accomplishments.
• It should complement the other parts of your application. Consider your college application as a whole. Your personal statement, application short answers, and supporting documentation should together tell a story about who you are. This also means not being super repetitive with your personal statement and your short essays. (For instance, if you have to answer 3 questions AND submit a personal statement, maybe they shouldn’t ALL focus on music.)

For scholarship applications:

• It should indicate why you’re deserving of the scholarship. This often means making sure your essay relates to the scholarship provider’s goals. (Get more help on writing a killer scholarship essay here , and then make sure you’re applying as efficiently as possible. )
• It should showcase your strengths. This doesn’t mean it can’t acknowledge any weaknesses, but it surely shouldn’t only focus on negative aspects!

It can be overwhelming to figure out where to start. First, figure out what your choices are. Some colleges may have very specific college essay prompts. That said, many students apply using the Common App, which this year offers these 7 topics to choose from : 

• Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? ( Psst – If you choose this topic, you can sign up for Going Merry and apply for a scholarship bundle : one essay, multiple scholarships! )
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma – anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

You’ll notice that #7 is a catch-all that allows you to submit any personal statement about anything at all . 

So maybe that doesn’t help you narrow it down. 

Here’s a 3-step solution:

STEP 1. Brainstorm about your life

Dedicate 5-10 minutes each to brainstorming about these 4 sets of questions.

You can do this by yourself (writing down your thoughts), or do this exercise out loud with a friend or family member, and then jot down notes as you’re talking. If you “think out loud” better than you do on paper, brainstorming with someone else may be the way to go! 

(A) What were defining moments in your life?

How did these moments in your life changed you, what did you learn from it, and how has it shaped your future plans? Some topics might include:

• An accident or injury
• A best friend you made (or lost)
• A defining talk with a peer
• Something new you tried for the first time
• Revealing a sexual or gender identity, to friends or family
• Discovering something about your family ( e.g., see Jesus’s story )
• Moving to a new city
• Traveling somewhere, or learning about a new culture ( e.g., see Gabby’s story )
• Your first pet (new responsibilities as a fur mom or dad)

(B) What have you chosen to spend time on?

Remember to focus not just on the what , but also the why – What were your motivations? How did you feel? What have you learned? Some topics on this might include: 

• The moment you joined band, color guard, or the soccer team. 
• A time you struggled with that activity – e.g., Maybe you got passed over for captain of the soccer? Or maybe you got an injury and had to sit out on the sidelines? 
• Maybe a moment you really fell in love with that activity – e.g. Maybe the first time you investigated a story for the school newspaper and realized journalism was your calling?

(C) Whom or what are you inspired by?

How did you find out about this person or thing? Why are you inspired? In what ways are you inspired? Is there anything that inspiration has made you do (e.g. join a club, do an activity or internship on the topic)? Some topics on this might include: 

• Technology – Maybe a specific App made you inspired to learn to code? 
• Person in your life – Maybe meeting someone (or knowing someone in your family) has affected you? 
• A show, movie, book, or podcast that inspired you to look at life differently
• A dance or song that has made you interested in performing arts

(D) What are you proud of?

Make a list of all the things you’re proud of. These can be milestones, hobbies, qualities, or quirks that are what make you, you. Topics to consider might be:

• Times you saved the day – like that epic left-handed catch you made on the field
• Personal qualities – Maybe you’re really funny, or amazingly calm under pressure. What are some examples of times when you showed those qualities?
• Random life things you’re amazing at – Baking a mean chocolate brownie. Guessing how many gumballs are in a jar. Tell a story when that amazing talent was handy!

Don’t worry if some of your ideas repeat between sections. This is just a way to get ideas flowing! 

STEP 2. Shortlist your ideas

Identify your strongest ideas out of the bunch. This should probably be very few (2-4).

STEP 3. Freewrite about your possible essay topics.

Once you’ve brainstormed some ideas and identified 2-4 winners, we agree with Find the Right College – just start freewriting! Start by writing a few sentences or paragraphs about any of your shortlisted topics, and let the words flow. Write for about 15 minutes, on each shortlisted topic. Don’t worry about structure or organization – this is just an exercise so you feel comfortable getting the thoughts out of your head and onto paper. 

It will also allow you to see which of the topics seems to have the most “legs” — often, you’ll notice that your best topic will:

• Be the easiest to write about (those 15 minutes flew by!)
• Lead you to tell at least one interesting story
• Feel like it genuinely reveals something important about who you are
• Not be captured easily by other parts of your application (you’ll need a full 500 words to really be able to tackle this meaty topic)

Well, let’s start here: What makes a personal statement good or even great ?

Here are some things to keep in mind: 

1. Get personal.

Remember the “personal” in personal statement. We all have a story to tell, and we all have a different journey that led us to where we are today. We might think “someone already wrote about this” or we might think our story isn’t unique, but IT IS.

2. Speak like you.

Write your personal statement in a genuine tone that reflects who you are . There’s no right or wrong tone – just make sure your tone represents YOU. This means, in particular, not using big words just to show off. Often, this just seems like you’re trying to hard. (Or, even worse, you accidentally use the word incorrectly!)

3. Think about your audience.

Who will you be writing your personal statement for? What message do you want to convey? If it’s for to the college admissions committee, how do you show you’ll align well with the culture of the school? If it’s for a scholarship provider, how do you show you support their mission?

4. Hit the big three: Story, Implication, Connection to college/major.

Most successful college essays do at least 3 things: 

• Mention at least one anecdote or story. (“Show, don’t tell.”)
• Explain why that anecdote or story is important to who you are.
• End (or begin) by connecting this information, to why you are applying to this specific college. This may include information about the major (why you think their department/program is great), or more general information about what attracts you to the school (e.g., location, sports, extracurricular activities, Greek life). Get specific so the school knows you’re really interested in them! This is the one piece of your personal statement that probably shouldn’t be cut & paste.

Here’s an example of how to use that personal essay template:

• Story: When I was 11, my family traveled to Italy and visited museums — one specific painting made me fall in love with art. ( 1-2 paragraphs )
• Why important: After that trip, I did lots of art and studied lots of art. Mention specific extracurriculars. ( 3 paragraphs )
• Why this college: I want to apply to X college because of its excellent art program, which I can also complement by joining Y and Z clubs. Since it’s in New York, it’ll also offer my the opportunity to visit the countless art museums like MOMA. ( 1 paragraph )

5. Hit the length.

Make sure you keep within the required length. Normally if you aim for 500 words, you’re golden. Some college or scholarship applications will allow you to write up to 600 or 650 words.

6. Edit your work.

Once you’ve written your personal statement, step away from it. There was a time when we used to rely on pencil and paper to write down all of our ideas and information (including first-draft college essays). Now, we mainly rely on screens, so our eyes grow tired, causing us to miss typos and grammar mistakes.

So save that document in an easy-to-find folder on your computer. Then stepping away from your computer and taking a break helps relax your mind and body and then refocus when you come back to edit the document.

( Psst – If you’re applying for scholarships with Going Merry, we’ve got built-in spellcheck, and we allow you to save essays in your documents folder, so no work will get lost! )

We can’t stress this one enough: Don’t submit your personal statement without checking your spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.! All the grammar things! Your personal statement reflects who you are, from the topic you choose to the style you write it in, so impress colleges (or scholarship providers) with excellent structure and great grammar!

7. Then, ask someone else to edit it too.

We recommend asking a friend, counselor, or parent to read your personal statement before you submit the document. One more set of eyes will really help you get a second opinion on the tone, writing quality, and overall representation of who you are in your personal statement.

8. Be brave, and hit that “submit” button on your personal statement!

Finally, when everything is completed, click submit! Don’t hold back!

9. Remember, personal statements for your college app, can also be reused as scholarship essays.

Get double-use out of your personal statement. Going Merry is your home for all things scholarships–fill out a profile, get matched to eligible scholarships, and apply. You can even save essays so that you can easily upload the same one for multiple scholarship applications. (We were inspired by the Common App to make applying for scholarships easier.)

Register for an account here , get the full lowdown on how it works , or just sign up for the newsletter below (to get 20 scholarship opportunities delivered to our inbox each each week!).

Do you have personal statement examples ? 

Oh yes we do. First, here are some excerpts of personal statements from members of our very own Going Merry team!

Charlie Maynard, Going Merry CEO – wrote about what matters most to him and why, for his grad school application.

• The open paragraph read: “Being open to new ideas and able to take advantage of opportunities is what is most important to me. The most extraordinary times in my life have come as a result of moments when I’ve seized opportunities. This has been evident in my educational life, my travels around the world and my professional career.”
• This anchored the main topic of his essay. He then went on to explain examples.

Charlotte Lau, Going Merry Head of Growth – wrote for her college Common App personal statement:

“As a child, I was never close with my father, though we were always on good terms. He made me laugh and taught me all the things that made me into a young tomboy: what an RBI is, how to correctly hook a fish when I feel it biting, what to bring on a camping trip. But whenever I was upset, he wouldn’t know how to comfort me. He is a man of jokes and words, not of comforting motions.

But as I grew older and I too became infatuated with words—albeit in written form—our topics of conversation became more diverse and often more profound. We continued to watch sports games together, but during commercials, we’d have epistemological and ethical discussions more fitting for a philosophy class than a chat during a Knicks’ time-out. During these talks, my father would insert stories about his youth. They’d always be transitory or anecdotal, told as if they were beside the point. Still, I’d eagerly commit them to memory, and, over time, I began to get a sense of who my father was—and, in turn, who I am.”

Now, here are some excerpts from other sample personal statements:

These 3 are college essays about personal characteristics:

Essay 1: Humorous essay about getting a D and learning a lesson

“Getting a D probably isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it’s not something anyone wants to see, let alone put, on a college application. It came back to me, scrawled in red, on the first big history test of the year. The one the teacher had assured us was a third of our grade. I could already see my chances of a four-year college going up in smoke and my school year hadn’t even started yet.

What happened? I’m not a D student. I’ll get the occasional C as well as the occasional A. D’s are out of character for me, and enough of a stomach punch to really get my attention. The short version is, I didn’t study, and I don’t remember precisely why. There is always a reason not to study, isn’t there? I didn’t study and I went into a test woefully unprepared and got beaten up.

I had two options here. I could accept that I was in fact a D student despite what I had thought. Or I could study hard for the next test and try to bring my grade up by the force of the average.”

Essay 2: Why a talent (in this case, one at football) is also a responsibility

“Talent is not remarkable. It’s usually the first thing anyone compliments. “You’re so talented.” It doesn’t mean what they think it means. It doesn’t mean I worked hard. It means I was lucky, or blessed, or anything else you want to call it.

I have talent. I’ve known since I was old enough to hold a football. The game just makes intuitive sense to me. The pathways of the players, both my team and the others, where the ball has to go, and what I’m doing. In the silence before a snap, I’m already playing out what is going to happen, watching the holes in my lines, tracing the route of my receivers. […]

It is far too easy to view talent as an excuse. For me, it is a motivator. For my talent, I will accept nothing less than a dream that only a tiny percentage of people ever get to experience. To get there, I’m willing to work hard and wring every last accomplishment from myself.

Talent is a responsibility. Because you had nothing to do with acquiring it, you are compelled to achieve every last bit you can with it. While I had grown used to thinking varsity would be it, that was not the case. Now, I can focus on the goal while I accomplish the steps.”

Essay 3: On living with depression

“Before I was diagnosed, I had been told it was a normal part of growing up. I was told that teens are moody. I would grow out of it. I couldn’t imagine anyone growing out of what I was feeling. I couldn’t imagine anyone surviving.

Diagnosis and medication have saved my life, allowing me to see the world as people without my brain chemistry would. […] what I found was a place of tiny kindnesses.

It might sound bad—as though kindness can only exist in the smallest forms. This is not what I mean. There are extraordinary people out there who devote their lives to doing very large, very important things for others. I’m not talking about them, partially because they are extraordinary. They are not the norm.

What is normal are the tiny kindnesses. These do not cost a person much of anything. A slice of time, a moment of openness, and little else. They are a smile when you’re feeling down, a comforting hand on the shoulder, a moment to talk.”

And here are 3 college personal statements, about what drove their interest in their intended major: 

Essay 4: On why this applicant wants to study music

“My great-great-uncle Giacomo Ferrari was born in 1912 in Neverland, NY, the youngest of four sons. His parents had emigrated from Italy with his two eldest brothers in the early 1900s in search of a better life in America. Their struggles as immigrants are in themselves inspiring, but the challenges they faced are undoubtedly similar to those that many other immigrant families had to overcome; because of this, the actions that my relatives embarked upon are that much more extraordinary. Giacomo’s oldest brother Antonio, my great-grandfather, decided to take a correspondence course in violin, and to teach his youngest brother Giacomo how to play as well. Giacomo Ferrari eventually became an accomplished violinist and started a free “Lunchtime Strings” program for all the elementary schools in the Neverland area, giving free violin lessons and monthly concerts.

As a native English speaker who has had the privilege of studying viola and violin with trained, private teachers, I can only imagine the perseverance it took for my great-grandfather and great-great uncle to learn an instrument like the violin out of booklets and lessons that were not even written in their native language. Their passion and dedication to learning something new, something not part of their lives as blue-collar, immigrant workers, and their desire to share it with others, has inspired me as a musician and a person. It is this spirit that has motivated me to pursue an MA at Composition at the University of XXX.”

Essay 5: On why this applicant wants to be an allergy specialist

“Suddenly I started scratching my neck, feeling the hives that had started to form. I rushed to the restroom to throw up because my throat was itchy and I felt a weight on my chest. I was experiencing anaphylactic shock, which prevented me from taking anything but shallow breaths. I was fighting the one thing that is meant to protect me and keep me alive – my own body.

[…] After that incident, I began to fear. I became scared of death, eating, and even my own body. As I grew older, I became paranoid about checking food labels and I avoided eating if I didn’t know what was in the food. I knew what could happen if I ate one wrong thing, and I wasn’t willing to risk it for a snack. Ultimately, that fear turned into resentment; I resented my body for making me an outsider.

In the years that followed, this experience and my regular visits to my allergy specialist inspired me to become an allergy specialist. Even though I was probably only ten at the time, I wanted to find a way to help kids like me. I wanted to find a solution so that nobody would have to feel the way I did; nobody deserved to feel that pain, fear, and resentment. As I learned more about the medical world, I became more fascinated with the body’s immune responses, specifically, how a body reacts to allergens.”

Essay 6 : On why this applicant wants to study medicine  

“My passion for teaching others and sharing knowledge emanates from my curiosity and love for learning. My shadowing experiences in particular have stimulated my curiosity and desire to learn more about the world around me. How does platelet rich plasma stimulate tissue growth? How does diabetes affect the proximal convoluted tubule? My questions never stopped. I wanted to know everything and it felt very satisfying to apply my knowledge to clinical problems. distinct concepts together to form a coherent picture truly attracts me to medicine.

It is hard to separate science from medicine; in fact, medicine is science. However, medicine is also about people—their feelings, struggles and concerns. Humans are not pre-programmed robots that all face the same problems. Humans deserve sensitive and understanding physicians. Humans deserve doctors who are infinitely curious, constantly questioning new advents in medicine. They deserve someone who loves the challenge of problem solving and coming up with innovative individualized solutions. I want to be that physician. I want to be able to approach each case as a unique entity and incorporate my strengths into providing personalized care for my patients. Until that time, I may be found Friday mornings in the operating room, peering over shoulders, dreaming about the day I get to hold the drill.”

You made it this far. Now, it’s time to write your personal statement!

Ready to reuse your personal statement for scholarship applications? Sign up for Going Merry today for free to keep track of your scholarship applications and essays. We’re your one-stop shop for scholarship searches and applications.

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Personal Statement Bingo

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UCAS Personal Statement Length Checker

Please note: The line count may differ than the number of lines in the textbox above but when copy and pasted will match the line count on the UCAS application.

UCAS Personal Statement Requirements

• No longer than 4000 characters.
• No longer than 47 lines.
• Each line can be no longer than 94 characters. (Our character counter above already has a max line length of 94 characters unless otherwise noted.)
• Characters include spaces, carriage returns, and punctuation.

To see additional features including word count, paragraph count, space count and more use the character counter on our home page.

How to write your UCAS personal statement

The UCAS personal statement scares most high school students. Writing a perfect personal statement is a strenuous and unavoidable process. With roughly about 6 million university applications each year, officials need a method for filtering stronger applicants from everyone else.

As challenging as this task may appear, it is also your only chance to share your personality and eligibility for the degree program you have chosen. Follow our practices given, and you can absolutely make your personal statement up to the mark.

Start with a plan

Each year thousands of applications are received for the best degrees in the world and are best focused on the goal of making their application stand out from the rest.

Thus, planning out what you want to say prior to writing your UCAS statement makes it easy to write a convincing personal statement. Start off by making a rough draft, answering some questions like

• What subjects do you want to study?
• Why have you particularly chosen this path for yourself?
• What makes you think that you are best suited to study this degree program at the college?

Some of these points will form the backbone of your personal statement, so write them in a manner that makes sense to you.

Sometimes you want to create simple bullet points or use mind maps. No matter what you decide; your goal is the same. You want to clarify why the university should provide you with a spot.

Bigger Picture of the Degree

Talk about the course that you have applied to. How did you learn about it in the first place? What means did you use to deepen your interest and knowledge in this area?

It would be a huge plus to list the books you read and the meetings you have attended regarding the subject.

Please elaborate on your academic attitude towards the degree. What are your goals after graduating? What role will it play in helping you achieve your greatest ambitions? What sort of vocation plans do you have after graduation?

Write about your work experience and achievements

Your previous achievements are an essential part of your personal statement. Think about all the accolades you have received and the contests you have participated in. These can be in-school, national or international. Both academic and sports awards can greatly help emphasize your commitment.

Write about the important skills and experiences acquired elsewhere (such as hobbies) that can be chained to the degree of your choice.

Remember, you are searching for experience that shows why you need to study the subject that you have chosen. You are not just writing an essay about what you are doing in your high school syllabus.

Extracurricular Activities

Your extracurriculars ought to likewise be included in the personal statement. Whether it be a MUN or a cross country race, they pass on the message that you love participating in different events.

Likewise, it is really smart to discuss any expertise you have acquired through extracurriculars.

Discuss any leadership roles you could have held, as they improve your capacity to appreciate people on a profound level and put you across as a pioneer.

Community service is a plus in the UCAS statement as it shows a promise to a reason bigger than oneself.

You can link all these activities to your selected course in the best case. Be careful not to elaborate too much on extracurricular activities.

UCAS Character Count

There are some specific instructions for your personal statement that you can never ignore.

First, it must not exceed 4,000 characters or 47 lines of text (including blank lines), whichever comes first. If you do exceed this, the university will not get your entire statement.

So make sure your personal statement has a solid and decisive ending. It will look bad if you cut it off in the middle of a sentence after realizing that you have exceeded the text limit.

Instead, give each section proper attention, time, and character to plan your essay thoroughly.

However, while you are getting everything rolling, you ought to overlook these restrictions.

Tips for reducing the character count

From the get-go, you simply need to jot down all that you feel is significant. You will probably wind up with something very lengthy, but that is okay.

This is where you get to do some polishing and trimming. Maintain the focal point of your piece on the course you are applying for, why you want to do it and for what reason you are impeccably fit for it.

Glance through what you have composed until now - do you have the right balance? Cut off whatever continues a little to far, as you want to keep each point crisp and concise.

It is a difficult process to try to keep as much content as possible while keeping the character count low, so here are some simple ways to make it easier for you.

Avoid quotes

Read your personal statement and eliminate platitudes if there are any - for instance, 'I've wanted to study psychology since I was young'…The same goes for the quotations: except if they increase the value of your statement (which they don't most of the time!), it is really the best practice to remove them.

Make sure everything is concise

For each sentence in your piece, use the "so what?" rule. Does this sentence appear to be more reasonable for the course? If not, cutting it is best. This frequently happens when individuals write too much about their extracurriculars in a frantic endeavour to fit everything in. For extra analysis, feel free to use our sentence counter to calculate the average length of your sentences.

Colleges, notwithstanding, need to see a reflection and what you have extracted from your encounters; this implies it is normally better to simply discuss a few extracurriculars than to list many things that the reader is likely to skim.

Also, note that you don't have to use hospital or volunteer location names. This further allows you to remove the last few characters from the count.

Use colour coding

An easy way to see where you are losing most of your characters is to highlight the sections of your statement with different colours.

Check your language

We frequently invest a great deal of energy looking up big words with the expectation that it will make our work impressive. However, this isn't generally the best practice. It is, in many cases, best to cut these words for fundamental and engaging sentences.

I hope the process will now be transparent, and it will be more exciting for you as you embark on your writing.

How to use our UCAS personal statement checker

To use our tool simply copy and paste your personal statement into the text-box above.

At the top, you will see two metrics displayed. The first metric on the left is the total characters you've typed out of the limit of 4,000 characters.

The second metric on the right is the number of lines your text contains out of the max of 47 lines. The UCAS allows a maximum of 94 characters per line, which our line count feature already takes into consideration.

To make it easier you can click the green "copy text" button to copy the text in the text box. You can also click the red "clear text" button to delete all the text in the text-box.

Why use an online UCAS personal statement checker?

Reason number one: The character count feature in Microsoft Word will not give you an accurate reading. The reason is that Word does not count the carriage return (also known as the enter key) as a character while UCAS does count it as a character.

The problem is that this will cause Word to underestimate the character count. This could cause your essay not to be able to submit when you try to upload it. If anything it would be better to overestimate the word count on Word that way it will fit.

Our personal statement checker however will give you the same character count as UCAS unlike the Microsoft Word character count.

It can be helpful to see the character count in real-time as you are typing your personal statement. This way you are constantly reminded of how long your essay is.

If you are not paying attention it can be easy to lose track of how long your essay is and go over the limit.

Our tool makes it easier to be aware of the length and easy to cut back if necessary.

How many characters in a personal statement?

UCAS requires 4,000 characters in their personal statement. Use our personal statement checker above to see if your essay meets the requirements.

How many words in a UCAS personal statement

UCAS has a character limit of 4,000 characters. This equates to about 615 to 800 words.

How many words is 4000 characters?

4,000 characters is about 615 to 800 words. For more Characters to Words conversions, check out our Characters To Words Converter .

Does the personal statement character limit include spaces?

Yes, it does include spaces as well as carriage returns. Check your statement with our personal statement checker above.

Thanks for using our UCAS personal statement checker!

We appreciate you taking the time to check your personal statement using our webpage. As you know, this is a very important college application essay to get into British universities. UCAS stands for Universities and Colleges Admissions Service and is what the UK uses for the college application process. Good luck on your personal statement!

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• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-checking-j-d-vances-past-statements-and-relationship-with-trump

Fact-checking JD Vance’s past statements and relationship with Trump

This fact check originally appeared on PolitiFact .

Former President Donald Trump has selected Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his vice presidential running mate.

“After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump wrote July 15 on Truth Social.

Vance, 39, won his Senate seat in 2022 with Trump’s backing. He would be one of the youngest vice presidents in U.S. history.

But before becoming one of Trump’s fiercest allies and defenders, Vance sharply criticized the former president. During the 2016 presidential election, Vance wrote that he goes “back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical a–hole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler.”

WATCH: 2024 RNC delegates react to Trump shooting

He has since sounded a different tone including in defending Trump’s actions in the events leading up to and during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Vance was critical of Vice President Mike Pence’s handling of the 2020 election results certification and in an interview with Kaitlan Collins on CNN questioned whether the vice president’s life was actually endangered during the riots. Vance also vocally condemned what he sees as the tenor of political rhetoric, which he tied to an assassination attempt during Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” Vance posted on X shortly after the shooting. “That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

Who is J.D. Vance and what is his relationship with Trump?

Before winning his Senate seat in 2022, Vance worked as an investor, commentator and bestselling author.

Vance, who was born in Middleton, Ohio, served in the U.S. Marine Corps before attending Ohio State University and Yale Law School. He worked as a corporate lawyer before moving into the tech industry as a venture capitalist.

WATCH: JD Vance’s evolution from Trump critic to running mate

Vance rose to fame through his 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which describes his growing up in poverty and details the isolation, violence and drug addiction that often surrounds poor white communities in middle America.

When the book was released, Vance started talking to the media about issues important to people in his community — and started criticizing Trump.

Vance told ABC News in August 2016 that, although Trump successfully “diagnoses the problems” people are facing, he didn’t see Trump “offering many solutions.” In an October 2016 interview with journalist Charlie Rose, Vance said he was a “never-Trump guy.”

In another 2016 interview about his book, Vance told a reporter that, although his background would have made him a natural Trump supporter, “the reason, ultimately, that I am not … is because I think that (Trump) is the most-raw expression of a massive finger pointed at other people.”

Vance began to publicly change course when he launched his Senate campaign in 2021. He deleted tweets from 2016 that included him calling Trump “reprehensible” and an “idiot.” In another deleted tweet following the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape on which Trump said fame enabled him to grope women, Vance wrote: “Fellow Christians, everyone is watching us when we apologize for this man. Lord help us.”

He apologized about his Trump criticisms in a July 2021 Fox News interview, and asked people not to judge him based on what he had said. “I’ve been very open that I did say those critical things and I regret them, and I regret being wrong about the guy,” Vance said. “I think he was a good president, I think he made a lot of good decisions for people, and I think he took a lot of flak.”

In June, after news circulated that Vance was on Trump’s short list for vice president, Fox News host Bret Baier asked Vance about the comments. Vance said he was wrong about Trump. “He was a great president, and it’s one of the reasons why I’m working so hard to make sure he gets a second term,” he said.

Trump endorsed Vance in the Ohio GOP Senate primary, helping him win the race and the general election.

As a senator, Vance lobbied to defeat Ohio’s constitutional amendment that ensured access to abortion, calling it a “gut punch” after the measure passed.

After the hazardous East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment in 2023, which ignited a fire and led to evacuations and a controlled release of chemicals, Vance worked with Ohio’s senior senator, Democrat Sherrod Brown, to introduce rail safety legislation.

PolitiFact has fact-checked Vance 10 times. He’s received two Pants on Fire ratings, three Falses, two Mostly Falses and two Half Trues. He also received one Mostly True rating before he was a politician in 2018.

In March, Vance echoed a popular Republican talking point, saying that “100% of net job creation under the Biden administration has gone to the foreign-born.” We rated that Mostly False. Since Biden took office in early 2021, the number of foreign-born Americans who are employed has risen by about 5.6 million. But over the same time period, the number of native-born Americans employed has increased by almost 7.4 million. We rated False Vance’s claim in February that the $95 million Ukraine supplemental aid package included a “hidden impeachment clause against President Trump.” The measure doesn’t mention impeachment.

Because it’s the president’s job to spend congressionally appropriated funds, experts said whoever is elected president next will be responsible for spending the money allocated in the law. It doesn’t target former Trump; it would apply the same way to Biden, should he be reelected.

On immigration, Vance falsely claimed in 2022 that Biden’s “open border” meant that “more Democrat voters were “pouring into this country.” Immigrants who cross the border illegally cannot vote in federal elections. The process for immigrants to become citizens and therefore gain the right to vote can take a decade or longer.

PolitiFact also addressed controversial comments Vance made in 2021, surfaced during his Senate run, about rape being “inconvenient.”

Vance didn’t directly say “rape is inconvenient.” But when he was asked in an interview whether laws should allow people to get abortions if they were victims of rape or incest, he said that society shouldn’t view a pregnancy or birth resulting from rape or incest as “inconvenient.”

In the interview, which occurred before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Vance was also asked whether anti-abortion laws should include rape and incest exceptions. “Two wrongs don’t make a right,” he said in response. “At the end of day, we are talking about an unborn baby. What kind of society do we want to have? A society that looks at unborn babies as inconveniences to be discarded?”

​When asked again about the exceptions, Vance said: “The question portrays a certain presumption that is wrong. It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term, it’s whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child’s birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society.”

Since being on Trump’s vice presidential short list, Vance has expressed a more moderate view on abortion.

On July 7 on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” for example, Vance said he supports access to the abortion pill mifepristone after the Supreme Court dismissed the case against it — echoing what Trump said days before during the presidential debate.

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What went wrong? How did Secret Service allow shooter to get so close to Trump?

Investigations into the sniper shooting that injured Donald Trump and killed a local firefighter must focus on whether several key Secret Service protocols were violated, current and former law enforcement officials said Sunday.

Chief among them: Why wasn't a building well within 1,000 yards of the former president locked down enough to prevent the shooter from nearly assassinating the presumptive GOP presidential nominee?

In an exclusive interview, former Secret Service Director Julia Pierson told USA TODAY that maintaining such a sniper security perimeter is part of the agency's responsibility for safeguarding "protectees" like Trump from harm. Yet the man identified as the sniper, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks , fired off numerous rounds from a building top about 150 yards from Trump's lectern at Saturday's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“I think 1,000 yards is the sniper capability that we have a concern about for the President. So anything that's within that range, that is a professional, makable shot... and you want to know about it,” Pierson said.

“When you think about it, it's a football field and a half … and that is a makeable shot by an individual.  And obviously an inch would have made a difference in this case and Trump wouldn't be with us,” said Pierson, who spent three decades with the Secret Service, much of that on presidential protective operations, before becoming director in 2013.

Crooks managed to fire off numerous rounds , injuring two other people in the crowd, before being killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper sharpshooter from another nearby roof. On Sunday evening, the FBI clarified that Crooks had used an "AR-style 556 rifle ."  

Rep. Ruben Gallego, a former Marine and Arizona Democrat, said that those "responsible for the planning, approving and executing of this clearly insufficient security plan need to testify before Congress and be held accountable."

"There should never have been a clear line of sight on the former president. My Marine Corps training taught me that,” said Gallego, an Iraq veteran who is running for Senate in Arizona.

President Joe Biden also weighed in, directing Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to review all security measures for the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday in Milwaukee. He said he had ordered an independent review of the security measures taken at the Trump rally to "assess exactly what happened."

First assassination attempt against a former or current President in 43 years

The shooting marks the first assassination attempt against a former or current U.S. president since President Ronald Reagan was injured in a March 1981 shooting at a Washington, D.C. hotel. Before that, in 1975 a member of the Manson Family cult tried to shoot President Gerald Ford at close range in Sacramento, California but failed to chamber a round into the gun.

The Secret Service has confirmed that it is investigating how a gunman armed with an AR-style rifle was able to get close enough to shoot and injure Trump in what appears to be an epic failure of one the agency's primary duties of protecting VIPs. The FBI, state police and the U.S. Congress also will be seeking to answer the many swirling questions.

Some of those questions: How did Donald Trump’s would-be assassin gain a high-ground vantage point to fire off a potentially fatal head shot against the former president? Why didn’t Secret Service counter-sniper teams neutralize Crooks before he got off so many rounds from his high-powered rifle, killing one Trump rally-goer and injuring two others?

Also, if Crooks had been flagged by local authorities for acting suspiciously as some media have reported, why was he then able to climb atop a nearby building with a rifle, firing a shot that grazed Trump's ear? And why did Secret Service agents allow Trump to stand back up defiantly and do three fist-pumps when it wasn't clear that the threat had been fully neutralized?

Could this have been stopped before it started?

John Miller, a former senior FBI and New York Police Department official, said on CNN that Crooks had been observed acting suspiciously near the magnetometers, or metal detectors stationed outside the event by local law enforcement agencies.

Those officials then shared those concerns with the Secret Service and other authorities “and people had his description and were looking around for him,” said Miller, who’s currently a CNN analyst.

At some point, Miller said, Crooks “left the magnetometer area. And then at some point, people start to point out there's a guy who's climbing on that roof, and he has a rifle and police are putting that over the radio.”

According to some video and media reports, the Secret Service counter-sniper on a nearby rooftop was aiming at the shooter, perhaps before he took some or all of his shots.

“The counter sniper appears to be looking through his scope as if he's scanning for something. … And then, when the shots are fired, takes out the shooter from his position almost immediately,” said Miller, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of Intelligence & Counterterrorism until 2022. “So we have to fill in those gaps. What happened during those seconds? What were the communications? What did he see through the scope, and did he act at his first opportunity? And we'll learn that later.”

Miller said the counter-sniper succeeded in eliminating the threat quickly. “That part worked,” he said. But, he added, “What about the front end? Could this have been stopped with faster or more clear communications or a more intense search?”

Investigations have already begun

It’s possible and even likely that the Secret Service security plan for the rally, in conjunction with local and state authorities, took into consideration the building from which Crooks allegedly sprayed bullets. It could have been locked down from the inside, prompting Crooks to have to climb to the roof from the outside as part of the security plan put in place by authorities before the rally.

But the entire sequence of events will be investigated to find out what went so wrong that Crooks was able to gain access to the roof of the building, including whether he might have surveilled the site ahead of time to find the best way up, according to current and former law enforcement officials.

William Pickle, a former special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Vice Presidential Protective Division who oversaw Vice President Al Gore’s detail, said there are provisions in any Secret Service security survey that nearby buildings are accounted for. The Secret Service regularly secures public areas such as parade routes peppered with large buildings, and advance teams interview building owners and business managers to determine who has access to the building and at what times to determine if agents need to stand watch.

“We know who’s there, why they’re there, we have control over those buildings,” Pickle said. “It seems like somewhere in this security survey, someone dropped the ball on those particular buildings.”

Though Pickle said the counter-sniper that took out the shooter did an “outstanding” job, he questioned if the Secret Service had posted additional counter-sniper teams to sufficiently cover the entire event perimeter. “A gunshot knows no boundaries except by the velocity and distance a bullet can travel,” Pickle said. “This was a relatively easy shot, and Donald Trump may have been the luckiest man in the world yesterday. He survived by about half an inch."

Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told USA TODAY on Sunday that he was traveling to Milwaukee, the site of the upcoming Republican National Convention, and would not be in a position to talk until later in the day. At 2 p.m., he said he was still "unable to respond" to claims that the Secret Service made mistakes in allowing the shooter to gain such a close vantage point.

Three hours later, another senior Secret Service official also declined to comment on whether the agency failed in its mission to protect Trump at the Saturday rally.

“Any questions regarding yesterday’s event can be directed to our public affairs office out of DC,” said Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the agency’s coordinator for the upcoming Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Speaking at a news conference there, she said she could only discuss convention security measures.

In a news conference early Sunday morning, the FBI special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh field office, Kevin Rojek, had confirmed that the FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting and that it “is our assessment at this time” that law enforcement did not know the shooter was on the roof until he began firing.

“It is surprising,” Rojek said when asked about the gunman’s close vicinity to the rally. He said that proximity is among the details that will be a focus of the investigation. Rojek added: “The Secret Service really needs to answer that question. They conduct the initial site survey.”

At the midnight news conference, State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens had deferred questions about whether there was anything about the venue that made it particularly difficult to secure by the Secret Service, which did not have representatives at the televised briefing.

Bivens also said he would not speculate on “how close a call” it was for Trump.

But Bivens confirmed that law enforcement is following up on a “number of suspicious occurrences” including accounts from witnesses who said they tried to flag police about the activity of a person outside the rally moments before the shooting.

Calls for answers from both sides of the aisle

Sen. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Oversight committee, was one of several lawmakers who called for an immediate investigation into potential lapses by the Secret Service.

Comer said in a statement that he has already contacted the Service Service for a briefing and he called on Cheatle – the director – to testify about what went wrong. His committee will send a formal invitation soon, Comer said.

"Political violence in all forms is unamerican and unacceptable," Comer said in his statement. "There are many questions and Americans demand answers."

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat, also called morning for an urgent investigation to explain what happened. Several hours later, however, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, also a Democrat, sidestepped a question at his own news conference about potential Secret Service failures in preventing the shooter from climbing atop the building.

"I'm not getting into ... any questions regarding the ongoing investigation," Shapiro said. "I trust that the FBI and the Pennsylvania State Police will keep you posted throughout the day and in the days ahead as to their investigations."

Contributing: Melissa Brown, a state political reporter at The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee.

Rooftop where gunman shot at Trump was identified as a security vulnerability before rally: sources

The rooftop where a gunman shot at former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally was identified by the Secret Service as a potential vulnerability in the days before the event, two sources familiar with the agency’s operations told NBC News.

The building, owned by a glass research company, is adjacent to the Butler Farm Show, an outdoor venue in Butler, Pennsylvania. The Secret Service was aware of the risks associated with it, the sources said.

“Someone should have been on the roof or securing the building so no one could get on the roof,” said one of the sources, a former senior Secret Service agent who was familiar with the planning. 

Understanding how the gunman got onto the roof — despite those concerns — is a central question for investigators scrutinizing how a lone attacker managed to shoot at Trump during Saturday’s campaign event.

The Secret Service worked with local law enforcement to maintain event security, including sniper teams poised on rooftops to identify and eliminate threats, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. But no officers were posted on the building used by the would-be assassin, outside the event’s security perimeter but only about 148 yards from the stage — within range of a semiautomatic rifle like the one the gunman was carrying.

The Secret Service had designated that rooftop as being under the jurisdiction of local law enforcement, a common practice in securing outdoor rallies, Guglielmi said.Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said his office maintains an Emergency Services Unit team, which deployed four sniper teams and four “quick response teams” at the rally. But he said the Secret Service agents were in charge of security outside the venue. 

“They had meetings in the week prior. The Secret Service ran the show. They were the ones who designated who did what,” Goldinger said. “In the command hierarchy, they were top, they were No. 1.”

Goldinger said the commander of the Emergency Services Unit told him it was not responsible for securing areas outside the venue. “To me, the whole thing is under the jurisdiction of the Secret Service. And they will delineate from there,” he said.

The former senior Secret Service agent also said that even if local law enforcement “did drop the ball,” it’s still the agency’s responsibility “to ensure that they are following through either beforehand or in the moment.”

“Just because it is outside of the perimeter, it doesn’t take it out of play for a vulnerability, and you’ve got to mitigate it in some fashion,” the source added.

A volley of shots rang out minutes into Trump’s speech. He reached for his right ear — he said later it was pierced by a bullet — then dropped to the ground as Secret Service agents rushed to shield him. Trump emerged with blood on his ear and his face. One attendee was killed , and two others were injured.Witnesses listening to Trump’s speech from outside the event’s security perimeter recalled pointing out the gunman to law enforcement a couple of minutes before the shooting began. After the gunfire started, Secret Service personnel shot and killed the 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks .

The clamor over the Secret Service’s biggest failure since the shooting of President Ronald Reagan in 1981 is coming from both political parties, from former agents and from security experts.

“My question is: How did he get onto that roof undetected?” said Anthony Cangelosi, a former Secret Service agent who worked on protective details for presidential candidates, including John Kerry in 2004.

The Secret Service’s work on campaign events like Saturday’s begins with advance planning, setting up a security perimeter and positioning teams on the ground and on rooftops — often in partnership with local law enforcement. The ground deployments include a counterassault team, and the rooftop personnel include counter-sniper teams.

Guglielmi, the Secret Service spokesman, said the agency had two of its counterassault agents at the event and filled out the rest of the platoon with at least six officers from Butler County tactical units. The Secret Service also deployed two counter-sniper teams. Two other security units needed for the event were staffed by local law enforcement agencies, Guglielmi said. Those details were first reported by The Washington Post.Investigators will want to examine the Secret Service’s site security plan for the rally, said Cangelosi, the former Secret Service agent. He expects they’ll discover one of two things: Either officials failed to make an effective plan for keeping potential shooters off the building Crooks fired from, or officers on the ground failed to execute the plan.

“I don’t like making any assumptions, but it does look like some mistakes were made, that this was preventable,” said Cangelosi, now a lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

Although it’s common to task local law enforcement agencies with patrolling outside an event’s security perimeter, Cangelosi said, the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that all vulnerabilities are covered rests with the Secret Service.

If officials had placed an officer on the building where the gunman fired from, Cangelosi said, chances are he “wouldn’t even attempt what he attempted.”

“You don’t surrender the discretion of what’s supposed to be done to the local police,” he said. “In other words, you guys have the outer perimeter, but you would want to say, ‘We need an officer on that roof.’ Not ‘that’s your responsibility; do what you see fit.’”

Jim Cavanaugh, a retired special agent in charge with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who has worked on Secret Service details, told NBC News that while the Secret Service did a good job taking out the gunman after shots began, the failure to post officers on the building he scaled was “a tremendous lapse.”

“The only way to stop that is you have a lot of people, you get there first, and you command the high ground,” Cavanaugh said. “This is basic, and the Secret Service has done it for years successfully, so I’m really surprised that they did not have that high ground covered.”

The questions extended to Congress, where members demanded answers from the Secret Service and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.“This raises serious concerns regarding how a shooter was able to access a rooftop within range and direct line of sight of where President Trump was speaking,” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Green asked Mayorkas to provide documentation relating to the event’s security plan, the screening of attendees and the level of resources provided to Trump’s Secret Service detail. A committee spokesperson told NBC News that Republican members would hold a briefing with Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Monday “to voice their concerns and ask pressing questions.”

Another lawmaker, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., wrote Cheatle asking who approved the security plan, whether a proper threat assessment was conducted, whether attendees raised alarms and whether there were failures in following protocols that allowed the attack to happen.

“I call on all those responsible for the planning, approving, and executing of this failed security plan to be held accountable and to testify before Congress immediately,” Gallego wrote in a letter to Cheatle .

Robert McDonald, a former Secret Service agent who ran protection for Joe Biden when he was vice president, told NBC News that he believes the assassination attempt will prompt soul-searching and procedural changes at the agency.

“The Secret Service is going to need to ask some hard questions of itself here and be prepared to stand up and represent why, what happened,” McDonald said.

Cangelosi, the former Secret Service agent, said investigators are also likely to ask when agents identified Crooks as a potential threat, how they reacted and whether it’s possible they could have taken him down before he fired at Trump.Secret Service snipers are trained to make rapid decisions, he said. But it’s possible that if they noticed Crooks on the roof but couldn’t tell whether he had a rifle, agents might have waited to fire on him.

“If the sniper can’t tell whether he has a gun, he or she is not going to take the shot,” Cangelosi said. “Because God forbid it’s a child who’s just excited to see a political candidate, right? So you want to make sure that there’s actually a threat.”

If there was uncertainty, Cangelosi said, it’s possible the sniper team would have dispatched officers to investigate and confirm. But investigating a potential threat can take minutes, he said, while a gunman with a semiautomatic rifle can fire several shots in a matter of seconds.

That’s why, Cangelosi said, the best defense would have been to plan ahead to keep the shooter off the roof in the first place.

“Who wants to be in that position?” he said of the snipers protecting Trump on Saturday. “You’ve got to make a split-second call. And imagine if you’re wrong.”

Sarah Fitzpatrick is a senior investigative producer and story editor for NBC News. She previously worked for CBS News and "60 Minutes." 

Julia Ainsley is the homeland security correspondent for NBC News and covers the Department of Homeland Security for the NBC News Investigative Unit.

Mike Hixenbaugh is a senior investigative reporter for NBC News, based in Maryland, and author of "They Came for the Schools."

Andrea Mitchell is chief Washington correspondent and chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News.

Jon Schuppe is an enterprise reporter for NBC News, based in New York.

Compare the Best 0% APR Business Credit Cards

• Why You Should Trust Us

Best 0% APR Business Credit Cards of 2024

Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us and terms apply to offers listed (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See how we rate credit cards to write unbiased product reviews .

The information for the following product(s) has been collected independently by Business Insider: U.S. Bank Business Triple Cash Rewards World Elite Mastercard®, Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card. The details for these products have not been reviewed or provided by the issuer.

Whether you're an established business owner or you're just starting out, acquiring a small business credit card can be a smart move. These cards allow you to easily separate business and personal expenses and can provide benefits to help you grow.   

Among these is the opportunity to open an intro 0% APR business credit card, whose limited-time offer means you can make purchases and hold a balance without accruing any interest. Let's take a look at the best 0% APR business credit cards, what they have to offer, and which card is going to suit your needs. 

Best 0% Intro APR Business Credit Cards 

• U.S. Bank Business Triple Cash Rewards World Elite Mastercard® : Best overall for high rewards and long 0% intro APR
• Ink Business Cash® Credit Card: Best welcome offer
• The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card: Best for easy rewards 
• The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express: Best for flexible rewards
• U.S. Bank Business Platinum Card: Best for balance transfers
• Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card : Up to 5.25% cash back for Bank of America Preferred Rewards for Business customers

Earn 5% cash back on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Rewards Center. Earn 3% cash back on eligible purchases at gas stations and EV charging stations, office supply stores, cell phone service providers and restaurants. 1% cash back on all other eligible net purchases.

0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 billing cycles

19.24% - 28.24% Variable

$500 cash back

Excellent/Good

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Strong welcome bonus and bonus categories for a no-annual-fee card
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Introductory 0% APR on both purchases and balance transfers for 15 billing cycles
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. World Elite Mastercard benefits including cell phone protection
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Foreign transaction fees
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Relatively high minimum spending requirement to unlock bonus
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Authorized user purchases don’t count toward minimum spending requirement

The U.S. Bank Business Triple Cash Rewards World Elite Mastercard® is a no-annual-fee card for small business owners with a generous welcome bonus and great bonus categories. It's a good pick if you prefer earning straight cash back, especially if you can use the $100 annual software credit.

Earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year. Earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year. Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases.

0% intro APR on purchases for the first 12 months

18.49% - 24.49% Variable

Earn up to $750 bonus cash back

Good to Excellent

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Broad 5% and 2% cash-back categories (you can earn bonus cash back at office supply stores and at gas stations and restaurants)
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Intro APR offer for purchases
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. No annual fee
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. You can pair this card with a card that earns Ultimate Rewards to redeem your cash back for travel
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Annual cap on bonus categories

Between offering a big welcome bonus, extra rewards in useful categories, and ongoing benefits like primary car rental insurance and purchase protection, the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card is an excellent no-annual-fee cash-back business credit card for small-business owners.

• Earn $350 when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening
• Earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year
• Earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year. Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases
• 10% Business Relationship Bonus If you have the Ink Business Cash card plus a Chase Business Checking account on your first card anniversary
• With Zero Liability you won't be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card or account information.
• No Annual Fee
• Redeem rewards for cash back, gift cards, travel and more through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
• 0% introductory APR for 12 months on purchases
• Member FDIC

Earn 2% cash back on everyday eligible business purchases (on up to $50,000 per year in purchases, then 1%). Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases.

0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from account opening

18.49% - 26.49% Variable

Earn a $250 statement credit

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Good choice for earning 2% cash back on all your eligible purchases up to $50,000 a year
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Intro APR offer
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. If your business spends more than $50,000 a year, you'll want to use a different card to earn bonus cash back once you meet that threshold

If you're spending money on your business anyway, you should be rewarded for those purchases by using one of the best small-business credit cards. With The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card, you can earn unlimited cash back on your spending with no annual fee.

• Earn a $250 statement credit after you make $3,000 in purchases on your Card in your first 3 months.
• 0.0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from the date of account opening, then a variable rate, 18.49% - 26.49%, based on your creditworthiness and other factors as determined at the time of account opening. APRs will not exceed 29.99%
• Earn 2% cash back on all eligible purchases on up to $50,000 per calendar year, then 1%. Cash back earned is automatically credited to your statement.
• From workflow to inventory to floor plans, your business is constantly changing. That's why you've got the power to spend beyond your credit limit with Expanded Buying Power.
• Just remember, the amount you can spend above your credit limit is not unlimited. It adjusts with your use of the Card, your payment history, credit record, financial resources known to us and other factors.
• Terms Apply

Earn 2x Membership Rewards® Points on everyday eligible business purchases (on up to $50,000 per year in purchases, then 1X). Earn 1x Membership Rewards® Points on all other purchases.

0% intro APR on purchases for the first 12 months from account opening

Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. The rare no-annual-fee card to earn Amex Membership Rewards points
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Solid earning rate on the first $50,000 in purchases each year
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. For spending above $50,000 each year, you will only earn 1 point per dollar

If you're a small-business owner looking for a credit card that offers flexible rewards points without paying an annual fee, The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express is an excellent option. You don't need to own a full-time business to be eligible to apply, either — even freelancers and those with side gigs can qualify for a small-business card.

• Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership.
• 0.0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from the date of account opening, then a variable rate, 18.49% - 26.49%, based on your creditworthiness and other factors at account opening. APR will not exceed 29.99%
• Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter.
• You've got the power to use your Card beyond its credit limit* with Expanded Buying Power.
• *The amount you can spend above your credit limit is not unlimited. It adjusts with your use of the Card, your payment history, credit record, financial resources known to us, and other factors.

0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 18 billing cycles, then 16.24% - 25.24% Variable APR.

0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 18 billing cycles

16.24% - 25.24% Variable

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Extra-long introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. No rewards or welcome bonus
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Few benefits compared to other small-business cards

While it doesn't earn rewards or come with a welcome bonus, the U.S. Bank Business Platinum Card might be just what your business needs if you don't want to get hit with big interest charges on large purchases you can't pay off all at once.

Earn 3% cash back in the category of your choice (gas stations and EV charging stations is the default category). Earn 2% cash back on dining purchases. Earning in the 3% and 2% cash back categories is on the first $50,000 in combined choice category/dining purchases each calendar year, 1% thereafter. Earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.

0% intro APR on purchases for the first nine billing cycles

18.49% - 28.49% Variable

Earn a $300 online statement credit

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Good welcome bonus for a no-annual-fee business card
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Cardholders can choose their own 3% cash-back category from a list
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Bank of America Preferred Rewards for Business customers can earn up to 75% more rewards
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. 3% and 2% cash back categories are capped at $50,000 in combined purchases per year (then 1%)
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Card only earns 1% back in non-bonus categories

The no-annual-fee Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card is great for small-business owners who want to control how they earn rewards and maximize every dollar spent. The card has a solid welcome bonus, good redemption options, and a fair intro APR deal. But if you don't spend big in the select bonus categories, you should consider a different no-annual-fee business rewards card.

Best 0% APR Business Credit Card Reviews

Best overall: u.s. bank business triple cash rewards world elite mastercard®.

The no-annual-fee U.S. Bank Business Triple Cash Rewards World Elite Mastercard® delivers generous rewards alongside of a longer-than-average 0% intro APR period for both new purchases and balance transfers. 

It's rare for a business credit card to offer such generous zero-interest terms, but this card has 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 billing cycles (then a 19.24% - 28.24% Variable APR).

The long 0% APR rate can help you float the cost of large office expenses such as furniture and computers, allowing you to pay off the expense without incurring interest. 

This card earns 5% cash back on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked through the U.S. Bank Rewards Center; 3% cash back on eligible purchases at gas stations and EV charging stations, office supply stores, cell phone service providers, and restaurants; and 1% cash back on all other eligible purchases.

Cardholders also get an annual $100 statement credit toward recurring business software subscriptions such as QuickBooks, and several other premium benefits. 

The U.S. Bank Business Triple Cash Rewards World Elite Mastercard® even comes with a welcome offer of ​​$500 cash back after spending $4,500 on purchases on the account holder's card in the first 150 days of opening your account.

All things considered, these are fantastic perks for a 0% APR business credit, especially without an annual fee. 

Best Welcome Offer: Ink Business Cash® Credit Card

The Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card is a no-annual-fee credit card that allows you to earn cash back rewards on all your purchases.

New cardholders get a 0% intro APR on purchases for the first 12 months and then a 18.49% - 24.49% Variable APR, which gives you plenty of time to pay off any balances that you accrue. Note that this zero-interest period does not apply to balance transfers, so this card isn't the one to choose if you need to handle some existing debt. 

Earning cash back with the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card can be more complicated than other options thanks to its tiered reward structure, but the upsides are more rewarding:

• 5% cash back on office supply, internet, cable, and phone purchases (on the first $25,000 per year)
• 2% cash back on gas stations and dining purchases (on the first $25,000 per year)
• 1% cash back everywhere else, with no limit

The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card earned its spot on this list because of a welcome offer worth hundreds of dollars in cash back. New cardholders can earn $350 when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening.

If you have or open a Chase Business Complete Checking account when you get the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, you'll also earn a one-time 10% bonus on your card anniversary, of all the cash back that you've earned for the year. 

Best for easy rewards: The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card

The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card is another solid no-annual-fee business credit card with a generous 0% intro APR.

As with the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card offers a 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from account opening on new purchases and then a 18.49% - 26.49% Variable. 

The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card earns a flat rate of 2% cash back on the first $50,000 in purchases each year (then 1% cash back). 

This simple and generous rate makes this card an excellent option for businesses with lower spend thresholds, since it's one of the few cards to offer a flat-rate 2% return on your spending. The card also features Expanded Buying Power, which allows you to spend beyond your credit limit based on your credit report, payment history, and other factors. 

The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card currently features a welcome offer for new applicants of $250 statement credit after you make $3,000 in purchases on your card in your first three months of account opening .

Best for Flexible Rewards: The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express

Cash back can be nice, but the no-annual-fee The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express can be a better fit for business owners who want to earn flexible points that can convert to travel rewards.  

The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express earns American Express Membership Rewards® points instead of cash back, which can be a boon for those looking for flexible travel redemptions. Thanks to Amex's travel partnerships, Amex points can be converted to a variety of hotel and airline partners. They can also be redeemed for statement credits, gift cards, and travel, among other options.  

The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express offers a simple earning structure: 2x Amex points on the first $50,000 in purchases each year, then 1x point thereafter. Very similar to the earning structure of The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card.

New cardholders can earn a welcome offer of 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the card within your first three months of card membership. They'll also get 0% intro APR on purchases for the first 12 months from account opening with a 18.49% - 26.49% Variable APR after.

Best for Balance Transfers: U.S. Bank Business Platinum Card

This no-annual-fee card is ideal for business owners who want a no-frills balance transfer card with a long 0% APR for new purchases as well as existing debt. 

The U.S. Bank Business Platinum Card is our top pick for a business credit card for balance transfers for its 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 18 billing cycles (then 16.24% - 25.24% Variable APR).

This zero-interest duration is one of the best in the industry, even amongst consumer credit cards for balance transfers . You'll pay a balance transfer fee of 3% or $5, depending on which one is greater.

This isn't a card for rewards or welcome bonuses. It's purely a tool designed to help small business owners float interest-free debt.

Best for Bank of America Preferred Rewards Customers: Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card

Those who bank with Bank of America will want to take a look at the Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card . 

The card comes with 0% intro APR duration of just nine months, which is on the shorter side of the spectrum amongst 0% APR business credit cards. But Bank of America Preferred Rewards members can earn industry-leading multipliers of cash back on this card, thanks to a 25% to 75% bonus that members can earn on their purchases.

The Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card has a welcome offer of Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card.

Bank of America banking customers whose with top-tier Preferred Rewards status will earn rewards at the following rates:

• 5.25% cash back on a category of your choice: Gas stations and EV charging stations (default), office supply stores, travel, TV/telecom & wireless, computer services or business consulting services
• 3.5% cash back on dining
• 1.75% cash back on all other purchases

Even those who don't bank with Bank of America can earn up to 3% cash back with the Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card. Note that 3% and 2% bonuses only apply to the first $50,000 in combined purchases per year; after that, every dollar earns 1% cash back. 

• 3% cash back on a category of your choice: Gas stations and EV charging stations (default), office supply stores, travel, TV/telecom & wireless, computer services or business consulting services
• 2% cash back on dining
• 1% cash back on all other purchases

Understanding 0% APR Offers for Businesses

0% APR business credit cards offer business owners an interest-free timeframe to pay off large balances. Many entrepreneurs rely on 0% APR cards to help them float big investments such as equipment, office furnishings, and computers. 

0% APR business credit cards are best used with care, since the zero-interest period won't last forever. Make a plan to pay off your card when your 0% intro APR period is up so that you don't incur additional debt from high rates of interest. 

Features to Look For in 0% APR Business Credit Cards

The best 0% APR business credit cards either offer generous terms for zero interest, or high rewards for spending on the credit card. Each of the products featured in this guide offer one or both of these benefits, which is why they're our top picks for 0% APR business credit cards. 

Strategies to Maximize Your 0% APR Business Credit Card

The best way to maximize your 0% APR business credit card benefits is by getting the card right before you need to make a large purchase that you aren't ready to pay off all at once. This way, you can maximize the amount of time you have to pay back the balance. And if you chose a card that offers a welcome bonus, your large purchase may very well help you earn the bonus in a single transaction. 

0% APR Business Credit Card Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, there are many business credit cards that offer zero interest for an initial period. While no credit cards on the market offer permanent 0% APR, there are quite a few that don't charge interest for a limited time. 

A 0% APR business credit card can affect your credit score in several ways. The initial credit inquiry for your card application may temporarily lower your score.  Making payments on time and keeping a low credit utilization ratio can improve your score, while late payments or maxing out your credit limit can harm it. 

Yes, many 0% APR business credit cards offer rewards on purchases made with the card. Earning cash back, points, or miles on your spending is an additional benefit of the top 0% intro APR cards. These rewards help you save money or enjoy perks while making the most of your interest-free period.

When the 0% APR period ends, any remaining balance on the card will start accruing interest at the card's regular APR. It's important to plan for this transition to avoid unexpected interest charges on your business expenses.

Some 0% APR business credit cards may have fees, such as annual fees, balance transfer fees, or foreign transaction fees. Always read the card's terms and conditions to understand any fees that may apply.

Yes, many 0% APR business credit cards allow balance transfers from other credit cards, including business cards. This can be a strategic way to consolidate debt and save on interest charges, but be aware of any balance transfer fees that may apply.

While using more of your available credit can impact your credit and credit score , this doesn't typically apply to business credit cards. This is because business credit cards don't typically show up on your personal credit report. 

Yes, just like personal credit cards, business credit cards will charge you interest on balances that you maintain. The exception to this is business credit cards with 0% APRs, though these are only offered for a limited-time. 

Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed the Best 0% APR Credit Cards

There are plenty of 0% APR business credit cards on the market, including ones that will reward you with cash back or flexible points. The ones we've chosen represent the best of the bunch, with particular emphasis on:

• Length and type of 0% APR promotion
• Fees, including annual fees and foreign transaction fees
• Rewards, whether those are cash back or points
• Additional benefits of the cards

Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed in this article are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards .

Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.

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Behind Biden’s asylum halt: Migrants must say if they fear deportation, not wait to be asked

Melissa Shepard, left, directing attorney of Immigrant Defenders Law Center, explains the Biden administration’s new asylum restrictions to migrants at the Juventud 2000 shelter in Tijuana, Mexico, on Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Elliot Spagat)

FILE - Agents walk among rooms at a Border Patrol holding facility on Dec. 15, 2023, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

FILE - Women wait in a Border Patrol holding facility Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

Melissa Shepard, directing attorney of Immigrant Defenders Law Center, explains the Biden administration’s new asylum restrictions to migrants at the Juventud 2000 shelter in Tijuana, Mexico, on Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Elliot Spagat)

Christian Gutierrez, 26, center sits with other Mexicans who were deported from the United States to Tijuana, Mexico, on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Elliot Spagat)

FILE - A group of men are escorted in a Border Patrol processing center, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

FILE - Men wait in a holding area Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, at a Border Patrol station in Ajo, Ariz. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull,File)

• Copy Link copied

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Posters inside a complex of giant, white tents tell migrants in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Hindi they should tell an officer if they fear being deported and “your claim will be heard.” On a side wall where migrants are seated in a processing area, a video conveys the same message on a loop.

Breaking from a practice in effect since 1997, Border Patrol agents at the holding facility in Tucson, Arizona, and throughout the country no longer ask migrants if they fear deportation. President Joe Biden’s administration temporarily suspended asylum at the border June 5 and, as part of that move, agents do not ask about fears. Migrants must bring it up themselves.

Immigration advocates call it the “shout test” — suggesting migrants must shout their fears — though agents are taught to respond to other signs of distress, such as crying, shaking or a change in tone of voice and to refer migrants for screening if the behavior appears genuine. Anyone not screened can be immediately deported.

It is unclear to what extent the “shout test” is responsible for a decline in border arrests of more than 50% since asylum was halted, a welcome development for Biden as he faces Republican attacks of letting the border spiral out of control.

But administration officials said it is a critical change because migrants are more likely to say they fear deportation if prompted with a question.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said strong guidelines are in place for agents to identify migrants exhibiting any signs of fear. Posters at holding facilities explain the new procedures and videos are shown at larger ones, such as Tucson.

“We train, we refresh the training, we are in constant dialogue with our personnel,” Mayorkas said in an interview. “We are abiding by our international and humanitarian obligations.”

If they pass screening at a higher standard, migrants can stay in the U.S. to pursue protections similar to asylum, like those under the United Nations Convention Against Torture. In doing so, the administration argued it is complying with U.S. and international law prohibiting sending people to countries where they face persecution or torture.

Immigration advocates say migrants showing signs of fear can easily be overlooked. The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, which has sued the administration over the asylum halt, said 51 of the 97 families it interviewed in 2020, when the “shout test” was briefly in effect during the COVID-19 pandemic, said they spoke to agents about fears of deportation and another 21 expressed nonverbal cues but none were screened.

Araceli Martinez, 32, told The Associated Press that she feared returning home with her 14-year-old daughter to a physically abusive husband, but no one asked her at the Tucson facility about why she came and she didn’t know that she had to speak up until it was too late. She was deported to Nogales, Mexico, last month.

Another Mexican, Christian Gutierrez, said he told officials he wanted to claim asylum during three days in custody in San Diego but it was futile.

“They completely ignored me,” Gutierrez, 26, told the AP while sitting on a bench in Tijuana, Mexico, after being deported. “They didn’t give me an opportunity.”

Those who consider Biden’s policies too soft play down the “shout test” — and the asylum halt broadly — as too little, too late. Robert Law, director for homeland security and immigration at the America First Policy Institute, said the test may have limited impact but not for long.

“Eventually the word will get out to those who are coaching those who are trying to take advantage of the asylum system,” said Law, who dealt with asylum as chief of policy at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services during former President Donald Trump’s administration.

Even those who get a screening interview face new hurdles. Aside from higher standards, they get four hours to call an attorney from a holding facility, compared to a previous 24-hour window to prepare.

Those who don’t have attorneys get a list of free legal service providers. The four-hour windows are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. including weekends, when many providers don’t answer phones. Even on weekdays, they may be overwhelmed.

On a Saturday morning after asylum was halted, a woman’s voicemail began calmly with her name, birth date, email address, booking number and date of arrest for crossing the border illegally with her 6-year-old daughter. After a 20-second pause, she started to cry, “Why? Why? Why? My God, please.” A guard asked if she was finished and she said yes.

RAICES, a group providing free legal advice to migrants in Texas that obtained the voicemail, found the woman in custody days later after she failed the screening but was waiting on an appeal. An immigration judge reversed the decision, saying she should have been interviewed in her native language, not Spanish, and that her fear was justified. She was released to pursue her case in heavily backlogged immigration courts.

A 22-year-old woman from Guatemala with a year-old son told her attorney she didn’t understand the video instructing migrants to express any fears of being deported and felt confused and scared. She said she contacted RAICES when the Border Patrol gave her a list of attorneys after failing the screening.

The woman told the attorney in a recorded phone call that she fled to the U.S. to work and escape “those cartels.” Fighting tears, she said her son had barely eaten in days.

“He wants to walk, he wants to go out and play games, but they won’t let him,” the woman said. An immigration judge denied her appeal and she was deported with her son.

RAICES said it has been able to respond to 74 of 1,215 calls received from people in Border Patrol custody since asylum was suspended June 5. The organization provided recordings from their clients to the AP on the condition that their names and other identifying information not be published due to concerns for their safety.

In Tijuana, the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, which provides free legal advice to migrants detained in San Diego, has been spreading word of the changes. Directing attorney Melissa Shepard said callers seeking help often have only an hour left to prepare for their interview.

“You are the one who has to say I’m afraid,” Shepard said at a migrant shelter last month. The audience appeared to listen closely but didn’t ask questions.

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Chaos and Confusion: Tech Outage Causes Disruptions Worldwide

Airlines, hospitals and people’s computers were affected after CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company, sent out a flawed software update.

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By Adam Satariano ,  Paul Mozur ,  Kate Conger and Sheera Frenkel

• July 19, 2024

Airlines grounded flights. Operators of 911 lines could not respond to emergencies. Hospitals canceled surgeries. Retailers closed for the day. And the actions all traced back to a batch of bad computer code.

A flawed software update sent out by a little-known cybersecurity company caused chaos and disruption around the world on Friday. The company, CrowdStrike , based in Austin, Texas, makes software used by multinational corporations, government agencies and scores of other organizations to protect against hackers and online intruders.

But when CrowdStrike sent its update on Thursday to its customers that run Microsoft Windows software, computers began to crash.

The fallout, which was immediate and inescapable, highlighted the brittleness of global technology infrastructure. The world has become reliant on Microsoft and a handful of cybersecurity firms like CrowdStrike. So when a single flawed piece of software is released over the internet, it can almost instantly damage countless companies and organizations that depend on the technology as part of everyday business.

“This is a very, very uncomfortable illustration of the fragility of the world’s core internet infrastructure,” said Ciaran Martin, the former chief executive of Britain’s National Cyber Security Center and a professor at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University.

A cyberattack did not cause the widespread outage, but the effects on Friday showed how devastating the damage can be when a main artery of the global technology system is disrupted. It raised broader questions about CrowdStrike’s testing processes and what repercussions such software firms should face when flaws in their code cause major disruptions.

How a Software Update Crashed Computers Around the World

Here’s a visual explanation for how a faulty software update crippled machines.

How the airline cancellations rippled around the world (and across time zones)

Share of canceled flights at 25 airports on Friday

50% of flights

Ai r po r t

Bengalu r u K empeg o wda

Dhaka Shahjalal

Minneapolis-Saint P aul

Stuttga r t

Melbou r ne

Be r lin B r anden b urg

London City

Amsterdam Schiphol

Chicago O'Hare

Raleigh−Durham

B r adl e y

Cha r lotte

Reagan National

Philadelphia

1:20 a.m. ET

CrowdStrike’s stock price so far this year

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The Secret Service is investigating how the man who shot Trump got as close as he did

The Associated Press

Police snipers return fire after shots were fired while former President Donald Trump was speaking at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., on Saturday. Gene J. Puskar/AP hide caption

The U.S. Secret Service is investigating how a gunman armed with an AR-style rifle was able to get close enough to shoot and injure former President Donald Trump at a rally Saturday in Pennsylvania, a monumental failure of one the agency's core duties.

The gunman, who was killed by Secret Service personnel, fired multiple shots at the stage from an "elevated position outside of the rally venue," the agency said.

An Associated Press analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos taken at the Trump rally, as well as satellite imagery of the site, shows the shooter was able to get astonishingly close to the stage where the former president was speaking. A video posted to social media and geolocated by the AP shows the body of a man wearing gray camouflage lying motionless on the roof of a manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm Show grounds, where Trump's rally was held.

The roof was less than 150 meters (yards) from where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a decent marksman could reasonably hit a human-sized target. For reference, 150 meters is a distance at which U.S. Army recruits must hit a scaled human-sized silhouette to qualify with the M16 assault rifle in basic training. The AR-15, like the shooter at the Trump rally had, is the semi-automatic civilian version of the military M16.

Trump is fine after an assassination attempt at his rally

The FBI early Sunday identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pa.

The Secret Service didn't have anybody at a late-night news conference where FBI and Pennsylvania State Police officials briefed reporters on the shooting investigation. FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said it was "surprising" that the gunman was able to fire at the stage before he was killed.

Members of the Secret Service's counter sniper team and counter assault team were at the rally, according to two law enforcement officials. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss details of the investigation.

The heavily-armed counter assault team, whose Secret Service code name is "Hawkeye," is responsible for eliminating threats so that other agents can shield and take away the person they are protecting. The counter sniper team, known by the code name "Hercules," uses long-range binoculars and is equipped with sniper rifles to deal with long-range threats.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said his department and the Secret Service are working with law enforcement to investigate the shooting. Maintaining the security of presidential candidates and their campaign events is one of the department's "most vital priorities," he said.

"We condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms and commend the Secret Service for their swift action today," Mayorkas said. "We are engaged with President Biden, former President Trump and their campaigns, and are taking every possible measure to ensure their safety and security."

The Picture Show

Photos: see how the trump rally shooting unfolded.

Calls for an investigation came from all sides.

James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who is the House Oversight Committee chairman, said he contacted the Service Service for a briefing and called on Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear for a hearing. Comer said his committee will send a formal invitation soon.

"Political violence in all forms is unamerican and unacceptable. There are many questions and Americans demand answers," Comer said in a statement.

U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, called for investigating "security failures" at the rally.

"The federal government must constantly learn from security failures in order to avoid repeating them, especially when those failures have implications for the nation," Torres said.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, posted on X that he and his staff are in contact with security planning coordinators ahead of the Republican National Convention set to begin Monday in Milwaukee. "We cannot be a country that accepts political violence of any kind — that is not who we are as Americans," Evers said.

The FBI said it will lead the investigation into the shooting, working with the Secret Service and local and state law enforcement.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department "will bring every available resource to bear to this investigation."

"My heart is with the former President, those injured, and the family of the spectator killed in this horrific attack," Garland said in a statement. "We will not tolerate violence of any kind, and violence like this is an attack on our democracy."

• Donald J. Trump