The best way to sell yourself as a criminology aspirant is to write a convincing criminology personal statement.
Well, if you are wondering how to write it, rest assured that his blog has everything you are looking for.
We are presenting to you a complete guide that covers:
- How to write a personal statement for criminology?
- A few criminology personal statement examples
- Common mistakes that you must avoid while drafting your criminology personal statement for university.
What is Criminology?
Criminology is a systematic and scientific study of crimes. During this study, the patterns of various crimes, the criminals involved in those crimes and their motivations for committing those crimes are analyzed.
A criminologist executes the following duties.
- They gather and analyse the patterns, traits, and evidence of crimes.
- They analyse the psychological and social background of a criminal to get to the core of specific criminal behavior.
- They build a comprehensive database of criminal profiles to help law enforcement in preventing crimes
What is Criminology Personal Statement? Why Do You Need One?
A criminology personal statement is a one-page essay that applicants of criminology programs are asked to submit when they apply for specific criminology courses at colleges or universities.
In this write-up, the applicants are expected to show their preparedness for undertaking such a program.
If you are a criminology aspirant, it is imperative to furnish a clear and concise personal statement because:
- It is from the best criminology personal statement that the selection committee will learn about your skills and strengths.
- A unique criminology personal statement that you submit will allow the selection panel to have a clear understanding of your motivations and career aspirations.
- Besides academic excellence, you can show how socially committed you are through your criminology personal statement.
- Colleges and universities prefer candidates who can contribute to their institute. In your personal statement, you can show how you can contribute to your respective institute.
- Finally, good criminology personal statements help you establish how you are distinguished from all other applicants.
What Are Admission Officers Looking for In a Criminology Personal Statement For University?
Admission officials will look for specific information when they review your personal statement. What do they look for? Here is a list of factors for your consideration.
- How was your interest in criminology conceived and developed?
- What do you know about the field of criminology?
- How do your skills and experiences relate to criminology?
- What are your achievements and how relevant are they to your chosen field?
- What are your future aspirations in the field of criminology? How are you planning to contribute to society through your training in this field?
How Long Does Your Personal Statement for Criminology Have to Be?
No of pages: | One to two |
Word count: | About 500 words |
Character limit: | 2500 words |
Margin: | Leave a 1” margin at the top, bottom and either side of the page |
Font style: | Ariel or Times New Roman |
Font size: | 12 points size throughout |
How to Write an Impressive Personal Statement On Criminology In Six Quick Steps?
By following the correct procedure, you can write an impressive criminology personal statement rather quickly and easily than you have thought. Here is a list of criminology personal statement ideas and six easy steps for writing.
Find your motivation:
Take a moment to understand your true motivations behind choosing a career in criminology. Is it really something that you want to spend the rest of your future on?
Incorporate real-life scenarios:
It is important to show how strongly you are influenced by real-life scenarios to choose criminology. It is okay to say that your interest was triggered by fiction or movies but when you talk about passion, you need to be more realistic.
Research criminology:
Read about criminology in general and specifically about the program that you are applying to. Spill your findings intelligently in your writing to show how well-read and prepared you are for the program.
Create an outline:
Having a criminology university personal statement outline at hand will serve as a signboard when you start to write it. Prepare your outline after going through the personal statement prompts from your university or college.
Take your own time to write:
Write your personal statement peacefully, taking your own time and carefully developing the outline. If you get stuck at the introduction or any specific point, leave it and carry on with the rest. Come back to where you left later.
Review and revise:
Once completed, go through your writing, and make edits wherever it is needed. Check the overall readability of your document. Replace complicated words with simpler ones. Give special attention to punctuation, grammar and spelling accuracy.
Criminology Personal Statement Examples – 1
The causes and consequences of lawbreaking have appealed to my intellect during hours of introspection. I ponder over the fact that people know the consequences of breaking laws. However, they end up breaking it. My inquisitive mind compelled me to study a few modules of criminal psychology during my Intermediates, although this domain was not a part of my academics. Having been fortunate to study psychology in my high school, I could complement my efforts to channelize my career towards criminology. Studying this aspect calls for a serious understanding of criminal psychology, and I believe I have developed this formative understanding. Based on Paul Tappan’s ‘Interpretation of Crime’, I believe one’s ethnicity, gender, age and culture resemble varying rates of criminality.
My natural inclination towards criminology compelled me to explore some interesting books on criminal psychology. By the time I was in college, I finished reading John Conklin’s ‘Criminology’ and Peter Ainsworth’s ‘Psychology and Crime Myths and Reality’. All these years, I have fed my curiosity with healthy doses of reading and understanding each criminal characteristic. These experiences proved to be gratifying indeed for me, and motivated me to embrace a course in criminology. During my leisure hours, I watch Discovery TV series such as ‘Most Evil’ and ‘Deadly Women’. The investigation tactics portrayed in these programs keep me fascinated. Based on a few minor details, apparently fragile, it is possible to unearth crimes and solve mysteries. I visualize myself walking in an investigator’s shoes, putting together facts like a jigsaw puzzle from scratch.
Given that I have studied psychology during my graduation as well, I am well-versed with the basics of criminal psychology. Besides, investigating crimes involves understanding the criminal’s way of thinking. Discovering these docile, yet negative traits in the human character interests me the most. During my graduation, I also studied papers like informatics and mathematics. In the process, critical thinking enlarged my vision. In course of time, I realized that I was able to organize my thoughts better than before, and was happy that I was on the right course.
It was during my last vacation, that I had the opportunity to attend an inspiring conference, titled ‘Insight into Crime’, organized by Gujarat Forensic Sciences University. Here, I talked to a reformed prisoner, who explained to me his reasons for committing a crime. Besides, I capitalized on the opportunity to examine how professionals work in forensics. After this conference, I attended a workshop where a mock crime scene was analyzed. Through a series of activities, I had to draw possible assumptions from the scene of a crime and work on them to narrow down the possibilities. Well, I got a taste of working as a criminologist through these experiences.
As I fancy my passion to put on the shoes of a police officer, I got an opportunity to attend a training program last year. This program also involves a placement with the police, based on relevant work experience. For a couple of weeks, I underwent intensive training, working with senior police officers. It was exciting to patrol areas and attend call-outs. In the process, I realized the challenges and legal aspects involved in solving crimes. This experience also showed me how gratifying and rewarding the job of police can be. Besides, I undertook some administrative work in various departments, and realized the importance of these aspects. All these experiences significantly enhanced my confidence and communication skills while dealing with the public.
Considering the scope of my career in criminology in India, I realized the importance of a globally acknowledged degree. In the context of the Indian scenario, criminologists need to undertake challenging cases. These include homicides, youth crimes, political crimes, violence in crimes, besides domestic and international terrorism. Specializing in criminology will enable me to unleash my full potential while strengthening this sector. In the process, I would be able to give back to the society which nurtured me all these years. The advanced course at your revered university will prepare me for a dynamic career in India. A challenging, yet interesting future awaits me in India, and I look forward to integrating myself into the dynamic learning environment at your university. This course will propel me closer to my professional aspirations, infusing me with the necessary traits of a successful investigator. A psychological approach to solving criminal cases might hold the secret to mitigating crime rates in the country!
Here are a few criminology personal statement examples PDF for you to review.
Read it carefully to help yourself understand its basics and inspire yourself to write it.
Personal Statement Examples Criminology – 2
How to Use Examples of Criminology Personal Statements?
Reading personal statement criminology examples is the most practical way to train yourself before attempting to write it.
Use the samples for the following criminology Personal Statement help scenarios:
- To Understand the type of sentences and their grammatical range.
- To learn how paragraphs are organized in the essay and what each paragraph should focus on.
- To figure out how important is the opening sentence in a personal statement
- To learn about the introduction and conclusion styles.
How to Add Uniqueness to Your Criminology Personal Statement? Pro Tips from Experts
A unique personal statement quickly impresses Admission officials.
How to add uniqueness to a personal statement?
Here is a list of tips that experts use for the same.
Start with a personal experience:
Start a criminology personal statement by narrating a personal experience that made you realize the importance of criminology and choose it for a career.
Cherry-pick the most relevant points:
By focusing your essay only on the relevant points that you have carefully curated, you can avoid unnecessary explanations and make your essay more closely linked to its actual purpose, which in turn will enhance its uniqueness.
Use storytelling instead of statements:
Formal statements will cause your personal statement to look too cliched. Instead, use storytelling to turn it into an engaging write-up. Doing so will also contribute to its uniqueness.
Simplicity and clarity:
Using simple words does not mean you have less knowledge. Rather it shows how much you have understood so as to redescribe your insights in much simpler terms to another.
Personalized and meant for the purpose:
Add your share of personalization to the document by showing why criminology matters to you so much and how it will boost your career aspirations.
Don’t Let These Mistakes Ever Happen in Your Personal Statement
In a highly competitive arena of admission for criminology, even smaller mistakes in the criminology masters personal statement will take a toll on your admission hopes.
While drafting your document, try to avoid the following mistakes so that you won’t have to face that much-averted rejection.
- Failing to show your preparedness to take up a university-level program in criminology
- Not supporting your claims of achievements and experiences with valid evidence
- Repeating points once discussed in the essay. Avoid mentioning information which can be gathered from other files, for instance, your GPA.
- Forgetting what the personal statement is meant for and writing things that are out of topic.
- Writing too personal things that make no sense to the selection committee in the context of your application
Scope of Criminology
Having a good understanding of the scope of criminology can give you a wider perspective while drafting a criminology degree personal statement. Though criminology is a study of crime and the causes that lead to it, it has got a much wider scope in today’s world order.
Here is a list of areas that come under the scope of criminology.
- Criminals have a social background and thus it’s closely related to social science.
- Inputs from criminology can be used effectively in law-making to prevent crimes.
- Unemployment is one of the main reasons why some people end up as criminals. Criminology can suggest educational policies that cater to all.
- Criminology is the first step toward implementing a criminal justice system
- The causes of crime are studied under a specific classification in criminology known as criminal aetiology.
Best Universities to Pursue Criminology Program
For Masters
University of Pennsylvania, US | Course Offered:Master of Science in Criminology (1 Year) |
Birkbeck University, UK | Course Offered:M.Sc Global Criminology (1 Year) |
Macquarie University, Australia | Course Offered:Master of Criminology (1 Years) |
University of Technology, Australia | Course Offered:Master of Forensic Science (1.5-3 Years) |
University of Maryland, College Park, US | Course Offered:Masters in Criminology & Criminal Justice (1 Year) |
Middlesex University, UK | Course Offered:M.Sc Criminology with Forensic Psychology (1 Years) |
For Bachelors
University of Florida, US | Course Offered:BA in Criminology (3 Years) |
University of Sheffield, UK | Course Offered:BA Criminology (3 Years) |
University of Maryland, US | Course Offered:BA in Criminology and Criminal Justice (3 Years) |
University of Surrey, UK | Course Offered:BSc Criminology (3 years/4 years with training) |
The University of Winnipeg, Canada | Course Offered:BA Criminal Justice (3 Years) |
Major Specializations in Criminology
- Law and Criminology
- Criminology and Sociology
- Cyber Crime
- Forensic Criminology
- Feminist Criminology
- Criminal Justice
- Criminology and Psychology
- Penology
- Global Criminology
- Criminalistics
- Biocriminology
Career Options to Choose After Criminology Graduation
- Police Officer
- Prison Officer
- Criminal Intelligence Analyst
- Drug Policy Adviser
- Detective
- Crime Scene Analyst
- Probation Officer
- Community Development Worker
As We Wind Up…
As we wind up this blog, we have a couple of questions to ask you.
Did you find this blog on criminology personal statement helpful?
Is there anything in the blog that you wished to have more clarity on?
We are eager to know what you think.
Please share your feedback with us by writing it in the comments below.
Wish you the best of luck with your writing of criminology personal statement for university.
