How to write a good personal statement for an application for AFS student exchange program?

Question

I have to write a personal statement as it is a part of my application for the AFS student exchange program. I want to write a personal statement which is able to convince the reader & guarantee my place. Things I have to include are:

- Describe yourself & your personality and what is important to you.

- Detail your participation in school & community activities.

-What do you hope to gain from AFS program.

So, do you have any ideas or advice? Your answers will be appreciated. Thank you.

Answer 1

Hi. I'm a future host parent and have looked into going with the AFS program. It seems like a good quality program, but we only chose another because our school district preferred it. We are in the US and our student is from Brazil.

My husband and I spent hours looking over the students' letters and based our choice on what the girls had to say about themselves.

The things I think are important to include are an outline of your daily school day and weekend life. Also things like: are you funny or serious? Loud or quiet? Would you like a host brother or sister, or prefer to be an only kid? Do you like  dogs, cats, fish? Big cities or small town? All this is very helpful to a prospective host family.

For example the normal times of day that you do certain things, like study, spending times with friends, tv, etc...

Talk about your hobbies. Do you enjoy reading, dance, art, or any other hobbies? Write a paragraph about this.

For school and community, I would advise a summary of the subjects you are learning in school currently and things you hope to study in the future. If you do any volunteer programs, write about this. Maybe mention some subjects you study that are unique to your home country.

For what to gain, just be honest. Hopefully, you wish to learn about a new culture while sharing yours. That you would like to make new friends, improve language skills and make fun memories for the future.

Good luck with your letter, and I hope you have a great exchange year!

I think you should have no problem finding a place, the families on this end are just as anxious and excited as you :)