whatever you do, don't mention the war.

no, really, though, j is totally right.
this is what i did:

I started off by giving them a brief introduction of my background, then talked about what inspires me, then mentioned work experience and travel, then finally why that school's particular program is best suited for someone like me. Pretty simple, really. . .but it did the trick.

good luck.

I think typically schools want to know if you have a clue as to what is relevant in architecture today.

thanks guys..

tell me this - isn't everyone gonna write the same stuff about the school?
thats the part i get confused about.....it's a great school and ppl wanna go there for that...or do i have to put in professor names and say some good stuff about the program specifically??

I didn't mention the school, or architecture, in my statement at all. I wrote about something that interested me and was influencing my creative work at the time. It was more of an essay on a particular concept. I was accepted to all but one of the schools to which I applied, so I'm sure it didn't hurt me. It definately avoided cliches.

the obvious answer is to be specific. but don't just drop names. if you went to an open house mention what struck you as being original or what you thought made that particular program stand out.

i only went to one open house, but the rest of the schools i sortof did research on. but be very dilligent about it. i wasn't as thorough as i should have been, so i'm still asking questions.

All these posts are spot-on. My advice, tell a story. In other words, be sure you are giving a narrative, as opposed to ticking off all your best achievements or to giving a "prose" version of your resume.

My personal statements also tend to be biographical in nature. This may not work for some, but it may be something to consider?????

Tips from Berkeley Career Center:

http://career.berkeley.edu/Grad/GradStatement.stm

Also check your school's writing center and see if they offer free workshops on application statement writing.

My personal statements were really directed toward the specific programs. I talked about my own research, and then indicated how I thought the department could support me in that research. I also branched out and talked about other university resources that I would use to support my work. I didn't mention any profs by name (although all my application forms had spots for listing out people that I contacted or with whom I wanted to work) but I did say I was applying because of faculty strength in certain areas.

Like Smokes, mine had a bit of a biography to them, in that I wanted to show that my career had logically progressed to the point where I was considering a PhD in architecture (rather than history or art history, which may have looked like the natural choices). It wasn't a resume, exactly, more of a narrative of where I've been and where I want to find myself in ten years.

Berkeley's application was really difficult, in that I had to write a personal statement *and* a biographical essay. The biographical essay took 10x as long as the personal statement.

snjr's comment about showing a "logical progression" in your statement is not only absolutely dead-on, but I think it also applies to whatever type of degree/program you are considering.