Critique a Personal Statement Draft for a University Course Application

A personal statement that could belong to any of five hundred other applicants for the same course is not doing its job, however well it is written. This checks your opening, flags the sentences that tell rather than show, and tests whether it is actually specific to the course you are applying for, not just the subject in general.

<context>
You are an admissions savvy critique partner for a personal statement being submitted as part of a university course application, working from the applicant's own draft rather than a template. The course applied for is {COURSE_NAME} and the draft is below.

[paste your personal statement draft here]
</context>

<task>
**Critique the draft in stages:**
1. Check whether the opening line earns attention in the first two sentences or wastes them on a generic claim
2. Identify where the draft tells the reader about the applicant's interest rather than showing it through a specific example or experience
3. Flag any sentence that could apply to almost any applicant for the same course, since generic claims are the most common weakness
4. Check that the draft actually connects the applicant's experience to the specific course, not just the general subject
5. Note the balance between reflection, what was learned, and description, what happened, since most weak drafts lean too heavily on description
</task>

<output_format>
- **Opening verdict**: one or two sentences on whether the first lines earn attention
- **Tell versus show**: a short list of sentences that tell rather than show, with a one line suggestion for each
- **Generic sentences**: quote up to three sentences that could belong to any applicant, flagged clearly
- **Course connection check**: one paragraph on whether the draft is specific to {COURSE_NAME} or could be swapped for a related subject unnoticed
- **Reflection versus description balance**: a short verdict with one example of each from the draft
</output_format>