personal statement for college

personal statement for college

Crafting a Compelling Personal Statement for College Admissions

1. Introduction to the Importance of Personal Statements

Personal statements are an essential part of college admissions. They’re a way for admissions committees to learn about you not just academically, but on a personal level as well. An engaging personal statement is an excellent way to set yourself apart as the thousands of other applications are poured over. Your personal statement is your chance to become more than just another name in a pile of thousands of applications. It is where you can present yourself, especially in any wording and information that humanizes you as a candidate. This is where you can tell your personal story and make your case for how you are going to change the world.

Admissions officers look for personal statements to identify candidates whose mindset, motivation, and values align with the campus, program, and other students. They also use personal statements to learn more about candidates and to make decisions about which students they can successfully admit, especially in programs for which demand far exceeds supply. Personal statements can help distinguish students from others. They can add information to what you have supplied in the rest of your application so it stands alone as something admissions officers willingly read. Experts advise that each college uses personal statements differently so it is important that students also use them as an opportunity to showcase specific aspects of themselves based on the unique priorities and values of the college.

2. Understanding the Purpose and Audience

A personal statement is a cornerstone of a carefully curated college admission application. It is vital to assiduously prepare your personal statement, as it gives insight to the college admissions team about your personality, experience, goals, and skills. Writing a personal statement is like applying for a job, you write what your potential employer wants to read. And the college of your choice is your potential employer. This is why it has to be relevant to your intended university and its program. Often, universities don’t mince their words when saying this, a well-crafted personal statement accounts partially for final selection.

Before you start whipping up your personal statement, consider the purpose of the document and the people who will read it. Your college admissions committee is on the lookout for fresh perspectives and diversity of thought. They are religiously scanning the personal statements of applicants to understand the people behind the application, to know what a student’s unique strengths and qualities are, and to know how well you can express them to see if they align with what Chosen University wants. The question is – who are you addressing when you write your personal statement? It’s important to know – quite begrudgingly – that it is your admissions committee. Replace your mind with theirs and develop content that answers their questions. You must promote and align your personal attributes with the college’s relevant mission, vision, and values. Focus on telling an emotional and moving story that displays your passion and personality.

3. Structuring Your Personal Statement

The structure of a compelling personal statement varies based on the writer’s purpose, as well as the specific experience or message he or she is trying to convey. However, most personal statements have a few commonalities. They generally open with an introductory section, in which the writer presents a question or observation that is meaningful to them in some personal way. In this section, they should give a sense of what direction the paper is going so that the reader has a sense of both the writer’s goals and his or her unique and distinctive voice. The body of the personal statement tends to be longer and incorporates one or more narratives that engage the reader and present the writer’s personal, academic, professional or activist experiences. This section may be broken down into smaller paragraphs based on major shifts in the author’s personal experience, beliefs, or practices. The statement formally concludes by summing up the paper and offering some final thoughts or ideas that return to the introductory questions or insights.

The chronology of the statement is thus chronological based on the writer’s history, though it may ask more questions than it answers. It might tell a story or draw upon narrative techniques from various genres—diary, short story, confessional poetry, folk tale. Details help to establish and advance the narrative. Each piece of evidence must be relevant and necessary to the rhetorical situation. The most compelling personal statements are not told in summary form but rather through the dramatization of events in a manner that keeps large-scale matters down to a human and understandable level. This is an approachable narrative style that is engaging and confident, allowing for a genuine situation to unfold. The writer also uses experiential judgment, introspective reflection, and a forward-looking perspective.

4. Showcasing Your Unique Qualities and Experiences

Applicant’s strengths are not only academic or extracurricular in nature. Personal statements demonstrate softer strengths by showing a unique quality or distinct experience that makes the applicant who she is. In one sense, it is a claim by applicants that they will bring something valuable to a college or university campus if they are admitted. However, this isn’t a persuasive exercise as much as it is about reflection and authenticity. Personal statements are compelling when they most accurately reflect the feelings and thoughts of an applicant—realizing, of course, that reviewing an applicant’s words allows admission officers to meet and begin to understand her.

Indeed, the “volunteer experience” essay can look incredibly similar from one applicant to another—what’s really important, though, is that you wrote it, not someone else. Moreover, with a little bit of word-smithing, you can often rework paragraphs from one essay or short-answer to the next. Keep coherence and context in mind (i.e., be sure that your essay works within the context of your entire file), but, by doing this, each time you respond to a question you will strengthen the overall presentation that you make. Moreover, this approach allows you to not have to share everything about you in one essay. Your essay will be more successful if your personal qualities or qualities are in line with the values and expectations of the colleges and universities to which you are applying.

5. Polishing and Editing Your Personal Statement

Although walking away from an essay for a few hours may be refreshing, try not to put your personal statement down for too long. Always get the editing, proofreading, and perfecting process finished before the application deadline. When you have your heartbeat, passions, loves, and desires on the page, re-edit accordingly—and start refining.

Editing can mean many things. Not only should you go back and edit for grammar, spelling errors, and clarity, but you should also edit for depth and consistency. Most importantly, edit your writing for word analysis. You have a page limit for your personal statement, and it is crucial to be wordwise when telling your story. You cannot forget to lose content for pretty words. Choose vocabulary and phrasing that best represent you and get to your point through action and feeling. If you have a section that doesn’t mesh with the rest of the essay, don’t be afraid of paragraphs on the chopping block. Finally, genuinely self-editing also means recognizing that you might need some help. Tap into peers, parents, and English teachers for advice and to serve as a second pair of eyes. After all of these steps, comes the final editing: do a very close read of your essay—line by line, word by word, punctuation mark by punctuation mark—to see if any final tweaking is needed. Look for passive voice, redundancies, and overstatements. Cross out overdone lines and metaphors. Pay close attention to detail to assess: “Is this word totally accurate? Is it a bit overly optimistic? Have I already said this?” You know your own quirks and idiosyncrasies in writing, so minimize the disharmony and make your essay sound like you—only better.

When you and another person feel like your piece is blemish-free, examining your piece for one final time—for the 30th time—will always reveal things. For instance, while checking—and subsequently rechecking—stand-out moments of your piece, take the time to have them refined by someone else. Share the changes you have made and take a close look at them, until this point, flawless piece. It’s beautiful, right? Now you are ready to submit! After this phase of work, only after advice from a third-person proofing process has a flawless piece been reached, will you finally be finished.