While colleges consider a lot of factors when deciding who to accept, personal statements are one of the most important ones. Applicants have to tell their story in a paper as short as 1000 or even 500 words. Given how high the stakes are, it is only natural that students often struggle with this task. Luckily, we’ve got you covered. These ten tips will help you nail your personal statement.
Nobody wants their personal statement to be basic. But you also need to know the rules before you break them. So it is essential to review several great traditional personal statements to understand what people typically say in them. Examples are available on platforms akin to Quora where students share their admission journeys. Also, any good essay writing company like CustomWritings can provide you with personal statement help you can enjoy online. Read a bunch of personal statements and consider what is worth imitating and what you’d like to change in yours.
Once you have a clear picture of what personal statements are supposed to look like, come up with a winning original idea that will help yours stand out. For example, some writers choose to forgo a traditional order and opt for something more unconventional instead. Others prefer to stick to the classic structure but add a vivid description of a real-life experience that shows their knowledge and abilities. In any case, stick to the assignment. Not every college in the USA offers a writing prompt for admission essays. But if yours does, respect it. If you’re expected to describe an obstacle you’ve overcome, don’t go on and on about why you’re a good fit. Show it with a relevant story instead.
While you’re reading other students’ successful essays, take notes of what you enjoy and find effective. Like when a writer jumps into the story immediately, with no introduction? Take a note. It’s a good way to grab your readers’ attention. Perhaps, a certain quote resonates with you? Memorize it. But make sure that your paper is written entirely from scratch. Plagiarising your personal statement is a sure way to not get in. So feel free to get inspired but be careful and run your essay through plagiarism-detection services. You can even buy an advanced, more sensitive anti-plagiarism tool; some of them are quite cheap and available for purchase online.
Even if you decide that a traditional academic personal statement is not your style, don’t forget to include the key elements expected from all applicants. For example, no admission letter is complete without a discussion of why a would-be student needs a degree. Here’s the right place to share your wildest, most ambitious career plans. If you want to revolutionize customer service, don’t be shy to articulate this. If you feel like you could potentially save the world from the effects of climate change, admit it. But make sure that your plants relate to the program you’re applying for.
This is another crucial part of any personal statement, no matter how unconventional. You want the admission committee reading your application to see that you’ll be a great asset for the college and program you’re applying for. This is particularly true for top colleges and universities that can afford to only select outstanding applicants. The same is true for top-level companies with recruitment so competitive they hire maybe one person from several hundred applicants. Your reasoning should be honest, personalized, and specific. Research what kind of students the college you’re applying for wants and convince the reader that you are a perfect candidate.
Still, don’t think that being honest and well-prepared is enough. Two different writers can tell the same exact story with very different results. It matters not only what is said in your personal statement but also how well it is delivered. So don’t shy away from rhetorical devices, including parallelism, intentional repetitions, rhetorical questions, and more. Any professional writing, from movie reviews to research papers, includes a few.
Have you heard of recency bias? It’s a cognitive bias that makes us give more value to something that has happened recently compared to what happened before (even if the latter was objectively more important). Chances are that the person reading your essay will remember the last couple of sentences but not your eloquent introduction. Therefore, pay attention to how your personal statement ends. An inspiring quote or a joke will do, but they have to be relevant to the story you’re telling.
The worst thing you can possibly do in a personal statement (aside from plagiarism) is fail to edit and proofread properly. Bad grammar can kill the impression of even the best paper. First, edit your personal statement yourself a couple of times once you’ve written it. You won’t catch all the mistakes this way, but it is a good start. The next day, use quality grammar-checking tools akin to Grammarly. They’ll help you identify minor mistakes that you would not be able to see otherwise.
Show your personal statement to another person and ask them for assistance. You don’t need an expert for this; a friend or family member will do just fine. They can see your paper with fresh eyes and catch everything you’ve missed. If you have no one to ask for help, search for a peer review website or online platform where students help one another. You can keep each other company. But this is definitely risky so unless you have no other choice, stick to someone you know personally.
Finally, listen to the feedback from your friends and family and edit your personal statement accordingly. If you doubt how good their advice is, show your paper to several people to decide if the changes they offer will actually make your personal statement writing for college application better. One more thing: if English isn’t your first language, consider asking someone who is a native speaker to edit and proofread your statement. They can tell you if there’s anything there that doesn’t flow well or sounds unnatural. And be ready to write the paper again.
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