Welcome
A well-written personal essay is a crucial part in the college application process. The admission at each college or university actually read your essays! Therefore, start early and take the time to write a high quality personal statement essay.
Personal Essay
What is a Personal Statement Essay?
A personal essay for college purpose is to provide a idea of who you are. The colleges want to know what your dreams are. They want to know how your life experiences have shaped you into the person you now. They want to know how you can contribute to their college.
Things you SHOULDN'T do:
- A personal essay is NOT a list of your accomplishments because they already see that in your college application.
- A personal essay is NOT a list of your life events.
- A personal essay is NOT for bragging about yourself or the college.
It is about the REAL YOU, the person behind the stats.
Strategies to help you get started:
· The essay requires a lot of writing, re-writing, and editing. Start the process in the summer between your junior year and senior year. You'll thank yourself later!
· Start a Google Doc and do some pre-writing. Put moments of your life where you felt proud, sad, happy, etc. You can later use these to help build your personal essay. Also, include anything that is happening with you or around you at the time. This will help you write the ‘who you are’ part of the essay.
· Ask other people about moments that best describes you. You can use this to help build your personal essay.
· After you write your essay, give it to someone else and let that person read it and give you their opinion. Use this feedback to fix the essay.
· AGAIN DON'T BRAG ABOUT YOURSELF! Examples are: “I'm intelligent and hard working”. Instead, reflect these qualities in your conclusion without you saying it directly in your essay.
· Have a hook! Make something catchy to get the reader hooked to read the rest of your essay.
· Be honest. Do not be fake and pretend you're something that you're not!
· Pay attention to your spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Important
The admission members can detect differences in your writing style and vocabulary in one section of your essay verses another. They can suspect the authenticity of your essay and might disqualify you.
Common App
Common Application Personal Essay
Each college or university may have different essay topics (essay prompts) Down below are just examples from past essay prompts to have an idea.
Note: You choose one topic and respond in 250-650 words maximum.
Past Year Common Application Personal Essay Prompts:
1. Some students have a background, identity, interest or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
4. Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
5. Discuss an accomplishment, event or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community or family.
6. Describe a topic, idea or concept you find so engaging that. it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
