College Admissions: Personal Statements

This a moment when a high school senior must showcase not only their stellar writing skills, but the incredibly rounded individual that they are.

Personal statements are such a hassle for college bound students, particularly those who feel that they have nothing specifically special about themselves. Yet, as anyone will be able to attest--you are bound to have at least one of your colleges require one. There are five steps to take in the process.

1. Choosing Your Topic
This is the tricky part of the task, especially difficult since it is also the very first step. If the topic you choose doesn't rise to the occasion, it will not matter how well written the essay is. Content is so important--to such an extent that cannot be overlooked.

2. Writing Your First Draft
Another difficult step (Who am I kidding? All of these steps are demanding--that's simply what it takes.) is writing a completed first draft. During the writing of your first draft, don't worry so much about the small revisions like technicalities--this is something that can be altered down the line. Do worry about the word count though. If you write a lot more than you are allowed to submit, you will find it difficult to determine what it is that you can delete. At that point, everything will seem important to you and you'll have a hard time parting with your work.

3. Self-Editing
Before you hand your essay over to someone else to review, make sure that you do the same. While it seems rather tempting to simply finish the rough draft and hand it over for edits that's something that should be avoided. In part, because it is downright embarrassing to present a poorly written piece for something as major as this. More importantly though, you know your essay and the message that you are attempting to convey. If it doesn't seem clear to you, then you can bet it will definitely be impossible for other readers.

4. Outside Revisions
There are two people that you should ask to read over your personal statements: a close friend and an adult. The reason for the friend is obvious, they know you well and can work on the defining moments of your statement that are directly about you. The reason for the adult is for the far more sophisticated understanding (though it's possible that your friend is capable of this as well). When you ask them to look over your work, emphasize that they need to offer as much constructive criticism as possible. While it's nice to be praised for hard work, this isn't the time nor place for it. That essay has to be the best you can produce, so bring on the revisions!

Remember that you have the final word though. If you happen to disagree with the suggestions of your editors, then do whatever feels best to you. Just be sure to remember that you were the one who decided to forgo their opinions.

5. Final Cut
The last points of reference when it comes to the personal statement is to remember that the technicalities must be all on mark. This means that there can't be any spelling or grammar mistakes--whether large or small. It also means that it has to be your absolutely best work, the effort will definitely be noticeable.

Be sure to have the entire essay complete a week before you plan on submitting all of your application. It's a good idea to finish ahead of time--or at least plan to finish ahead of time--simply because there may be some accidents unaccounted for.

That's all I have to say on the subject. As usual, if you have any questions feel free to leave me a comment below. Have a good day!