Students around the world are looking for help with the personal statement on their college applications. Most students are at a loss when it comes to finding the right topic – one that successfully markets their candidacy for a spot at the college of their choice.
Part of the problem is that students are trolling the Internet in search of other students’ essays, and as a result, they are writing about the same trite subjects that other students are writing about. That strategy will ensure that they fail at distinguishing themselves from other students.
Equally problematic is that by studying other personal statements for clues about what to write, students are failing at the most important point of the personal statement, which is to provide an authentic narrative about themselves.
Don’t get stuck on trying to be profound when you talk about an experience you’ve had that influenced you deeply. Most 17-year olds haven’t had very dramatic lives (thank goodness!) and may feel as though nothing worth writing about has happened to them. However, it’s not the experience itself that is significant; it’s how you responded to it that reveals your character, motivation, and complexity, and those are traits that the Admissions Committee wants to hear about.
You may have discovered the Free Writing technique in school. When you free write, you simply free associate thoughts without any concern about sentence structure, theme or even why you are writing. It’s a form of meditation where you write down the random thoughts that come through your mind instead of letting them drift away.
As ideas start to come (and it will take more than a few minutes to get the creative juices flowing, so don’t get worried if you draw a blank at first), write or type words or phrases that pop into your head. the more you write, the more ideas will occur to you. Somewhere in those ideas is a concept that reveals what really matters to you, and that will form the basis of your personal statement. Alternatively, you can also seek help from NerdyWriters. They provide reliable essay writing service at an affordable price point.
Why the Personal Statement EssayMatters?
It is well worth your while to submit a personal statement that reflects what is unique about yourself. Put yourself in the shoes of any member of the Admissions Committee; week after week of personal statements from students who share similar GPAs, SAT, ACT, LSAT, MCAT, GMAT or GRE scores, not to mention similar goals and motivations for attending the same school. The more competitive the school, the more similarities among the applicants, and the greater difficulty in differentiating yourself.
The Personal Statement has become increasingly important over time. An article in The New York Times cites an impressive stat from a survey by the National Association for College Admission Counseling: 26% of admissions officers deemed the personal statement of “considerable importance” in deciding who gets in, compared with only 14% in 1993. For those of you considering the more exclusive schools, be aware that the personal statement gives it more weight than even your GPA!
There’s only one way to approach this daunting task, and that is to create your own narrative about who you are and what makes you the unique individual you are. Think about one thing that really matters to you, and don’t try to impress the Committee with filler activities or pretending to admire some historical figure you could care less about. Some of the best essays are about little things – insignificant events that tell the reader who you are.