2 BIG Tips for an Irresistible Personal Statement

EssayEnthusiast
Mon, 30 Nov 2015 01:02:03 +0000

Your Personal Essay is Your Story
So write it like one!

1. START WITH AN IMAGE

Great application essays tend to have one thing in common. They’re cinematic. That means they have a heavy visual component.

Notice what’s different between these two application openings:

“My parents always told me to do my best”

and

"The bicycle wheel was still turning, though half of the bike was under a bush. My dadpulled the bike from the bush, wiped dirt from my knee, and set me back on the seat. ‘You’ve got to get back on the horse,’ he said. Though I had no idea what he meant then, this has become my guiding phrase in life.

The first example is telling. It’s uninspired, and it’s not that interesting. And, most importantly, it doesn’t really say anything about the student.

That second example, however, shows. It’s personal – a story that is unique to the student, and one that taught her an important lesson.

Brainstorm 5 memories and at least 3 values you learned from each.

Choose the moment in your life that seems the most compelling to you, the one that shows off the best values you learned.

Now, select one value to become the guiding beacon of your essay, your CORE value.

1. INCLUDE AND EPIPHANY

An epiphany is your “aha” moment. That moment when you realized something significant, something that changed the way you think or act.

Attaching an epiphany to your vivid memory will tell the admissions officers what they really need to know about you: that you learn from experience, and that you know how to skillfully articulate what you’ve learned.

Think about it. The personal essay is an opportunity for the college to see what kind of student you will be. They’re hoping to rope in a freshman (or transfer) student that will thrive in their academic environment. Demonstrating how you learned an important quality is much more effective than simply stating your qualifications.

When you chose a vivid memory, you also wrote down 3 or more values associated with that memory.

Now, turn one of those values into your “aha” moment.

For example:

When I saw my baby brother in my mom’s arms for the first time I realized I was no longer the most important person to my mom and dad. But when I looked at my brother’s rumpled red face, I felt that realization wash out of me. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t the main focus of the family. We were all a family together, each piece as precious as the next.

The student here wrote a personal essay that focused on the value of community. She was able to connect the story of her brother’s birth to a greater theme of community value and talked about her high school experience in terms of community. The vivid memory and the epiphany guided her essay - she returned to the lessons she learned by having a baby in the house and linked those to experiences at school and her volunteer work.
Your epiphany could sound like:

I realized

I knew

I felt

I understood

I believed