Does anyone have any tips for a personal statement?
There are many tips regarding the personal statement. Some are subjective. You can always google search good personal statements or the like to find other information than mine:
Here is mine:
As a preface, the personal statement is personal, so make it personal. Do not write about your friend’s persistence. Write about how you inspired that persistence or whatever. Make sure you are the focus, not your friend or dog.
Do NOT write a volunteering essay. Most schools require students to do volunteer work as a requirement for graduation (my school does). If the work was VERY SIGNIFICANT, then you may write your personal statement about it, but this volunteer work essay should generally be avoided. If you must do community service, make it MEANINGFUL and DIFFERENT.
DO. NOT. PLAGARIZE. (how could you though? It is a PERSONAL statement) – You would be surprised at some essays though.
Make your essay the “essay of the year” (in a good way)
repetitive essay: “I scored the winning goal” or the like
use MEANINGFUL material
sell YOUrself
Do NOT lie
Some schools post a few essays that worked for their school and the student got accepted. The school does not release the student’s academics, but the essay can help you get a feel for quality personal statements. (I know Johns Hopkins posts some.)
You can also just do a general search “New York University essays that worked”
Usually, gradesaver (website) has LOTS of essays from a variety of schools on a variety of prompts.
A few traits I noticed in some essays I read from JHU (that admissions reps also loved):
SPECIFIC examples from life that relate to greater morals
Showed EXTENSIVE research when talking about something (for example, quantum string theory)
Connections across disciplines (theatre and Spanish, for example)
Comparisons
Humor - formal or casual (not a text to a friend!)
NOT generic (not the basic five paragraph literary analysis that you wrote in high school)
Make sure to demonstrate your characteristics, traits, and personality
the trait of persistence works very well, and I see it used a ton! (Admin reps love persistence, considering your average high school student is quite lazy, generally speaking)
Best advice: READ OTHER ESSAYS! (get a feel for what works & does not work)
Colleges remember the iconic essays that are “one-and-done.” Colleges also (occasionally) share essays with other colleges.
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How to write the Personal Statement?
Method: Chips & Dip
Chips deliver dip (imagine eating chips and dip). You put dip on a chip. The delicious part is the dip (unless you prefer the chip?)
Deliver the “goodness” (dip) w/o being obnoxious. If you must brag, humble brag please.
regarding the title and first sentence, drag those admissions officers in & hold them!
experience the essay! Do not tell it. (for example, do NOT have an essay like: “I did this. Then I did this. After this, I did this. Then, this happened.” It is very boring. Live your essay as you write it)
Use your unique personal voice
avoid writing about extracurriculars for the personal statement (colleges can see your résumé, if you have to submit one)
Colleges look for students who will thrive on campus, and this statement gives them a chance to determine whether or not you’ll thrive.
Make sure when someone reads the essay, they can “see” you. not literally but the reader should be able to envision you and the type of person you are.
write through your lens
don’t expand on your résumé
don’t make your essay a “pity party” – admin officers do not want to pity you
important question to answer: How did the situation influence or change your life?
Make sure your essay is unique to your experience. (for example, Many people get bullied. How did you handle it? How did it change YOUR life?)
Write about something you care about
Think in the form of a 5-body essay, but write in the form you want
Think about how to introduce the topic, 3 main points, and how to conclude.
You do NOT have to write in a 5-body essay style.
Big picture - introduction
Situation - bodies
Conclusion - relate situation to big picture (specific incident to the greater morals of life)
Don’t make something the entire emphasis of your app.
For example, theater kids probably shouldn’t write an essay about theater for their personal statement (unless the experience was meaningful and different)
All of this advice has come from an essay reader for a university.
The following advice comes from a teacher with a BA in English:
Characteristics: What was positive about your incident, what was negative, and how is this affecting you/how has it helped your grow? What have you learned from this approach/encounter?
Identity: who are you, how do you see yourself, what’s your personal mission statement? What are your core values?
Mission Statement: I think it might be helpful for you to come up with a one-to-two sentence personal mission statement. Define/Describe yourself in a sentence or two.
I hope this information helps & best of luck. The personal statement, in my opinion, is the easiest essay to write for college. The harder ones are “Why our school/program?” essays. Best of luck!
Pay attention to the prompt. It wasn’t an open ended personal statement. It was: Tell us why you will succeed academically in college. Academically was underlined. S answered that question in a very straightforward manner without trying to get extremely creative. He is also applying to Honors College and knew there would be additional, longer essays with which he could be more creative.
^^ This. And within the scope of the prompt, this is also your opportunity to tell USC something about yourself that may not be obvious from transcript or stats.