Help on essay prompt (not asking for critique)

College Essays
1

<p>This is for the UCF admissions essay. The prompt is...</p>

<p>"Essay: The personal statements are a very important part of your application. They assist the university in knowing you as an individual, independent of test scores and other objective data. We ask that you respond to two of the topics below. Your personal statement should be no longer than a total of 500 words or 7000 characters for both statements combined. The best personal statements are not necessarily the longest ones.</p>

<p>1.If there has been some obstacle or "bump in the road," in your academic or personal life, please explain the circumstances.
2.How has your family history, culture or environment influenced who you are?
3.Why did you choose to apply to UCF?
4.What qualities or unique characteristics do you possess that would allow you to contribute to the UCF community?"</p>

<p>My question is... should I write two short statements around 250 words each, or weave the two topics I choose into a single essay of 500 words? It may not seem like a big deal, but I don't want to make the wrong choice and hinder my chances of being accepted.</p>

2

<p>I would tend to think you should do one cohesive essay tying two of the topics together.</p>

3

<p>I wasn’t sure since it said “both statements combined”</p>

4

<p>I favor two separate statements. The prompt referred to them in the plural three times. Separating them allows you the freedom to make each statement completely independent of the other.</p>

5

<p>Yeah - the prompt is kind of vague. Probably either way would work. Maybe you could go into the UCF area on this site and ask students there what they did? Hopefully you have some time before the deadline!</p>

6

<p>I’m beginning to favor two separate statements as well. The deadline is May 1st (but of course I would never wait that long). I’ve already been accepted to FSU, UCF is just another option I want to have. Thanks everyone, I’m also going to post this in the UCF section.</p>