<p>From which aspects should I think about my essay? I just can't get any ideas. Thank you!</p>
<ol>
<li>Browse forums and websites for starter essay topics</li>
<li>Pick a few that kinda apply to you and think about how you’d set them up</li>
<li>Open a new word document</li>
<li>???</li>
<li>PROFIT!</li>
</ol>
<p>Fill in the blanks:</p>
<p>“I’ve found that <em>__<a href=“noun”>u</a></em>_ is a troubling issue, because <strong><a href=“reason%20why”>u</a></strong>.”</p>
<p>“One of my greatest influences is <strong><em><a href=“person”>u</a></em></strong>, who showed me that <strong><a href=“noun”>u</a></strong> is <strong><a href=“adjective”>u</a></strong>.” </p>
<p>“<strong><a href=“extra-curricular%20activity”>u</a></strong> is <strong><a href=“positive%20adjective”>u</a></strong> and <strong><a href=“positive%20adjective”>u</a></strong>.”</p>
<p>You have asked a simple question that has no easy answer. The goal of the personal statement is to make you seem like, well, a person not an applicant file.</p>
<p>The starting point for the essay is the prompt. A significant number of first drafts I review fail to answer the prompt. Read and re-read it. Before you even start brainstorming, you need to understand each component of the prompt. Otherwise, you are a builder without a blueprint. If you are having trouble getting started, I would suggest staying away from topic of your choice prompts. You will have an easier time answering prompts that have more structure, like Evaluate a significant experience and its impact on you.</p>
<p>Once you understand the prompt, you can begin brainstorming. I often suggest to my students that they identify moments where they felt pride, failure, success, anger, joy, curiosity, passion, or other intense feelings. This exercise helps the student generate a list of unique experiences that he or she can develop into a compelling essay. Often, the experiences listed overlap with the students extracurricular activities. Although your essay should not merely summarize your resume, it can certainly explore your academic or extracurricular activities in a way that reveals something new about you. If someone read your resume, transcript and application, what important things would that reader still not know about you? Answering that question will help move you in the right direction.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, writing the personal statement requires no small amount of labor and agony. But that is why you have started early!</p>
<p>JP</p>
<ol>
<li>Think of what you want to say.</li>
<li>Write it.</li>
<li>Read it.</li>
<li>Think about how that sounds to an average dude who never thought about it before.</li>
<li>Think about how you want it to sound to him.</li>
<li>Go to #2.</li>
</ol>
<p>They just don’t teach this in classes. I tried to explain it to an English teacher once and he couldn’t even understand the concept. All he could say was “Well we have critical reading classes, if that’s what you mean.” No, I do not mean critical reading. I mean read your own stuff and judge whether it’s good enough to let some stranger read it.</p>
<p>^I believe that’s referred to as the rhetorical triangle. That’s the core of AP English Language. </p>
<p>Re your point 4, I don’t know why you would write the essay for an “average dude.” Admissions officers have, at the least, a bachelors degree. That means they are in the minority (only about 30% of Americans graduate if I recall). Seeing as they have intellectual jobs upon graduating, my guess is that they are at least in the top 15% of the country regarding aptitude. </p>
<p>I’d call an admissions officer your average semi-intellectual.</p>