Personal statement topic?

Applying to College
1

Hi

I was wondering if I could get a few opinions on this.
I have a published book that’s raised several thousand dollars for a cause and it’s been a great experience. I think I’d have all sorts of things to say about it so this was my first choice for a personal statement topic.

However, the more I read around, the more I seem to see people saying that it is sometimes better to write about a tiny event as opposed to your most wonderful and successful moment. A lot of people say that it’s better to write about smaller things and a lot of the examples of successful essays I have seen were focused on a very small event but were very well written.

I’m a decent writer and I think I could write a good essay on maybe a thought I’ve had or an interesting or significant moment but I’m unsure as to whether I should do that or continue with the book idea.

Assuming I can pull off a good essay, do you reckon it would be better to write about something else? I’ve been told that writing about something big can make you sound too vain?

Any thoughts?

Much appreciated!

2

Are those mutually exclusive? Pick whatever subject you want and approach in a way that shows who you are. Make sure you write about you and not the book or the cause.

3

You could write about what influenced your book idea, or how you became interested in the cause, or just one aspect of this large event; there are probably so many small events and conversations that got you to where you are. Make sure to give more insight into what you’ve learned or how you’ve grown than what you did.