Personal Statement. . . what?

College Essays
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<p>Ok, so I know I'm pretty behind on my applications. </p>

<p>And I'm not sure if this is a stupid question.</p>

<p>But after applying EA to UChicago, I started with my "normal' apps this weekend, and the Personal Statement is freaking me out.</p>

<p>What is supposed to go in there? Basic stuff like hobbies, etc? Focused on personality traits? Elaborate on ONE EC or something? Or is it a "mini essay" where I think of an inspiring anecdote that taught me all about "life"? How do you start it? </p>

<p>I just don't get it. It makes me think of like a "Mission Statement" where a company lists its morals. </p>

<p>I can think up stuff to write if I had a general idea of what is expected there. </p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

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<p>Sorry if it seems like I'm clueless. I just need enlightening.</p>

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<p>I used my personal statement to elaborate on one of my EC's and show how it has affected my life/what I have accomplished with it.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
1. Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you. </p></li>
<li><p>Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence. </p></li>
<li><p>Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence. </p></li>
<li><p>A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you. </p></li>
<li><p>Topic of your choice.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Considering that those are the topics, it is really entirely up to you (I mean, "Topic of your choice"? C'mon). The essay is a way for you to show who you are, something that you can't expand upon in the rest of your application. It's to show your personality. You as a PERSON, not as a series of lines and words. </p>

<p>That being said, I would focus on one thing. Whether it be an EC, a hobby, an anecdote, a trait, etc, it doesn't matter. What matters is that whatever you write about is important to YOU. Don't write about what you think will look "good" to admissions offices, because usually those essays come out trite and fake. If you write about something you're passionate about, it will show and the admissions office will see a side of you that they can't find anywhere else.</p>

<p>What's important to you? Is there an issue you're passionate about? A person you admire? An EC which has had a significant influence on your life? A dilemna you've faced? It's an essay. On whatever you want. Take that freedom and run with it. </p>

<p>On another note, is there a word limit? My current one (about a person who's had a significant influence on me) is about 1123 words long. I do plan to cut it down a tad, but how long is too long?</p>

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<p>1123 words is too long. cut it down to one page singlespaced at the very very least.</p>

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<p>Ah. . . Personal Statement = Essay???</p>

<p>I thought it was something completely different. </p>

<p>For some of those shorter apps, they require a "Personal Statement" of 250 words. That is what I am confused about. </p>

<p>Thank you for the essay advice though!!!</p>

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<p>Personal Statement = Essay. Calling it a personal statement I guess emphasizes that it doesn't have to follow a traditional essay format, and the focus is on showing "you" and your voice.</p>

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<p>I talked about my success in my musical endeavors in spite of a hearing loss I have had since birth.</p>

<p>It's really whatever you want. Show the admissions committee who you are.</p>

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<p>Oh dear. . . how did this end up on the front page of CC. . . I am thouroughly amused.</p>

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<p>omg. you're so lucky Katia. It has always been my dream from day one on CC to have a featured thread...seriously, it would probably be the pinnacle of my life.</p>

<p>hahha...anyways, yeah. You can get pretty creative with the "personal statement"...anything that you think makes you special (and that does not have to include school related stuff or ECs at all). For example, I wrote about elevators and my experiences in them. =]</p>

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<p>The best way to describe a personal statement is a bit like what I'm doing for graduate school... essentially tell them something about yourself that CANNOT be found in any parts of the application, that your teachers cannot tell about you. It is your own personal story with your own emotions. Give them something new to read after they've read the rest of your application.</p>

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<p>Personal Statement does NOT = Essay. </p>

<p>You are not writing an essay for English Class or for History class. The goal of what you write is to help a stranger understand who you are and how you think in relation to the world around you. I read a too many Personal Statements by students who clearly know how to write, but nonetheless drop the ball by writing an essay that's missing self-awareness or introspection. It's extremely rare that your essays in history class need to carry that personal touch. </p>

<p>Personally, I think the UChicago essay topics are pretty incredible, and it isn't surprising that you're having a hard time shifting from that to the Common Application. The topics do a great job of being open ended, but still contain a large element of direction. It's easy to see that the way a student would choose to answer those questions would shed a lot of light on the way an applicant thinks - on top of what you can learn from style choices and content. </p>

<p>That's your goal - to help an admissions officers understand your intellectual or personal spark. There's innumerable ways to do that, and any topic can work. If you can do that by recounting a story from an EX, that's fine, but making your essay about an EX just so you can talk about the EX is the wrong path to take when applying to Most Selective (capital letters) schools. </p>

<p>If you enjoyed the UChicago essay prompts, then my advice is to follow their model on the common application as well. Create a prompt that you can get excited to write, and then answer it.</p>

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<p>Don't worry, above poster, I meant something more along the lines of
Personal Statement = COLLEGE Essay. I thought they were different. </p>

<p>In fact, I think they might be, when it comes to some non CommonApp applications?</p>

<p>I think these are so troublesome because they are so important and get me wondering if I really have any "personal spark" at all or have been kidding myself all along. Wow, psychological stuff, eh? </p>

<p>My Chicago essay hit me in hte face one day after weeks of wrestling with it. Oh, Muse, where are you? LOL</p>

<p>Thanks for all the advice, especially the Ad.Rep. from Tufts above.</p>

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<p>Think of this as your chance to tell the admissions office who you are as a person...what are your values, what unique viewpoint will you bring to College X, how have your experiences shaped who you are. Try to keep it under 500-600 words.</p>

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<p>I think I started about sixty different personal statements before I settled on one. Every time an idea struck me, I tried to hammer it out to see where I'd end up. The one I used for the Common App ended up being one based off of an entry in one of my journals-- I had written out part of a conversation between my friend and I while we made a disgusting smoothie (marshmallows plus a blender never comes out well). Once I added more to it to give it meaning and polished everything up, it worked really well. I think the most important thing is to write something that, when you read over it, you just think, "that sounds...so much like me," no matter how dorky or different it may be.</p>

<p>:)</p>

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<p>Irene... that is EXACTLY how I figured out my personal statement. Well, not the smoothie-making part, but the writing of like sixty of them and choosing. The one I decided to go with actually started as this random idea I had while I was asleep, and I got up and wrote it down in the middle of the night and worked on it for weeks afterwards.</p>

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<p>There is a very good Key Speaker Presentation on College</a> Search - CollegeWeekLive, the Virtual College Fair that you might want to view. "Soft Qualities in College Admissions" by Katherine Cohen talks about what makes a good personal statement essay. As of this post it was still available "on demand". It takes about an hour but has great info.</p>

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<p>hey, I just sent out an essay of 1134 words with common app. How are the colleges going to view this?</p>

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<p>I actually wrote one of my essays about the frustration of writing about my place in the world when I have yet to see myself as a whole person. It was also about how my dean has told me not to write about 30 different things which basically eliminated all of my possible topics.</p>

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<p>How about personal statements for summer programs where no other essay is included in the app?</p>