Picking what to write about on your essay?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Washington
1

<p>Hello, everyone. I am going to apply to UW so this is probably the best time to start my essays. I already finished my short response which i am really satisfied with but i am totally stuck on my personal statement. I've written about four essays during the summer and i managed to get rid of three of them and focus on one essay. My essay is about growing up in a Latino community and being literally the only Asian in town and how i stood up for another student and for myself from a group of Latino bullies i dealt with in elementary school. But now the deadline is coming up, i'm starting to wonder if this is even a good thing to write about. I was thinking about writing on my money issue and how my family left me home alone throughout high school to care for myself while they earned money in and out of state, but maybe that is too typical and sappy? </p>

<p>If i write an essay about my family's big money problem then it would explain my low grades for my sophomore and a part of my junior year. But the story about living in a Latino community reflects more about me and what goes on in my head. What do you think is more important. I heard that it's cliche and bad talking about grades in personal statement. Does anyone want to read my essays and give me some tips/feedback? (hoping i can trust you guys and wont steal my hard efforts) They're both different in tone and style. I wrote the Latino one with a narrative, very vivid style, while the other essay is more of an overview description of the last few years.</p>

<p>Thanks, i really appreciate any thoughtful comments and help.</p>

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<p>They both sound like experience that will stick with you for your lifetime, but I would recommend whichever one was a greater experience for you. I’m of the belief that when you write about something that you have a deep emotional attachment to, it’ll come out less “pretentious”. </p>

<p>Don’t worry about something being cliche either. The readers will read and have read thousands of essays with probably many of them stating very similar things. If you have a cliche, they probably read it previously and it doesn’t count against you if it has to do with dealing with adversity.</p>

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<p>I am applying to UW as well, but I know for a fact that the writing prompt for the UW application might change within the next week. The definite prompt will be available October 1st, so if I were you, I’d wait until then to work on the essay.</p>

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<p>If the most interesting experience you can think of to write about as your PERSONAL STATEMENT happened in elementary school, your life must not be very exciting.</p>

<p>I would avoid both topics. Try to write about something you’re actually passionate about rather than something that HAPPENED to you. Your voice will show a lot more in your writing.</p>