How to write a personal statement for college application
College applications are more than just updating your academic information, standardized test scores, and other accomplishments and honors. This holds a very important weightage when it comes to shortlisting a candidate.
A personal statement is your chance to speak directly to the admissions committee. This is a make-it-or-break-it kind of a situation. All the more reasons to emphasize writing an apt personal statement that talks more about you, your unique experiences, qualities, and your belief system.
What is a Personal Statement?
A personal statement is an integral part of your college admissions application. This statement gives an overview as to why you want to pursue the specific program and course of interest. This supports your college application for a college or university where you talk about your passion and skills for the chosen field of interest. In a nutshell, you tell the college committee who you are and why you should be admitted to the program you have applied for.
Where to start when writing a Personal Statement?
Start by writing a draft statement.
Write more about yourself as an individual and try to connect that with your passion and interests supporting your choice of field.
Break down your personal statement into relevant sections and approaches. It’s better to brainstorm and make a list of things you want to include and talk about instead of writing everything in one go.
Once you have the pointers you want to work on, support your stance with relevant experiences & examples. If you’re talking about your strengths, then support it with what made you believe it as a strength and how this helps you with your desired field or studying abroad plan.
Now you have a structure and things you want to talk about in one place. All you need to do is to reiterate everything and make sense of what you’re trying to achieve.
Key tips to include in your Personal Statement:
Show your personality:
College admissions have all the relevant information about your scores and academic performance. What they don’t know about is YOU! They want to know what you’ll bring to the college campus, how well would you fit in, what contributions would you make in general and how well would you serve the community.
Even with the same academics, students with different personalities would end up in the same class. How you want them to perceive you is what matters.
Make it simple and clear.
Your personal statement can be a lot of things but verbose. Try to be simple, thoughtful, and clear when writing a personal statement.
A straightforward thought that supports your interests is better than copying an old philosophy and quote online.
Show this draft to your family or friends or professor to critique your statement. Ensure appropriate use of words, vocabulary, spelling, and grammar. Avoid being a talking thesaurus. Read it out loud and keep on refining the draft until you’re sure that this is the statement that will get you into your dream college.