How to Ace Your Personal Statement Writing

Personal statements are the one thing that can guarantee your admission into the college of your choice. Although grades are important but, only a personal statement can truly allow the college to understand who you are as a person and what you may contribute to their institute.

Where to start with a personal statement for college or university?

Searching the keyword "Personal statement" gives you the result which reads as: A written description of one's achievements, interest etc. Basically you have to focus on your achievements, interests and try any way you can prove that you are an excellent fit to the culture of the college. It is similar to an admission essay with a slight twist.

Do some research before you start

Firstly understand what the college or even a specific department looks for in a prospective student. To do that you must take a deep dive into the institution's website and any social media pages they may have. Really analyse it and observe any potential reoccurring themes in articles, photos and videos. Now contact alumni and students of the college. Inquire about their experiences and question anything that you find confusing about the university on the internet, they will have the answers that you need for writing your personal statement.

Brainstorming

With all your information in hand start brainstorming. Begin writing down all the ideas you get for the first paragraph of your personal statement. This paragraph is extremely important because it sets the tone of your essay. Then work on the main body of your essay. Now remember this must have some semblance with the tone you started off with but, that does not mean the personal statement has to be monotonic not at all. You just have to avoid paradigm shifts in tone and style of writing. Your personal statement has to be very well thought out because that aspect is palpable. If you do not brainstorm you risk losing focus on your essay, important information is not seamlessly integrated, sudden shifts in tone and this is all about first impressions so a clumsy one does not help your cause.

Writing your personal statement

Remember there is no fixed format. Just follow your plan that you made and write. Try not to be too casual but at the same time avoid to be too uptight with your style and tone.
Most of college applicants will follow a typical essay writing routine for their personal statement. This would basically be an extended C.V, so think of something different. Maybe write yours as a sort of a biography that follows a story like pattern. You could also try to encrust your entire personal statement in the form of one long incident. For example when you write a personal statement about yourself, elude the reader as to how you think without being too direct about it. For example rather than writing that you handle stressful situations extremely well, cite a short incident about said situation and the way you managed it.
Keep your personal statement relatable and straight forward for the reader, which in this case is the admissions department. You must remember the more relatable your personal statement is the more attractive.
The admissions department is not expecting you to have a brilliant story because, remember they know you are young and have much left to experience. So try your best to be honest about anything you write.

Avoid stretching

While writing your personal statement avoid becoming fixated with a point and stretching it thin. Keep it condensed and use vivid details and descriptions to explain it. For example when writing about an experience at an animal shelter one can go about it in two ways while maintain the same idea.

1. While volunteering at an animal shelter I learned how to take care of dogs, cats, rabbits and several kinds of birds which included parakeets, macaws and eagles. I love all of them and I hope they loved me too. I had to feed them, bathe them and play with them. So I made many animal friends. In the end I learned a lot about taking care of animals.

2. I once volunteered at an animal shelter. While taking care of the needs of all animals there I learned a lot about life and how fragile it can be. How proper love and care can breathe life into most helpless soul. Now comparing the two paragraphs both speak about what the person learned at an animal shelter. But the second sentence focuses more on the learning part and stays focused, all the while outlining they did all the tasks the first paragraph goes into detail about. So keep in mind your personal statement has to be full of details in a condensed form. Give points you consider that the university deems to be important more space and vice versa.

Proofreading your personal statement

Once you finish, take a break to clear your mind and then read your personal statement. Once making a change to a sentence read the specific paragraph and check if the change improved the paragraph or not. If it does not bring any positive change leave it in the original form. Remember it is important your paragraph does not have a rogue sentence that has a different style and tone than the rest of the sentences. If you can, give your personal statement to someone else for proofreading. At times people not associated with your personal statement can give you a fresh perspective on a paragraph or an idea. Lastly search for any online proofreading software and run your personal statement through it. Try and keep in mind that your first attempt will not be perfect. So keep working on those imperfections until you are satisfied with the personal statement. Remember there is no shame in scraping the idea altogether and starting it anew.

Final word of advice

Believe in yourself and be confident with your statements. Most importantly be yourself, avoid lying to make your personal statement unique. You have a unique personality that no one else in the world possesses so stay true to it.