When you’re applying for any undergraduate program, scholarship, or graduate program, your application’s written portion requires you to reflect on all of your previous experiences and connect them to your goals. This written portion is known as a personal essay or personal statement.
No matter what topic you’re assigned or regardless of your preferred university or college, the real inspiration for your personal essay is always yourself.
All admission officers want to hear your unique vision, voice, and story no matter what your results in the ACT to SAT conversion 2019 are. So, while there’s no wrong way to approach any essay topic, there are some ways to make the writing process manageable and achieve powerful results.
- Know Your Audience
It is essential to understand the process of admissions. Usually, admission officers won’t decide based on your test scores or marks. Instead, they will get an understanding of who you really are and how you’d align with the students and the culture of the university.
To know what admission officers might be searching for, you must know the university. Read information about it by browsing its official website or following its social media account. As you read more details about the university, take note of the shared language and common phrases, which you may include in your essays.
You can also include your strengths in your personal essays to make a strong impression. A good way to appeal to admission officers is through being genuine and truthful.
- Tell Your Story
Stunning personal essays require you to be professional and personal at the same time. You also need to weave your goals and experiences together in a cohesive narrative. The first thing you should do is to take an inventory of your life. You might have lots of information organized in your CV.
But, your personal essay must not read like a resume or a list. To avoid this, select some experiences that are related to your topic. You must also balance authenticity in your personal essays with what admission officers might expect from an applicant.
- Grab Your Reader’s Attention With Your First Paragraph
Your personal essay should grab the attention of the reader. Thus, it is important that your introduction must include something that captures the attention of the reader and would urge them to read more.
There are ways to grab your reader’s attention and these include using an interesting quote, starting with a question, having a bold statement, and so on. Depending on your preferences, choose what’s appropriate for your personal essay.
- Be Mindful Of Voice, Word Choice, And Tone
Your personal essay must sound like you wrote it, so never overload it with some long vocabulary words, lofty tone, and complex sentence structure.
Do not be afraid of stretching your writing skills. Your personal essay must show your best writing. This is why you must take your time properly to write an essay that conveys your voice and story. You should also avoid using redundant phrases or words. If possible, filter words that do not add value to your essay and avoid using any confusing language that could ruin your message.
- Be Logical And Clear
As much as you like to impress your preferred university or college, you won’t be able to achieve it if your thoughts and sentences don’t string together in a logical manner. Your personal essay must make sense to the reader. So, reread it as if you don’t have a clue about what you’re talking about. If it makes sense to you, then you’re good to go. But, if you are confused with what you have written, revise it accordingly.
To understand what you have written, having someone else read it can also be a good idea. Ask them for feedback and you can fix your essay if it’s confusing.
- Leave A Lasting Impression
More often than not, people remember the last parts the most. In fact, the most important thing that you will always remember is something that’s said on your way out of the door. Your last words will always be remembered.
The same with personal essays for colleges or universities, you must not just summarize the vital aspects of yourself, but also mention the memorable ones as well. A memorable ending is poignant, which makes the reader feel the emotions. Thus, your ending can be a well-worded sentence or phrase. You may even consider a clean and simple fact about yourself. Just make sure to write from your heart, so the reader will feel your emotions.
- Do Not Procrastinate
A standout college essay is not usually written in just a day. So, make sure to have a head start on your personal essay by brainstorming various topics and writing your draft before the school year begins. This way, you will avoid wasting time on choosing the perfect topic for your essay. You also don’t have to worry about it during your hectic senior year. Aside from that, it allows you to get feedback as early as possible from some college counselors before most students seek advice before the semester ends.
- Always Be Honest
Don’t write that you’re fluent in another language if you can only say one word in that language. Also, never write that you’re good at problem-solving if you can only solve simple equations. If you know you’re good, you don’t have to brag about it. You also don’t have to make a false image because the truth will come out sooner or later. So, if you don’t want to ruin your chance to enter your preferred institution, always be honest in your personal essay.
Bottom Line
Writing a personal essay can be a challenging and intimidating task, but don’t stress too much about it because that won’t help you. But rather, stay focused and relaxed. Take note that writing personal essays can be fun and easy if you have the right attitude. So, start writing your essay a few weeks before it is due to avoid last-minute panic. Never worry about perfection. You do not need to pretend to be someone you’re not. Just be yourself and keep those above tips in mind to get the best results with your personal essays.
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