I just read an article by a close friend about senior year. In the article, he talks about seniors relishing in their newfound position in high school, their last year. Students often in this state of awe often forget that there is much work to be done not only related to school but to applying to college.
While some students are reveling that they are done with SAT/ACT and language exams, others still have one or more tests to complete. Everyone also needs to complete applications and fill in all the bits and pieces, which amount to a relatively arduous task of seemingly menial information. But it is anything but menial – these are the important details, which create a picture of the student. Whether it is biographical information or the resume section of the Common App. All this information is important and needs careful thought and crafting.
Even more important is the Personal Statement. Many students underestimate the time needed to really polish and write a solid PS. Typically, a student will need to write and revise the essay four or five times, depending on the quality of a student’s writing. Most of the time, an essay reads like a dull chronology of some experience. I cannot recount how many essays I have read that have put me to sleep in the first sentence. Others start out great, only to lose me mid essay with some overbearing uninteresting overly detailed explanation of that experience. Yawn!
A couple of weeks ago, I may have mentioned that a college representative stated that students need to remember they are writing this essay to a person, not the institution. Yes! Remember that PEOPLE are going to read your essay. This is not some SAT/ACT writing prompt.
One of my students the other day stated that he did not want to boast in his essay. There is boasting – “I organized the school athletic festival, and everyone cheered!” Ok, it’s fine to say that you organized the event, but did you alone organize the whole event? How did the team work together? Things like earning 20,000 RMB for a charity event are nice, but how did that change that charity? Did you do more than just raise money? Did you deliver the books or whatever you hope to see used with the money? How did you change people’s lives and how did your life change. Take credit where credit is due but be careful of taking undue credit. Money and applause are not a reason to do something. Changing people’s lives is. But more importantly, how did that event change you.
Further, most students think very superficially about the topic on which they are writing. One of my students is writing an essay about how he always wanted to sing but had no inner confidence to perform or sing to an audience. Then one day, a teacher heard him sing and was amazed. She encouraged him to take part in the school choir and eventually sang a solo in front of his school. He thought that was going to be the essay. So when I asked him to think deeper about how that one comment from his teacher changed his life, his self-image and perspective overall, he was flummoxed. He was so focused on the topic of singing that he forgot his essay was about growth.
It is important to be aware that the Personal Statement is about you, the person. It is not really about the examples. They are the “show” part of the “telling.” Tell the story of who you are giving by “showing” how you changed. Remember that your tone of voice, language, and vocabulary should reflect the language that you actually use. Answer the question. Avoid getting sucked into the eddy of over detail. At the end, the reader, should know a lot about you, not so much about that one or more examples you cited. It’s a PERSONAL statement.
My final bit of advice – write. What you think is too challenging does not get any less so by avoiding get words down on paper or a screen. And lastly, too many eyes are too many eyes. Pick one trusted person to read your essay. The other day one of my colleagues was bemoaning the fact that one of her student’s fathers had trashed the student’s essay; an essay that was one of the best this colleague had seen in her career.
There is no best essay. There is no right way. There are lots of not so good essays. But if you write from your heart and not your head, there will be passion and your reader will want to see more that you have to say in the application.
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