Getting Accepted into College, Part 2

Writing A Personal Statement Essay

If your school does not have a personal statement essay question you can choose one, like the one we used from Purdue in the “How to Write a College Application Essay” segment of our Getting Accepted into College series. If you have already tried to write your personal statement essay and are at the point where you want to hire a ghostwriter, that’s OK, too! For those of you still battling your way through, this article should help.

Personal statements are often very similar, even indistinguishable from, other types of application essays. If there is a distinction, it is usually that the personal statement essay is, as you might expect, from a more personal perspective.

Among the most common mistakes is that students can be confused about personal perspective and become too personal. Treating the personal statement too much like a diary entry is a common error. This article will help you avoid a meandering essay or one that ends up being a feelings dump. It will help you incorporate yourself into the essay without losing sight of the professional goal of the so-called personal statement.

As described in Part 1, lightly frame out your personal statement and determine the length of each section. Now you have your personal statement essay format in place and you are well on your way. Continuing to follow the logical flow of question provided by the university or in your sample is the format you need.

You want to focus on getting your thoughts onto paper and in their correct section. Looking at personal statement essay examples can be helpful. However, there is no trick, just follow the steps; getting thoughts and ideas where they belong, not where you want them, is important.

Though it is called a personal statement, and it is indeed personal, an important part of the phrase is missing. The personal statement essay is a personal statement about your immediate professional and academic goals.

If you are struggling to see how the personal and professional should or should not be mixed together, here some examples to help you. Just so that we can be specific, let’s say that you are a high school senior and you want to study communications and then get an MBA.

There is more than one type of bad example, so here are a few:

Too Impersonal

An MBA is the best way to achieve professional stability in the future economy. Nearly every business employs people with MBA degrees, whether in-house or as consultants.

Too Personal

Math is not really my thing so an economics or finance major would not be a good idea. I am a great talker though and can use that with my MBA to become successful.

The first says nothing about you, and the latter says too much about your feelings and not about your professional goals. If you think that the second one does sound professional, it might be time to turn off The Apprentice and get a bit more realistic about what working for a living is actually like.

Here are some good examples:

Personal Focus

Professional and financial stability are important to me. Because of that, I am focused and hardworking. It is also why I am interested in a degree that can be a springboard to many advanced degree programs. Currently, I plan to pursue an MBA after completing my communications degree.

Professional Focus

I am seeking a communications degree and planning to support it with additional coursework in finance and economics, so that I am prepared to pursue an MBA upon graduation. I know that my professional goals may change, of course, but I believe this course of study will prepare me a wide variety of advanced degrees.

In these good examples, you are telling the university about yourself in terms of your professional goals. You want to be realistic and neither of the first two examples is very practical.

In your personal statement, you are also providing evidence that you can write effectively. You should be thinking about the, what, when, why, where, and how, just like you had to do when you were first learning to write.

If you are at the end of your rope, consider purchasing a custom personal statement, then rewriting or modifying it to meet your exact needs. Sometimes a model paper is exactly the inspiration you needed. Other times, it is so difficult to see how your goals fit into examples that it is good to have someone else do it for you.

It can be hard for someone who is still in high school to think practically about things that they have not done, like college or working in a professional career. While the details are very different, success in those things relies on the same things that your success in high does.

Think about it, did you do well on the test because you wanted to (a personal feeling) or because you knew the material (an academic fact)? Did you know the material because it was important to you (a personal feeling) or because you listened to the lectures, read the book, and did the homework (i.e. put in the work). We can be motivated by personal feeling, but a good personal statement essay shows how you

1. used personal feelings and experiences as
2. motivation
3. to work toward goals.

It is OK if you are struggling to say these things. Many people manage to have successful lives and careers without being the kind of person who can articulate it all in a personal statement essay. It is definitely a good idea to at least try though. You can always send your notes and ideas to your ghostwriter. That will help ensure that you get the best possible personal statement essay for your needs. In addition, the time you took in advance will help you stylize your model essay to meet the requirements for applications to other colleges!