I had applied for this trip, and I had committed to the intensive language study. Common App announced that it will include a dedicated essay prompt on COVID for the admissions cycle. When the photos developed she never picked the winning shot for herself. You'll mostly see these prompts if you're applying for a specialized program like pre-med or engineering or applying as a transfer student. Crawling along the edge of the tent, a spider confirmed my transformation—he disgusted me, and I felt an overwhelming urge personal statement essay squash him, personal statement essay. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. Story2 College Coach Explains: Why This Essay Works Great college essays draw you in from the beginning, personal statement essay, take you on a clear journey, and make you want more at the end.
Next Step: Supplemental Essays
Why is boasting about a best friend SO much easier than writing about yourself? It can be overwhelming to figure out where to start. First, figure out what your choices are. Some colleges may have very specific college essay prompts. That said, personal statement essay, many students apply using the Common App, which this year offers these 7 topics to choose from :. How did these moments in your life changed you, what did you learn from it, and how has it shaped your future plans? Some topics might include:. Remember to focus not just on the whatbut also the why — What were your motivations? How did you feel? What have you learned? Some topics on this might include:.
How did you find out about this person or thing? Why are you inspired? In what ways are you inspired? Is there anything that inspiration has made you do e. join a club, do an activity or internship on the topic? These can be milestones, hobbies, qualities, or quirks that are what make you, you. Topics to consider might be:. This is just a way to get ideas flowing! Start by writing a few sentences or paragraphs about any of your shortlisted topics, and let the words flow. Write for about 15 minutes, on each shortlisted topic. We all have a story to tell, and we all have a different journey that led us to where we are today. Write your personal statement in a genuine tone that reflects who you are. This means, in particular, not using big words just to show off.
Or, even worse, you accidentally use the word incorrectly! Who will you be writing your personal statement for? What message do you want to convey? Make sure you keep within the required length. Some college or scholarship applications will allow you to write up to or words. There was a time when we used to rely on pencil and paper to write down all of our ideas and information including first-draft college essays. Now, we mainly rely on screens, so our eyes grow tired, causing us to miss typos and grammar mistakes. So save that document in an easy-to-find folder on personal statement essay computer. Then stepping away from your computer and taking a break helps relax your mind and body and then refocus when you come back to edit the document.
All the grammar things! Your personal statement reflects who you are, personal statement essay, from the topic you choose to the style you write it in, so impress colleges or scholarship providers with excellent structure and great grammar! We recommend asking a friend, counselor, or parent to read your personal statement before you submit the document. One more set of eyes will really help you get a second opinion on the tone, personal statement essay, writing quality, and overall representation of who you are in your personal statement. Get double-use out of your personal statement. Going Personal statement essay is your home for all things scholarships—fill out a profile, get matched to eligible scholarships, and apply. You can even save essays so that you can easily upload the same one for multiple scholarship applications.
We were inspired by the Common App to make applying for scholarships easier, personal statement essay. Register for an account hereget the full lowdown on how it worksor just sign up for the newsletter below to get 20 scholarship opportunities delivered to our inbox each each week! Oh yes we do. First, here are some excerpts of personal statements from members of our very own Going Merry team! He made me laugh and taught me all the things that made me into a young tomboy: what an RBI personal statement essay, how to correctly hook a fish when I feel it biting, what to bring on a camping trip.
He is a man of jokes and words, not of comforting motions. But as I grew older and I too became infatuated with words—albeit in written form—our topics of conversation became more diverse and often more profound. During these talks, personal statement essay father would insert stories about his youth. It came back to me, personal statement essay, scrawled in red, on the first personal statement essay history test of the year. The one the teacher had assured us was a third of our grade. What happened? I had two options here. I could accept that I was in fact a D student despite what I had thought, personal statement essay. Or I could study hard for the next test and try to bring my grade up by the force of the average. It means I was lucky, or blessed, or anything else you want to call it.
I have talent. The game just makes intuitive sense to me. It is far too easy to view talent as an excuse. For me, it is a motivator. For my talent, I will accept nothing less than a dream that only a tiny percentage of people ever get to experience. Talent is a responsibility. Because you had nothing to do with acquiring it, you are compelled to achieve every last bit you can with it. While I had grown used to thinking varsity would be it, that was not the case. Now, I can focus on the goal while I accomplish the steps. I personal statement essay told that teens are moody. I would grow out of it, personal statement essay.
Diagnosis and medication have saved my life, allowing me to see the world as people without my personal statement essay chemistry would. It might sound bad—as though kindness can only exist in the smallest forms. This is not what I mean. There are extraordinary people out there who devote their lives to doing very large, very important things for others. They are not the norm. What is normal are the tiny kindnesses. These do not cost a person much of anything. A slice of time, a moment of openness, and little else.
And here are 3 college personal statements, about what drove personal statement essay interest in their intended major:. His parents had emigrated from Italy with his two eldest brothers in the early s in search of a better life in America. Their struggles as immigrants are in themselves inspiring, but the challenges they faced are undoubtedly similar to those that many other immigrant families had to overcome; because of this, the actions that my relatives embarked upon are that much more extraordinary. As a native English speaker who has had the privilege of studying viola and violin with trained, private teachers, I can only imagine the perseverance it took for my great-grandfather and great-great uncle to learn an instrument like the violin out of booklets and lessons that were not even written in their native language.
Their passion and dedication to learning something new, something not part of their lives as blue-collar, immigrant workers, and their desire to share it with others, has inspired me as a musician and a person. It is this spirit that has motivated me to pursue an MA at Composition at the University of XXX. I rushed to the restroom to throw up because my throat was itchy and I felt a weight on my chest. I was experiencing anaphylactic shock, which prevented me from taking anything but shallow breaths. I was fighting the one thing that is meant to protect me and keep personal statement essay alive — my own body.
I became scared of death, eating, and even my own body. Ultimately, that fear turned into resentment; I resented my body for making me an outsider. In the years that followed, this experience and my regular visits to my allergy specialist inspired me to become an allergy specialist. Even though I was probably only ten at the time, I wanted to find a way to help kids like me. I wanted to find a solution so that nobody would have to feel the way I did; nobody deserved to feel that pain, fear, and resentment. My shadowing experiences in particular have stimulated my curiosity and desire to personal statement essay more about the world around me.
How does platelet rich plasma stimulate tissue growth? How does diabetes affect the proximal convoluted tubule? My questions never stopped. I wanted to know everything and it felt very satisfying to apply my knowledge to clinical personal statement essay. distinct concepts together to form a coherent picture truly attracts me to medicine. It is hard to separate science from medicine; in fact, medicine personal statement essay science. However, medicine is also about people—their feelings, struggles and concerns. Humans are not pre-programmed robots that all face the same problems. Humans deserve sensitive and understanding physicians. Humans deserve doctors who are infinitely curious, constantly questioning new advents in medicine.
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On the other hand, your personal statement application essay gives admissions counselors a sense of your personality. It demonstrates how you will fit in as well as contribute to the university community. Are you hyper-focused and ambitious with a lot of professional experience and projects to back it up? Or are you more curious with a wide range of interests? Are your motivations related to achieving concrete objectives, or are they more personal or emotional in nature? The lens through which you interact with the world is exactly what your personal statement essay should show. On paper, your SAT score, GPA, and extracurricular activities may be the same as other applicants.
You may end up in the same college classes. College counselors know no two applicants are the same. What matters is that both fit in with what the university wants for its students. Are your grades a bit below average? Did you fail a class in high school? Those things jump out when it comes to numbers on paper. Universities want to know the context for abnormal records, and most importantly, how you view them. It has become standard for U. universities to have action plans for the diversity and inclusion of underprivileged students. Most importantly, colleges want to understand how you struggled and overcame a difficult situation.
Those are the exact students they want! Besides selling your personality and explaining any drawbacks or holes in your record, a great personal statement essay should provide insights into why you are applying to university. This may seem obvious, but unfortunately, many students get caught up in proving themselves like a job application. They totally forget to explain why they are applying to college. At Wordvice, we encourage college applicants to look at successful personal statement examples to really absorb and gain insights into what an engaging personal college essay is. Read as many as you can, as no two students are the same. But you will see many of the themes discussed above again and again in successful personal statements.
To start, Wordvice is including a couple of successful personal statement essay examples, including comments and feedback provided by our editors to the students. Both of these essays were edited by Wordvice editors, with both students gaining admission! Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my letter. I have decided to apply to your Supply Chain Management programme because I am sure it would strongly enrich my future studies and help me in my prospective career. I am also very curious about the different approaches taken in this field at a prominent university. During my previous studies, I discovered that simply working on procurement is far from enough.
My fellow students and I had the opportunity to create an e-commerce project. At the time, the only thing in our control was the procurement decision, but I soon realized I had the capacity and drive to learn more about solutions and innovations. Since I am interested in working in the Netherlands after I graduate, this resource will definitely be useful for my career. In addition, the fact that this programme offers an option to participate in an apprenticeship is very appealing to me. This could not only broaden my horizons through practical experience but also provide a chance for me to expand my connections in the industry. My current undergraduate studies make me highly suitable for this programme. I have learned the basic foundations of supply chain management through courses such as operations management, strategic purchasing, and inventory management.
I have also taken mathematics and statistics to help me understand data problems. In addition to my academic interests, I have a full and interesting life off-campus. Those times spent on the court have strengthened my team spirit and my ability to work under pressure. During summer vacations, I spend time travelling around Europe and the United States. My first experience in Amsterdam was unforgettable, and it made me consider coming back in the future. Planning the trip carefully, and living alone in an unfamiliar area, have turned me into a more independent young woman. Professionally, I have done internships in international companies such as Red Bull and ASUS. These experiences gave me the chance to work in a global context with people from different countries, which has encouraged me to have a more flexible and adaptive mindset.
Because of these wonderful experiences, I am certain I will conquer all future challenges and make the most out of them. I am confident I excel in this programme due to my solid educational foundation in business and personality strengths. The seconds ticked away in my head; every polite refusal increased my desperation. Despair weighed me down. I sank to my knees as a stream of competitors, coaches, and officials flowed around me. My dojang had no coach, and the tournament rules prohibited me from competing without one. Although I wanted to remain strong, doubts began to cloud my mind. I could not help wondering: what was the point of perfecting my skills if I would never even compete?
The other members of my team, who had found coaches minutes earlier, attempted to comfort me, but I barely heard their words. Since my first lesson 12 years ago, the members of my dojang have become family. I have watched them grow up, finding my own happiness in theirs. Together, we have honed our kicks, blocks, and strikes. We have pushed one another to aim higher and become better martial artists. Although my dojang had searched for a reliable coach for years, we had not found one. When we attended competitions in the past, my teammates and I had always gotten lucky and found a sympathetic coach. Now, I knew this practice was unsustainable. It would devastate me to see the other members of my dojang in my situation, unable to compete and losing hope as a result.
My dojang needed a coach, and I decided it was up to me to find one. However, these attempts only reacquainted me with polite refusals. I soon realized that I would have become the coach myself. At first, the inner workings of tournaments were a mystery to me. To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side. I learned everything from motivational strategies to technical, behind-the-scenes components of Taekwondo competitions. Though I emerged with new knowledge and confidence in my capabilities, others did not share this faith. My self-confidence was my armor, deflecting their surly glances.
Every armor is penetrable, however, and as the relentless barrage of doubts pounded my resilience, it began to wear down. I grew unsure of my own abilities. Despite the attack, I refused to give up. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was. Now that my dojang flourishes at competitions, the attacks on me have weakened, but not ended. I may never win the approval of every parent; at times, I am still tormented by doubts, but I find solace in the fact that members of my dojang now only worry about competing to the best of their abilities.
Now, as I arrive at a tournament with my students, I close my eyes and remember the past. I visualize the frantic search for a coach and the chaos amongst my teammates as we competed with one another to find coaches before the staging calls for our respective divisions. I open my eyes to the exact opposite scene. Lacking a coach hurt my ability to compete, but I am proud to know that no member of my dojang will have to face that problem again. When I got there, his older brother, Tom, came to the door and informed me that no one else was home. I felt a weight on my chest as I connected the dots; the terrifying picture rocked my safe little world.
Those cuts on his arms had never been accidents. Colin had lied, very convincingly, many times. How could I have ignored the signs in front of me? Somehow, I managed to ask Tom whether I could see him, but he told me that visiting hours for non-family members were over for the day. I would have to move on with my afternoon. Once my tears had subsided a little, I drove to the theater, trying to pull myself together and warm up to sing. How would I rehearse? I knew Colin would want me to push through, and something deep inside told me that music was the best way for me to process my grief.
I needed to sing. I practiced the lyrics throughout my whole drive. The first few times, I broke down in sobs. By the time I reached the theater, however, the music had calmed me. While Colin would never be far from my mind, I had to focus on the task ahead: recording vocals and then producing the video trailer that would be shown to my high school classmates. I fought to channel my worry into my recording. If my voice shook during the particularly heartfelt moments, it only added emotion and depth to my performance. In a floor-length black cape and purple dress, I swept regally down the steps to my director, who waited outside. Under a gloomy sky that threatened to turn stormy, I boldly strode across the street, tossed a dainty yellow bouquet, and flashed confident grins at all those staring.
My grief lurched inside, but I felt powerful. Despite my sadness, I could still make art. To my own surprise, I successfully took back the day. I had felt pain, but I had not let it drown me — making music was a productive way to express my feelings than worrying. Since then, I have been learning to take better care of myself in difficult situations. That day before rehearsal, I found myself in the most troubling circumstances of my life thus far, but they did not sink me because I refused to sink. When my aunt developed cancer several months later, I knew that resolution would not come quickly, but that I could rely on music to cope with the agony, even when it would be easier to fall apart. Thankfully, Colin recovered from his injuries and was home within days.
As our eyes met and our voices joined in song, I knew that music would always be our greatest mechanism for transforming pain into strength. Flipping past dozens of colorful entries in my journal, I arrive at the final blank sheet. I press my pen lightly to the page, barely scratching its surface to create a series of loops stringing together into sentences. Emotions spill out, and with their release, I feel lightness in my chest. The stream of thoughts slows as I reach the bottom of the page, and I gently close the cover of the worn book: another journal finished.
I add the journal to the stack of eleven books on my nightstand. Struck by the bittersweet sensation of closing a chapter of my life, I grab the notebook at the bottom of the pile to reminisce. At the age of five, I tore through novels about the solar system, experimented with rockets built from plastic straws, and rented Space Shuttle films from Blockbuster to satisfy my curiosities. While I chased down answers to questions as limitless as the universe, I fell in love with learning. Eight journals later, the same relentless curiosity brought me to an airplane descending on San Francisco Bay. I reach for the charcoal notepad near the top of the pile and open to the first page: my flight to the Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes.
While I was excited to explore bioengineering, anxiety twisted in my stomach as I imagined my destination, unsure of whether I could overcome my shyness and connect with others. With each new conversation, the sweat on my palms became less noticeable, and I met students from 23 different countries. Many of the moments where I challenged myself socially revolved around the third story deck of the Jerry house. A strange medley of English, Arabic, and Mandarin filled the summer air as my friends and I gathered there every evening, and dialogues at sunset soon became moments of bliss. In our conversations about cultural differences, the possibility of an afterlife, and the plausibility of far-fetched conspiracy theories, I learned to voice my opinion. As I was introduced to different viewpoints, these moments challenged my understanding of the world around me.
In my final entries from California, I find excitement to learn from others and increased confidence, a tool that would later allow me to impact my community. Returning my gaze to the stack of journals, I stretch to take the floral-patterned book sitting on top. I flip through, eventually finding the beginnings of the organization I created during the outbreak of COVID Since then, Door-to-Door Deliveries has woven its way through my entries and into reality, allowing me to aid high-risk populations through free grocery delivery. With the confidence I gained the summer before, I took action when seeing others in need rather than letting my shyness hold me back.
I reached out to local churches and senior centers to spread word of our services and interacted with customers through our website and social media pages. To further expand our impact, we held two food drives, and I mustered the courage to ask for donations door-to-door. In a tower of canned donations, I saw the value of reaching out to help others and realized my own potential to impact the world around me. I delicately close the journal in my hands, smiling softly as the memories reappear, one after another. Reaching under my bed, I pull out a fresh notebook and open to its first sheet. All of these essays went through several rounds of review to get to where they are.
When I was very young my parents pressured me to succeed academically, play sports, make hobbies, etc. like many parents do. For a large part of my younger years I was missing the independence and sense of self I would develop later in life, because I was always under pressure to succeed in the form of success my parents had defined. As a child I was set up to follow my parents idea of the path to success. However, when I was ten years old, this path was interrupted. My parents divorced when I was about three years old, and when I was ten years old my dad moved away from my home in Illinois.
Most people who hear this think It was hard for me, or sad… but in reality I see it as a blessing. To say it was without consequences and hardship would be false, but ultimately the place my family is in now has ultimately benefited from this physical separation. Once my dad moved away I was no longer pressured by him. The influence my parents had on me while they were raising me together imbedded a drive in me that I will always be thankful for. However, their separation allowed me to grow independent and develop the relationship I currently have with myself. As I grew up in a single parent household, my mom had less time and ability to parent me as strictly and closely as she had once done when my father was living in Illinois as well.
This odd form of freedom forced me to become independent. As soon as middle school I was riding the light rail train by myself, reading maps to get myself home, applying to special school programs with no pressure to do so. I rapidly developed a sense of independence. My father of course had a limited understanding of my lifestyle and who I was becoming, and my mom only wished she could be more attentive. Because of this my parents both had a limited understanding of how independent and self motivated I had become. The event that brought my independence and self motivation, and the idea that I had reached adulthood to light, was my exchange trip to Morocco in the summer of I kept looking, and eventually found the SNYI-L program, a program with a full paying scholarship opportunity.
According to a survey of admissions officers by the National Association of College Admission Counseling , essays were the next most important factors for admissions decisions after grades and test scores. With more and more colleges going test-optional, this means that essays are even more important factors for admissions. As they turned the corner, they carelessly tossed the flyers away. My brows furrowed. Is this what I woke up at seven in the morning for? I was just a background character, a boy handing out flyers in the scene of a lively street. I was a mannequin, easily passed by unnoticed.
After my flyer shift had ended, my boss took me out to lunch at a diner. My eyes were darting back and forth, unsure of the situation. My boss slouched casually in his seat across from me. I had only met him twice before and instinctively, I began surreptitiously examining him. He seemed like just an average Chinese man. The waiter came and pulled me out of my idle thoughts. He opened with a story about his stint with the army, when he brashly enlisted at the Chinatown recruitment center. I vicariously experienced the vivid fragments of his past through his stories.
In my mind Paul Lee had transcended the typical mannequin of an average Chinese man. I had inadvertently made the same oversight as the people that passed me on the street. I fit him into a general mold without trying to see him as an individual, just as they did to me. Looking around me, I had been blind. Every person in the room had their own unique story and character just like Paul had his, and I had mine. Upon my realization, I found the courage to convey my own unique character to Paul through my ideas. There is a balance between practicality, creativity, and fun that I have come to hold at the highest value in my life.
I proposed to Paul an idea that was the embodiment of all three: to host carnival games at the Pavilion with a voter registration stand on the side. Instead of discarding my idea as I had expected, Paul encouraged it. Throughout the next week, the volunteers worked to create flyers, brainstorm ideas for games, and gather prizes. However, on the day it all came together, it rained. Discouraged, I looked to Paul only to see that he was still in high spirits. Optimism and vitality surged through the mannequin within me. I wiped the scowl from my face and proudly presented to him the six registration forms we received that day with a smile.
The mannequin had come to life; I was no longer a background character but the center of the scene. Remember, regardless of the prompt the essay is about you. In essays about influences, students sometimes make a stronger case for the person who has influenced them than for themselves. Kenny avoids this common mistake. Lee has influenced him, but focuses the essay on his own actions. He takes a unique approach to voter registration, setting up carnival games to attract registrants. Through his actions we see a fun-loving, creative problem solver with attention to detail and perseverance. We understand his influence and have a strong reason to believe in him as a college student.
Common App success has never been easier! Access our Ultimate Guide to the Common App for free! New York City, 9pm. Friends are laughing in the next room squeezed around the dinner table, as I try to whip something up. I put the water to boil, adding salt. As I wait, the steam begins to twist, to twirl, filling up the kitchen. I pause to wipe the sweat from my brow. Sweat rolls down my face, every inch of my body. A typical morning in Perugia. His hair, grayer this year, falls over his tanned face. His hands rest on his belt, one finger cut off above the joint. I pull on my boots and he climbs onto the tractor. He hauls me onto his lap holding me tightly. The tractor roars, an olive branch lightly grazes my face, the grasshoppers go silent.
At the back of the field, Mario climbs up a ladder and starts trimming the tips of the branches, the polloni. I take them and pile them in heaps. The trees are brimming with olives this year. Chop the tomatoes, put them to simmer with the garlic, add salt and pepper. At noon, I walk back towards the house to find my Nonna in the garden, wearing a flowered apron. Pour in the linguini, stir fresh basil into the tomatoes. We break off stems of basil. Nonna says, vedi si devono prendere quelli pieni di fiori, così la pianta può crescere. Dice the mozzarella, strain the linguini, pour the sauce over them, and add the mozzarella. I follow Nonna into the kitchen trying to avoid the gang of mothers, uncles and aunts. I reach for the mozzarella and it melts in my mouth; creamy, smooth, dripping, flavor that overloads my senses.
And stop eating all the mozzarella! I take the tablemats and retreat to the step outside. I tear off a small piece of cheese and feed it to her.
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