Personal Statement DOs and DON’Ts

• Do Use first person.

• Do not make someone else a focal point of your essay. You can mention others and what you learned from them but the main focal point must be YOU.  

• Wherever possible write about your experiences, lessons learned, mistakes made, chances taken, character developed. etc. during your HIGH school years and not before. 

• Do not use more than one short quote – you simply can’t afford it with a 650 words limit

• Start abruptly with a catchy phrase or image. We want to surprise AOs to keep them reading. There is no room for a long introduction or a slow build up.  

• Be relatable. Can AOs relate to what you are writing?  Could they have, perhaps, experienced something similar in their lives?  They want down to earth stories and not a list of impressive trophies and accomplishments. 

• Do not write about your EC activities – AOs don’t like repetition and they will see your ECs mentioned and described in the EC section of the common app.  

• Show some vulnerability and personal growth. If you’ve had emotionally difficult times in the past and feel like those times have made you stronger – by all means you can write about it.  Another way to demonstrate vulnerability is to show that you have not always been 100% perfect. AOs appreciate it when you admit to a mistake or to some character flaw and then show what you have done to correct it. 

• Don’t waste a lot of valuable and limited space on a blow-by-blow account

• End your essay on a positive note even if it is about some hardship

• Be VISUAL in your story.  Will we have a clear mental image of what you are describing? A family tradition? A hike in the woods? Do we hear the birds in the trees? Your grandma’s favorite dish? Can we taste it?  SHOW, DON’T TELL. 

• Do NOT write about very common topics like playing on a sports team, your grades (and how hard you worked to achieve them), or playing a music instrument unless you present them from a very unusual angle. Do not write about expensive/exotic family vacations, your romantic life, politics, and accomplishments mentioned elsewhere on your Common

• Have a turning point in your essay. It is a point in the essay when the essay shifts from detail and background, to a realization, revelation, understanding, or even celebration. 

For more Personal Statement Dos and Don’ts and clarification on the above please reach out to us here