As I discussed in my intro post to what you should write about in your Personal Statement, college admissions officers are reading your Common App Essay to find out: what you're passionate about; where you've taken initiative; how you've changed in important ways; in short, what makes you YOU! But, having helped hundreds of students use their essays to present the strongest possible case for themselves as a candidate, I know that there are still lots of mental blocks that come up when it comes to actually sitting down and writing the thing. After all, a blank computer screen and a blinking cursor are even intimidating for professional writers to face down!
But if you’re feeling nervous, take a deep breath with me. I am certain that you DO have plenty of things to talk about—we just have to find them. It’s time to take out a blank Word/Google .doc or a piece of paper and jot down your answers to questions below. Over the course of answering these 15 prompts, common threads should start to emerge, and you’ll be on your way to a showstopper essay!
Article Contents: Brainstorms for Your Personal Statement
A. How to Choose a Topic for Your Personal Statement: Look at how you spend your time.
1. In class: What are your academic and intellectual interests?
2. Outside of class: What are your favorite hobbies and activities? Why do you like to do them?
3. Over the summer: Have you done any programs, classes, cool trips, or taught yourself anything?
4. To relax: What do you do when you just want to take a break from it all?
Because the answers to these four Qs make up the backdrop of your life—the water you’d swim in, if you were a fish—you might not even realize that not everyone shares these interests. It’s easy to think that all high schoolers spend the weekends capturing tadpoles and observing their growth, or baking elaborate custom cupcakes for their friends in their spare time. But believe me, most people don't go to aquarium shops or kitchen supply stores to relax. This is a YOU thing that makes you stand out.
B. Common App essay tip: Consider your special interests
5. Do you have any unusual talents or skills? If so, how did you develop them? How did you get into them in the first place?
6. Are there any topics or global issues you're passionate about? Why? What are you doing about it?
Again, you may assume that since you’ve been spending years healing the wounded pigeons in your neighborhood, everyone else must be thinking about/working on the same thing. They aren't. Or if you're habitually obsessed with watching pro basketball and teaching yourself every last detail about player stats, you may think that's just typical teenager stuff. It isn't. That's special, and you should consider writing about it.
C. What to write your Personal Statement about: your achievements.
7. What accomplishment are you most proud of? What did you have to do to accomplish it?
8. What was the most challenging ordeal or event you've gone through? How did you get through it?
9. When or how have you shown leadership?
You don’t have to have gone to the state championships your freshman year for an accomplishment to say something about you. More than how "major" an achievement appears by external metrics, it's the work you put in that's impressive to the admissions counselors. Not everything you want to do in life (and college) will come easily to you. In fact, even if you were more or less born with a "natural" talent, you'll still only improve at that thing through hard work. What shows your character is how you roll up your sleeves and embrace the challenge—especially when success is not guaranteed and you had to take a risk.
D. Writing the Common App essay: list out pivotal moments.
10. What was the best experience you've ever had? Why was this the "best"?
11. What was the worst experience you've ever had? Why was this the "worst"?
12. How have you changed over the past few years? Was there any event or person who caused/facilitated this transformation?
There aren't always major life events or "Aha!" moments that alter the course of your life and personality. However, if there are, the key is to look for the positive in the situation: how did you make lemons out of lemonade? How did you grow up, even though a situation may have been really cruddy? Or if something wonderful happened, how has this made you a more appreciative and grateful person, someone determined to spread the good fortune you’ve received?
5. Break Common App essay writer’s block: your personality.
13. How are you unique or different from other people you know?
14. Is there anything about you that doesn't fit the stereotype, or that's unexpected?
15. Do you have any principles or beliefs that guide your actions? What are they?
Admissions readers want to know what kind of person you are and where you'd fit in on their campus. They want to know what makes you tick—and bonus points for being self-aware enough to already have some ideas about this in high school! Are you the philosophical type who actively thinks about the values you hold, and how to act on them? That means you think for yourself, which will serve you well into college and beyond. Do you surprise people by being different from what they'd expect, like the all-star soccer player who is also obsessed with the cello career of Mischa Maisky and listens to his concert recordings on repeat? Cool quirks like this will make you stand out—and help you get into your dream school!
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I hope this brainstorming sesh has helped illuminate some common themes from your life. If one topic keeps coming up, chances are, that's what you should write about to let the admissions officers know exactly who you are and why you're special!
More than that, I also want this exercise to assure you that you have several unique qualities that you probably take for granted, but that others would find fascinating.
Though I'm able to give out this advice for free, sometimes you need extra one-on-one help to get the guidance and confidence you need. To learn about working together one-on-one to bring out the real YOU in your Common App and supplemental essays, contact me here. Or, if you’re more of a self-study type, check out my full guide to writing a killer Personal Statement here.
