What you can do to make your personal statement stand out


Admissions boards are quite busy. That means you have to grab their attention immediately. They receive, on average, over 1,500 applications per day. That is why you have to tell them directly, in the beginning, what makes you stand out as an applicant.

Overall you can make your paper stand out by writing something reflective and relevant as well as something personal and interesting. You should be different but avoid being too different. In order to make your personal statement stand out follow these ten steps:

  1. Do what the paper asks. If it tells you to keep a word limit then do it. If it says you can write in any narrative you want then do that. Make sure to follow the rules.
  2. Start off well. To do this you want a strong opening sentence that shows the readers why you have applied for this school and this course. Don’t hide this somewhere in the middle where they have to search for it. Put it right out there.
  3. Make your paper easy to read. Do not write one long paragraph. Keep your essay well structured with different paragraphs so that everything you want to list is well defined. For example: you can have a paragraph that lists your experience with a second that lists your additional qualifications and a third that highlights your aspirations.
  4. Don’t let another person write your essay. The last thing you want to do when you are asked to write a personal essay about yourself is to pay someone else to write it for you. The purpose of this essay is to reflect your personal writing style and in having someone else write it for you the essay will not reflect your writing style. If you have someone else look over your paper let them check for proofreading or errors but do not let them rewrite your paper and make large changes. This also defeats the purpose.
  5. Use examples. If you are writing about what strengths you have make sure you use examples. Don’t tell the reader. Show them. Show them using examples about the traits you mention. This is how you can let your personality into the writing. You want to make sure that who you are as an individual shines through with your examples and your writing.

By following these steps you will be well on your way to a great admissions essay.


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