What you must bear in mind when writing a personal statement for the college of your choice is that you your essay must stand out. There are thousands of applicants vying for the same spot and you have to get ahead of them by turning your personal statement into something that automatically grabs attention.
Basic parts of an essay
An academic essay has three main parts, the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. The introduction is the part where you state your case. It would be the bait to spark interest from the reader and so, it should be engaging in itself. The body is where you expand on the introduction. This is where you list down your accomplishments, qualifications, and motivation, making you eligible for a spot in their college. Conclusion is the wrap up; it should talk about the impact of your experience to your application, inspiring the reader to think about the wide range of possibilities if you are accepted.
Tips in organizing the structure of your essay
Tip 1: Focus on a theme. This would help narrow down your discussion, focusing your essay on a topic and letting it evolve from there.
Tip 2: Start with an outline. List down the things you want to discuss and the order you want to discuss them. This will give you an overview of the whole essay and would allow you to simplify what would have been a difficult discussion. Once you have broken down the topics, then you might start from there, all the while keeping your mind on the main theme.
Tip 3: Turn it into a story. Don?t string together sentences in a random order. Instead, make it sound as though you are a storyteller on the verge of relating a compelling story. Link them together using words like although, therefore, or hence. This is a simple yet effective approach that would allow you to form arguments and conclusions, while still maintaining the pretense of a story.
Tip 4: Personalize the essay. Avoid using the word “we” and focus more one you’re beliefs. Compose it in the first person, emphasizing your personality in the article.
Proofreading the structure of your Essay
Read your essay once, leave it for a few hours, come back and read it again. This would allow your brain to be open to more ideas regarding your essay. Be very aware of the movement of your story as well as spelling and grammar. If you find it difficult to proofread your own work, then try asking a friend to read it for you. Redrafting is not a crime. You might want to check out online personal statement samples to be able to compare and edit your work as you see fit.
Related links:
Discussing motivations – All about motivation as content in structured essay
Tone of essays – All about increasing the quality of your personal statement
Mistakes to avoid – Mistakes to watch out for when structuring essays
Essay writing tips – How to write great admission essays
Essay structure – On how to structure your essay
