When applying to colleges, you’ll find that there are quite a few steps to the application process. One of the most important (and often the most overwhelming) is the personal statement, also referred to as the college essay. Many students aspire to write a meaningful personal statement, but aren’t always sure where to start.
It all comes down to how you format your personal statement. After all, how will your essay leave a lasting impression if you’re jumping around from one idea to another without clear transitions? Here’s a simple guide to formatting your personal statement.
What Is a Personal Statement?
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This personal statement is the main essay of your college application that typically requires you to answer a chosen prompt from the Common App. It is your opportunity to tell the admissions officers who you are—not what you accomplished. They’ve read over your transcript (and probably hundreds of similar others) and now they want to know about you.
What specific experiences, challenges, or goals can you tell them about that show why you’d be a perfect fit for their campus? What sets you apart? As more and more colleges are becoming “test-optional,”, the personal statement is becoming all the more important in the decision-making process.
How Long Should a Personal Statement Be?
Most colleges give you 500-700 words to tell them your story in your personal statement. Within these words, you’ll typically need to answer some version of “Who you are, what you value, and why you are a good fit for the campus.” By focusing on what matters, you’ll be able to highlight what sets you apart in a meaningful, but concise way.
How to Format Your Personal Statement
In order to write an essay that resonates with the admission officers, you’ll want to structure it in a way that lets your authenticity shine through. Here’s how you can format your personal statement story so that it grabs their attention from the very first sentence and leaves a lasting impression:
Brainstorm
Brainstorming is a great way to jot down all of your thoughts and plan how your essay will be structured from start to finish. If you are choosing from a list of prompts, brainstorm what you would write for each one. If nothing comes to mind for a certain prompt, skip it—you wouldn’t want to write about that anyway. Yes, you can still write about playing in the championship football game or becoming the lead in the school play. But brainstorm what angle to take and how to tell it in a way that only you can.
Plan a brainstorming session with friends, mentors, or teachers who can give you feedback and direction. This can also help you feel more confident in what you want to write about.
Strong Introduction
You’ve likely heard it since you first started writing in elementary school—focus on writing a strong hook. And you’ve heard this for a good reason. The introduction is what is either going to grab your reader’s attention or lose it. It lays the framework for your entire paper. However, try to avoid opening cliches that admission officers have likely read time and time again. For example:
Cliche: “To me, science is not just a subject; it’s a passion.”
Alternative: “The moment I saw the stars through my first telescope, I felt like I was holding the universe in my hands.”
Why it works: This opening sentence works because it demonstrates that science is the author’s passion, but through an experience rather than simply stating it.
Body Paragraphs: Tell What You Know
Don’t tell the college what you think they want to hear. They want to hear about an experience through your lens, something you know to be true to yourself. In your body paragraphs, you’ll want to detail how what you are writing about relates to your chosen field of study or career goals. This usually includes sharing a personal story, how you’ve embraced your passion, and how the school is going to be a good fit for you to continue pursuing it.
Here is an example of how you could structure your body paragraphs based on the Common App prompt: “Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.”
Topic: How a love for telescopes sparked your realization of wanting to study space.
Body Paragraph 1. Share your story and be specific! This could include moments like stargazing with a telescope for the first time, attending a space-related event, or conducting a small astronomy project.
Body Paragraph 2. Connect your specific experience to your goal of wanting to study space. This is your “why.” Maybe it led to a deeper curiosity about the universe or sparked questions about space that inspired you to learn more.
Body Paragraph 3. Highlight why the school is a perfect fit by showing how the school’s offerings directly contribute to your future goals. What programs do they offer that set them apart from all the other schools and how will they contribute to your growth as a future scientist?
Addressing Weaknesses: To Include or Not?
This is your moment to shine. So, unless directed otherwise in the statement instructions, your essay probably shouldn’t discuss your weaknesses. However, if you decide you want to talk about any weakness, you must also show how you conquered it.
Strong Conclusion
The big finale! This is your last moment to leave them with something memorable. You should summarize your main points, sharing why studying at this school is the perfect place to turn your passion into a reality. After all, you’re choosing this school for a reason so give them some credit for being so awesome. Leave them with something they’ll remember.
Instead of this: “And that is why I want to study biology at [College Name].”
Try this: “Now, when I look through my telescope, I am reminded that the universe is vast and full of possibilities, just as my own potential is. With the education and opportunities at [College Name], I am ready to explore, innovate, and contribute to a brighter future.”
A Personal Statement Format Example That Works:
My journey to understanding the cosmos wasn’t without its challenges. During my sophomore year of high school, I struggled with my coursework, and my grades in math and science plummeted. It was a disheartening time, and I began to doubt my abilities and my dream of becoming an astrophysicist.
But rather than letting my setbacks define me, I decided to face them head-on. I sought help from my teachers, spent countless hours in the library, and joined study groups. I also found a mentor in my physics teacher, who reignited my passion for the subject and guided me through the more difficult concepts. Slowly but surely, my grades began to improve.
Why this works: This example shows how the author continued to study what they loved, even when they faced struggles in school. Colleges like this because it shows perseverance, determination, and that the student is truly passionate about their interests.
Your personal statement is about you. It isn’t a checklist of your achievements written in a robotic tone. It’s a chance to show them why you’re a great fit for their college and how they’re going to help you be successful. Remember, you didn’t have to start a big charity or spend a summer in a different country to write a meaningful essay. The admissions officers want to know about you, through your lens. So follow this format, stay true to who you are, and you’re sure to leave them with an essay that stands out among the rest.
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