The Assignment

• Nearly every college's application package has its own assignment. Respond specifically to the assignment of the institution for which you are applying. If you write one statement and send it out to many colleges without refocusing on the specific question(s) asked, it will be obvious to everyone who reads your package, and this may hurt your chances of acceptance. It may seem that you are not really focused on the target school but are using them as a back-up for your preferred colleges. Since you don't seem to be taking them seriously, they may not take your application seriously either.
  
  
• Most assignments for college personal statements include either one or both of the following requirements: tell why you are the best possible choice for them to accept at that particular college, and tell why you believe their college is the very best choice for you personally.
  
  
• You must stay within the limits for length and formatting for the finished statement or your statement may not be read. Do not try to fool the readers with strange fonts or spacing; on the other hand, you should write as close as possible to the maximum words specified without going over that number. You want to give the impression that you could have said much more, but that you know how to follow directions.

Your Writing Process

Drafting

• Write a rough draft that is much longer than the final page limit, and then revise very carefully to be sure you are making the impression that you want to make.
  
  
• Recognize that this is a difficult task because most of us are taught not to brag about our accomplishments. In this kind of writing, you are trying to persuade people who don't know you why they should choose you instead of hundreds of others who have applied. List every accomplishment that helps to illustrate and support your candidacy—what clubs you were in, whether you volunteered for any charity events, your best academic subjects, why you love those subjects, what you have accomplished in your studies so far, what you hope to accomplish in your future studies. Include also, if the assignment allows, reference to personal experiences that make a good impression—the aunt who was a teacher and who inspired you, your fascination with mathematics since early childhood, how your father's early death inspired you to want to become a doctor.
  
  
• If you have any negatives in your record that are obvious, you should control how they are perceived by explaining briefly what the problem was and showing how you overcame that problem to triumph once again. If the problem is something they are going to notice anyway (for example, a low grade in your major one semester), use it to show your resiliency and commitment to your goals.
  
  
• Many students have found it helpful to write this rough draft very quickly, including everything you can think of. For example, give yourself 30 minutes to list 25 reasons why you are the best student that your target college could ever choose. You may not make all 25, but this exercise will enable you to think outside the limits of the expected. Stop when the 30 minutes have passed, read all that you have written, and decide what your greatest strength is. This should be the focus of your revision.
  
  
• To be persuasive, try to think like the college admissions staff. They are looking for students who will stay in college until they graduate, who will make them proud by accomplishing great things academically, and who will go on to become respected as a contributor to society, because this kind of graduate reflects well on the college, inspires the faculty and staff work harder, and tends to convince their funders to give them more money.
  
  
• Do some research into the college—the particular things they say about themselves and what they actually do—the programs, student activities, and cultural events that they seem most proud of. To be most persuasive, specifically address those values in your statement. The fact that you have taken trouble to learn about their college will make you seem like a more serious candidate who is really interested in going there.

Revising

• As with any other piece of writing, your statement should have a clear identifiable focus or thesis that answers the question asked by the assignment. Start with a strong introduction that conveys that thesis and leads your reader to want to know more about you.
  
  
• Organize your body paragraphs according to ideas that explain and support your thesis, rather than as a chronological account of your life.
  
  
• Use a personal and direct voice to convey who you really are. This is the best way to make your statement credible; try to make the reader like you and want to meet you.
  
  
• DO NOT WORK ALONE. When you have started to revise and are ready for some feedback, make an appointment with Susan Andrien or Larry Coons. They will give you an experienced reader's reaction and will suggest ways to make your statement stronger.
  
  
• Try to leave a few weeks between the date you start working on your revision with the help of Susan or Larry and the due date. Sometimes these statements really come together a week after the writer thinks they are finished.

Editing and Polishing

• Remember that you need to format according to the assignment's requirements. If no formatting requirements are given, leave one inch margins and use an 11-point font ( this one is Arial 11 ) and at least 1 ½ spacing. Left-justify and do not go over the word limit (you can count automatically by using the Tools utility on Word).
  
  
• Check for redundancy. This writing should be very polished, so do not write phrases like “as I mentioned before.” It should seem as if you have so many good qualities that you could fill many pages, but that you are so polite that you will stick to the limits given. Fortunately, you are so eloquent that your words convey a great deal in a little space.
  
  
• Edit carefully so that there are no mistakes in grammar, punctuation, spelling, or syntax (sentences). Ask a tutor to help (Susan or Larry are good at this).
  
  
• If you have time, let the final version sit for a day and then read it aloud to yourself. It should sound so good that even you are impressed. If you follow these directions, it will.

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