Mastering That Personal Essay And Other Personal-Experience-Based Papers

The personal essay can be one of the trickiest parts of the college application. What’s right and what’s wrong and what’s good and what’s bad aren’t as clear cut as bubbling in the correct answer on some sheet. Even if you’ve already submitted all your college apps and wrote an awesome personal essay, it’s still a good topic of discussion. Most colleges require at least one writing course in their undergrad curriculum, and some of those papers will probably require you to talk about yourself. Essentially you’ll have to write an extended personal essay, so bear these tips in mind for your future personal essay or the memoir-like papers you’ll have to write in college.

It can be surprisingly difficult to write about yourself. You know yourself better than anyone, and yet trying to write about a certain earth-shattering personal experience proves tough. Whatever experience it was, your vision and memories of it will be foreign to whomever reads it. That has to be kept in mind, as it relates to one of the most important aspects of the personal essay: keeping it detailed. A lot of essays aren’t as engaging as they could be because they lack details. Don’t just say it was a good or meaningful experience, say why. There’s no need to load your essay so full of descriptive sentences that it stalls up and slows down, however it’s a good idea to bring the reader in with some sharp details. If you’re writing about some sports championship game, write about what you remember seeing and hearing and how you felt. Colleges read hundreds of essays, so one that draws them in will get their attention.

Bringing in some details also relates to the concept of showing versus telling. You’ll keep that essay more engaging if you can show solid examples in your essay. For example, it’s one thing to say you were proud after you won that championship trophy and it’s another to describe how your favorite coach handed you the trophy, as your parents and friends gazed on and you smiled broadly for all the flashing cameras. OK, that was a bit much, but you get the idea. It’s a little scene that shows your were proud without directly saying it. Personal essays that capture this will render a more powerful message than a flat essay that merely lists a bunch of descriptors.

The biggest factor of all will be what you choose to write about. The personal essay is really your chance to shine and to be more than just a list of grades and test scores before a review panel. It’s rather cliched and corny to say, but you’re unique, and you should pick something unique to write about. Really pick a meaningful experience or event to write about. If you just select any old topic, it will be that much harder to write if you don’t have any passion for it. Writing itself can open new ideas about a topic, so you might be surprised what comes to you mind after you start writing.

Most personal essay prompts are very general. For a college application, it might say something like, how will attending this school help you with your educational goals? Of course you could give them a laundry list reasons why. But again, be specific. It’s ok to suck up a bit to a school in a personal essay with a prompt like that. For example, if you plan on majoring in business, mention something great about that college’s business school. Don’t overdo it, but it will show you actually researched the school and, most importantly, that you want to be accepted!