personal statements [Archive] - Yellowworld Forums

kasia

09-15-2002, 11:27 AM

what are you planning on writing about? or if you are old (like me :) ) what did you write about?

i was 16 when i wrote mine. it was my senior year in high school and i was always going out. i put it off until last minute--my mom actually locked me in the study and wouldn't let me out until i finished. that pissed me off--because i actually had somewhere to go--so my whole personal statement was about how much i didn't want to write it, how i thought school was a dumb institution, etc. i kinda liked it in the end--my English teacher did too (she was kind of a hippie)--and so i used it :)

maybe if i spent more time on it, though, i would have gotten into berkeley <_<

AliBabaIncorporated

09-15-2002, 12:08 PM

i wrote a fictional story about a senior student i greatly respected who got into college by writing a moving personal statement which was actually a complete lie. i get the feeling the irony went over many admissions officers' heads, since some of them actually let me into their schools.

angel nympho

09-15-2002, 01:12 PM

I wrote about my experiences with my family problems, issues with figuring out who my real friends are, and who I am.... while battling drug addiction. :P

Needless to say, I didn't get accepted to any *real* schools.

kimpossible

09-15-2002, 09:41 PM

Originally posted by kasia@Sep 15 2002, 10:27 AM
or if you are old (like me :) )

I better start taking Geritol. And start my Medicare app.

kasia

09-18-2002, 10:09 PM

what are all you high school seniors going to write about? it's due in about two months right? or maybe that's why they haven't started thinking about it yet... :)

Arex

09-19-2002, 01:16 AM

My personal statement for college apps was basically me bitching about how every other year I seemed to end up with a math teacher trying to keep me down. It was pretty damn stupid.

For law school apps, I wrote this completely BS statement about how, up until the point when I decided to apply to law school, I never really had a game plan as far as my future was concerned. I wasn't the person who'd always wanted to be a lawyer, rather I just kinda went with the flow. I claimed that this gave me the advantage of 20/20 hindsight. My not having a plan allowed me to look back at everything I'd done up to that point, and then evaluate where I wanted to go from there (as opposed to the person who'd always wanted to be a lawyer or doctor, planned their course of action accordingly, and then found that they had no choice but to continue upon that course, even if they no longer wanted to do it). This was all BS 'cause everyone knows I really went to lawschool for lack of anything better to do.=P

Alex

bigwong235

09-23-2002, 01:39 AM

i wrote about rave culture and it's effect on me. eh, not so original, but that's all i could think of.

had i not waited till the very last minute (literally) on my stanford app, i think i might've had a better chance.

Ayers

09-25-2002, 01:41 AM

<sigh> instead of writing my last personal statement, I find myself procrastinating on yw.

Why does it seem so hard to write about myself..??

Craig

09-29-2002, 09:42 PM

I don't remember writing any personal statements, maybe it's a change of the times. Perhaps, it could be my senility.

Rogmok

07-24-2003, 08:43 PM

thanks to everyone who has helped me out so far..

next question: how long should a personal statement be??  is it standard to just submit the same one to all the schools i apply to?

Emperor_Mike

08-02-2003, 12:44 AM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Rogmok @ Jul 24 2003, 06:43 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> thanks to everyone who has helped me out so far..

next question: how long should a personal statement be?? is it standard to just submit the same one to all the schools i apply to? [/b][/quote]
A bit late on responding, but anyway:

Through personal experience, I think that the statement should be no longer than a page (size 10 font, Tahoma, single spaced.) It should include pertinent information that will make the school think of you as a prime candidate with excellent prospects and the ability to thrive the courses you'll be taking. I'm not sure how things are done in the US, but in the UK the personal statement must not be longer than a page. Usually, one statement is good enough for all your school choices. But if have any special things you want to emphasize upon for a particular school, then do so, of course.

Good luck!

Rogmok

08-03-2003, 10:14 PM

one page? most people have been telling me 750-1000... which ends up being like almost 2 whole pages.

hmm.. maybe i'll look on the applications to see if they say exactly how many words they want on it..

Emperor_Mike

08-03-2003, 11:08 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Rogmok @ Aug 3 2003, 08:14 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> one page? most people have been telling me 750-1000... which ends up being like almost 2 whole pages.

hmm.. maybe i'll look on the applications to see if they say exactly how many words they want on it.. [/b][/quote]
Different standards, I suppose. Of course, do what the application says. ;) Remember what "core" information to include and impress with, however. With these letters I find that a great deal of the time more emphasis is put on content rather than length.

lethal

08-04-2003, 09:58 AM

My PS was 3.5 pages double spaced.

Some schools state specifically if there is a limit.

Remember, your personal statement is your only chance to convey your personality to the people reading it. Otherwise you are just a name, GPA, LSAT, and resume to them.

Try to tailor your PS to each school specifically. This shows that you spent time researching the school. However, you don't have to do this since most essay topics are pretty generic.

TyroneK(prettypretty)

08-04-2003, 10:29 AM

Two pages is optimal. I think all of my statements were ~2 pages single-spaced.

I hate being the asshole who sends potentially confusing advice, but if all else fails and you're really maxed out as far as the essay goes, just send the damn thing in. Just make sure it's coherent and well written. Don't sweat it too much if you don't seem that unique. Chances are you're not that special (Come on, you're going to law school, not awesome-person school) and the essay only counts for about 1-5% of your overall application score. You've probably lost or won entry on your GPA or LSAT scores alone, so concentrate more on maximizing your numbers and turning in your applications at an optimal time.

Rogmok

08-04-2003, 11:14 AM

yeah.. i know my ps won't get me into the school,
but i wanted to make sure it doesn't keep me out.

i think my ps will end up being like 1.75 pages, still writing it.. so i'm not sure yet.

thanks for the info.

Emperor_Mike

08-04-2003, 12:49 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (lethalweapon @ Aug 4 2003, 07:58 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> My PS was 3.5 pages double spaced. [/b][/quote]
Three and a half pages? Wow...the luxury of having that much room to work with. I had to fit my whole personal statement onto one page! Damn UK schools insist on it. Bah!

lethal

08-04-2003, 12:59 PM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Emperor_Mike @ Aug 4 2003, 02:49 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Three and a half pages? Wow...the luxury of having that much room to work with. I had to fit my whole personal statement onto one page! Damn UK schools insist on it. Bah! [/b][/quote]
Well, 3.5 pages double spaced is probably about 2 pages single spaced, which is fairly average here I think.

Emperor_Mike

08-05-2003, 01:38 AM

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (lethalweapon @ Aug 4 2003, 10:59 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Well, 3.5 pages double spaced is probably about 2 pages single spaced, which is fairly average here I think. [/b][/quote]
Still...

I suppose the folks across the pond aren't crazy about reading three page statements. Ah well. :)

purezero

11-23-2003, 08:46 PM

SOMEONE HELP ME WITH MY PERSONAL STATEMENTS! MY PARENTS ARE FORCING ME TO FINISH THEM ALL TONIGHT! I NEED SOMEONE TO PROOFREAD WHAT I HAVE!

(Sorry about that caps, but I'm panicking.)

My first draft of one of my essays was SO cynical. Yeah, I can understand why the UCs wouldn't want to read that, but that's truly how I feel about overachievers in our high school. It was something about how many people seem to do things because it would look good on their college applications rather than for the sheer joy of taking part in something. But my English teacher was like, "This is well-written, but I don't think that this is what the UCs want to see. Blah blah blah." I hate her (not because of that comment, but the things she does).

Oops, off-topic.

Pretty much my first two essays are about my love for community service and programs I've worked with in the past two years. And the third one (open-ended) I'm thinking of rewriting because it's BS and I don't like it. I HATE open-ended essays. I can never decide what to write about. I wish it was optional. :cry:

So... HELP?!

Tao

11-23-2003, 09:02 PM

write about your favorite book, and how that has helped you as a moral compass through life. it's a good segway to describe your trials and tribulations, and what you've learned through it.....and shit like that.

sorry my personal statement sucked ass, i basically got in due to gpa and sat alone.

mr. x

11-23-2003, 09:52 PM

hmm, all i can say is put some humor in it Dave Barry style, that's what my brother did. dont be too bizarre or over the top but make em think you are the cheery type

John0101

11-23-2003, 11:31 PM

I didn't do so good (Cs and Bs) in my freshman and sophomore year of high school so I wrote about how disillusion at that point in my life. Then when I found my "hertiage" and it changed my life. I wrote about my community service/activities within Boston's Chinatown. I interned at an community art project, Chinatown Banquet (http://www.chinatownbanquet.org/students.html) and I think I played it out pretty well cuz I did better in my junior and senior years. It really was BS, but I thought I BS pretty well. :laugh:

Emperor_Mike

11-24-2003, 04:39 AM

Mine was a boring "this is what I did in highschool, this is what I did outside of highschool, these are the awards I received, these are the organisations I worked with, these are my grades, these are my career aspirations, and this is why you should let me into your school."

I don't think I received any marks for creativity. :sad: But I think the college admissions people got so sick of reading the thing they just let me in so they could get to the next application.

Kennyb

11-24-2003, 06:18 AM

I did my personal statement when I was 18, when I was applying to go to university.

Emperor_Mike pretty much said it all about writing a personal statement. That is how most people were told to write it, in UK.... It was only up to us how creative you can get it to be inorder to stand out from other people who were applying for the same course.

I got accepted to many universities that I applied for, even though my grade sucked because of the way I wrote my personal statement.

Wish I kepted it now....

kasia

11-24-2003, 06:08 PM

i heard about how this one guy sent a shoe with a note attached saying, "now that i got one foot in the door, can you help me get the other?" not sure if it's true.

applehead

11-24-2003, 10:03 PM

i purposely picked
a school that had the shortest
application possible
and one that didn't require any types
of essays or interviews.

cuny. i love you.

boredlikewah

11-24-2003, 10:48 PM

dang, have you guys seen the csu application? it's so crazy easy. no essays, no interviews, no letters of recomendation, no SAT II scores, no extracurriculars. it's kinda pathetic. we're being judged solamente on grades and SAT I scores. oh man...

etcj

11-24-2003, 11:15 PM

Well I don't think universities actually read those essays as much as they should. I guess the content is important, but it's a good way to gauge a person's grammar, which is so undervalued nowadays. I've seen so many students with such awful writing skills that I can't imagine how they could have walked out of high school. Of course, I understand that if we're talking about people whose native language is not English, there should be some slack.

Anyways, I wrote about racism...it was a pretty crappy paper, but I didn't feel like I needed to impress anyone since I applied to so many conservative schools. Damn WASP's.

Napoleon Chynamite

11-25-2003, 02:59 PM

anybody who needs help with their personal statement just PM me. I have reasonable rates, excellent writing ability and written verbal competence with none of the unnecessary sincerity underneath ^^

if you're hot I'll do it for free

coagulated fat

11-25-2003, 05:49 PM

I don't really remember what I wrote about, and I'm too scared to go back and read it because I'm sure it was horrible and embarassing.

Tao

11-25-2003, 11:08 PM

Emperor_Mike

11-26-2003, 02:46 AM

purezero

11-28-2003, 12:17 PM

:cry: I have to finish mine STILL. I procrastinate WAY too much. Maybe a part of me was trying to be a rebel (my mom was nagging me about it EVERY day, long speech EVERY DAY).

kboy75

11-28-2003, 12:22 PM

i wrote about band camp. i'm serious.

Kuchana

12-27-2003, 03:12 AM

i purposely picked
a school that had the shortest
application possible
and one that didn't require any types
of essays or interviews.

cuny. i love you.

ah....if only every other school was like that :smile:

I wrote my first statement when I was a senior and I procrastined. My dad kept gripping on me to do it. I wrote primarily about my adoption experience.

mr. x

12-27-2003, 01:03 PM

i purposely picked
a school that had the shortest
application possible
and one that didn't require any types
of essays or interviews.

cuny. i love you.

colleges should be applying to meena :rolleyes:

Tao

12-27-2003, 02:39 PM

:cry: I have to finish mine STILL. I procrastinate WAY too much. Maybe a part of me was trying to be a rebel (my mom was nagging me about it EVERY day, long speech EVERY DAY).

in case of doubt or fear...reach deep down inside and think:

http://mail.rochester.edu/~dr001k/what%20would%20asians%20do3.jpg

bluemonq

12-29-2003, 10:41 AM

hahaha
*smug enough voice that you'd like to throw a brick in my face*
i finished all my apps in november
*ducks brick*
my parents essentially grounded me starting in september http://www.cb4clan.com/forums/images/smilies/smiles1/cussing.gif[ but hey, uc apps are all done. woohoo! now we have just to wait two.5 months. it's kinda stupid though, right? i mean the essays. there are very few people these days who are sincere about what they write *grumble*

hooligan

12-29-2003, 10:46 AM

g'luck

ah, jeez, not the wwad thing again. i think it's pretty wrong and shallow, but hey. i'm wrong and shallow so what right do i have to criticize.

Tao

12-29-2003, 11:26 AM

g'luck

ah, jeez, not the wwad thing again. i think it's pretty wrong and shallow, but hey. i'm wrong and shallow so what right do i have to criticize.
it's required as part of my asian complementation program to post that image at least twice every year, otherwise they'll cut my thumbs off.

moser

06-24-2005, 07:38 PM

How did you decide what to write about in your personal statement for schools? And, if you don't mind stating it, what did you write about for your personal statements?

I'm working on mine and can't think of a topic. Right now my goal is to work in either advocacy or employment law focusing on racial/gender discrimination cases. However, I'm trying to avoid writing about my experiences as an APA - it may seem too cliched.

Tao

06-24-2005, 08:09 PM

i'm writing about my experiences shadowing a doctor in my personal statement. since med schools want to see your personality in the ps, i'm thinking of telling a story rather than describing to them what i want to do....that way it'll be less boring for them to read.

lethal

06-25-2005, 12:17 AM

Is it a law school app? Writing about what inspires you to be a lawyer and why you want to do it is a good start. I don't think writing about your APA experiences is a bad thing, if they are experiences that led you to the profession. Don't worry about cliche, most personal statements sound cliche to some extent.

Warhawk_1

07-25-2005, 10:31 PM

Oh boy...personal statements. What a personal statement is, is any damn thing you want that shows what kind of person you are(or at least some aspect).

When I was a rookie at them starting last fall, I wrote about emotional experiences(teaching in China) and my philosophy of life, delved from watching anime and old John Woo movies(I didn't mention the sources). It was 50-50 for colleges I got into.

Whatever you do, i recommend being honest, and writing in a way that fits your style of living. If the admissions officer feels he/she knows you by the end, it's a good essay.

For example, when I was a grizzled old veteran by this spring, and was applying for Presidential Scholar some Conflict Resolution program at UPenn, I wrote about the pursuit of power and how, after getting beaten up by a black kid when I was in seventh grade, I beat his ass down when I got into high school.

The 2nd essay(for Conflict Resolution), was how, if was stranded on a desert island with three people and a 1000 bricks, I would create an elaborate hoax to fake indigenous settlement with human sacrifices of some sort, build a giant HELP sign with bricks, and then rake in loads of cash from media appearances while the hype was on.

I got everything I wanted from UPenn, and I made it to Semifinalist for the Presidential thing, which was pretty good considering my credentials were a bit shaky.

yoMAMA

08-31-2006, 12:20 AM

any pointers?

I'm still working on page one, 1st paragraph, 1st sentence.....:wink:

lethal

08-31-2006, 12:51 AM

lots of drafts, have more than a couple people read and edit it, start soon and finish early and don't procrastinate

moser

08-31-2006, 08:53 AM

^ What he said.

Also, please do NOT say that your desire to become a lawyer is because you "like to argue."

Best of luck!

Edit: Old threads, but mostly on topics for personal statements
http://forums.yellowworld.org/showthread.php?t=1756&highlight=personal+statement

http://forums.yellowworld.org/showthread.php?t=24601&highlight=personal+statement

kimpossible

08-31-2006, 11:36 AM

First, I must acknowledge lethal's assistance in assembling the theme of my PS. But more directly to yoMAMA -- I went for theme first, then outlined and plotted an approximately paragraph length for the outline points, leaving room at the end to tie in why I chose that school.

lethal

08-31-2006, 12:46 PM

LaiSteve66

08-31-2006, 01:13 PM

I didn't have to write any stupid essays or personal statements for my college admission.

kimpossible

08-31-2006, 01:23 PM

Something lethal taught me makes sense. They're looking more at my writing and how I present myself than what I'm writing about. That helped me prioritize presentation over fretting about the more minor details of the substance... in my case, I should say.

moser

09-09-2006, 06:55 PM

Found this old thread that may help a little bit (though it's about recommended lengths of law school personal statements)

http://forums.yellowworld.org/showthread.php?t=8398&highlight=personal+statement

yoMAMA

09-10-2006, 09:58 PM

thanks for the advices!

one quesiton:

how long should the ps be?

most of the schools seems to prefer the length to be 2 pages and double spaced.

Also, please do NOT say that your desire to become a lawyer is because you "like to argue."

http://forums.yellowworld.org/showthread.php?t=24601&highlight=personal+statement

Nah...I'll just write how much I want to become an ambulance chaser.

:wink:

moser

09-11-2006, 09:11 AM

Huh, the thread seems to have disappeared (from the last post).

Anyway, go with whatever the school (*ahem*) "recommends" - no more, no less.

lethal

09-11-2006, 01:49 PM

Huh, the thread seems to have disappeared (from the last post).

Anyway, go with whatever the school (*ahem*) "recommends" - no more, no less.

I merged it into this one.

Also, another word of advice. If the school has an "optional" essay, make damn sure you write one.

robotic

09-11-2006, 03:40 PM

personal statement ^_^? i'll get to write mine this year!

weehaw for senior year

Hiroshi2

09-20-2006, 12:26 PM

I have no idea what a personal statement is, but whatever it is, we didn't have to do it (obviously, since I don't know what y'all are talking about).

Maybe the closest thing to it was like a senior quote, you know like what you put in a yearbook?

kimpossible

09-20-2006, 01:37 PM

Most of us are speaking in regard to the personal statement in law school apps.

Hiroshi2

09-20-2006, 09:03 PM

Doh!!!

Well then why are people talking about senior year of high school and making statements and what not?

lethal

09-21-2006, 12:49 AM

Most colleges require personal statements as part of the application.

Azn Retribution

09-30-2006, 12:52 PM

someone should try writing theirs all satire-like,
like steven colbert.

yoMAMA

09-30-2006, 04:11 PM

someone should try writing theirs all satire-like,
like steven colbert.

i won't do that unless i have perfect standarized test scores.
:wink:

moser

09-30-2006, 06:47 PM

I think some guy got into NYU (?) with a pretty famous satire-ish one:

http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/6174/co_essay.htm

Katherine

10-10-2006, 01:00 AM

^ The above was actually not an essay used for college admissions, although the rumor is that the guy got into NYU with it. The fact is that it was a winner of the Scholastic Writing Award in Humor--a very prestigous award anyway. But whatever. It's a good essay and inspiration!

Personally, I haven't started on my PS yet...although I should get started soon. ^^;;