So, you sit down at your dining room table, staring at a blank google doc, a couple months before college essays are due and you have no idea what to write about. You’ve heard people say that you should write about your trip out of the country, or that time your life somehow changed, but you want your essay to be unique, different. What do you do? Well it’s hard to write an essay that’s the same as someone else, so you got the difference down, but how do you make it unique? It seems everyone has written about everything, but you have to make your essay stand out. 

We’re here to help! To start, what is a personal statement? The personal statement is highlighting your life experiences and qualities in the context of going to post secondary education, it explains why you are special. You write one personal statement that all the schools you apply to will read. There are other college essays, often referred to as “supplemental essays”. Some examples of supplemental essays include the “Why our school?” or “Describe an extracurricular.” Those are just some examples and every school may have a different essay. Now, to help you out, here are some tips and tricks:

• Don’t set your heart on a topic right away. When brainstorming your college essay, make sure to come up with a list of different topics. Once you come up with a list, consult with yourself and others to see what you can make the strongest writing about.

• Start off with a strong beginning. This will make sure you engage the admissions director, who is also reading hundreds of other essays. This could be a hypothetical question or story, or a fun fact. Anything that makes you stand out!

• Your college essay (and writing in general) will never be done. Always allow yourself to look back on your writing, open minded to changes and adjustments. Additionally, seek resources like the writing center, to have a fresh set of eyes.

• Be specific. Don’t just talk about your achievements. Go deeper! Talk about yourself and characteristics that enabled you to achieve those achievements. Talk about who YOU are and what makes you stand out, after all the college wants to know more about YOU!

• Get input. It’s not a bad thing to go to other people for help, read the essay out loud to your family, friends, tutor, or even the writing center! Make sure you get input from multiple perspectives!

• Showcase your writing skills. Even if you don’t think you are a good writer, you can whip up something that showcases your skills. One tip for this is to show and not tell, put in the details and make sure the admissions director gets the whole story! You can write well, don’t underestimate yourself.

• Highlight an experience. If you don’t think you have gone anywhere spectacular in your life or you haven’t experienced something unique, you don’t need it. Think of anything, literally anything that has happened to you and you could write pages about it!

So now that you know little tips and tricks, what is an effective topic to write about? You know it has to be unique and show off your personality, but just what should you write about? 

• A special moment. If there has been a moment in your life that changed you, that is a perfect thing to write about and to showcase your personality.

• A challenge. Write about a time you overcame adversity and/or a challenge. This will show that you are determined and depending on the challenge it could illustrate you as being brave or strong.

• Family. Though this could be a hard topic to write about, if you have had a challenging home life or something that has made you a certain type of person, it could be a very thought out essay, but be careful with it. 

• Write about something you are passionate about. If you highlight a moment that changed you or a challenge, make sure you genuinely care about that topic. This will make writing your essay easier and the college admission officer will also be able to tell if you are passionate about your topic.