Personal Statement

Overview

The personal statement is an essay that you will submit to just about every college you apply to via the Common App. It is an opportunity for you to show that you are more than your GPA, or your ACT score, or your resumé. You want the readers of your application to understand who you are and what you are like, and this essay is the primary method of doing so.

Below are the seven different essay prompts for you to choose from, as well as several resources and guides to help you write the personal statement that best represents you.

Personal Statement Prompts

What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response.

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
4. Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma — anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
5. Discuss an accomplishment, event or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
6. Describe a topic, idea or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Resources and Guides

• For advice specifically tailored to the current prompts, take a look at College Essay Advisors' guide. They provide an incredibly detailed breakdown of what each prompt means, examples and questions to consider while you brainstorm, and much more.
• Alice Kleeman, a college advisor from California, published a blog post on how to approach the Common App essay in 2013. While the essay prompts have changed slightly since then, the advice that she gives still applies to today's prompts.
• BigFuture has several different articles on college essays in general. A particularly helpful resource they provide is an analysis and critique of several sample essays.
• When you have finished a first draft of your essay, you will want to go back and edit it. The Harvard College Writing Center has a guide on editing essays that, while originally meant for formal academic writing, is useful for editing college essays as well.
• Check out this editing checklist for tips on how to revise and improve your essay.
• In 2013, The New York Times published four college essays written by high school seniors that "stand out from the crowd" -- read them for some inspiration and discuss them with your mentor to figure out how you can also write an essay that stands out.