Writing About You: The Personal Statement

Webinar Transcription

2023-09-05 – Writing About You: The Personal Statement

Lonnie: Hello, everyone. Welcome to CollegeAdvisor’s webinar, “Writing About You: The Personal Statement.” To orient everyone with the webinar timing, we’re first going to begin with our presentation, and then we’ll have the opportunity to answer your questions in a live Q&A. Before we get into our presentation, let’s first meet our panelist.

Anna: Hi, everyone. My name is Anna Vande Velde. I’m a senior advisor here at CollegeAdvisor. I’m also a proud team captain of our essay review team. Um, so as you might imagine, the personal statement is near and dear to my heart. Excited to dive into that with you tonight. My background is I studied psychology at Carnegie Mellon.

I graduated in 2015. Um, Had a bit of an untraditional path, thought I was going to become a clinical psychologist, but ended up in law school, which I completed at Harvard in 2021, and I’m now working as a nonprofit lawyer in Pittsburgh, in addition to my lovely work with CollegeAdvisor. So thank you all for being here tonight.

Lonnie: Nice, nice. So before we jump into the presentation, we have one more request. We would like to know what grade you are in. So please let us know because it’s helpful for us to try to find ways to speak directly to our audience. And I would agree and a very unique, but like very impressive background that you have.

Um, you know, definitely getting your law degree and. Working for CollegeAdvisor being on our essay review team. That’s that’s really cool. Thank you. Yes Okay, so I see the responses coming in to no surprise About 60 percent of our audience are in the 12th grade. This is the time now right in the personal statement phase And then we have about 30 percent of our audience are in the 11th grade Followed by that, we have under 10%, a little over 10%, I’m sorry, that is in 10th grade.

We have a few 9th graders as well as other. So with that, I will turn it over to you, Anna, to kick us off into our presentation, sharing about what is a personal statement.

Anna: Awesome. Well, thank you all for sharing that. Thank you for being here. Um, congratulations on being here because it says you’re taking a step towards your college application.

Um, well, I’ll get a bit more information from you, but later I think about where you are in that process. Um, but you’ve all started, which is fantastic. So we’re here today to talk about a personal statement. A brief overview in case you’re not sure, um, personal statement is the main essay that’s going to be submitted with your application.

For pretty much all the schools you apply to, you’re going to use the same essay for your personal statement. There might be a couple colleges that have like their own prompt, but for the most part, um, if you’re familiar with the common app, um, Most colleges accept applications through that, and you will have one personal statement that goes to all of the colleges.

Uh, these prompts are usually pretty broad. It’s a really great place to let them really hear your voice in a way that’s a lot harder than, you know, the extracurricular list or your transcripts, things like that. It can also be a great place to explain anything that you think, like, is just not going to be clear.

Um, elsewhere. So if you have any gaps that you want to explain, any slip in your grades, stuff like that. So there’s a lot of potential with a personal statement. As I mentioned, the prompts tend to be pretty broad. I’m not going to read through all these because you can find them with an easy Google search, but I wanted to put them in here just to to highlight really how broad they are.

So you’ll see the first one, um, this is the list of prompts you can choose from for your personal statement for the Common App. Uh, the first one here says some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application to be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, please share your story.

That’s really broad. Um, and if you read through all of them, you’ll see that they’re, they’re all similarly broad. So it’s a great opportunity to write about really whatever you think is most important. Um, in contrast with supplemental essays, which we’re not here to talk about tonight, but just as a little tidbit, um, some colleges require more than just the personal statement and they’ll have supplemental essays.

Those are often a little more, direct, less broad questions. They might be more specific about the program or the college. Um, so the personal statement is really where you have a lot of flexibility in what you write about.

So how does a personal statement differ from regular high school essays? Well, high school essays can be about anything. I know for me they’re often about books or history. In your personal statement, you are the main subject. Um, general grammar and structural rules that you’ve learned in school, those all still apply.

That’s the same. Um, that level of formality is about the same. Storytelling is very important. Um, I think more so in a personal statement than in. your high school essays. We’re going to get into what I mean by that, um, but I think that’s you being the main subject and storytelling are probably the two biggest differences to highlight.

So, what do most personal statements look like? Like I said on the last slide, the structure is really similar to what you’ve learned. You’re going to want to have an introduction, You’re going to want to have body paragraphs following up on the introduction and then a conclusion. The intro is often, in my experience, an interesting anecdote.

So a significant memory or moment in your life. Um, and then you can use the rest of the essay to dive into why that was so significant. And then tie it all together at the end in a conclusion. Often, in a forward looking way, um, you know, here’s this moment that happened, here’s what I learned, here’s how I grew, here’s why it’s so significant, here’s how I’m going to bring it to college.

That’s like a really rough outline of what a lot of personal statements look like, um, and we’ll get into the, like, starting with an anecdote, I think, in a minute. Um, how do I start the writing process? I think in my own personal writing and in the writing I see my students do, the first sentence is the hardest sentence you’re ever going to write.

So I really encourage students to just start start. I don’t know about you, but I sometimes have this mental block where like I want the first sentence to be amazing, perfect, fantastic. And good writing is rewriting. So the first time I write the first sentence of anything, it, it might, it’s probably not going to be perfect.

That’s okay. But once I have it out on paper, then the ideas start flowing. Then I can go back and edit it. Then I can give feedback. Um, so when it’s time to start writing, Right. Um, and don’t hold yourself to like a perfect standard. When you’re trying to think about what to write about, brainstorming is super helpful.

Um, if you are working with CollegeAdvisor, or you come to work with us, which I hope you do, you will hear a lot about your candidate profile. What we mean by this is you, imagine you’re a college admissions reader. For You’re reading hundreds of applications a day, spending at most a couple minutes on each.

So they’re not going to remember every single detail of every application. They can’t. Our brains don’t work that way. So what you want to do ahead of time is decide, What do I want their main takeaways to be from my application? We work with students to help them identify like one to three themes. So maybe you’re hardworking, compassionate, and, um, an advocate or something.

Three, like, high level themes that you want your readers to take away from your application. That’s going to impact your extracurriculars and all of that, but it’s going to really, really impact your personal statement. Because this is where your voice really shines. So once you have your candidate profile figured out, and you figure out sort of how you want to brand yourself, Then you can start thinking about, or you can do them in tangent, what to write about.

I encourage my students to write down every idea they have. If you have an idea, and you have a voice in your head immediately that says, now I can’t write about that, that’s silly, write the idea down. Because maybe there’s more to it than you at first think. Um, when you’re sitting and you’re thinking about what to write about, ask yourself, like, what?

What has happened to me that has made me who I am? What have I done? What have I experienced? Who have I met? How has that impacted me as a person and why? Because this is how the readers are going to get to see the core of you. So brainstorm, write those ideas down, talk the options out with your CollegeAdvisor, with family, educators, um, and, and then start writing.

I also encourage students, when you’re starting, don’t even think about the word limit. I, these students go one of two directions, where they are constantly not putting things in because they’re worried they’re going to go over. Um, and students who are, adding things to try and just get to that word limit.

I think it’s a lot easier if you start without the pressure of the word limit. Then you can get feedback on if you’ve gone over, you can get feedback on what to take out. And if you need more, you can get feedback on where to add. Um, but try not to like center yourself around the word limit at the beginning.

I know it’s hard, but I think it’s unhelpfully restrictive. This is the golden question. What is a good personal statement topic? And I’ll tell you right now, I think we’ll probably get questions about this at the end. My answer is not going to change. Anything can be a good personal statement topic. Um, what you want to do is show personal growth, learning, your passion, your unique voice, who you are, where you’ve been, and where you want to go.

And you can do that talking about anything. Um, really common topics, like I mentioned earlier, are meaningful anecdotes. I want to know that those can be big or small. So it might be some really massive moment, either personally with your family, or you won this big award. It can also be really small, um, and I think students worry about this, but I once had a student write what I think ended up being a fantastic essay.

And it started with an anecdote about one time her dad made this offhanded comment about one of his friends wasn’t using common sense. And it’s a moment probably no one else in the room ever thought about again. But for the student, it was a really meaningful moment because it prompted for her this long thought process about well, what, what even is common sense and who’s defining this and why?

And it took her to this realization that she was really interested in philosophy. So it can be a really small moment if you can tell the reader, if you can show the reader how it impacted you. and how it’s impacting where you want to go. Um, so anecdotes can be big or small. It can also be about a connection you’ve made, someone you know, um, or an important background or identity that has shaped who you are.

You will hear, if you work with a CollegeAdvisor or, um, probably most people who edit essays, you will hear essay, show me, don’t tell me. Um, and so instead of trying to tell you what I mean by that, I’m going to try showing you with an example. So instead of telling the reader, I have always loved the smell of oil and gas.

And this is from a real essay. Um, we gave the student the feedback of like, that’s kind of telling instead of showing, can you put us in your shoes and help us. Like picture this interest of yours. So instead of saying I’ve always loved the smell of oil and gas, they changed it to legs dangling out, wrench in hand, the strong smell of gas and oil, and an adrenaline rush as I learned how each part worked and how I could make the car even better.

So I will tell you there was more than one round of edits between. This first example and the second, um, but hopefully this helps you see the power of showing versus telling. In the second example, I can really picture the student. I can even imagine myself laying under a car, and I’ve never done that. Um, versus in the first one, I’ve always loved the smell of oil and gas.

Kind of hard for me to relate to that and to understand the student’s perspective.

Another example, um, a student’s, um, One of the earlier versions of the essay started with sharing my writing with others has always scared me. Okay, can we show the reader that instead of telling them? And what the essay grew to was my second grade hand shook as I approached Mrs. Sanchez’s desk with a handwritten essay.

So once again, instead of stating something as a fact, sharing my writing with others has always scared me, it’s true. It doesn’t really bring the reader into the student’s world. On the other hand, putting us in your shoes, my second hand, second grade hand shook as I approached her desk. You don’t need to say that sharing your writing scared you.

You’re showing me and it’s much more engaging and interesting and I want to keep reading.

Lonnie: Okay. I was, I was definitely drawn in. I was like imagining the, the shit. That was great. I love it. I love the example of telling versus showing. Um, so with that, we are now going to take a short pause to ask you all our next poll question. So we want to know, where are you in the College application process.

I know we have a really, um, diverse range of grade levels here this evening. Um, so perhaps you may haven’t started your application process or you’re in the researching phase, so you’re currently researching schools, maybe you’re right now working on your essays. And this information is just so key for you to help you with strengthening what you’re already writing.

Um, or you might be getting your application material together, almost done. Okay, so I have the responses, and we have about 36 percent of our audience is currently working on their essays, 32 percent are researching their schools, and then we have 18 percent that are getting their application material together.

12 percent haven’t started and I’m pretty sure after this evening, they’ll be ready to start and then followed by that. We have 2%. That’s almost done. All right. Congratulations to those who are almost done. I’ll turn it back over to you, Anna. Thank

Anna: you. Um, okay, before I show you the slide, I want to say, this is a suggestion.

Everyone’s path is different. You can make it work no matter where you are in this process. So I. I don’t want you to look at this graph and walk away stressed if you’re not on the timeline where a CollegeAdvisor suggests. You are all here. It is September. There is plenty of time. Um, and the fact that you’re here shows how dedicated and focused you are.

So I’m going to show you this, um, but I don’t want it to cause stress. What we would suggest. Um, is in your junior year in the spring, you start brainstorming topics for your personal statement. So like we were talking about earlier, write down any ideas that come to you, any moments that seem significant.

Um, and then, you know, towards the end of your junior year, we suggest that you start drafting and workshopping your personal statement. Um, so that by the end of the summer, uh, You can have personal statements, your personal statement ready to go, ready to get feedback on, and you can start working on those supplementals that I referenced earlier.

Um, and then, you know, by the deadlines in August to September, everything would be completed. That’s what we recommend. If that’s not where you are, cool. Own it. You got this, and it will get done.

Okay. One question we get a lot is, Should I share an essay on any topic of my choice, which is prompt number seven for the Common App? If you have a good reason to do so, yeah. A good reason to do so, I think, would be you have an essay that really Shows your voice, shows who you are, and it just doesn’t quite answer any of the other prompts well.

What I would advise against doing, and what I think sometimes is motivating this question for students, is the desire to take an essay you’ve written for high school class and plop it into your college application. If the essay does all the things we’ve talked about, where it highlights your voice, your unique perspective, shows a meaningful benefit.

growth that you’ve gone through, that could be okay. Um, but I would strongly advise against doing it just to avoid writing a new essay. Um, because it is a really important part of your application.

Common mistakes that students make when writing about themselves. Um, the first I think is just a lack of sort of a personal narrative or candidate profile, a brand, however you want to refer to it. Those one to three themes that you want uh, readers to remember about you at the end of the day. Um, forgetting to, or just not knowing to include and consider that, I think is a pretty common mistake.

Also, just a long, unconnected list of accomplishments. Really, that is what for the, what the extracurricular section is for. Um, there are other sections of the application that can capture your accomplishments much better than your, essay. The essay is to learn about you, like what makes you tick, who you are.

And then forgetting that writing, good writing is an iterative process. It takes a lot of vulnerability to share your writing with others. I understand that. I still struggle with that. And it’s so valuable to ask for feedback, to be open to making changes, and to prepare ahead of time so you have the time to do that.

Um, I do advise students before making like major changes to their essay or before like taking out huge parts. You just copy and paste those and save them somewhere, um, in a Google Doc or some file where you can store writing that I, that I took out of another essay. You never know when you might want to bring it back in, or when it might be helpful for a supplemental essay.

Um, so be open to making changes, but don’t lose work that you’ve already done. You can save that elsewhere if you’re taking it out of your essay.

Tips for revising and refining your essays. I think it really helps to take time away. I think we all reach a point when we’re working on something where like we read in it, just like, I don’t even know if it makes sense anymore. Um, if you are reaching that point, time to take a break, come back tomorrow.

And as you’re reading through, ask yourself, can I point out what my themes are? What is it adding to my application that the readers aren’t getting elsewhere? I suggest reading it out loud, which again, I know can be so uncomfortable even in a room alone. I feel so awkward doing it, but I think it’s helpful for finding grammatical errors.

I think it’s really helpful for finding out if it sounds like you, if it captures your voice. Um, and then a little pet peeve of mine is, Using too much passive language. Um, so I think this is a good thing to look for when you’re revising, especially if you’re trying to decrease your word count. Look out for passive language.

So, for example, instead of saying, I was running to the beach. You could say, I ran to the beach, or running to the beach, I felt X, Y, or Z. Just a little more engaging way of writing, and more concise way of writing. And then again, ask others, family, friends, educators, advisors for feedback. And don’t be afraid to ask them for specific feedback.

If you’re not sure, if If your themes are clear, ask them. If you’re not sure if it sounds like you, ask them those specific questions. Hey, can you read this and tell me does it sound like me? I’ve listed a lot of different folks on here, family, friends, educators, advisors. There’s no need to ask everyone you know to edit your essay.

I’m just putting that there to point out that there are resources out there. Um, who, you know, might be willing to read and, and give you some feedback.

Lonnie: Okay. Thank you, Anna. This now concludes our presentation portion of our webinar, but now we’re gonna move into our live questions and answers. So how we will work is you will write your questions in the q and a tab. I will read it out loud before our panelist answers the question, and I’ll also publish it.

Um, to show in our public chat for everyone to be able to see it. Um, if you’re not able to see any of our tabs, like our Q and a tab, um, make sure that you, um, log in through the custom link that was sent through your email. So try logging out and going back to your email. All righty. Um, and then also just note that we’re going to try our best to get to as many questions as possible.

But just due to timing and size, we might not be able to cover every question, but we will try our best. Okay, so our first question that we have is, can we exceed the word limit by 20 to 30 words or will the essay not be looked at? I read somewhere that sometimes if it exceeds the word limit, schools won’t look at the essay at all.

Anna: You cannot exceed that word limit. I am not even sure on the comment episode what you submit more than the characters allotted. Um, but they’re definitely not going to read past the word limit and that means they’re going to stop reading in a really awkward place. And I’m going to miss your conclusion.

Um, so I know that word limit is stressful. Um, look for passive language, get feedback on what you can take out. Um, so important to not be over the word limit, even by one word.

Lonnie: Yeah. Yeah. And I’ll add Anna to that too. If you are submitting through the common app, I think it actually cuts it off where it will cut the text off at like 651 words.

I don’t even, it won’t even allow you to add any additional. Words. Great point. Um, our next question is, how do I know when I have my final draft, um, and that there’s no more room for revisions? That’s a good question.

Anna: I, I love all of these questions. Um, this one makes me smile because It’s something I ask myself all the time with my own writing, like, how, I don’t know, how do I know if it’s good?

Um, there’s no black and white answer to that. Um, it’s, it’s this combination of your gut feelings and feedback from others. Um, so if you’re asking others to read it and they’re still finding, like, grammatical errors, I don’t think it’s ready. Um, we want to really make sure your essay is good. At least don’t have grammatical errors past that. Um, writing is an art, so it’s a bit of an artistic call.

Um, ask yourself the questions we’ve talked about tonight. Does it sound like you? Does it add new information to your application? Um, and that’s, it’s, I remember feeling scared when I decided like, okay, I’m walking away from this essay, it’s done, and it’s just a point that we all have to reach, um, with our writing.

So I’m sorry I don’t have like a super clear answer to that, but I think it’s because it doesn’t exist.

Lonnie: Okay, our next question. How do we avoid cliche themes that make admission officers eyes glaze over?

Anna: I don’t believe that there’s a cliche topic you can write about. And what I mean by that is I don’t believe there’s any topics that are off limits because they’re things other people have experienced. I think what’s important is how you write about it.

Um. So I don’t know if any of you have seen Silicon Valley, but they kind of make fun of big tech companies because they all have a tagline that says something like, I want to make the world a better place. Our company is here to make the world a better place. Phrases like that, like, I want to go to college to make the world a better place.

I, that’s a cliche, right? And it’s cliche writing. It doesn’t tell me anything, really, about you. How do you want to make the world better? What do you want to do? How is college going to help you do, have impact on the world that you want to have? So I don’t think there’s any topic in and of itself that you should consider too cliché.

Um, just because other people have experienced it. What you need to do is convey to the reader your unique experience of whatever happened. And then it’s not going to be cliché.

Lonnie: Okay, um, next question is, Is it worth detailing an event or putting accomplishments in the essay?

Anna: Um, Is it worth detailing an event or putting accomplishments in an essay? So I guess I would take a step back and ask why are you including this accomplishment? Why are you including this event? If the answer is because it was a pivotal moment and I want to tell them why, because I can’t convey that in the whatever 50 word limit there is for the extracurricular activities, then yeah, describe it.

If it’s because I think it’s really impressive and I’m worried they’re not going to see it in my extracurricular list. And I really want them to know about it.

I would caution you against that motivation. Um, it’s completely fine to describe an event or an accomplishment. Do it in a first person way. Put the reader in your shoes. And make sure, not just, make sure that you’re not just saying what happened, but how you felt, how you thought about that moment, how you grew, and how it has impacted you going forward. If that doesn’t seem responsive to that question, please let me know.

Lonnie: It does. It does. Um, tips on getting over writer’s block?

Anna: Yeah. Um, it feels like a mean answer. Um, right? Like, I sometimes have to force myself to write something, and I’ll read it, and I’ll immediately think, like, that’s so I can’t believe I just wrote that.

But usually what happens is that my brain goes into, Oh, it’s dumb because of this. And maybe it’d be better if you did this.

We all know what works best for us, for me. And I think for a lot of my students, just. Writing a single sentence gets those juices flowing. Um, and if you’re not sure what to write about, just pick anything. Right? Like, just try it. Maybe it’ll turn into something useful. Um, if not for your personal statement, for a supplemental.

It’s tough. I think the answer to writer’s block is to write, which, Feels unhelpful, but that’s my answer.

Lonnie: Thank you. Um, our next question is, um, I have heard that we should avoid topics such as sports accomplishments or overcoming an injury because it’s overused. What are your thoughts?

Anna: This is a great example for the question earlier about cliche moment.

A lot of student athletes have had injuries and have overcome them. Yep. Super shared experience. What is not shared and what is not cliche are your feelings and your reactions to that. So if you can tell me the story of what happened and how it felt in your body, how, how you thought about it, how you reacted, like really concrete, what was your first thought when you were injured?

What did you do? How did you overcome it? What does that say about how we will approach new challenges like college? Um, then we’re out of cliche world, right? Um, and we’re just learning about you. So I, I would encourage you to write about that. Um, if you can put us in your shoes and help us learn more about you.

Lonnie: Okay, um, someone asked, What’s the most interesting essay you have read and why? Oh,

Anna: that’s so hard. Um, I’ve read hundreds of essays. I, I’m so serious when I tell you that it’s not about the substance. It’s about how the student writes. It’s about how engaged I feel, it’s about how much I want to keep reading. Um, so that example I gave earlier about the comment about common sense, that one’s up there. I use it as an example all the time because it was such a mundane moment, like so boring.

But that essay was really interesting because they put me in their shoes. And they told me, they, they told a clear story from this one moment where their dad said something to now they’re applying to be a philosophy student. It made sense. I learned about them. Um, and that’s what it’s about.

Lonnie: Great example.

Um, our next question is what is the best time to submit and start your personal statement?

Anna: Um, we went over the timeline of sort of like, when to start. Which I think you all be getting copies of these slides. So you can see that in terms of when to submit, um, highly recommend now, especially for seniors as you’re putting together your college list that you store that information, store your list somewhere where you can add columns.

Um, so a spreadsheet or a Google Doc, something, and for every single one you want to have a clear note of the application deadline. Um, and then based on the deadline you can prioritize supplementals and all that. Does that, does that answer the question?

Lonnie: Yeah, that’s like another tip on like how to keep it, like how to organize. Yeah, uh huh. Um, next question is can we add a thesis to the essay?

Anna: I would love to hear. How thesis is being defined here. Um, yeah, if it if it is like a main idea, which is, I think, my understanding of thesis. Yeah. Um, we want your, you want your essays to have like an overarching theme that relates to your personal brand. Uh, absolutely. You want it to have this like consistent thesis and messaging that the reader is getting. If I’m not answering that question and I’m not understanding your use of the word, please submit another question and I will try again.

Lonnie: Okay. This question is, is it okay to infuse a poem into an essay as long as it flows well? Yeah.

Anna: I think that’s a challenge, um, and I would suggest you start early, you get extra feedback, um, and, you know, if you were working with me and we were talking about this essay, I, my first question to you would be, why?

Like, why a poem? Why this poem? What does it add? How does it relate to the rest of your essay? Um, there’s nothing the rules against that. Just know that. I think doing something unique like that is a challenge and requires more time and more revision.

Lonnie: Should you talk about how personal, how your personal story will help you in college throughout the whole essay or just at the end?

Anna: Um, well, if we think about showing versus telling, hopefully you don’t need to, like, say it very explicitly that much at all. Um, so, ideally, your essay, like the bulk of your essay is showing us this, these traits about you that will make you a good college student. Um, and then, you know, at the, in the conclusion, you might want to tie a bow on it and say, like, something, like, all these things I’ve learned, I will apply to college in x, y, or z way, like, again, being concrete.

And how you’re going to apply it, so we stay out of the cliché. Um, but I, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t feel the need to say in every paragraph, like, So this thing I learned, I will bring to college in this way. And this thing I learned, I will bring to college in this way. Because I think that’s taking your reader sort of out of the narrative and out of the story. And it’s doing more telling than showing.

Lonnie: Okay. Um, is it possible to use the same essay for different colleges, or do you have to write a different one for each application you do?

Anna: Um, for pretty much all the schools, you’re going to use the same personal statement. Uh, which means you don’t want to say in your conclusion, I’m so excited to go to Harvard.

Because, especially on the Common App, that personal statement is going to all schools you apply to on the Common App. Um, so yes, you can reuse you. I think most people use basically the same personal statement everywhere. Um, and with the supplemental essays even, um, again, keep those all safe somewhere. Uh, because as you are going between all different personal or supplemental statements you have to write, you might find pieces of different ones that are relevant, um, to the ones you’re working on next.

Definitely encourage recycling and reusing whenever you can.

Lonnie: How do you know when your essay is starting to sound too much, like too much, and how can you make your essay sound attention grabbing but not cheesy?

Anna: Yeah, that’s a tough line. It’s an artistic call, I think, in a lot of ways. If you’re worrying about this, I would suggest you do that thing that I know can be really scary, which is like, go in a room by yourself and read it out loud, um, and if you’re feeling extra brave, record yourself reading it out loud and then listen to it back, um, and I think that’s a really good way to hear your writing and critique like, Oh, did I say that?

That’s so cheesy. I can’t believe it. Um, or yeah, that sounds like me. That felt really natural when I got it because that’s how I talk. This is capturing my voice. If it’s capturing your voice, it’s not cheesy because none of us have cheesy voices. We all have really genuine, authentic voices. Um, so read it out loud.

See if it sounds like yourself. And if you’re still not sure, ask. Ask someone who knows you well.

Lonnie: Okay, so next question is what do you think about leading off with a well known quote?

Anna: I would ask yourself why you’re including that quote. If, if you, the first time you read that quote, it rocked your world, changed the way you saw everything, maybe, um, but we, I really want you to focus on making sure your essay The whole time is telling the reader something about you. So dedicating any amount of words in your word count, something someone else said is, is taking away from your own words.

Um, so if there’s a way you can convey. The point you’re trying to make in that quote in your own words, I would do it. Um,

and it, yeah, if it’s like something specific about the quote that was really meaningful to you, um, maybe there’s a way to include it where it’s not the first thing they read. Um, because if the first thing they read isn’t your words, it feels a little bit like a missed opportunity.

Lonnie: Okay, thanks. And the next question is, um, would you recommend writing about a travel experience, even if that if it wasn’t exactly humbling one, but more on the side of inspirational?

Anna: Um, I think this question is asking about maybe like writing about a hardship the student has faced. Um, That is absolutely an appropriate thing to write about.

There is, I think that, I think it’s the first one that says, Is there anything about your background that you want us to know? Um, yes. Write about it. Completely appropriate topic. And, you gotta do the same things we’ve been talking about. You gotta tell a story. Put the reader in your shoes. And take them through how, how you reacted, how you felt, how you thought about this trial you faced.

Um, and, you know, show, show us how it’s, how it’s impacted you and how it’s impacting you going forward.

Lonnie: Okay. Is being humorous in an essay a bad idea? Not over the top, just a subtle way to show personality?

Anna: I don’t think it’s a bad idea to be humorous. I think, again, um, it’s challenging to be humorous, especially when you’re writing for people you don’t know, who are all different ages, from all different backgrounds, all different parts of the world.

Um, so that’s where feedback is super helpful. And if you can get feedback from folks from diverse backgrounds, I think that’s extra valuable with humor. Um, Yeah, so you can do it. It’s a challenge. Get lots of feedback. See how it lands for people.

Lonnie: Okay, so we’re going to take a short pause for me to share more about the work that we do in CollegeAdvisor.

So for those who aren’t already working with us in the room, we all know how You know, competitive. The application process can be especially being a competitive applicant like yourself. Um, so our team of over 300 former admission officers and mission experts are ready to help you and your family navigated all in one on one advising sessions.

So just like Anna shared as we’re speaking about writing about you and your personal statement, one of the um, services that we offer is helping you through the personal statement process. We have advisors and admission officers who are very experienced in helping you really figure out, like, what is your narrative?

What is it about you that you want to share in your college application process? In addition to that, Anna shared that we have an essay review team and they support as another additional Um, another additional person to help you with making sure that your essay is really conveying the message that you wanted to and also making sure that it flows and structurally, it sounds, um, it all just sounds great.

So take the next step in your college admission journey by signing up for a free consultation using the QR code on the screen. During the consultation, a member of our team will review your current extracurricular list. discuss how it lines up with your college goals, and help you find opportunities for leadership and growth.

After scanning the QR code, you’ll be able to select a date and time for a phone conversation with a member of our team. Okay, so I will leave the QR code on the screen. Um, in case you weren’t able to scan it and we’re going to move forward with our remaining questions and answers. Okay, so we have a few more that are coming in.

Give me one second. Okay, I think we answered that question. Are there any resources we can use to get inspiration or enhance our essays?

Anna: Um, well, to get inspiration for ideas for an essay, um, I’m sure there are examples online. Um, though, you know, It’s very important that your essay is your words and your idea. Um, so I think, um, really introspecting and just asking yourself like what has inspired me?

Why do, why do I want to go to college? Um, what, what has impacted me in my, my years here on earth? Um, I guarantee you there are things that have happened. that have had an impact on you. Um, and that’s that’s a really good place to start writing.

Lonnie: Okay, so next question is how important Oh, I’m sorry, Anna, did I jump into soon?

No. The next question is, how important is it to discuss gender, racial or ethnic identity in the application?

Anna: It is as important to discuss it as it is important to you to share. Um, I know, I’ve gotten questions about the Supreme Court decision, um, as I feel it deeply as a lawyer, um, and I, I feel for students in colleges navigating that right now.

Um, it is still absolutely, appropriate to write about your identity, your background, racial, class, orientation, anything that’s relevant to you. There’s a question about this, like one of the Common App questions is talk about an identity that’s important to you. So if you, if it’s central to you, if it’s been so impactful on your experience in this world that it feels like the readers won’t Get to know the full you without you discussing this with them, then you should share it.

That’s a really important thing for them to know.

Lonnie: Okay, how can we make a seemingly common topic stand out? Um,

Anna: I, Apologize if this feels like a redundant answer. Um, there are common topics but not common personal experiences because we all relate to the world in such an individual way. Um, so how you make it stand out is by putting us in your shoes, showing us how you experienced that, and how you learned, and how you grew.

through that experience.

Lonnie: Okay, so next question. Let’s see. I’m trying to get questions that I see are sounding very similar. Um, does it matter which prompt we respond to if our essay can fit multiple prompts?

Anna: It really doesn’t. Um, they’re, they do not weigh any of them like stronger than the other prompts. They are all there for you.

To have this flexibility to choose. Um, so if you think it fits it equally well in two of the prompts, just pick. Um, usually if you think about it, you know, how you want to structure the intro and conclusion, um, I think can help you figure out which prompt it fits in the best.

Lonnie: What are some good ways to brainstorm topics?

Anna: Huh? Um, well, I think we all, we all sort of brainstormed differently. I make lists. I’m a writer, so it might not be surprising that I write them down. Um, I have friends who need to talk it out. Um, so maybe hopping on a phone call with someone or staying after to talk to a teacher or guidance counselor or Your CollegeAdvisor, um, whatever gets like your creative juices flowing, do that.

Um, if it’s going on a run, go on a run. Um, I think it’s, it’s a good question and an answer that probably varies for all of us. Um, so think about what works for you and when you’re in your most like creative, Space.

Lonnie: Okay. How do you weave in gaps in your application while staying true to your antidote stories and voice?

Anna: Um, how do you weave in gaps? I would take a step back and ask yourself, what is the goal of this essay? What am I trying to convey? If there’s a specific gap, um, tell tell me the story of it. Um, and then sorry, I’m trying to see the question to make sure I’m responding to it. But let me see. I

Lonnie: I’ll go back to it.

How do you weave in gaps in your application? While staying true to your anecdote story, Jane, staying true to your story and your voice.

Anna: Yes, thank you. So, I don’t think explaining a gap, actually explaining a gap is storytelling. Um, and that there probably is an anecdote there for what was going on. Um, and if you tell it in your voice, then it’s in your voice.

So, I think I, I think I was struggling because, with the premise of the question because I think a gap is a story. Um, and so I would just tell that story.

Lonnie: Okay, let’s see. What makes a personal statement memorable?

Anna: Personal statements are memorable when, when I feel like I, I’ve got to know you a bit. Like I can’t tell you how many essays I’ve read where I can, like, I can picture the student. I feel like I know them. Even though I haven’t, like, I haven’t met them. Um, and that, that’s where getting feedback from others helps.

Um, I think that that’s a hard thing for us to assess for ourselves. Like is, is this clearly me? Um, so I would ask for feedback on that.

Lonnie: Okay.

Someone asked like any suggestion on how to write the why us essay?

Anna: The why us essay. Yes, so that’s going to be a supplemental essay. Um, a lot of colleges Um, so if you’re not familiar, some version of a question might be very wordy. It might literally be why us, but that’s what they’re asking. Why do you want to go to this college?

Um, I, whenever my students ask me this, I smile a little bit and I say, well, why do you want to go there? Answer that question for yourself. Genuinely, why, why are you applying there? Um. I don’t think it’s just because of the ranking, right? So why are you applying? I would encourage you to be as specific and concrete as you can.

Um, so show them that you have done your research. Um, if you visited, you can mention things that stood out to you. If you haven’t, that’s okay. Um, but you’ve chosen it for a reason. So what have you read online about them? What have you heard about them? Um, is there a specific professor there you want to work with or a lab you want to be a part of?

Um, So do your research for sure, and then be genuine. Why? Why do you want to go there? If you can’t answer why you want to go there, consider why you’re applying in the first place.

Lonnie: Great. Awesome. Well, that was our last question for our webinar. And thank you so much, Anna, for sharing all this great insight about You know, how to write about you as it relates to your personal statement.

And I want to let our audience know that we do have some more webinars that are coming up. Additionally, we have four webinars that are happening next week. Um, and then we have some more in the following weeks. So make sure that you sign up. All of our webinars are geared towards supporting you in the college application process.

And if you are interested in meeting with a representative from CollegeAdvisor, There still will be another opportunity. There will be an additional screen that will come up at the end of our webinar. So with that, thank you again, Anna. Thank you, everyone, and have a great night. Thank you. Happy writing, everyone.

Happy writing. Bye.