Prompt: Share an essay on any topic of your choice. Tell us your story and show us who you are.
Use these prompT/ideas provided to write a college application essay, that illustrated growth around the theme that I am adaptable. Be specific in personal examples, narratives, and use imagery and rhetorical devices to make an impact on the reader. I have the main points, just need someone to bring it all together, write it well, and make it flow. It should be near 600 words.
Below is just a general guide. I have attached the guide specifc to me as a PDF.
Deciding on Your Essay Type:
Key Event: This essay picks an important life event that occurred in the student’s life and gives insight to why the event was so transformative.
Metaphorical: This essay picks an important object in the student’s life and relates his/her experiences and transformation of maturity to the object.
Timeline: This essay picks out multiple key events in the student’s life that connect to one overall theme/event.
Picking a Value to Highlight:
To make your essay focused, you need to choose one value you want to highlight about yourself throughout the essay. Is it your value of community? Family? Autonomy? Compassion? Teamwork? Equality? There are a lot of values to choose from, and extensive lists can be found with a simple online search.
Creating an Outline:
Your personal statement should include:
A depiction of your character before a pivotal event.
The event itself and its immediate consequences.
How the event transformed you.
Your future direction, informed by this transformation.
Structure your essay with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion, ensuring each section supports the overarching theme and value you’ve chosen to highlight.
Crafting an Intriguing Introduction:
You need an interesting hook. This, however, is more simple than it seems. When you brainstorm your hook, ask yourself, “If someone read just my hook, would they be curious to read more?”. A hook may just be a simple statement, a quotation, a vivid description of the scenery, etc. (pro tip: AVOID USING A POPULAR QUOTE OR TRUTH AS YOUR HOOK)
Describing the Main Event:
As you begin your body paragraphs, you want to descriptively lay out the main event that resulted in your character transformation. This is where you want to use extremely vivid sentences. In describing the main event, it is good to include the immediate effects of the consequence. Not all consequences have to be negative. (pro tip: AVOID SIMPLY STATING WHAT HAPPENED).
Illustrating Growth and Future Aspirations:
This is the absolute most important part of your personal statement. You want to describe how you changed as a person as a result of the main event. Do not just say, “I became more passionate about service”, but show that you became more passionate about service by describing the homeless shelters you volunteered for or the elderly couple you helped get groceries for every weekend. Remember that you need to focus this part on only YOU!
Conclusion:
Reiterate how the event has shaped you today and how you’ll leverage the lessons learned as you move forward. This is a MUST. It’s your chance to leave a lasting impression on the admissions committee, highlighting your resilience, growth, and potential for future success.
Step By Step Essay Outline
Hook: [Write your hook]
Introduction: [Write what your introduction will be about]
Body Paragraphs:
[Write what your body paragraph will be about]
[Note which one(s) it will focus on: Early experiences, Turning Points, Challenges and Overcoming Diversity, Epiphanies and Lessons Learned]
Conclusion:
[Explain how you will incorporate the introduction/body paragraphs of your essay]
[Explain how you will show confidence with moving forward to the future]
