The personal statement is a core component of any college submission process. Both the Common and the Coalition Application ask for it. In colleges where standardized test score submissions are optional, it is the only way for admissions officers to discern a student’s personality, values, strengths, and linguistic craftsmanship. And very often, it can be the difference between a “yes” or a “no.”

However, writing a powerful personal statement that’s intelligent, witty, and specific, yet humble, is both an art and a science. It requires the right balance between sharing information, passions, and achievements while staying open and vulnerable. You must highlight academic and extracurricular wins, as well as character traits like resilience, grit, stamina, and tenacity. Only when you do all of the above (in a well-articulated body of writing) can an admissions officer get a more wholesome and clearer picture of who you are and what you stand for!

To get you started, we reached out to some of our resident college counseling experts. Below are some of their top tips to get students started writing a powerful personal statement that stands out!

Find a Narrative Arc

What’s your story? Everyone has one, but putting it down logically and concisely requires talent and creativity. It helps if you find an anchoring theme—an incident, a core personality value, or a strength around which you can build your essay.

Tell (sell) your story

Nothing captivates a reader like a good story, and a college admissions personal statement is no different. Don’t get caught up in bragging about yourself and what you’ve achieved (you’re already covering that information in the other parts of your application.) Write from the heart in a way that helps the reader connect with you. Make your writing interesting, fun, evocative, sentimental, and witty.

Show, don’t tell!

Don’t state things blandly. Help your reader experience your story through actions, words, subtexts, thoughts, and feelings. Use verbs to describe, define, and flesh out your writing to create an atmosphere.

Stay humble

With such high stakes, staying grounded, open, and humble can sometimes be difficult, but a personal statement is not the space to become a braggart! That’s not to say you should not mention your achievements and wins. Instead, you should talk about them from a place of authenticity, maturity, and self-awareness. You need to highlight your emotions, belief systems, and personality traits in ways that showcase you as a candidate with ambition and potential.

Keep it concise

While all expert college admissions counselors will tell you not to hold back on your first draft, they will advise moderation and restraint during revisions. That’s because most college personal statements have a hard word limit. Don’t meander into a beginning. Dive right in and focus on your story’s anchoring arc. Build towards a climatic “aha” moment that explains why a particular college or course is ideally suited for you.

Proofread

…and then proofread some more! Get someone else to read your personal statement and suggest edits and amendments. A new pair of eyes can spot mistakes you may have missed. While students are allowed some creative license, grammar, spelling, and punctuation should be entirely error-free.

Get organized early

Last but certainly not least, get started with your application submissions with time on your side. College admissions can get stressful, especially as students navigate school and external exams like the ACTs and SAT, alongside filling out forms for multiple universities. Undoubtedly, portals like the Common and Coalition App have streamlined the process. However, there is still much to do to ensure a solid submission, and getting organized can help you stay on track.

As with anything, slow and steady wins the race. Look around for inspiration and ideas, and keep jotting down bulleted information you can string together into an essay.

If you are looking for a good place to start, don’t forget to check out Eye on Ivy’s sample student essays that stood out in application cycles. Alternatively, reach out to our expert student advisors here to start on your college application journey.