should you put a title on your personal statement

How To Title A Personal Statement

The majority of the people I’ve seen don’t have a title for their personal statement. (They occasionally write “Personal Statement,” but never “The Importance of Being Serious About Graduate School/college.”)

In this Personal Statement article, we will discuss how to title a personal statement and creative titles for personal statements .

The perfect title is something along the lines of “University Name Personal Statement” or “Statement for ABC DI.” You’ll be able to choose the proper one for the right program this way.

There is sometimes a room or box given for the title. You have to write the heading there. This may be given at the center, middle or left side of the page.

The “Personal Statement Title” Box Is Not Seen By The Program Directors

Isn’t it fascinating? You can still use the fantastic title you created. You are free to fill the box with whatever you like. However, it will not be printed on the application that the directors will see.

So, what exactly is the purpose of the box? You must determine whose personal statement is which. You’ll choose whatever program(s) you want to apply to in a different section of the application. There will also be a personal statement attached.

You’ll need to know which statement goes to which program if you apply to multiple programs and compose a personal statement for each one. You’ll see the Personal Statement Title you typed in that field at that time, and you’ll be able to connect the dots.

Length Of The Title

The amount of words in the title box is limited. Your personal statement has a restricted amount of room in the DICAS application. Because two things are listed, there is a little bit of ambiguity about what the limit is.

“Do not exceed the maximum length of 1,000 words,” it reads when you open the personal statement section and select the “Instructions for this Section” button. However, it reads “(max 8,000 characters)” just under the box where you’ll type your personal statement text.

Because the text box is what counts the characters (which includes letters, digits, punctuation marks, and spaces), you should keep it to 8,000 characters. Even though you highlight extra characters in your personal statement in Word and then copy and paste it over (which I encourage because editing in Word is much easier), it will only paste 8,000 characters in that box.

Before you complete the transfer, you may count the words and letters in Word to see whether everything will fit. You wouldn’t want a word or a phrase in your personal statement to be cut off somewhere in the middle of it.

This implies that when you include a name at the start of your personal statement in that box, those characters will be counted toward the total. As a result, you’ll have fewer characters to explain about your experience or why you wish to do internships in the body of your personal statement. If you have a lot of information to present in your personal statement when asking the questionnaire, adding a subtitle may not be the greatest use of characters.

It’s Good To Know: How To Write A Personal Statement For Transfer Students

If There Is Room, You Can Still Add A Headline

Some of you will have enough space in your 1,000-word limit to include a title in that area so that directors may see it. You can still put a title on it if you want to.

However, while a title may assist introduce a subject or demonstrate your distinct personality, directors will be most interested in the facts in your personal statement. That is where the directors will learn more about you and your internship preparation. Or without a title, there are numerous ways to inject individuality and uniqueness into your personal statement.

THE Summary Of Your Statement’s Heading/Title

In the absence of any graduate school requirements, your heading included the title of the document you’re sending (for example, “Personal Statement”), the institution, and the department.

Who you’re writing it for (e.g., “Northern University College of Education”), as well as your name. These can be centered, left-justified, or formatted in any professional format.

Titles for Personal Statements with a Creative Twist

I’ve gathered some personal statement examples that will help you in writing the best title for your personal statement.

How Can Change Be Beneficial?
Let the light in.
How my world has shaped my dreams and aspirations.
Advantages of Educational opportunities.

Points To Be Kept In Mind

After selecting a personal statement title example you have to consider some tips to write a good personal statement. Here are a few pointers to help you come up with your own personal essay title.

Maintain brevity in your title. Extended titles aren’t appealing to anyone.
The second need is that you must have a fresh and original title. It is something they aren’t exposed to regularly.
Use a headline for your personal statement that accurately describes the content of your personal statement.
Write your title in bold letters. Or write according to the given instructions.
Your personal statement title must startle the readers and should be relevant.
Do not use quotations or copy other’s titles. Avoid plagiarism.
Look for personal statement heading examples and take ideas from that but don’t copy them.

Final Words: how to title a personal statement

So giving a title isn’t very necessary if you don’t see it in your personal statement’s instructions. But if you want to give a title then you must know how to title a personal statement .

The title of your personal statement should convey the main point of your statement. Write 3-4 titles for your statement and compare them to choose the best one for your personal statement.

If you’re having trouble finding up an appropriate heading for your personal essay, you can approach us since we have some of the finest personal statement writers on board who can assist you in presenting the ideal headline for the essay.

should you put a title on your personal statement

PrepScholar GRE Prep

Gre prep online guides and tips, how to write a stand-out personal statement for grad school.

If you’re applying to graduate school, you’ll likely need to write a personal statement. But what exactly is a graduate school personal statement? And what should you write about to give yourself your best shot at admission?

In this guide, we teach you how to write a personal statement for grad school, step by step. But first, let’s go over how the personal statement differs from the statement of purpose as well as what schools look for in a great graduate school essay.

What Is a Graduate School Personal Statement?

A graduate school personal statement is an admission essay that typically focuses on your personal reasons for wanting to enter a grad program and particular field of study. Essentially, you must tell the story of who you are and how you developed your current research interests.

So is a personal statement for graduate school the same thing as a statement of purpose? Well, not always (though it can be). Here are the general distinctions between the two essay types:

Statement of purpose: A formal essay that summarizes your academic and professional background, research interests, and career goals. In this essay, you’ll usually explain your reasons for applying to grad school and why you believe the program is a good fit for you (as well as why you’re a good fit for it!).
Personal statement: A less formal essay that focuses on your passion and motivation for wanting to enter your chosen field and program. This statement is typically more flexible than the statement of purpose, with a bigger emphasis on storytelling. Schools often encourage applicants to discuss (relevant) challenges in their lives and how they’ve overcome them.

Both the graduate school personal statement and statement of purpose are usually anywhere from one to three double-spaced pages long, depending on the program you’re applying to.

Below is a chart comparing the personal statement and statement of purpose:

Usually, the personal statement and statement of purpose are considered two different graduate school essay types.

But this isn’t always the case. While some schools consider the personal statement and statement of purpose two distinct essays, others use the names interchangeably.

For example, Michigan State University’s College of Engineering considers them two distinct essays, while The Ohio State University uses “personal statement” to describe what is essentially a statement of purpose.

Many schools require just one essay (and it’ll usually be the statement of purpose, as it’s the more academic one). But some, such as the University of Michigan , ask for both a personal statement and statement of purpose, while others, such as Notre Dame’s Creative Writing MFA program , want an essay that combines the features of both!

Ultimately, the type of graduate school essay you submit will depend entirely on where you’re applying.

What Do Schools Look For in a Personal Statement?

Many grad schools require a personal statement in order to learn more about you, your interests, your struggles, and your motivations for wanting to enter a field of study. Through this essay, schools can get to know you on a deeper, more intimate level and learn about you in ways they can’t through transcripts and letters of recommendation alone.

But what specifically do universities look for in a great personal statement for graduate school? Here are some of the most important elements to include in your essay.

A Compelling Story

First off, your personal statement must tell a story. After all, this essay is basically your autobiography: it introduces who you are, your interests and motivations, and why you’ve decided to apply to grad school.

Unlike the statement of purpose, the personal statement should focus mostly on your personal history, from your failures to your triumphs. All experiences should tie back to your field or research area, emphasizing what you’ve learned and what this means in terms of your potential as a grad student.

Since you’re talking about yourself, be conversational in your storytelling: use an authentic voice, open up about your experiences, and maybe even throw in a joke or two. Though you’re still writing an essay for school, it’s generally OK to be a little more informal here than you would in a statement of purpose.

That said, there are a couple of things you absolutely shouldn’t do in your personal statement.

Open your essay with a quotation. Professors have heard the quotation before and don’t need (or want) to hear it again. Plus, quotations often take up too much space in an already short essay!
Use clichés. Think of unique ways to tell your story and grab readers’ attention. Schools want to see you can be creative yet honest about yourself, so avoid clichés like the plague (see what I did there?).
Get too creative. Your goal is to look like a serious, committed applicant—not a wacky risk taker—so write clearly and avoid any unnecessary distractions such as images, colors, and unprofessional fonts.

Most importantly, remember that your graduate school personal statement should focus on your successes. Try to use strong, encouraging words and put positive twists on difficult experiences whenever possible. It’s OK to mention your setbacks, too—just as long as you’re discussing how you ultimately overcame (or plan to overcome) them.

Inspirations for Your Research Interests

Schools don’t only want to see clearly defined research interests but also why you have these particular interests. While the statement of purpose elaborates on your professional goals, the personal statement explains what personally motivated you to explore your interests.

For example, in my personal statement for a Japanese Studies MA program, I wrote about my hot-and-cold relationship with the Japanese language and how a literature class and a stint abroad ultimately inspired me to keep learning.

Don’t make the mistake of going way back to the beginning to start your essay. Many applicants open their statements with something along the lines of “I fell in love with psychology when I was ten years old” or “It all started when I was in high school.” But these broad statements lack the creativity and zest needed to secure an acceptance, so avoid them at all costs.

Your Motivation for Applying to Grad School

Your statement of purpose should explain why grad school is a practical next step in your professional life—but your personal statement should focus on what personally motivates you to take this step.

Generally, schools want answers to the following questions:

Why is grad school an appropriate step for you now?
How will a graduate degree help you achieve your goals?
Why didn’t you apply to grad school earlier (if you took time off after undergrad)?
Were there any struggles or problems you faced that prevented you from applying to grad school before?

Be honest about why you’re applying, both to grad school and the program in particular. In my graduate school essay, I discussed how my passion for Japanese literature and desire to translate it inspired me to seek advanced language training at the graduate level.

Strong Writing Skills

A great personal statement shows that you can write cogently and coherently. After all, strong writing skills are imperative for success as a grad student!

So in addition to telling a good story, make sure you use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. Use paragraphs to break up your thoughts, too. Because the personal statement is slightly less formal than the statement of purpose, feel free to play around a little with paragraph form and length.

Also, remember that good writing doesn’t necessarily equal big words. You’re writing about yourself, so use words that come naturally to you. Don’t grab a thesaurus and start throwing in a bunch of high-level vocabulary wherever you can; this will make your essay sound less authentic, not to mention stiff.

On the other hand, don’t get too colloquial. You’ll lose respect if you start inserting conversational words such as “gonna” and “gotta.” Therefore, look for the middle ground and write from there.

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Explanations for Any Hiccups in Your Academic Career

Lastly, the personal statement gives applicants a chance to explain any problems or changes in their academic histories, such as low grades or gaps in education.

Because transcripts and resumes are severely limited in what information they give, schools often use the personal statement to understand your reasons for abrupt changes in your resume and/or transcripts, and to see how you’ve overcome these barriers in your education (and life).

Essentially, a personal statement equalizes the playing field by giving you full rein to explain yourself and emphasize your success over any struggles you’ve had.

How to Write a Personal Statement for Grad School: 9-Step Guide

The personal statement is a fiercely important part of your grad school application. In this section, we teach you how to write a memorable personal statement for grad school so that you’ll have a better shot at getting accepted.

Step 1: Start Early

Personal statements (actually, grad school applications in general!) take a lot of work, so don’t put off writing your essay until the week before your deadline. Rather, try to start working on your essay at least two or three months before your application is due.

You might want to give yourself more time to write it if you’re currently in school or working a demanding job. Setting aside more time lets you work on your graduate school essay routinely without having to squeeze in too many hours each week.

If you only have a month or less until your application deadline, get started on your essay pronto! Though it’s possible to write a personal statement quickly, I recommend carving out more time so that you can put more thought and effort into what you write and how you present yourself. (Doing this also gives others more time to edit your essay for you! We’ll cover this more in later steps.)

Step 2: Read the Instructions

Perhaps the most important step is to read your program’s instructions for the personal statement. Not following these instructions could very well result in a rejection, so always read these first before you start writing! Most programs put their personal statement instructions on their application materials pages.

Your program should give you the following information:

What type of content your personal statement should include or generally focus on (you might even get an actual prompt to answer!)
How long your statement should be
What type of heading, if any, you must include on your statement
How to save and submit your statement (e.g., .docx, PDF, etc.)

For example, let’s say you’re applying to the History PhD program at UC Berkeley . In this case, your personal statement can’t exceed 1,000 words (three double-spaced pages). You must also answer this prompt :

Please describe how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. Please include information on how you have overcome barriers to access in higher education, evidence of how you have come to understand the barriers faced by others, evidence of your academic service to advance equitable access to higher education for women, racial minorities, and individuals from other groups that have been historically underrepresented in higher education, evidence of your research focusing on underserved populations or related issues of inequality, or evidence of your leadership among such groups.

On the other hand, if you were to apply for an MS in Mining, Geological, and Geophysical Engineering at the University of Arizona , your personal statement would follow these parameters:

Your personal statement is an opportunity to sell yourself, in terms of your research interests, research experience and research goals. Unless you have extensive research experience, most personal statements should be about two single-spaced pages. Your writing should be clear, concise, grammatically correct and professional in tone. You may convey some personal experiences that have led to your current interests or that make you a particularly promising candidate.

Clearly, grad programs can approach personal statements quite differently. Some schools consider them the same as statements of purpose and want a formal focus on academic and research interests, while others want applicants to explain more informally the challenges they’ve overcome to get to this point.

Simply put, follow your program’s directions exactly in order to give yourself your best shot at admission. And if any part of the instructions is unclear, don’t hesitate to contact your program!

Step 3: Figure Out Your Angle

Your “angle,” or focus, in your graduate school personal statement will depend on a few key factors:

What your grad program wants you to write about
Your field of study and research interests
How much experience you have in your field

As I mentioned in step 2, it’s extremely important to read the personal statement instructions for your program. Many times these guidelines will tell you what to include in your essay, thereby clarifying what your overall angle needs to be.

Let’s look back at the example we used above for UC Berkeley’s doctoral program in history. If you were applying here and came from a low-income family, you could discuss how you’ve overcome these financial challenges in your life to get to where you are today.

No matter the prompt, you’ll need to discuss your research interests (to some degree) in your personal statement. How much you talk about your interests, however, will depend on whether you have to submit a separate statement of purpose. If so, you can focus less on your research plans and more on your passions and motivations for applying.

On the other hand, if your personal statement is essentially a statement of purpose, dive deep into your research interests—that is, be specific! For example, those applying to English lit programs should think about the works, eras, and writers they want to study, and why.

More broadly, though, try to answer the question of what you hope to accomplish, either during or after the program. Is there any particular project you want to do? Skills you want to improve? Field you want to break into?

Finally, always choose a positive angle. Use affirmative words and phrases to highlight both your successes and overall enthusiasm for the program.

Step 4: Ask Yourself, “Why This Program? Why This Field?”

Although the statement of purpose usually answers this question directly, you’ll likely need to address this in your personal statement as well—ideally, with a less academic and more conversational tone.

As you brainstorm, try to come up with answers to the following questions:

What goals or experiences led you to apply to this program?
How will this program help you grow on a personal level?
What made you interested in this field? Why do you want to study it more?
What are your research interests? How did you develop these interests?
Are there any particular professors you wish to work with?

Step 5: Make an Outline

Now that you’ve brainstormed some ideas, it’s time to start outlining your essay.

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How you choose to outline your statement is up to you. Some people like drawing bubble charts for organizing their thoughts, whereas others (like myself) prefer to write a list of rough ideas in the general order they want to present them.

Even if you’re not sure whether you want to include something, just add it to your outline anyway. You can always cut it out later as you draft and edit.

Step 6: Draft Your Essay

It’s now time to start writing! Once you’ve got your outline ready, work on expanding what you’ve written into full-fledged paragraphs.

In the beginning, it’s OK to write down anything you feel is relevant, but as you continue to draft, try to look for any extraneous information you can chop.

Remember, most personal statements will be short— usually one to two double-spaced pages—so you don’t want to risk exceeding your program’s word limit. Schools want to see that you can tell a story concisely yet effectively.

If you’re having trouble coming up with a way to open your statement, try skipping around as you draft. Go ahead and jump to a paragraph you have more ideas for—it’s perfectly OK! Just make sure you start to tie all of your ideas together the closer you get to finishing your draft.

On a related note, be careful not to copy any material from your statement of purpose (if you’re required to submit two separate essays). These statements may share a little overlap but should still focus on different aspects of your (academic) life, accomplishments, and goals.

Step 7: Get Feedback

Once you finish drafting, give your essay to people you trust for feedback. This could be a parent, friend, sibling, or mentor (such as a former or current professor).

Ask your editors to give you specific feedback on what you can change, both stylistically and technically, to make it more impactful. Ideally, they’ll also note any unclear, awkward, or redundant ideas/phrases and will offer you helpful suggestions for improvement.

If you’ve written a separate statement of purpose, see whether your editors are willing to check that essay over as well so that you can ensure there isn’t too much overlap between the two.

Step 8: Revise & Edit Your Essay

Once you get feedback, revise and edit your personal statement using your editors’ comments as a guide.

For example, if your editors told you your essay lacked detail, look for places in your writing where you can be more specific and that are likely to have a strong impact on the admission committee.

As you revise, keep an eye out for any awkward sentences or extraneous information. Personal statements are usually pretty brief and you don’t want to accidentally exceed the word limit. So when in doubt, take it out!

Step 9: Proofread

The final step is to proofread your draft. Start by using your computer’s spell check function to quickly find any glaring typos and grammatical errors.

Then, proofread your essay one sentence at a time. Since it’s easy to miss errors in your own writing, I recommend editing your essay from back to front (i.e., from the last sentence to the first sentence). Doing this prevents you from glossing over words and lets you pinpoint punctuation, spelling, and grammatical errors more easily.

In addition, check that you have page numbers on each page (if required—though I suggest adding them regardless) and a proper heading (again, if required) that meets the requirements of your program.

Before you submit it, see if you can get someone else (preferably one or all of your editors from step 7) to look over your final draft as well. If anyone spots a problem with your essay, go back to step 8. If you get all thumbs ups, read over your statement one last time and then turn it in without looking back! (Seriously, don’t read it again or you’re going to want to change something.)

The Key to a Great Graduate School Personal Statement

The personal statement is an essential part of your grad school application. Like the statement of purpose, it highlights your research interests, experiences, and goals.

But more importantly, the personal statement showcases your unbridled passion for your field, lets you reflect on challenges you’ve faced (and subsequently overcome), and answers the overarching question of why you want to attend grad school.

A great graduate school personal statement will normally include most or all of the following elements:

A compelling story
Inspirations for your research interests
Your motivation for applying to grad school
Strong writing skills
Explanations for any changes or problems in your academic career

Above, we walked you through how to write a personal statement for grad school. To recap, here are the nine steps to follow:

Start early—at least two or three months before your application is due
Read your program’s instructions for the personal statement
Figure out your angle by brainstorming ideas
Ask yourself, “Why this program/field?”
Make an outline using charts, a list, etc.
Draft your essay
Get specific feedback from multiple editors
Revise and edit your essay
Proofread (and get other people to proofread it, too!)

What’s Next?

Need to write a statement of purpose, too? Waste no time! Our expert guide offers tons of tips to help you come up with a statement of purpose that’s certain to impress admission committees.

Do your schools require a CV or resume? If you’re totally lost on where to begin, read our guides to learn how to put together a great CV or resume for grad school. And for extra help, check out our four original CV and resume templates !

What do you need to submit for your grad school application? Get the scoop on what kinds of materials you’ll need to prepare when applying to grad school .

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Author: Hannah Muniz

Hannah graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in English and East Asian languages and cultures. After graduation, she taught English in Japan for two years via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel. View all posts by Hannah Muniz

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How to Write a Personal Statement That Wows Colleges

← What Is an Application Theme and Why Is It Important?

10 Personal Statement Examples That Work →

Most of the college applications process is fairly cut and dry. You’ll submit information about your classes and grades, standardized test scores, and various other accomplishments and honors. On much of the application, your accomplishments must speak for themselves.

The personal statement is different though, and it’s your chance to let your voice be heard. To learn more about the personal statement, how to choose a topic, and how to write one that wows colleges, don’t miss this post.

What is the Personal Statement?

Personal statements are used in both undergraduate and graduate admissions. For undergrad admissions, personal statements are any essays students must write to submit their main application. For example, the Common App Essay and Coalition Application Essay are examples of personal statements. Similarly, the ApplyTexas Essays and University of California Essays are also good examples .

Personal statements in college admissions are generally not school-specific (those are called “supplemental essays”). Instead, they’re sent to a wide range of schools, usually every school you apply to.

What is the Purpose of the Personal Statement?

The personal statement is generally your opportunity to speak to your unique experiences, qualities, or beliefs that aren’t elsewhere represented on the application. It is a chance to break away from the data that defines you on paper, and provide a glimpse into who you really are. In short, it’s the admissions committee’s chance to get to know the real you.

So, what are colleges looking for in your personal statement? They are looking for something that sets you apart. They are asking themselves: do you write about something truly unique? Do you write about something common, in a new and interesting way? Do you write about an aspect of your application that needed further explanation? All of these are great ways to impress with your personal statement.

Beyond getting to know you, admissions committees are also evaluating your writing skills. Are you able to write clearly and succinctly? Can you tell an engaging story? Writing effectively is an important skill in both college and life, so be sure to also fine-tune your actual writing (grammar and syntax), not just the content of your essay.

Is your personal statement strong enough? Get a free review of your personal statement with CollegeVine’s Peer Essay Review.

How To a Choose A Topic For Your Personal Statement

Most of the time, you’re given a handful of prompts to choose from. Common personal statement prompts include:

Central aspect of your identity (activity, interest, talent, background)
Overcoming a failure
Time you rose to a challenge or showed leadership
Experience that changed your beliefs
Problem you’d like to solve
Subject or idea that captivates you

One of the questions that we hear most often about the personal statement is, “How do I choose what to write about?” For some students, the personal statement prompt triggers an immediate and strong idea. For many more, there is at least initially some uncertainty.

We often encourage students to think less about the exact prompt and more about what aspects of themselves they think are most worthy of highlighting. This is especially helpful if you’re offered a “topic of your choice” prompt, as the best essay topic for you might actually be one you make up!

For students with an interesting story or a defining background, these can serve as the perfect catalyst to shape your approach. For students with a unique voice or different perspective, simple topics written in a new way can be engaging and insightful.

Finally, you need to consider the rest of your application when you choose a topic for your personal statement. If you are returning from a gap year, failed a single class during sophomore year, or participated extensively in something you’re passionate about that isn’t elsewhere on your application, you might attempt to address one of these topics in your statement. After all, the admissions committee wants to get to know you and understand who you really are, and these are all things that will give them a deeper understanding of that.

Still, tons of students have a decent amount of writer’s block when it comes to choosing a topic. This is understandable since the personal statement tends to be considered rather high stakes. To help you get the ball rolling, we recommend the post What If I Don’t Have Anything Interesting To Write About In My College Essay?

Tips for Writing a Personal Statement for College

1. approach this as a creative writing assignment..

Personal statements are difficult for many students because they’ve never had to do this type of writing. High schoolers are used to writing academic reports or analytical papers, but not creative storytelling pieces.

The point of creative writing is to have fun with it, and to share a meaningful story. Choose a topic that inspires you so that you’ll enjoy writing your essay. It doesn’t have to be intellectual or impressive at all. You have your transcript and test scores to prove your academic skills, so the point of the personal statement is to give you free rein to showcase your personality. This will result in a more engaging essay and reading experience for admissions officers.

As you’re writing, there’s no need to follow the traditional five-paragraph format with an explicit thesis. Your story should have an overarching message, but it doesn’t need to be explicitly stated—it should shine through organically.

Your writing should also feel natural. While it will be more refined than a conversation with your best friend, it shouldn’t feel stuffy or contrived when it comes off your tongue. This balance can be difficult to strike, but a tone that would feel natural when talking with an admired teacher or a longtime mentor is usually a good fit.

2. Show, don’t tell.

One of the biggest mistakes students make is to simply state everything that happened, instead of actually bringing the reader to the moment it happened, and telling a story. It’s boring to read: “I was overjoyed and felt empowered when I finished my first half marathon.” It’s much more interesting when the writing actually shows you what happened and what the writer felt in that moment: “As I rounded the final bend before the finish line, my heart fluttered in excitement. The adrenaline drowned out my burning legs and gasping lungs. I was going to finish my first half marathon! This was almost incomprehensible to me, as someone who could barely run a mile just a year ago.”

If you find yourself starting to write your essay like a report, and are having trouble going beyond “telling,” envision yourself in the moment you want to write about. What did you feel, emotionally and physically? Why was this moment meaningful? What did you see or hear? What were your thoughts?

For inspiration, read some memoirs or personal essays, like The New York Times Modern Love Column . You could also listen to podcasts of personal stories, like The Moth . What do these writers and storytellers do that make their stories engaging? If you didn’t enjoy a particular story, what was it that you didn’t like? Analyzing real stories can help you identify techniques that you personally resonate with.

3. Use dialogue.

A great way to keep your writing engaging is to include some dialogue. Instead of writing: “My brothers taunted me,” consider sharing what they actually said. It’s more powerful to read something like:

“Where’s the fire, Princess Clara?” they taunted. “Having some trouble?” They prodded me with the ends of the chewed branches and, with a few effortless scrapes of wood on rock, sparked a red and roaring flame. My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame.

Having dialogue can break up longer paragraphs of text, and bring some action and immediacy to your story. That being said, don’t overdo it. It’s important to strike a balance between relying too much on dialogue, and using it occasionally as an effective writing tool. You don’t want your essay to read like a script for a movie (unless, of course, that’s intentional and you want to showcase your screenwriting skills!).

Want free essay feedback? Submit your essay to CollegeVine’s Peer Essay Review and get fast, actionable edits on your essay.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Personal Statements

1. giving a recap or report of all the events..

Your essay isn’t a play-by-play of everything that happened in that time frame. Only include relevant details that enrich the story, instead of making your personal statement a report of the events. Remember that the goal is to share your voice, what’s important to you, and who you are.

2. Writing about too many events or experiences.

Similarly, another common mistake is to make your personal statement a resume or recap of all your high school accomplishments. The Activities Section of the Common App is the place for listing out your achievements, not your personal statement. Focus on one specific experience or a few related experiences, and go into detail on those.

3. Using cliche language.

Try to avoid overdone quotes from famous people like Gandhi or Thoreau. Better yet, try to avoid quotes from other people in general, unless it’s a message from someone you personally know. Adding these famous quotes won’t make your essay unique, and it takes up valuable space for you to share your voice.

You should also steer away from broad language or lavish claims like “It was the best day of my life.” Since they’re so cliche, these statements also obscure your message, and it’s hard to understand what you actually mean. If it was actually the best day of your life, show us why, rather than just telling us.

If you want to learn more about personal statements, see our post of 11 Common App Essay Examples .

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

Writing the Personal Statement

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The personal statement, your opportunity to sell yourself in the application process, generally falls into one of two categories:

1. The general, comprehensive personal statement:

This allows you maximum freedom in terms of what you write and is the type of statement often prepared for standard medical or law school application forms.

2. The response to very specific questions:

Often, business and graduate school applications ask specific questions, and your statement should respond specifically to the question being asked. Some business school applications favor multiple essays, typically asking for responses to three or more questions.

Questions to ask yourself before you write:

What's special, unique, distinctive, and/or impressive about you or your life story?
What details of your life (personal or family problems, history, people or events that have shaped you or influenced your goals) might help the committee better understand you or help set you apart from other applicants?
When did you become interested in this field and what have you learned about it (and about yourself) that has further stimulated your interest and reinforced your conviction that you are well suited to this field? What insights have you gained?
How have you learned about this field—through classes, readings, seminars, work or other experiences, or conversations with people already in the field?
If you have worked a lot during your college years, what have you learned (leadership or managerial skills, for example), and how has that work contributed to your growth?
What are your career goals?
Are there any gaps or discrepancies in your academic record that you should explain (great grades but mediocre LSAT or GRE scores, for example, or a distinct upward pattern to your GPA if it was only average in the beginning)?
Have you had to overcome any unusual obstacles or hardships (for example, economic, familial, or physical) in your life?
What personal characteristics (for example, integrity, compassion, and/or persistence) do you possess that would improve your prospects for success in the field or profession? Is there a way to demonstrate or document that you have these characteristics?
What skills (for example, leadership, communicative, analytical) do you possess?
Why might you be a stronger candidate for graduate school—and more successful and effective in the profession or field than other applicants?
What are the most compelling reasons you can give for the admissions committee to be interested in you?

General advice

Answer the questions that are asked

If you are applying to several schools, you may find questions in each application that are somewhat similar.
Don't be tempted to use the same statement for all applications. It is important to answer each question being asked, and if slightly different answers are needed, you should write separate statements. In every case, be sure your answer fits the question being asked.

Tell a story

Think in terms of showing or demonstrating through concrete experience. One of the worst things you can do is to bore the admissions committee. If your statement is fresh, lively, and different, you'll be putting yourself ahead of the pack. If you distinguish yourself through your story, you will make yourself memorable.

Be specific

Don't, for example, state that you would make an excellent doctor unless you can back it up with specific reasons. Your desire to become a lawyer, engineer, or whatever should be logical, the result of specific experience that is described in your statement. Your application should emerge as the logical conclusion to your story.

Find an angle

If you're like most people, your life story lacks drama, so figuring out a way to make it interesting becomes the big challenge. Finding an angle or a "hook" is vital.

Concentrate on your opening paragraph

The lead or opening paragraph is generally the most important. It is here that you grab the reader's attention or lose it. This paragraph becomes the framework for the rest of the statement.

Tell what you know

The middle section of your essay might detail your interest and experience in your particular field, as well as some of your knowledge of the field. Too many people graduate with little or no knowledge of the nuts and bolts of the profession or field they hope to enter. Be as specific as you can in relating what you know about the field and use the language professionals use in conveying this information. Refer to experiences (work, research, etc.), classes, conversations with people in the field, books you've read, seminars you've attended, or any other source of specific information about the career you want and why you're suited to it. Since you will have to select what you include in your statement, the choices you make are often an indication of your judgment.

Don't include some subjects

There are certain things best left out of personal statements. For example, references to experiences or accomplishments in high school or earlier are generally not a good idea. Don't mention potentially controversial subjects (for example, controversial religious or political issues).

Do some research, if needed

If a school wants to know why you're applying to it rather than another school, do some research to find out what sets your choice apart from other universities or programs. If the school setting would provide an important geographical or cultural change for you, this might be a factor to mention.

Write well and correctly

Be meticulous. Type and proofread your essay very carefully. Many admissions officers say that good written skills and command of correct use of language are important to them as they read these statements. Express yourself clearly and concisely. Adhere to stated word limits.

Avoid clichés

A medical school applicant who writes that he is good at science and wants to help other people is not exactly expressing an original thought. Stay away from often-repeated or tired statements.

For more information on writing a personal statement, see the personal statement vidcast .

How to Write a Stand-Out Personal Statement for Your Graduate School Application

How to write a personal statement for grad school

While deciding to embark on the path to graduate school is an exciting first step toward advancing your career, the application process can sometimes feel daunting and confusing.

One major part of the application that most schools require is a personal statement. Writing a personal statement can be an arduous task: After all, most people don’t necessarily enjoy writing about themselves, let alone at length.

A compelling personal statement, however, can help bring your application to the top of the admissions pile. Below, we’ve outlined what you need to know about crafting a personal statement to make your application shine.

What Is a Personal Statement?

The point of a personal statement is for the admissions board to gain a deeper understanding of who you are apart from your education and work experience. It explains why you’re the right fit for the program and a worthwhile applicant. It’s also an opportunity to highlight important factors that may not be readily available in the rest of your application.

A personal statement is different from a statement of purpose (if you’re asked for that as well). A statement of purpose will touch on your academic and career goals, as well as your past credentials. While those should also be discussed in your personal statement, it’s more about your life experiences and how they’ve shaped you and your journey to graduate school.

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Writing a Personal Statement

Before you start crafting your essay, there are a few prompts you can ask yourself to help clarify what you want to accomplish.

What are the key points you want to communicate about yourself?
What personal characteristics or skills do you have that make you a strong candidate for this field?
What exactly are your career goals, and how does graduate school play into them?
What have you learned about this field already? When did you first choose to follow this path, and what do you enjoy about it?
What do you think is important for the admissions board to know specifically about you?
Are there any discrepancies or causes for concern in your application you need to address? For example, is there a career and schooling gap, or a low GPA at one point? This is the time to discuss whether a personal hardship may have affected your academics or career.
Have you dealt with any unusual obstacles or difficulties in your life? How have they affected and shaped you?
What sets you apart and makes you unique from other graduate school applicants?
What factors in your life have brought you to where you are today?

Top Tips for Writing a Graduate School Personal Statement

Pick a few points to emphasize about yourself . Introduce yourself to the admissions board. Select key factors about your background that you want the university to know — elements that reveal what kind of person you are and demonstrate why you’re a strong candidate for the school and field of study.

Be very specific . Again, a personal statement is all about communicating what distinguishes you from other applicants. To accomplish that, you need to share specific anecdotes that underscore your statements. If you say you’re a strong leader, present an example of a time you’ve proven that skill through work, school or your personal life. These specific, personal stories provide a deeper understanding of who you are and prove your intentions.

Do your research . Demonstrate what attracted you to the program. If there is a specific faculty member or class that caught your attention, or another aspect of the program that greatly interests you, convey it. This shows you’ve truly researched the school and have a passion for the program.

“Whatever the topic may be, I would recommend writing in a manner that reflects or parallels the institution’s and/or department’s missions, goals and values,” said Moises Cortés, a graduate/international credentials analyst for the Office of Graduate Admission at USC .

Address any gaps or discrepancies . Explain any factors that may have impacted your academic career. If you had an illness or any other personal hardships that affected your grades or work, discuss them. If there is a discrepancy between your grades and your test scores, you can also take the time to go over any extenuating circumstances.

Strike the right tone . While it’s important to give readers a glimpse of your personality, avoid oversharing or revealing intimate details of your life experiences. You should also avoid making jokes or using humorous cliches. Maintain a professional tone throughout your writing.

Start strong and finish strong . As with any piece of writing, you want to draw in your readers immediately. Make sure to start off with an interesting and captivating introduction. Similarly, your conclusion should be a well-written, engaging finish to the essay that highlights any important points.

“ For a personal statement, I think the first and last paragraphs are most important and should always relate the program they are applying to their own experiences and ideas,” Hoon H. Kang, a graduate/international credential analyst with the Office of Graduate Admission, told USC Online.

Proofread, proofread and proofread again . We can’t emphasize enough the importance of rereading your work. Your personal statement is also an analysis of your writing skills, so ensure you have proper grammar and spelling throughout. In addition, we recommend having multiple people look over your statement before submission. They can help with the proofreading (a second person always catches a mistake the writer may miss), give advice about the statement’s structure and content, and confirm it’s the proper recommended length.

Once you’ve considered all of the above and reviewed and edited your personal statement to perfection, it’s time to submit and check off any remaining application requirements, including your resume and letters of recommendation .

Personal statements are arguably one of the most challenging aspects of applying to graduate school, so make sure to revel in this accomplishment and acknowledge your successes.

For more information, visit the Office of Graduate Admission at USC and explore USC Online ’s master’s degrees, doctoral programs and graduate certificates.

DOs and DON’Ts When Writing a Personal Statement

(1) Pay Attention to Each School’s Prompt Hopefully, for most applicants, this is a no-brainer. The prompt for each school is first available in August/September when law schools release that year’s application. The prompts typically don’t change much year to year, so you can get a head start by looking at the previous year’s application. For many/most applicants, the prompts are similar enough that the same personal statement template can be used with minor adjustments for each school (see Tip #2 on personalization). For some applicants, however, the prompts are different enough that you should write multiple personal statements. Be sure that the personal statement you use for a school does in fact respond to the prompt for that school. The ability to follow directions is a necessity for law school applicants.

(2) Personalize Your Statement Most law schools want to see that you have put time and effort into researching why that school is a good fit for you. One of the ways you can demonstrate your due diligence is to include a paragraph (typically at the close of your personal statement) outlining several specific factors that have drawn you to that law school. Be specific. Important considerations to note: (a) Vague statements asserting that a law school is a good fit for you without any supporting evidence or information are useless, so do your research and work on articulating the reasons for your interest in each school. (b) You can review a school’s website to determine what you like about that school, but don’t just regurgitate information from the website. They want to know why that information is relevant to your interests and/or goals. (c) Top-ranked schools (typically, top 5 or so) pretty much know why you would like to attend, so personalization is less important unless there is something that truly differentiates that school from others to you. (d) Some schools have a separate “optional” essay allowing you to discuss why you want to attend that school. If that is the case for one of your schools, write the separate essay, and omit the personalized paragraph from your personal statement. (e) Be sure to submit the correct versions to each school. Save the school’s name in the title to help minimize any potential for error.

(3) Be Personable As you now know, one of your goals as an applicant is to let admissions committees get to know you. It is just as important that they like you. Admissions committees are in no rush to admit applicants who are arrogant, pretentious, elitist, or rude. So the tone you use in your personal statement is important. Don’t assume that you need to use a formal tone just because you think lawyers write very formally. By using a formal tone, you are actually building a wall between yourself and the admissions committee—the opposite of what you should be doing. Aim for a more conversational (but not casual) tone so that the statement flows easily for the reader. Further, forget the big words that you think make you sound smart. They actually risk making you sound arrogant, pretentious, or even unintelligent (if used improperly). Strong writing conveys intelligence without the need for big words.

(4) Tell a Story Another easy way to be both personal and personable in your personal statement is to start off with an anecdote about yourself that sets up the framework for the rest of the statement. For example, if you are highlighting certain characteristics in your statement, tell an anecdote that demonstrates those characteristics. If you are discussing a defining moment in your life, describe a scene from that experience. A well-told anecdote can immediately capture readers’ attention and draw them into your world. Even if you don’t include an anecdote in the statement, the topic that you choose should, in a sense, “tell a story” about you in a way that captures and keeps the reader’s attention.

(5) Be Concise Some schools set no limit for personal statements, but most suggest either 2–3 or 2–4 pages. Aim for two pages, double-spaced. Do not make the error of thinking that more is better. Law schools value the ability to persuasively convey information in a relatively short space. Also, keep in mind that admissions committees are reviewing thousands of applications. Don’t waste their time.

10 DON’Ts 1. DON’T just restate your résumé in narrative form. That shows no critical thinking ability. If you are going to talk about more than one achievement or experience mentioned on your résumé, then connect the dots. Find a common theme that ties those items together. 2. DON’T address your weaknesses in the personal statement. Use an addendum.The personal statement should highlight the positives about you. 3. DON’T focus on your high school activities or accomplishments. Focusing on achievements in high school can draw attention to a lack of similar achievements in college. 4. DON’T be overly dramatic. Understatement is better. 5. DON’T spend too much time talking about someone or something else. Always bring the focus back to you. 6. DON’T start your statement with a famous quotation, no matter how well you think it might fit with the theme of your personal statement. Admissions committees want to hear your words, not those of someone else. 7. DON’T use legalese or Latin phrases. 8. DON’T be careless. Be sure not to accidentally mention the wrong school in your statement. 9. DON’T use big words in an effort to impress the admissions committees. It sets the wrong tone for the statement. 10. DON’T write a position paper or opinion piece. Even written well, those types of writings are not particularly useful to admissions committees because they miss the point of the personal statement.

Personal Statement Writing

Personal Statement Format

A Complete Guide to a Perfect Personal Statement Format

What is a Correct Personal Statement Format?

Like other academic papers, personal statements should also be formatted and structured according to a standard set of guidelines. In this way, you can make sure all the information in your personal statement is in an organized manner.

Usually the guidelines for formatting are provided by institutions where you are applying. Different institutions can have varying requirements so it's important to be mindful of their requirements.

However, here are the basic guidelines that you can follow if you don’t know how to format a personal statement.

Word Limit: Aim for around 500 words, staying within 495-505 words.
Spacing: Use single-spacing within paragraphs and add an extra line of space between each paragraph.
Font Style: Opt for a universally accepted font style, such as Times New Roman.
Font Size: Maintain a 12-point font size throughout your personal statement.
Header: Include your name and the page number in the header of each page for easy organization.

A standard formatting convention should be used to make your personal statement readable. Keep in mind that review committees go through hundreds of personal statements so it is important to make sure your personal statement stands out.

Here is a sample personal statement format template you can use to write a personal statement:

How to Format A Personal Statement

The requirements for writing a personal statement vary, but generally, a personal statement includes certain information in the following format.

Step 1 - Determining Word Limit and Line-Spacing

Knowing the word limit is crucial. Ensure your personal statement aligns with the specified range, that is typically around 500 words.

Implement double-spacing within paragraphs, adding an extra line of space between each paragraph. This technique creates a visually clear and structured layout for easy reading.

Step 2 - Font Style and Size

Consistency in font style is important for readability. Choose a widely accepted and easily readable font like Times New Roman or Arial.

Maintain a font size of 12 points throughout your personal statement. This standard size aids in presenting a professional appearance and facilitates smooth reading.

Step 3 - Header Inclusion for Organization

To keep your document organized, consider including the title and page number in the header of each page.

This simple addition aids in document management and ensures easy navigation, particularly if your personal statement extends across multiple pages.

Step 4 - Structuring the Content

Your personal statement's structure plays a pivotal role in its impact. Here's a breakdown of how to organize your narrative effectively:

Opening Paragraph - Begin with an introduction that clearly states the purpose of your personal statement. Engage the reader with an attention-grabbing opening statement and specify the program or position you're applying for.
Body Paragraphs - Detail your academic background, relevant experiences, and accomplishments. Showcase your skills and attributes as a strong candidate, write about any extra activities you took part in high school. Explain why the program or position you're applying for interests you and how it aligns with your ambitions.
Transition to Goals - Smoothly transition from your experiences to your goals, setting the stage for discussing your academic and career aspirations. Express gratitude for considering your application and end with a memorable statement or closing remark.

Step 5 - Finalizing Your Personal Statement

Ensure your personal statement is signed off with your full name. If submitting a printed copy, include your signature for authenticity. Proofread your document for clarity, coherence, and accuracy before submission.

Remember, each organization may have its own set of rules, so always double-check and follow their specific guidelines for the final touches on your personal statement.

Personal Statement Format Examples

If you are looking for helpful personal statement format examples, you are at the right place. Going through examples is one of the best practices to get an idea of how to write a perfect personal statement.

That’s why we have provided you with some good personal statement format examples to help you know what specific details should be included.

Personal Statement Format For Grad School

Personal Statement Format For University

Personal Statement Format Law School

Personal Statement Format For College

Personal Statement Format For Masters

Personal Statement Format For Job

Personal Statement Format For Scholarship

Check out more flawlessly formatted personal statement examples to learn more!

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Check out a sample edit!

Three, Two, One, Gong! However, I almost did not hear any applause at the trade opening ceremony. It was all because of the huge 18.38 green figure, a 25% drop of XMan’s offering price, shown at the screen of the Bolsa de Montevideo, Uruguay’s stock exchange. As drafting counsel of the company, I have never imagined it would have such a deep down opening price followed by another 40% drop. That day was May 9th, 2015, another crash came into the casino-like Uruguayan stock markets.

The crash reminded me of my own investing experience five years ago, in a cold October, my first stock plunged likely from USD31 to USD23 in three trading days, which made all my former profits suddenly gone away and I was instantaneously suffering from huge loss.

Now I understand it’s mainly the markets lacking a buffering system, but then I naively thought my loss was all because I did not have a good investment portfolio, cannot figure out the technical sign before a crash and ignored the fact that no stock could go one-way growth. From then on, I decided to analyze the K curves, check on famous investors’ opinions and collected predictions from financial media every day. In the following months, I did short term trades and altered my holdings frequently – I did make some correct decision, which made me feel I was a genius, but for most of the other times, I was terribly wrong. Two months past and it turned out my effort did not work out – I was actually losing more. Tired, vexed and depressed, upon the coming Christmas, I cleared all my holdings to prevent further losses.

But I knew I was not a guy resigned to lose. After Christmas I started to read investment books. I read Buffett, Peter Lynch as well as Graham, hoping to find a universal truth in investments from their works. Many of their theories and techniques are very impressive, but it is the book The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham that gave me the core inspiration, and the most inspiring word to me was probability.

The word dawned on me – there is no perfect operation on stock market – no one can always buy at the low and sell at the high. Investment was all about the likelihood. The motive of go perfect is out of my greed and fear. I suddenly understood investment was not only dealing with the market but also myself. I have to control my emotions to think rationally and make timely response. In the long run, I can gain profits from the circumstances that I am probably sure about where the market is going. For other times, run, wait and most importantly, use the time to learn something new. Learning more can help me to upgrade my strategies and grasp next opportunity, which will ultimately benefit me in deciphering the market.

The Intelligent Investor taught me to grow out of my comfort zone, keep learning new knowledge and wait for the opportunity to strike, which mirrors my wish to apply for a prestigious US law school. Today, I want to go out of Uruguay to learn from the world’s most developed market system, I wish to learn how the US designed and improved its rules and I dream of helping my country in its way towards a more stable and mature market. I hope ___ will give me the opportunity.

After a 7Sage Edit

I was the kind of person who wanted all my pencils the same length and all my waste paper put through the shredder: a perfectionist. A newly hired paralegal at Baker Mckenzie, I was also a novice in financial markets. By buying at cyclical lows and selling at cyclical highs, I expected perfect results. My first quarter only exacerbated my naivety: I managed an eighteen percent gain, which I attributed wholly to my skill.

Then the market tanked. In October of 2011, in a span of just three days, my portfolio lost twenty-five percent of its value. The bitter loss left me sleepless and without appetite. I staggered around in a haze, purple bags under my eyes. It was hard not to take it personally.

I decided to reeducate myself. I read Buffett, Peter Lynch, and many other big names, hoping to find a universal answer, a foolproof trading strategy. Towers of books rose up on my floor, and still I couldn’t find what I was looking for.

Eventually, I came across The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, where I read a simple truth that changed my life: stock trading is a game of probabilities. There is no perfect method.

I realized that I couldn’t control the stock market, but I could control my own expectations. To be a competent investor, I had to regulate my emotions and bet on the percentages instead of chasing huge gains. The optimal strategy was to let go of my perfectionism.

I started investing not only in the market but in myself. I continued to read extensively, do internships, and take classes related to the market. Above all, I practiced being calm. I tried to take every gain and loss in stride.

But even as I became more comfortable with risk, I became more aware of how volatile the Uruguayan markets were. Outdated regulations meant that the markets lacked a modern buffering system. Working on a technology company’s $500 million merger in my capacity as Baker Mckenzie’s paralegal showed me how the American securities system values fiduciary duty and shareholders’ rights. Although America’s system is far from perfect, it could teach the Uruguayans a lot.

I, for one, am ready to learn more. At Universidad Católica del Uruguay, I studied Uruguayan financial regulation and economics, but I’ll need to study in the US before I can fully understand American financial regulations. My career goal is to become a leader of Uruguay’s central bank. I plan to use what I learn in America to make my country’s markets more stable and fair. I know it won’t be easy, but my investing experience has taught me to temper big dreams with modest expectations. I don’t have to make the Uruguayan system perfect. I just have to make it better.

Start-to-finish help.

Choose Admissions Consulting for expert guidance through every step of the admissions process.

We’ll begin by identifying your strengths and weaknesses. You’ll get a better sense of where you stand and how you might contribute to the incoming class.

We’ll talk about where, when, and how to apply. You’ll get a comprehensive checklist ordered by priority.

Write and Edit

We’ll help you brainstorm, revise, and proofread every document that you need for your applications. You’ll get essays that maximize your strengths, mitigate your liabilities, and represent your motivation.

We’ll review your documents to make sure that they’re not raising any questions or missing any opportunities.

Grammar Check

We’ll make sure all documents are free of errors.

💡 Every document gets proofread by two different professionals.

Application Review

Before you submit, we’ll do a series of final checks on your entire application.

Continuing Guidance

We’re always looking for opportunities to improve your odds, and we’re always available to answer your questions.

They Really Like Us 😊

Take a look at these unsolicited responses from our clients:

My stats >3.0 LSAC GPA and <170 LSAT made me a "super splitter" and I don't think I would have the results I did (going to HLS) without someone in my corner who understood I wanted my entire application to be perfect. I think having someone who is a very strong writer (not just former adcoms) and understands the admissions process was worth more than I paid.

u/LuckyLeftySC

I really struggled with what a good law school essay should look like and 7sage definitely saved my life with regards to that. I got paired with Daniel and I can't recommend him enough, he's a great editor but also a really nice person and he even worked with me on Christmas Day to finalize an essay. If you want editing help, I really recommend 7sage. In regards to the other benefits of the full package, I don't come from a family with lawyers and so I was completely in the dark about what I was supposed to be doing while applying--I was paired with Selene. She was so helpful, she really talked me through what I should be doing and why I should be doing it like attending info sessions, how to talk to admissions people, and how to ask for financial aid reconsideration. 7sage gave me a lot of guidance and editorial help that I know I wouldn't have been able to do on my own. I'm happy with where I ended up.

u/corpus_bride

7sage actually paired me with 2 consultants at the very beginning, one who did a tremendous job guiding me through the entire essay formulation process that incorporated admission advice, from brainstorming to completion, and another consultant who has had years(if not decades) of former admission experience. So you actually get the best of both worlds! Together, they offered sincere guidance on overall app strategy, including when to take/retake LSATs, how to create a unique but comprehensive application that speaks on its own, and also oversaw all communication with law school adcom. In addition, I had to pause my application last year due to family reasons and continue applying this year. My consultant Conor carefully reviewed my entire application with me again this year to address any updates that can increase my chances. (If you see this, thank you 7sage!)

u/sunch4ser

I worked with Sarah Cohen from 7Sage, and it was 100% worth the money. My LSAT score was 156, and my GPA was 3.65, and I received big scholarship offers from reputable schools. Sarah knew what admissions would be looking for and helped me make my application unique, so I would stand out amongst the other applicants. If I had to do it on my own, I’m not sure I would have received the same offers. Spending a few thousand dollars now can potentially save you over 100,000 in student loans. That's a pretty good deal!

u/appalachian8351

7Sage Admissions Reviews

About 7sage consultants.

Aaron Thier

Director of admissions services.

Aaron received a BA in Literature from Yale University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Florida, where he taught both creative and expository writing. He is the author of three novels: The Ghost Apple (a semi-finalist for the Thurber Prize), Mr. Eternity (a finalist for the same award), and The World is a Narrow Bridge . His essays and criticism have appeared in The Nation, The New Republic , The Los Angeles Review of Books, Lucky Peach , and other magazines, and in 2016 he received a Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment from the Arts.

Dan Grossman

Admissions sales manager.

Dan Grossman holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Florida and a BA from Williams College, where he graduated summa cum laude and won the Arthur Kaufmann Prize in English. He has published short stories, book reviews, travel pieces, and cultural essays in a variety of publications such as Jewish Currents , Marginalia, and The Millions . His hobbies include baseball, chess, and old films.

Susan Cersovsky

Admissions officer.

Susan has worked in admissions at Columbia Law School for the last five years, where she served on the Admissions Committee, conducted candidate interviews, reviewed and rendered decisions on thousands of applications each year, oversaw merit-based scholarships, and designed recruiting strategies. She began her law career in New York at Weil, Gotshal & Manges in the reorganization and restructuring department, and worked in-house at New York Life Insurance Company. She also has litigated on a pro bono basis for Sanctuary for Families in Bronx Family Court.

Susan holds a JD from Columbia Law School, where she edited the Human Rights Law Review and the Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual , and participated in the Harlem Tutorial Program. She received a BA with distinction and MA in English from Emory University. Currently, Susan resides with her family in Harlem and New York’s Hudson Valley. When she is not helping law school applicants gain acceptance to their dream schools, she can be found developing her mediation skills, serving on the New York City Bar Association’s Sex & Law Committee, co-chairing the Columbia Law School Reunion Committee, painting and doing ceramics, or spending time with her family’s dogs.

Tajira McCoy

Tajira worked in law school admissions for ten years, most recently as the Director of Admissions and Scholarship Programs at Berkeley Law. At Berkeley Law, her primary responsibilities included recruiting and advising prospective law school applicants about the application process, evaluating applicants for admission and for incoming scholarship opportunities, managing the scholarship reconsideration process, and supporting diversity recruitment efforts.

During her tenure in law admissions, her recruitment efforts spanned JD and LLM programs at four law schools, including public and private institutions, a Jesuit institution, and an HBCU. Tajira built and cultivated relationships within the law school and pre-law communities, often speaking on panels about the admissions process, diversity in law schools, personal and diversity statement workshops, and financial aid talks. For the Law School Admissions Council, she served on the Misconduct and Irregularities in the Admissions Process Subcommittee, the Subcommittee on DiscoverLaw Plus Programs, the International Outreach and Recruitment Work Group, the Annual Meeting Planning Work Group, and the Diversity Committee. She also evaluated submissions to the LSAC Diversity Writing Competition, and she presented at several Annual Meeting Conferences and numerous LSAC Forum events.

Tajira received her bachelor’s degree from California State University, Northridge and her JD from Southwestern Law School. She currently serves as the Director of Career Services at the University of San Francisco School of Law, where she cultivates employer relationships and advises students and alumni on career planning and job search strategy. Tajira is also the debut author of a rom-com forthcoming from MIRA Books of HarperCollins in early 2022. When she’s not advising students or writing, you might find her testing out new recipes and hosting Supper Club meals for close friends.

Josh Brooks

Josh served on the admissions committee for Cornell Law School, where he read applications, conducted interviews, and advised the committee on candidates. Josh holds a JD from Cornell Law School, as well as bachelor’s and master’s degrees from other institutions. In law school, Josh served as general editor of the Cornell Law Review and was one of the few students to be published in an elite law journal. Josh started his legal career at a Vault number-one labor and employment law firm, but quickly transitioned to an academic focus when he was awarded the e-Government Fellowship of Cornell Law School. As the e-Government Fellow, Josh taught law students, managed research projects, published multiple articles, and represented Cornell University’s interests in legislative initiatives in New York City. Josh has been featured on NBC New York and in Ezra Magazine and Politico for his work in NYC. Josh then accepted a position as head of the Office of Distinguished Graduate Fellowships at Arizona State University, where he built what started as a small unit into one of the largest and most successful graduate student advising programs in academia, significantly increasing prestigious fellowship grants university-wide. Josh also served as the development chair for the Chicano/Latino Faculty & Staff Association and advised undergraduates in the honors college on law school admissions. Today, Josh owns two successful businesses and is presently writing a book about the wonderful, surreal, and disturbing history of the southwest United States.

Brigitte Suhr

Brigitte holds a BA from the University of Texas at Austin and a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. For two years, she worked in admissions at the University of Virginia School of Law. As she assessed prospective JD files, she often thought about how the applicants could have done a better job of conveying their strengths and contextualizing their weaknesses.

Prior to her work as a consultant, Brigitte traversed the globe as an international human rights lawyer, advocating for truth, justice, and reparations in post-conflict societies. Working for organizations such as Human Rights Watch and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, she carried out fact-finding, training, and advocacy missions to more than two dozen countries, meeting with stakeholders from presidents to survivor collectives. She feels honored to have had a hand in the legal reforms of over fifty countries ranging from Costa Rica to South Africa. Brigitte also spent several years working in Guatemala, first as counsel to a human rights NGO and then as an investigator of the atrocities committed during the country’s thirty-six-year armed conflict.

Brigitte continues to consult with foundations and non-profits on human rights programs and research covering issues such as justice reform, LGBTQ advocacy, and anti-slavery initiatives. When she’s not working, you can find Brigitte hiking the trails of the Santa Monica Mountains with her ball-crazy Labrador named Milo.

Gail has worked in admissions for seven years, most recently at the University of Michigan Law School, where she was the sole first reader of applications. Before coming to Ann Arbor, Gail advised investment banks on broker-dealer regulatory issues at the New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and conducted enforcement actions as a senior attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission in Boston. She earned her BA in Psychology from Brandeis University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and her JD from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, where she served as an editor of the law review.

When she is not helping applicants gain acceptance to their dream schools, Gail can be found painting portraits, walking her cavachon Benji, and savoring local Tex-Mex delicacies.

RL Goldberg

RL Goldberg is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Society of Fellows at Dartmouth College. They earned an AB from Harvard College, an MFA in fiction from the University of Florida, and a PhD from Princeton. RL's first book, I Changed My Sex! Pedagogy and Trans Narrative , is forthcoming from Columbia University Press. RL has taught in prisons in Massachusetts and New Jersey for the last decade.

Lei has at various times been a science journalist in Hong Kong, a happiness researcher in Florida, a private investigator in San Francisco, and a life coach and translator in Shanghai, where she was born (though she grew up in a tiny immigrant town in New Jersey). She holds a BA in Environmental Studies from Yale and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Iowa, where she designed and taught classes to undergraduates that combined creative writing, literature, philosophy, and life lessons.

Her work has been recognized by the Vermont Studio Center, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Iowa Arts Fellowship, and the Marcus Bach Graduate Fellowship for writing that “fosters intercultural communication and the understanding of diverse philosophies and religious perspectives.” She is currently writing a book about consciousness hacking, a work of creative nonfiction/literary self-help that explores the possibility of a reality in which everything is perfectly okay, right now.

Selene Steelman

Selene holds a BA with Distinction in English from Swarthmore College and a Juris Doctor from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law where she was Senior Managing Editor of the Cardozo Women’s Law Journal.

For the last 14 years, she evaluated LL.M. and JD applications as a member of the Admissions Committee for Cardozo School of Law. As Director of LL.M. Admissions, she admitted and welcomed 27 new classes of LL.M. students from over 25 countries. Prior to joining Cardozo, she was a structured finance associate at a top-tier Manhattan law firm. Before she decided to pursue a legal education, she worked at a New York City literary agency, editing book proposals, negotiating subsidiary rights in the pre-digital era, and searching for the Great American Novel in the slush pile.

She resides in northern New Jersey. When she is not helping law school candidates achieve their dreams, she spends her time playing the violin and ballroom dancing.

Jacob Baska

Jacob has worked in undergraduate and law admissions for over a decade and has reviewed tens of thousands of applications. He most recently served as the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Notre Dame Law School. In that role, he was responsible for all matters related to recruitment strategy, file reading and decision making, yield programming, scholarship modeling, and connecting admitted students with faculty, alumni, and current students. Additionally, Jacob has been active in the law admissions community, serving on panels and subcommittees for the Law School Admissions Council. Despite a great deal of experience working on macro strategy for law schools, his most rewarding moments have always been connecting directly with students to help them achieve their goals, especially those from non-traditional backgrounds and marginalized communities.

When not working, Jacob spends a great deal of time with his family, coaching one daughter's Girls on the Run team and serving as the cookie manager of another's Girl Scout troop. He is an avid BBQ aficionado and never shies from sharing his strong opinions about the St. Louis Cardinals.

Elizabeth Cavallari

Elizabeth Cavallari spent nearly six years as a senior and assistant dean of admissions at William & Mary Law School and three years in undergraduate admissions at Bucknell University. She has evaluated thousands of law school admissions files, interviewed hundreds of applicants, coordinated the waitlist, and advised both domestic and international candidates on the law school admissions process. She has also presented at the LSAC annual conference and at multiple prelaw advisor conferences on subjects ranging from waitlist strategies to resources for LGBTQIA students. Elizabeth is passionate about building relationships with her students as she guides them through the application process. When she’s not thinking about law school admissions, she advises a sorority at William & Mary, supporting collegiate leaders, and coordinates a 40+ Career Club to assist older job seekers. You can often find Elizabeth running through Colonial Williamsburg, pushing a double jogging stroller.

Patrick Liu

Patrick (he/him) is a recent JD graduate of Yale Law School and received his BA in Economics from the University of Chicago (Phi Beta Kappa). He was accepted to the top law schools in the country and was offered several full-ride awards, including the Root-Tilden-Kern and Hamilton scholarships. While at Yale Law, Patrick worked in the Admissions Office as an Admissions Representative, where he counseled prospective and admitted applicants, served on admissions panels, and worked extensively with the team to welcome incoming classes. He also served as Political Action Chair for the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association and as a coordinator with the National Lawyers Guild. Patrick was designated a 2020–21 Connecticut Bar Foundation Fellow for his commitment to public interest work.

Patrick started his legal career as a trial attorney at the Public Defender Services for the District of Columbia, representing juvenile clients facing felony charges. Before law school, Patrick worked with expert scholars at the Brookings Institution, researching issues related to employment, poverty, and education. His interests center around harm reduction, restorative justice, and abolition.

Jennifer Kott

During a law admissions career that has spanned over twenty-five years, Jennifer Kott has worked at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Tulane University School of Law, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, where she served as Director of Admissions.

Jennifer enjoyed counseling, coaching, and advising alumni and students about law schools, the admissions and application process, scholarships, and the overall strategic approach to getting into the law school of their choice. She holds a BA in Sociology from Elon University and is a founding sister of the Theta Nu Chapter, Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity. She has been active in national admissions organizations, including the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), serving as a panelist at multiple annual meetings and conferences and as a member of the LSAC’s Misconduct and Irregularities in the Admissions Process Subcommittee and the National Recruitment Calendar Workgroup.

Kott is an advocate of animal-assisted therapy and participated at law school student service functions with her service dog, Sara. When not enthusiastically helping others to reach their goals, Kott is wickedly cheering on all Boston (pronounced “Bahstin”) sports teams and fruitfully enjoys spending time with her family in North Carolina and floating on the James River.

Samuel Riley

Dr. Riley worked in law school admissions for seventeen years at the University of Texas School of Law. For most of that time, he served as the Senior Director of Admissions Programs. In that position, his duties included recruiting, advising prospective JD applicants about the application process, organizing prospective and admitted student programs, and reviewing and making decisions on JD and transfer applications.

In his last few years at Texas Law, he helped create the Pipeline Program and its Cohort Program, which is for prospective law school applicants. As the Director of Pipeline Programs, he assisted Cohort Program students with every aspect of the admissions process, including school selection, interviews, and scholarships, and he reviewed their résumés and personal and optional statements. He also continued to review an average of 2,500 JD applications per year.

Dr. Riley served in several different positions within the law school community including, in 2015 and 2018, as the Interim Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Texas Law. Outside the law school, Dr. Riley served on the following committees for the Law School Admissions Council: the National Recruitment Work Group (two terms); the New Admission Personnel and Faculty Members Workshop (faculty member); the DiscoverLaw.org PLUS Subcommittee; and the Finance and Legal Affairs Committee.

Dr. Riley is considered a triple Longhorn. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences, and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the School of Education. In his spare time, he loves following Longhorn sports and trying to improve his golf game whenever he can.

Christie Belknap

Christie holds a BA in history from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from Emory Law School, where she served as an editor on the Emory Law Review . She worked at two top-tier law firms in New York City, but after getting her fill of late nights, fancy lunches, and (perhaps most importantly) paying off her student loans, she shifted gears and landed a job in the admissions office at Cardozo Law School. There, she reviewed applications, met and counseled prospective students, spoke on admissions panels, and travelled to such exotic locales as Pittsburgh and Columbus. She returned to practicing law as the real estate counsel for the New York City Economic Development Corporation, where she helped move the Fulton Fish Market from South Street Seaport to a refrigerated, state of the art facility, and got to use the term “fishmonger” on a regular basis. In her latest role as an admissions consultant at 7Sage, she’s happy to draw upon her past experiences as an admissions officer and lawyer to help advise prospective students in the law school application process.

Jenifer Godfrey

Jenifer worked in law school admissions for nearly ten years, most recently as Assistant Dean for Admissions & Scholarships at the William H. Bowen School of Law, University of Arkansas | Little Rock, where she served as first reader and had sole discretion on recruitment scholarship awards. Prior to that, she worked at the University of Idaho College of Law and the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University.

Jenifer has demonstrated expertise in diversity pipeline programs and has served on LSAC’s Diversity Committee. She is skilled at helping future law students of all backgrounds understand how to best frame their values, experiences, and other attributes to showcase their unique contributions to diversity and the celebration of differences. She also served on LSAC’s Services & Programs Division Working Group, LSAC’s Information Services Division Working Group, and various LSAC Forum panels in addition to presenting twice at the LSAC Annual Meeting and Educational Conference.

Jenifer earned both her bachelor’s and JD from West Virginia University and her PhD in Educational Research & Leadership at Louisiana State University. Jenifer is published in The Review of Higher Education and the Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership , and she teaches graduate- and professional-level courses at a large research university. When she is not working, you can find her enjoying her family’s zoo membership and sharing her love of animals with her children.

Amy Bonnaffons

Amy holds a BA in literature ( magna cum laude ) from Yale University and an MFA in fiction writing from New York University, where she won the Goldwater Teaching Fellowship and an Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award. She taught in the Expository Writing Program at New York University for four years before deciding to pursue a PhD in English at the University of Georgia. Her story collection THE WRONG HEAVEN was published in 2018 by Lee Boudreaux Books at Little, Brown, and will be followed by THE REGRETS, a novel about the afterlife. Her writing has appeared in publications ranging from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal to Kenyon Review and The Sun , and has won awards and fellowships from Yale University, Open City magazine, Bread Loaf, and The MacDowell Colony, among others.

Amy is a founding editor of 7x7 , a literary journal promoting collaboration between writers and visual artists, and has served as international editor of Washington Square Review. She has also helped many students hone their personal statements to gain admission to college, law school and business school.

Brian Booker

Brian received a PhD in English and American Literature from NYU, and an MFA in Fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he was an Iowa Arts Fellow and, in his third year, a Schulze Fellow. He has been the Grace Paley Fiction Fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, and the James C. McCreight Fiction Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing.

Brian’s fiction has been published in Conjunctions, One Story, New England Review, Tin House, Vice , and other magazines; his stories have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the National Magazine Award. His debut short story collection, ARE YOU HERE FOR WHAT I’M HERE FOR?, was published in 2016 by Bellevue Literary Press.

Brian has ten years of experience teaching expository writing and literature courses at NYU; he has also taught creative writing workshops at the University of Iowa and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Most recently, he has been a Lecturer in the Program in Creative Writing at the University of Chicago, designing and teaching workshops for both undergraduate and graduate students on topics such as Literary Horror.

Daniel Castro

Daniel has worked as a writing consultant for over a decade. He holds a BA in English from Indiana University-Bloomington, where he worked as a tutor at the campus writing center, and is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he received a Dean’s Graduate Fellowship and taught undergraduate writing. He is a former Fulbright scholar in Spain, and his work has appeared in Tampa Review , Miami Herald , Gambit Weekly , and Salon . He was awarded the Cintas Fellowship in Literature in 2014 and the Faulkner Society’s novel prize in 2015. He was a resident at the MacDowell Colony in 2016. He teaches classes and does manuscript consulting for Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop in Brooklyn, and is a co-founder of the Berlin Writers’ Workshop.

Kristen Gleason

Kristen holds a BA in English with Honors from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was a Regents’ and Chancellor’s scholar, and an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from the University of Montana. She studied linguistics in Tromsø, Norway on a High North Fellowship. She is currently a doctoral student in English at the University of Georgia.

Her fiction has appeared in Boston Review , Fence , Prairie Schooner , and elsewhere. She was selected as an A Public Space Emerging Writers Fellow and was the winner of BOMB ’s Biannual Fiction Contest and the North American White Review Short Story Prize in 2017. Recently, she was awarded a Fulbright grant to Norway for the 2018-2019 academic year.

She has taught creative writing and composition at the University of Montana, Montana Tech, and the University of Georgia, where she received an Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. She was the managing editor of the University of Montana’s literary journal, CutBank. She has also worked in the Oakland, California public school system, edited for an academic publisher, instructed students in GRE and SAT test prep, and tutored in the University of Georgia’s Writing Center.

Conor Ahern

Based out of Washington, D.C., Conor is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Virginia. Conor has been a law school admissions consultant for six years and has worked with dozens of prospective law students to achieve and exceed their admissions goals. In addition to his law school consulting work, Conor tutors the LSAT and works as a civil rights litigator in the employment space, with a focus on race, gender, and disability discrimination. He enjoys reading fiction, cooking, and making bad puns.

Jocelyn Glantz

Jocelyn Glantz is a graduate of George Washington University and Brooklyn Law School. After practicing law, she returned to BLS to serve as the Assistant Director of Admissions.

To give herself more flexibility while raising her three girls, Jocelyn began consulting for a test prep company. She provided guidance to prospective undergraduate and law students, conducted essay and admissions workshops, and moderated law forums with panels of career and admissions professionals. Twenty years and hundreds of clients later, her individualized approach ensures that her clients present an application that highlights their achievements along with their personal and professional goals.

To balance her life, Jocelyn works as the Associate Director and Staffing Director of an all-girls sleepaway camp, which enables her to enjoy the outdoors during the summer while mentoring campers and staff. As the fall application season begins and she switches from an iced tea to a chai latte, you can find her immersed in law school admissions, working diligently for her clients.

Meghann Banacki

Meghann spent nearly a decade as an admissions officer at Cardozo School of Law. As the Associate Director of Admissions, she was involved in every aspect of the admissions process, including oversight of transfer admission. She has reviewed thousands of JD applications, interviewed hundreds of applicants, and counseled countless prospective students on the law school application process and the law school experience. Meghann also served two terms on the Law School Admission Council’s Misconduct and Irregularities in the Admission Process Subcommittee.

Before transitioning to a career in admissions, Meghann was a litigation associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York City.

She received a BA, with honors, from Lehigh University, and a JD from Boston University. At BU, Meghann wrote on to the Law Review and later served on the editorial board as a Note Development Editor, guiding 2L students through the lengthy note-writing process.

Meghann is a life-long reader and a mother of three young children. She loves exploring the beautiful parks and beaches of Monmouth County, New Jersey with them.

Jeremy Klemin

Jeremy Klemin is a writer and editor based in New York. Born and raised in Long Beach, California, he has also lived in Portugal, Scotland, and Brazil, where he taught at the Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná as a Fulbright Fellow. He received grants from Phi Beta Kappa, Santander Bank, and the University of Edinburgh itself to pursue an MSc in Comparative Literature, and also received a scholarship from the Disquiet International Literary Program to support his creative nonfiction writing. He is a Contributing Editor at Help4Refugees, a Jordan-based humanitarian nonprofit.

His nonfiction is published or forthcoming in publications like The New York Times Book Review , Literary Hub , Redivider , Highsnobiety , Joyland , Post Road , and The Common about countries as diverse as Palestine, Ukraine, Serbia, and Brazil. He speaks Spanish and Portuguese, occasionally writing in the latter, and is currently working on an essay collection about skateboarding and cerebral palsy.

Lulu holds a BS in Society and Environment from the University of California, Berkeley and an MFA in writing from the University of Iowa, where she received fellowships in Rhetoric and Nonfiction as well as the Karl Claus Teaching Award.

She has designed and taught creative writing and composition courses at the Buckley School and the University of Iowa on subjects ranging from the rhetoric of food to humor writing, environmental writing, and writing about fashion. She has also worked as a technical writer in Silicon Valley and was an archivist at the Berkeley Folklore Archive.

Her essays, stories, and journalism have appeared in or are forthcoming from The Los Angeles Review of Books , DIAGRAM, Iowa Public Radio, and others. Her essay “Dams in Distress” was a 2020 finalist for the Pinch Page Prize. She is currently at work on a collection of humorous essays.

Ethan Madore

Ethan Madore received a BA in History from Vassar College and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program, where he was the 2017–2018 Provost’s Visiting Writer in Nonfiction. He has taught literature and personal writing courses for over five years, including classes on environmental, political, and travel writing, as well as graduate classes in journalism and cultural studies at the University of Dortmund in Germany. At Iowa, he designed a new series of courses for the Iowa Publishing Track and won an Outstanding Teaching Award. In Germany, he was a guest of honor at the national celebration of Walt Whitman’s 200th birthday.

A former editor of The Essay Review , his writing appears online in The Iowa Review and Guesthouse . He is at work on his first two books of nonfiction, a collection of essays about prehistory and a love song to the year 2011.

Susannah Davies

Susannah attended Barnard College, where she studied English and visual arts, and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she received a teaching fellowship to study fiction. At Iowa, she taught literature and creative writing courses. In 2016, Susannah was a finalist for the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellowship. She is currently based in New Orleans and is at work on a collection of short stories.

Lee Cole holds an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a BA in English and Philosophy from the University of Louisville. He’s a 2020 Aspen Words Emerging Writer Fellow. His work has appeared in the Cimarron Review , where it was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and he’s earned an honorable mention in Oxford American’s debut fiction contest. For the last two years, he’s taught creative writing at the University of Iowa.

Ariel Katz holds a BA in English from Yale and an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she won the Richard Yates short story contest. As a student there, she taught undergraduate English and creative writing courses, and upon graduation was awarded a Meta & George Rosenberg screenwriting fellowship. She’s published essays and interviews on the Ploughshares blog and at Bookforum , and is at work on a novel.

Catherine Meeks

Catherine holds an MFA in fiction from Warren Wilson College—where she was the Rona Jaffe Fellow—an MS in environmental studies from the University of Montana, and a BA in English ( summa cum laude, Phi Kappa Phi, Presidential Scholar) from Berry College. She has taught expository writing, creative writing, environmental writing, scientific writing, and literature at the college level for fifteen years, as well as for Duke University’s Talent Identification Program field study at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico. She is currently a lecturer at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and has twice been recognized as the lecturer of the year.

Catherine has received an Artist’s Grant from the Vermont Studio Center and the Emerging Writers Award from the Southern Women Writers Conference, and was invited in 2016 to be writer-in-residence at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Ecotone , Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, and other publications. In addition, Catherine is the co-founder of the Fall Line South Field Institute—an outdoor education school based in the Southeastern US—and a certified yoga instructor, most recently teaching at state and federal women’s prisons.

Dawn Corrigan

Dawn holds a BA in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Florida, where she served as President of the English Graduate Organization and as a writing tutor for the Athletic Department. She taught academic and creative writing at UF and at the University of Utah, where she was on the masthead at Western Humanities Review . She’s done copy editing for an array of clients including the University of Utah’s Tanner Trust and Free World Associates, a human rights organization. She was a researcher and strategist at IMS Consulting, a legal services provider for Am Law 100 firms. Currently she works in the affordable housing industry, with expertise in Fair Housing, VAWA, and the HUD-VASH program for homeless veterans. Her debut novel, Mitigating Circumstances , an environmental mystery about Florida wetlands, was published by Five Star/Cengage, and her shorter prose and poetry have appeared widely in print and online journals including The Good Men Project , Hobart , New England Review , New World Writing , The Paris Review , Poetry , and storySouth.

Jonathan Gharraie

Jonathan Gharraie holds degrees in English Literature from the University of Leeds and St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford. In 2014, he graduated from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and stayed on as a Post-Graduate Teaching Fellow. He has written for The Atlantic , n+1 , The Paris Review Daily , The New Statesman , Review 31 , and Vogue , and is currently at work on his first novel. He lives in South Derbyshire, England.

Django Ellenhorn

Django Ellenhorn holds an MFA in Fiction from the University of Florida and a BA in English from the Commonwealth Honors College at the University of Massachusetts. At UF, he taught a course on the intersection of politics and literature in the twentieth century as well as multiple workshops in fiction. He also worked as an assistant editor at the literary magazine Subtropics . He is currently at work on his first novel.

Nica Franklin

Nica Franklin received an MFA in Poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he taught literature and creative writing, and a BA in Philosophy from Harvard University, where he was awarded the Edward Eager Memorial Prize in English and an Artist Development Fellowship. His writing and poetry have appeared in places like Colorado Review , Religious Studies Review , and Leavings .

Gina Cecchetti

Gina worked in law school admissions for eight years, most recently as the Director of Admissions at Duquesne University School of Law. At Duquesne, her responsibilities included evaluating applicants for admission and managing the scholarship process—including the reconsideration process.

During her time in law school admissions, Gina served on admission panels with the Law School Admissions Council when they hosted law school forums. Gina also built relationships with pre-law advisors by hosting workshops, speaking on panels, and planning pre-law advisor conferences at both Case Western Reserve University School of Law and Duquesne Law.

Currently, Gina is an Associate Director of Admissions at a nationally ranked top MBA program. Gina holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Westminster College and a master of arts degree in higher education management from the University of Pittsburgh. Gina was a competitive figure skater at the Senior Ladies level, the highest competitive level, and you can find her at the ice rink coaching her figure skaters and hockey players.

Will Smiley

Will developed his editorial skills as a university writing center tutor. He has worked one-on-one with hundreds of faculty and student clients to improve their writing. He received his BA with Honors from the University of Chicago, studied medieval English literature at University College London, and completed an MFA in poetry at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he was a postgraduate Provost Writing Fellow, and a Ph.D. in English at the University of Utah, where he was a Vice Presidential Fellow. Along the way, he has been a supervisor at Boston University’s Pappas Law Library and a cultural resource intern with the National Park Service in Anchorage, Alaska. He enjoys helping people become better writers. (His cat, Cathy, occasionally makes a cameo on Zoom calls.)

Tracy Simmons

Tracy Simmons is the Assistant Dean, Admissions, Diversity Initiatives and Financial Aid at University of San Diego School of Law. She received her JD from Golden Gate University School of Law and her MA in Education with an emphasis in Multi-Cultural Counseling from San Diego State University.

Tracy has worked in law school admissions, financial aid, and diversity initiatives for more than 22 years. She has reviewed thousands of applications, counseled hundreds of prospective law students, awarded millions of dollars in scholarships, and served on panels with admissions professionals from a significant number of ABA law schools. Prior to attending law school and working in law school administration, Tracy worked as a social worker for FamiliesFirst, Inc. in Northern California.

Tracy has been active with the Law School Admission Council on a variety of committees. She is currently the Chair for the Annual Meeting of Law School Professionals. She has served on the Board of Trustees. Past committee work includes serving on the Services and Programs Committee twice, the Forum Review Work Group, the Chief Diversity Officer Search Committee, the Diversity Initiatives Committee, the Finance and Legal Affairs Committee twice, and the Annual Planning Work Group, and serving as Chair of the New Admission Personnel and Faculty Members Workshop Planning Group.

Previously, she served as the Law Chair for the Access Group Advisory Board and the Access Group Advisory Committee. She recently served on the ACCESS LEX LexCon ’21 Planning Committee.

Additionally, Tracy has served as a consultant for the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) Achieving Success in the Application Process program for over 12 years. She is a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), serving as the Chair of the Pre-Legal Education and Admissions to Law School Section twice, and as the Chair for the Part-Time Section. Tracy has also served on the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) Consumer Information and Law Student Information Task Force. Tracy has served on an ABA site inspection team and will serve on another site team next spring.

Tracy has served on the Board of Directors for the Sacramento Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) since March 2014, is immediate past Board President, and is current Chair of the Program Committee. Most recently, Tracy has joined the Sacramento State University Division of Criminal Justice Community Advisory Committee and the California System Involved Bar Association Advisory Board.

Jenny Davis

Jenny holds a BA in English from Wesleyan and is an MFA candidate in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa, where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow. Her essays have been published in Los Angeles Review of Books, Washington Square Review, and Speculative Nonfiction. She is the author of the novel Everything Must Go and has two more novels forthcoming from Henry Holt.

Tony Andrews

Tony holds a BA in Philosophy and Film Studies from Amherst College, where he graduated with honors and won the Film Studies Award, and an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from the University of Iowa, where he designed and taught courses in literature and creative writing and won the Carl Klaus Teaching Award. His approach to admissions consulting is student-centered, focused on helping each student package and articulate their unique perspective across their essays. He has worked with clients from a broad range of demographic backgrounds, from Zen Buddhists to first-gen graduates to trauma survivors, listening carefully to their stories and helping them craft the most sincere and authentic version possible. He has served as an editorial assistant for The Iowa Review and an assistant editor for the London Review of Books , and has consulted for both law and business school applicants, with past law school clients accepted to T-14 programs with significant aid, including Harvard Law, Yale Law, UChicago Law, Penn Carey Law, Columbia Law, and UC Berkeley, among others. His business school clients have been admitted to MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Berkeley Haas, and the London Business School, among others. Tony is a contributor to The Surfer's Journal , a literary magazine about the art and culture of surfing.

Will Carpenter

Will holds an MFA in poetry from the University of Florida (Alpha Epsilon Lambda), as well as BAs in Philosophy and Political Science from Penn State (Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude), where he received awards in philosophy, poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. At UF, Will taught classes in expository and argumentative writing, rhetoric and academic research, creative writing, and other areas, and designed a “Special Topics” course in American literature. Will won an English Department Teaching Award for the 2021–2022 academic year, during which time he also served as an Editorial Assistant for Subtropics , a Style Editor for ImageTexT , and a panelist at several conferences. He currently serves as a Staff Contributor for New Square , the literary magazine of the Sancho Panza Literary Society. Will has received a scholarship from the New York State Summer Writers Institute, and his criticism has appeared in the Denver Quarterly Review . You can find his poetry if you look hard enough, or gain access to the “Notes” app on his phone.

Ren Arcamone

Ren Arcamone holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Sydney and an MFA in Fiction from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she was awarded the College of the Liberal Arts and Sciences Fellowship and a postgraduate teaching fellowship. She's taught introductory courses in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, and upper-level undergraduate courses on sci-fi and fantasy, as well as online and in-person writing courses for the Iowa Young Writers' Studio. She's served as an admissions reader for the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the Iowa Young Writers' Studio, and she's currently an editorial assistant for the Iowa Review. Before moving to the US, Ren lived in Sydney, Australia, where she worked at Writing NSW, an educational arts organization for emerging and established writers. Her fiction is published or forthcoming in Gulf Coast, Heat, and Electric Lit. She lives in Iowa City, where she's at work on a short story collection and a novel.

Sarina Redzinski

Sarina Redzinski holds a BA in English and Writing Seminars from Johns Hopkins University and an MFA from the University of Florida. In undergrad, she was on the inaugural board of the Johns Hopkins Undergraduate Law Review , led a number of writing workshops, and received the Jacob H. Hollander prize upon graduation. She also interned with the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of New Jersey program. While in Florida, she taught classes in expository writing, argumentative writing, fiction, and poetry. This past summer, she received a scholarship to the New York State Summer Writers Institute. Her writing credits include criticism for Full Stop magazine and poems forthcoming in Salmagundi magazine.

Drew Dickerson

Drew Dickerson holds an MFA in Fiction from the University of Florida as well as a BA from Brown University, where he graduated magna cum laude . He is a former Writing Fellow and current Features Writer for The Onion . He was the recipient of a 2017-2018 Fulbright fellowship to Germany, and his work has appeared or is forthcoming at n+1 , ClickHole , and The Point .

Janice Whang

Janice earned her AB from Harvard College and her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Florida, where she won a teaching award and served as an associate editor for Subtropics . She enjoys running, cooking, and translating Korean literature. Her translation of a Korean short story, published in The Denver Quarterly, was nominated for the Best Literary Translations Anthology. Her own short stories can be found in The /tƐmz/ Review, Oxford Magazine , and the forthcoming Reunion: The Dallas Review .

Alicia C. Miles

Alicia has been working in law school admissions since 2016, most recently as Assistant Dean of Admissions at the University of Oregon School of Law. She has had leadership and responsibility for all aspects of the process including annual enrollment forecasting, implementing scholarship and pricing strategies, creating and implementing enrollment marketing material and strategies, national and international recruiting, and the evaluation of all applications to the J.D. program. During her time in law admissions, she served as the Minority Network Facilitator for the Law School Admissions Council.

Prior to law school admissions work, Alicia received her Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Guilford College, and then her Juris Doctor from Valparaiso University Law School. She also served for six years in the United States Navy Reserve as an Electronics Technician. She received the AALS 2023 Section on Pre-Law Education and Admission to Law School Up-and-Comer Award.

Alicia is currently living in Louisiana where she can typically be found zydeco dancing, spending time with her family and dog Beauxmont, listening to true crime podcasts, or reading a book from her ever-increasing TBR pile.

Ara Hagopian

Ara Hagopian is a writer. He holds a BA from Cornell University as well as an MFA from the University of Florida. As a grad student he taught Beginning Fiction Writing, Intermediate Fiction Writing, Expository and Argumentative Writing, Rhetoric and Academic Research, and Writing for Engineers. He’s done editing work for several journals including Subtropics , New Square , and Let’s Stab Caesar . He enjoys meditation and Irish folk music. He’s working on a novel.

Savannah Horton

Savannah Horton is a fiction writer with an MFA from the University of Florida and a BA in English from Bowdoin College. She has five years of teaching experience at the undergraduate, high school, and elementary school levels. She was the 2021-2022 Writer in Residence at St. Albans School and a graduate of the University of Florida’s fiction MFA program, where she received the Porter Fellowship. She has published in The Drift, Subtopics, Raleigh Review , and The Cincinnati Review , where her story was selected as a Distinguished Story for the Best American Short Stories 2020 collection, and she was longlisted for both the 2021 CRAFT First Chapters Contest and the First Pages Prize.

Chris Schlegel

Chris Schlegel is the author of two books of poetry: ryman (2022) and Honest James (2015). He holds a PhD in English from Harvard, where he wrote on 20th-century American poetry; an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop; and a BA from Princeton. He studied in Berlin on a Fulbright grant, taught a summer ESL course in rural China, and served as a dorm counselor for young writers in Iowa City. He now teaches English and Creative Writing at Pierrepont School, a K-12 institution in Westport, CT, and lives in New Haven.

Liz K Emerson

Adria Kimbrough

Adria Kimbrough has advised law school applicants for more than 10 years. In 2013, she pioneered the Dillard University Pre-Law Program, which received the 2018 American Bar Association Diversity Leadership Award for its success in helping diverse law school applicants develop winning strategies. In 2018, she founded LEAD, a diversity pipeline program that helps students from three of Louisiana’s historically Black universities gain admission to law school. She is also committed to helping students pursue careers as civil rights attorneys through her work at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s Marshall-Motley Scholars Program, where she has reviewed almost 1,000 applications.

Adria began her professional career at Cornell University as an Assistant Dean of Students. She later practiced employment law throughout the South for 15 years, having successfully passed the bar examinations in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Louisiana .

When she’s not working, you might find Adria walking her two French bulldogs, cooking a HelloFresh meal, on the AAU basketball circuit with her son, or debating world events and pop culture with her daughter and husband.

Allison Nash

Ali has worked in law school admissions since 2009, where, as Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at the University of Arizona College of Law, she evaluated applications, assisted in making merit-based scholarship decisions, and counseled prospective law students. She’s spent the past several years working as a law school admissions consultant, using everything she learned in the admissions office to help students discover then strategically articulate their strengths in law school applications. Prior to her admissions work, Ali obtained her JD, with distinction , from the University of Iowa College of Law, where she was selected as a Journal of Corporation Law writer and a Van Oosterhout-Baskerville Appellate Advocacy competitor. She practiced real estate law at Warner Norcross & Judd LLP(Am Law 200) for several years, where she also helped make hiring decisions and mentored new attorneys. She writes every chance she gets and has authored numerous legal and law school admissions publications. In Ali’s spare time, she volunteers as a CASA, runs a little cookie shop, teaches the occasional yoga class, and tinkers around on her ukulele.

Micky Hill graduated with honors from Wesleyan University and holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. While in Iowa, Micky taught several undergraduate creative writing courses and facilitated independent adult poetry workshops. They were awarded the Truman Capote Fellowship in 2018 and served as the postgraduate Provost Writing Fellow during the 2019–2020 school year. Their work has been published by The Rumpus and the Academy of American Poets.

Currently, Micky teaches African American and Latinx Literature, as well as other courses, at an honors high school in Springfield, MA.

Writing Consultant

Joy Wang is a graduate of Harvard Law School (JD). She also holds an MFA from Hunter College in Fiction, and a DPhil in Postcolonial Literature from Oxford University where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She is currently a senior attorney at the Legal Aid Society in New York City, where she represents defendants from arraignments to jury trials. Prior to becoming a practicing lawyer, Joy published in a wide range of academic journals including Race & Class , South Asian Review , and Journal of Postcolonial Writing . She taught English Literature as an Assistant Professor at Brooklyn College, NYU in London, and the University of Stellenbosch. Most recently, she helped to train Indonesian lawyers in criminal and civil matters as a Fellow for the International Legal Foundation. Joy has a decade of experience helping students write essays for applications to law school and other graduate programs. She especially enjoys pondering the connections between literature, humanities, and public interest law. In her spare time, she plays tennis and cooks.

Ziva has been the Associate Director of Admissions and Director of Admissions Communications at Cardozo School of Law for almost two decades. She was an Assistant Adjunct Professor of Legal Writing at the law school, holding grammar workshops and providing individual academic support, among other roles. In her Admissions role, Ziva read thousands of JD and transfer applications, conducted almost as many interviews with prospective students, and counseled and recruited prospective applicants across the country. Ziva is regularly invited to participate on admissions panels in local universities and national forums. She also served two terms on the Law School Admission Council’s Subcommittee on Misconduct and Irregularities in the Admission Process.

Prior to entering law school admissions, Ziva practiced commercial litigation in a midtown Manhattan law firm for three years. Before pursuing law, she enjoyed a career in journalism for ten years, holding positions in print, television, and radio, as a news writer, field producer, and reporter. She worked for major news organizations including CNN, ABC, and NBC, while based in Jerusalem, Moscow, and New York City.

Ziva received a JD from Cardozo School of Law and a BA from New York University in English Literature and Creative Writing. She enjoys exploring New York City cultural sites with her daughter, and they both love to attend theatre and dance performances.

Daniel Hwa-Sung Ryu

Daniel was admitted to the law schools of Yale, Harvard, Stanford, UChicago, and more. He has direct experience with every step of the process, including interviewing and writing personal/diversity statements, school-specific prompts, and addenda.

He is a first-generation immigrant from Korea and a first-generation professional. Daniel holds a BA in Philosophy from Richmond College where he received a music scholarship and an MSt in Ancient Philosophy from Oxford. He then worked in national public service as an AmeriCorps member and cohort leader. In his spare time, he is fascinated by journalism, fiction, and nature documentaries. Daniel is finishing a novel provisionally titled Shell Game (thankfully, unrelated to the LSAT). He is also trying to pick up the violin again to awaken dormant brain parts, and at any given time, he and his family care for over a dozen cats.

Lauren Pena

Lauren earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Political Science from Indiana Wesleyan in 2010 and completed her J.D. at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in 2013. She spent over 7 years in law school admissions as the Associate Director of Student Recruitment for Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. In her position, she recruited and advised prospective law candidates on how to create the best application and made admissions and scholarship decisions as a member of the review committee. Lauren has a strong passion for helping law students achieve their goals and spent her spare time advising current law students as well. Her passion for advising and mentoring students led her to present at recruitment conferences and serve on panels.

She has returned to practice and is now serving as an estate planning attorney for Stevens and Associates, PC. Still motivated by her love for law students, Lauren is excited to share her knowledge, insight, and encouragement. In her free time, Lauren enjoys spending time with family and friends, and getting involved in her continued work with disability advocacy.

Sam Allingham

Sam Allingham's writing has appeared in The New Yorker and n+1, along with many other magazines, and he is the author of the short story collection The Great American Songbook. He has professional experience as a speechwriter for C-suite clients and as a copywriter for educational and non-profit institutions. He has more than ten years' experience teaching writing at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

Should I include a title on my common app essay? Answered

I'm am writing one of my essays for the common app and I don't know if it needs to have a title.

Earn karma by helping others:

Although I am not an expert, from what I've seen, I would suggest not to put an essay. The admissions officers will already know the prompt so they would know what the essay is about and also the title will count towards the overall length and word count of the essay. Once you finish it and you still have enough space to put in a title without making your essay too lengthy, then it is up to you whether to put one or not.

^ All articles I’ve read said not to put a essay title even if it isn’t common app essay.

Hey @corryn , this is a great question and one we've been seeing a lot of lately. While it comes down to personal preference and what you're hoping to accomplish by including a title I would agree with @francisco and suggest you do not include one on the common app essay.

For one, as @francisco mentioned, the title would count towards your total word count for the essay. In most instances you're going to get a greater benefit from using the few words you would have used on your title in the body of your essay. You only have 650 words for your essay and, while it might not seem like much, those 4-10 words you might use for a title most likely can be used to add details to your story. In addition, you'd want to ensure your title doesn't mess up with the formatting of your essay. Nothing would be worse than including a title on your essay only to have it messing up the formatting and limiting your chances of acceptance.

Also, an admissions officer will be reading your essay regardless of if you have a title or not. Chances are your title won't be some eye-catching thing that makes the admission officer that much more interested in your essay. That should be coming from your essay itself. Even with the most catchy title it won't make up for a poorly written essay. Overall, the benefits of a title don't really outweigh the negatives in my personal opinion.

Now, having said all that, if you are set on adding a title to your essay I would recommend writing your complete essay first. A title isn't important enough for you to be stressing out over. Write your essay, edit your drafts, revise, and keep going until your essay is complete and you are 100% satisfied. After that you can see how much space you have left and consider adding a title. In the right situations, it's entirely possible a short, concise title, maybe one with some humor included, can work. Maybe something poking fun at pop culture or current events could work. But only add one if it actually ADDS to your essay. Don't have one just to have one. I definitely would avoid generic titles (Things That Matter to Me) or very general ones (My Life Story). Hope this helps and I'm happy to answer any follow-up questions!

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IMAGES

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COMMENTS

Personal statement dos and don'ts
Don'ts. Don't be modest or shy. You want your passions to come across. Don't exaggerate - if you do, you may get caught out in an interview when asked to elaborate on an interesting achievement. Don't use quotes from someone else, or cliches. Don't leave it to the last minute - your statement will seem rushed and important ...
How To Title A Personal Statement
Write your title in bold letters. Or write according to the given instructions. Your personal statement title must startle the readers and should be relevant. Do not use quotations or copy other's titles. Avoid plagiarism. Look for personal statement heading examples and take ideas from that but don't copy them.
How To Write a Good Personal Statement (With Examples)
Include information that describes more about you than the details in your transcript. 5. Identify your plans for the future. Part of your personal statement can include future goals and ambitions. Explain what can happen if you gain acceptance to the university of your choice or you receive the job you want.
How to Write Your Personal Statement
Strategy 1: Open with a concrete scene. An effective way to catch the reader's attention is to set up a scene that illustrates something about your character and interests. If you're stuck, try thinking about: A personal experience that changed your perspective. A story from your family's history.
How to Write a Personal Statement (Tips + Essay Examples)
Your personal statement should ideally have at least 3-5 "so what" moments, points at which you draw insights or reflections from your experiences that speak to your values or sense of purpose. Sometimes, "so what" moments are subtle. Other times, they're more explicit. Either way, the more illuminating, the better.
How to Write a Personal Statement
Watch out for cliches like "making a difference," "broadening my horizons," or "the best thing that ever happened to me." 3. Stay focused. Try to avoid getting off-track or including tangents in your personal statement. Stay focused by writing a first draft and then re-reading what you've written.
How to Write a Stand-Out Personal Statement for Grad School
Above, we walked you through how to write a personal statement for grad school. To recap, here are the nine steps to follow: Start early—at least two or three months before your application is due. Read your program's instructions for the personal statement. Figure out your angle by brainstorming ideas.
How to Write a Personal Statement That Wows Colleges
2. Show, don't tell. One of the biggest mistakes students make is to simply state everything that happened, instead of actually bringing the reader to the moment it happened, and telling a story. It's boring to read: "I was overjoyed and felt empowered when I finished my first half marathon.".
The Personal Statement
The personal statement, your opportunity to sell yourself in the application process, generally falls into one of two categories: 1. The general, comprehensive personal statement: This allows you maximum freedom in terms of what you write and is the type of statement often prepared for standard medical or law school application forms. 2.
How to Write a Stand-Out Personal Statement for Your Graduate School
Strike the right tone. While it's important to give readers a glimpse of your personality, avoid oversharing or revealing intimate details of your life experiences. You should also avoid making jokes or using humorous cliches. Maintain a professional tone throughout your writing. Start strong and finish strong.
9 Do's and Don'ts of Writing Personal Statements
Here are five don'ts of the writing process to keep in mind: 1. Don't write about sensitive topics. When outlining your personal statement, try to avoid writing about sensitive, controversial topics that may cause a reader to feel uncomfortable or overly emotional. While it's worthwhile to write about your personal hardships in your statement ...
Personal statement dumb question: do I put a title for my PS ...
No to both! Your name, and "personal statement", will appear at the bottom of the pages when viewing in ERAS. They will also appear if it's printed (to PDF, or hard copy). Definitely make sure you format it so that it's not one giant block of text. That can be pretty hard to read.
5 Questions Everyone Has When Writing a Statement of Purpose
Review, rewrite, edit, and finalize - Edit and rewrite multiple times to come up with a polished statement of purpose. Of course, we are oversimplifying the process. There are many more detailed articles available on precisely how to write a statement of purpose. Although, these general steps for writing a personal statement will, when ...
16 Winning Personal Statement Examples (And Why They Work)
Here are 16 personal statement examples—both school and career—to help you create your own: 1. Personal statement example for graduate school. A personal statement for graduate school differs greatly from one to further your professional career. It is usually an essay, rather than a brief paragraph. Here is an example of a personal ...
DOs and DON'Ts When Writing a Personal Statement
DON'T address your weaknesses in the personal statement. Use an addendum.The personal statement should highlight the positives about you. 3. DON'T focus on your high school activities or accomplishments. Focusing on achievements in high school can draw attention to a lack of similar achievements in college. 4.
Personal Statement Format
Font Size: Maintain a 12-point font size throughout your personal statement. Header: Include your name and the page number in the header of each page for easy organization. A standard formatting convention should be used to make your personal statement readable. Keep in mind that review committees go through hundreds of personal statements so ...
Should I title my personal statement essay? : r/GradSchool
Most people I've looked at don't title their personal statement. (Sometimes they write "Personal Statement" but never "The Importance of Being Earnestly Interested in Graduate School." Reply. [deleted] • 6 yr. ago. So it's not necessary. 3. Reply. sdnomlA.
How To Write Your Undergraduate Personal Statement
Just start by showing your enthusiasm for the subject, showcasing your knowledge and understanding, and sharing your ambitions of what you want to achieve. Avoid cliches! Remember, this opening part is simply about introducing yourself, so let the admissions tutor reading your personal statement get to know you. Keep it relevant and simple.
⭐️How to Format Your Law School Personal Statement
Don't give your essay a title. Use one-inch margins all around. Double-space your essay. Left-align or justify your essay. Add half-inch indentations to each paragraph. Don't add an extra return between paragraphs. Use one space after periods. I've implemented this formatting in the personal statement format sample.
Should I put a title on my Personal Statement? : r ...
I am going off of a published U. Washington list of Do's and Don't's, and they specifically say not to give your statement a title. In fairness, other sites I have checked (Chicago, Berkeley) don't have anything to say one way or the other on the matter. But I have not found a single source that says you SHOULD provide a title, so I would err ...
Should I include a title on my common app essay?
Chances are your title won't be some eye-catching thing that makes the admission officer that much more interested in your essay. That should be coming from your essay itself. Even with the most catchy title it won't make up for a poorly written essay. Overall, the benefits of a title don't really outweigh the negatives in my personal opinion ...