If you want to learn more what personal essay is, you are on the right page. This piece of writing tends to explore one’s personality and attitudes towards certain research questions. Usually personal essays discuss past experiences because primary readers will be members of committee, who will read carefully your essay and decide if you are an appropriate applicant or not. Therefore, you should be very careful with the choice of details about yourself in personal writing because your paper will be read by strangers, who do not want to know too much about you.
In personal essay examples, you can see that writer should reveal his/her personality in a creative manner. Though there are no strict rules for writing personal papers and much depends on the way you want to present yourself, it is important to be objective till the end. Even if you have reached much in your life, do not show off and get rid of all subjective claims.
How to Approach Personal Writing
Some educational establishments impose their own personal essay topics, as they want to see how a student can manage writing about specific issues. However, if you did not manage to find any certain writing requirements, it means that you are welcome to discuss anything you want. Here is a small list of recommendations that can guide you in the right direction.
- You should include reasons why members of committee should think you are the most appropriate candidate (mention your previous experiences).
- Try to reflect yourself in a more favorable light. Discuss your unique traits that will make you stand out from the rest.
- State exactly why you chose this college/university and what your intentions are. You can mention that you would like to contribute much to the general development of this establishment.
- Indicate relevant knowledge that will be beneficial while studying.
- State your future aspirations. Would you like to go up the career ladder and how are you going to achieve it?
- Enumerate hands-on experience (internships, programs, participation in extracurricular activities).
- Finish by restating that if members of committee choose you, they will definitely make the right move.
If you do not know how to write a personal essay, hope that our hints will help you succeed in it. Here are more recommendations that will be helpful in personal writing:
Do’s:
- Include only true and valid information about yourself. Remember that many facts can be checked by members of committee.
- Spend enough time on writing personal essays. Take some time to create the first draft and then transform it into a well-written essay.
- If you have a list of questions you have to address in your personal statement, you have to follow it to the full.
- Be concise and brief. Your task is to effectively get the message across.
- Do use simple language without too complex sentence structures that only complicates reading.
- Do try to focus on 1-2 aspects only. You will not be able to discuss the whole life in one paper.
- Remain a positive tone throughout the whole paper, even if you refer to some sad past experiences.
Don’ts:
- Write too many words. Your personal essay should be short (check requirements referring to the word count frames).
- Don’t include any generalizations. You write an essay about yourself, and not humanity as a whole.
- Don’t repeat the same information.
- Don’t submit your paper without editing it.
You can always find some sample papers on the Internet and see how to deal with personal writing. However, do not copy any information, as it will be considered as cheating. If you need any assistance with your personal essay, you can contact us any time. Remember that the key to success remains in a proper attitude.
