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Personal Statements

The personal statement can be one of the most daunting components of the college application. We recently received an email from a concerned student wondering about how to construct a very compelling personal statement. Here are my thoughts:

Be thoughtful. Everyone is going to have amazing accomplishments in their resumes and standard forms. Recommendations will be stellar.

So the personal statement is your chance to thoughtfully reflect on who you are and how you will fit into the community your college offers. Demonstrate personal maturity here and the admissions committee will see that you are more than just an SAT score and several leadership titles.

Be interesting. Make sure to show how you are indeed unique here. One of the greatest challenges in personal statements is balancing humility with honesty - how can you impress them without sounding arrogant? But simply showing that you are a unique individual, be it through the way you think, behave, or dream, will go a long way.

These are just 2 brief thoughts on personal statements and what I would like to see if I looked at your application. Feel free to email me at JasonShah@INeedAPencil.com with thoughts.

Jason

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