So, you’ve finally stopped procrastinating on the dreaded task of filling out your college application, which has probably led you to frantically Googling, “How do I write a personal essay?!” Well, fear not, young padawan, you've come to the right place.
We get it. Writing personal essays can be intimidating. But with a little bit of creativity and a lot of structuring, we can make the process simpler. But first, what even is a personal essay?
What is a personal essay?
A personal essay is a 1.5 to 2-page essay outlining the characteristics or traits that make you a suitable candidate for the college and why you want to join that particular college. While talking about your achievements and abilities in the essay is essential, it's crucial to sound accomplished and not boastful.
It's not easy finding that balance, but stick around and let us help you with your personal essay, and you might learn how to craft the perfect personal essay that’ll blow away the admission officer and get you into your dream college.
Steps to writing the perfect personal essay
Create your Persona Blueprint
Your persona is basically how you want the reader to perceive you while they are reading your personal essay. Before starting writing, you need to understand a few things - what are your passions, skills, and motivation? It helps to answer questions like these:
Be as candid as possible. A lot of these questions won't make it to the final draft, but they’ll act as a repository of ideas later on. To learn how to create your ideal persona, you can get in touch with our mentors. They’ve meticulously put together templates and strategies to make sure your essay portrays the best version of you.
Choose a story
It's easy to start rambling about every extracurricular you’ve done in your school years, but that doesn’t make you stand out. Personal essays are supposed to be personal. They’re supposed to show the college that, ‘Yes! Now, this is a candidate who is truly passionate about something and who has a reason to care about this course or college.’
Make your descriptive personal essay about just you. So talk about the things that truly impacted you - whether that's a life-changing event, a person close to you, or something as simple as your hobby. You don't need a grandiose world-changing achievement, just something that has viscerally impacted you and can be narrated as a compelling story.
Need help transforming your personal essay to the perfect version of itself? At GuidEx, you’ll find mentors from top universities who’ve already gone through the process you’re experiencing. You can sign up now to contact our mentors or join our WhatsApp community.
Use Strategies
You’re probably in a hurry to finish your admission essay, and all this introspection might not work for you. So here are some strategies that you can use to finish that first draft ASAP.
Speed writing: Take a pen and paper and write down everything that comes to your mind in 10-15 minutes.
End The Story First: Writing the conclusion first can help you determine the flow and direction of the essay.
Hook, Line, and Sinker: Speed-write a few hooks and choose the best one. Structure your essay so that your hook catches the reader’s attention, gives them more details, and convinces them that you’re a good candidate.
Ethos, Pathos, and Logos: This is a technique time immemorial. Your personal essay should establish an emotional connection (pathos), your credibility (ethos), and logical reasons to select you (logos)
These strategies and more are taught in our courses that have been designed by experts from top IIMs and Ashoka University. If you’d like to learn more, get in contact here!
Get feedback
Get your draft reviewed by your family, friends, teachers, and mentors. This will help you get new ideas, iron out the final kinks, and understand how appealing the essay is from a reader’s perspective.
I’d also suggest reading the essay out loud to test how well it flows. If you’re still unsure about your essay, fill in your details here, and one of our GuidEx mentors will contact you to help you craft a personal essay that will be your ticket to your dream college.
Conclusion
You've reached the end of this blog now, and it's finally time to pick up that pen and write your personal essay. Don't be afraid to have an imperfect draft; after all, it is much easier to edit a poorly written first draft than to edit an unwritten essay.
I'd also suggest creating a template or hack sheets that you can use for multiple applications rather than writing an essay from scratch every time. Many colleges also require you to answer specific prompts, so remember what kind of admission essay you've been asked for before you start writing.
For personal essay templates, help with structuring and proofreading, or mentorship, you can sign up with GuidEx. Trust us to be your essay helper! Check out more blogs on the GuidEx website for essay examples.You’ll get personalized mentorship, not just for essay writing, but for every step of the application process. We also offer upskilling courses, a networking community, and internship opportunities. We do have limited slots, so I’d suggest getting in touch ASAP to see if there are spots still left. Good luck on your journey to college!
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