How to write a personal statement: 5 mistakes to avoid

Like a large part of the population your age out there, you probably want to go off to college. Even more, you most likely want to do this by going to the college of your choice and you will even be willing to get into debt to make sure that you get the degree you have decided on.

Most of the people out there work quite hard towards being accepted into those excellent colleges, but sometimes what they do wrong is focusing just on their grades and portfolio. Of course, the prizes you won, the achievements you have focused on, the volunteering activities and the excellent grades will all make a huge difference but sometimes, what matters even more than this is who you are and how you present yourself. Thus, many of the committees out there will put more emphasis on good personal statements than they will put on good grades, for example.

Why is Writing a Personal Statement So Hard and How to Avoid Making Mistakes?

Writing a personal statement may not be very difficult on its own, but the truths is that when you associate it with the pressure that comes with applying for good colleges, you can find yourself “numb” and at a loss of words. Not being able to actually voice out your own ideas can be very hard to deal with but in the end, you can move on and actually write that personal statement down. Here are the 5 most common mistakes to avoid when doing this:

1. Plagiarizing your personal statement. Simply copy-pasting personal statements off the Internet and “adapting” them to your own style will never be an actual good choice. As a matter of fact, it can be absolutely disastrous because the members of the admission committee will definitely spot the plagiarism and exclude your application almost instantaneously.
2. Being too sentimental. It is good to show you are a strong and sensitive person, but make sure that you do not make your personal statement sound like a bad movie script.
3. Being too formal. At the same time, do make sure that you are formal but not stiff and personality-less in your writing style.
4. Touching upon very sensitive topics, especially when the major/college you want to choose is not related in any way to this.
5. Simply listing down the achievements already included in your portfolio.

Remember that the personal statement is your time to shine through and allow your personality and true goals in life be seen by this committee.