Writing essays and Personal Statements
I have written several articles on crafting your personal statements. Scroll down for UK and Canada.
USA
1a) Great College Advice has an excellent series on the new common app essay topics.
VIEW THE COMPLETE SERIES OF POSTS ANALYZING THE COMMON APPLICATION PROMPTS
- Writing About Failure
- Writing About A Belief or Idea
- Writing About A Place or Environment
- Writing About the Transition to Adulthood
- Writing About Your Background Story
1b) www.internationalcounselor.org has a series of posts dedicated to the personal statements (UK) and the essay in USA. There is a five part series on preparing your essay:
- Part 1: Getting started
- Part 2: Examing yourself
- Part 3: Outside opinions
- Part 4: Actually writing
- Part 5: Points to Ponder
1c) All College Application essays provides supplimentary essays questions to a variety of colleges with some helpful hints. They also have $5.99 app for iphone and andriod. Price seems kind of steep, but I guess to have over 700 college essay prompts in one place, this may be worth it.
1d) The Wall Street Journal asked deans of admission to write responses to their own essay questions:
- Barnard College’s Debora Spar on daily routines
- Carleton College’s Robert A. Oden Jr. on getting lost — and found — in Cairo
- Grinnell College’s Russell K. Osgood on a historical figure that has influenced him.
- Oberlin College’s Marvin Krislov on a historical figure that has influenced him.
- Pomona College’s David Oxtoby on an experience that was ‘just plain fun’
- Reed College’s Colin Diver on an experience in diversity
- The University of Chicago’s Robert J. Zimmer on “Living the Question”
- University of Pennsylvania’s Amy Gutmann on her autobiography
- Vassar College’s Catharine Hill on an influential person in her life
- Wesleyan University’s Michael S. Roth on an influential person in his life
2) UC Berkeley maintains a great step by step approach to the UC essays. It includes sample openings, bodies and entire essays with commentary. Also check out the UC website and UC Notes for great advice. California Colleges offers more advice.
University of California offers advice on the Personal Insight Questions.
3) Connecticut College has a nice selection of 12 sample essays that work. Hee is an older version with more essays.
3b) Essays that matter from Tufts
3c) Essays that worked from Johns Hopkins.
4) Tips on writing the essay from Bates College. Great stuff.
5) More great stuff: Parke Mouthe’s oft quoted essay for US News and World Report. Also read his interview here.
6) The Boston Globe ran a great article last winter exploring the purpose of the essay.
7) University of California has a long video on the personal statement.
- Collegeboard has some greatsample essayswith critiques. They have a step by step guide organized as follows:
- Insight into theshortanswer.
- The big list ofEssay questionsfrom 2010
- Some new ones:Johns HopkinsAnd some more from Hamilton
- Hamilton
- Tufts
10 Opening Lines from Stanford Admission Essays
- I change my name each time I place an order at Starbucks.
- When I was in the eighth grade I couldn’t read.
- While traveling through the daily path of life, have you ever stumbled upon a hidden pocket of the universe?
- I have old hands.
- I was paralyzed from the waist down. I would try to move my leg or even shift an ankle but I never got a response. This was the first time thoughts of death ever cross my mind.
- I almost didn’t live through September 11th, 2001.
- The spaghetti burbled and slushed around the pan, and as I stirred it, the noises it gave off began to sound increasingly like bodily functions.
- I have been surfing Lake Michigan since I was 3 years old.
- I stand on the riverbank surveying this rippled range like some riparian cowboy -instead of chaps, I wear vinyl, thigh-high waders and a lasso of measuring tape and twine is slung over my arm.
- I had never seen anyone get so excited about mitochondria.
UK
I have made a screen cast of completing your personal statement:
In the screen cast you may wish to pause to read some of the longer slides (these are actual personal statements with commentary).
I mention lots of helpful sites on one screen.
Actual samples of essays:
- The Student room
- Studential has a sizable database.
- Get Into Uni has a few free samples of their editing service.
How to guides and advice:
- Cambridge offers some very helpful advice on what admission tutors are looking for, as does Soton and Reading. Oxford provides insight into how to write the personal statement.
- •Very cool running commentary on the process.
Aside from the above, originally posted in the international counselor, check out feedback from admission tutors:
University of Manchester offers a workbook style approach to get you started on crafting your personal statement.
Which university offers advice on 10 things you should include in your personal statement.
Imperial College London offers advice on how to write an excellent personal statement:
Bangor University on writing a winning personal statement:
And more:
https://players.brightcove.net/4824244714001/Sy9BBJ7E_default/index.html?videoId=4930130163001
A short video on Do’s and Don’ts in your personal statement.
What are universities looking for? SACU has compiled a nice assortment of advice from leading university.
CANADA
The University of British Columbia requires a personal profile. Need some insight? Try
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- Their how to page and
- this presentation
Queens university requires all students complete a Personal Statement of Experience.
Other institutions, such as the University of Western Ontario or the University of Toronto, the Application Supplement is only required if a student is applying to certain faculties. Learn more here.
ONE THOUGHT ON “WRITING ESSAYS AND PERSONAL STATEMENTS”
College Essays
In less than an hour, Ethan Sawyer will take you through a few of his favourite brainstorming exercises and you will generate many possible essay topics.
The Feelings and Needs Exercise
Ethan Sawyer takes you deep into your own personal experiences that will help you tap into the personal significance. DIrections here
Values Exercise
One of Ethan’s all time favourite activities is to help you identify you top values. Directions here.
Essence Objects Exercise
Another favourite of Ethan’s focus on objects that represent what is most important to you.
How to Brainstorm 21 College Essay Topics
A crazy fast set of brainstorming activities. DIrections here.
What are the 2026-27 Common App essay prompts?
Below is the full set of Common App essay prompts for 2025-26.
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Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
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The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
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Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
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Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
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Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
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Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
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Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design
 Connecticut College keeps a dozen essays for students to gain inspiration. |
 Each year, Johns Hopkins rolls out Essays that work. |
 Tufts UniversityTufts supplies us with Essays that matter. |
Get Writing
You cannot edit a blank page, so put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard and write. For best results:
1) Pick one of your essence objects and a couple of your values to focus on–tell that story.
2) Set your alarm for 25 minutes and write
3) When your alarm goes off, save and take a break.
4) Repeat the process twice more with different essence objects/values–ie write 2 more essays, completely different.
5) Now you have three essays. Read each aloud. Perhaps one is sounds better to your ears. Now get editing.
The 7 tips
1. Don’t spend too much time obsessing over which prompt to use
2. Don’t worry too much about what “they” want
3. Consider being vulnerable in your personal statement
4. Engage the readers imagination using all 5 senses
5. The ending of your essay should feel surprising, but inevitable
6. The essence objects exercise
7. The values exercise
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Editing1) Read aloud. If you are tripping over your own words, you know it needs some work. 2) Self-Edit. Run each essay through the great essay test. 3) Have your counselor read it. They have a unique perspective and expertise. 4) Limit the number of people who read it. Editing by Committee usually results in conflicting advice. |
The Triple Edit: Editing Your College Essay for Clarity and Brevity
Now that you’ve edited your college essay for intrigue, it’s time to edit for clarity. You want to ensure that you are using every word at your disposal for maximum effect. This video will teach the overwriters how to be brief and the underwriters how to expand. More tips here.
 Georgia Tech on AITools like ChatGPT, Bard and other AI-based assistance programs are powerful and valuable tools. We believe there is a place for them in helping you generate ideas, but your ultimate submission should be your own. As with all other sources, you should not copy and paste content you did not create directly into your application. Instead, if you choose to utilize AI-based assistance while working on your writing submissions for Georgia Tech, we encourage you to take the same approach you would when collaborating with people. Use it to brainstorm, edit, and refine your ideas. AI can also be a useful tool as you consider how to construct your resume in the Activities portion of the Common Application. We think AI could be a helpful collaborator, particularly when you do not have access to other assistance to help you complete your application. |
 Boston Uni on AIAs an innovative, teaching and research institution, Boston University encourages the exploration of new technologies and recognizes the growing importance of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. However, the Board of Admissions believes that the most compelling personal statements are representative of the writer’s authentic voice–a nuance that generative AI tools have yet to achieve. If you opt to use these tools at any point while writing your essays, they should only be used to support your original ideas rather than to write your essays in their entirety. |
 All essays, short-answer questions and any other material submitted by an applicant must be the work of that individual, unassisted by artificial intelligence. |
 What are some examples of ethical uses of AI for Caltech admissions essays?
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 The first, messiest, least demanding, but perhaps most important stage of pre-writing is brainstorming. Here’s a sample of five brainstorming techniques to get your mind moving and your words flowing as you start to plan your college essays. |
 So how do you come up with an essay idea? Brainstorm. Prep Scholar offers 35 jumping off points that touch on every possible memory you could harness, as well as advice on how to use your brainstorming session to fully realize your idea for an essay topic. |
 As with any writing assignment, the best way to approach the personal essay is to brainstorm what it is you want the entire essay to communicate about you to the adcom that will be considering you for admission. Read on for 4 surprising brainstorming exercises that will lead you to an effective personal statement strategy. |
Helpful books
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