Strategies for personal statement topic selection

After gathering some background information about your life experiences and academic interests (see brainstorming for the personal statement), you are ready to strategize what direction to go in with your personal statement topic.

Step 1: Test your top three ideas

Pull up the three essay topics that you came up with during the brainstorming activity. If you haven’t done this yet, now is the time.

Make sure that your topics check all of the items off the following list:

• What elements about myself do I want to share with admissions readers?
• Will I have enough content to tell an engaging story with a clear beginning, middle, and end?
• Is this essay mostly about me, and not about other people in my life?
• Will I be able to use creative writing techniques to liven up my story?
• If I’m choosing a common topic, can I put a unique spin on it?
• Does this essay reveal my best possible self?

Step 2: Give each a working title

After you’ve done this for all three topics, come up with a “working title” for each one, nodding either to the story’s content itself or to its theme.

Step 3: Summarize each story

Next, summarize each story in three to four sentences.

Step 4: Weigh strengths and weaknesses

Write down a few strengths and weaknesses for each topic. What can you envision really working well? What parts might be expanded upon? What do you see falling flat?

And voilà! By reflecting on your responses to Step 4, you should be able to determine the best possible topic for your personal statement!

Homework

Develop your chosen idea (just ONE) by jotting down notes about what you would like to mention in your introduction, followed by three main ideas that could be used in the essay’s body paragraphs, followed by your ideas for how you would like to conclude your essay. You can write either bullet-point notes or actual sentences. It’s your choice!

Complete the homework assignment using the following outline:

• Chosen topic/working title:
• Introduction:
• Three main ideas (and supporting details):
  • Main idea #1:
  • Main idea #2:
  • Main idea #3:
• Conclusion:

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