Did you know that it is a true challenge to get into a university of your choice these days? Consider the admission rates to the most popular universities in the USA. These numbers are increasingly low. For instance, Yale accepts only 5% of applicants, Harvard only 4.5%, and Columbia only 3.9%. The reason for that is simple: anyone can apply to a university regardless of their country. Language is no longer a barrier today.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise that many high school students strive for the highest GPA and SAT/ACT scores to give themselves the best shot at getting into competitive colleges. However, as practice shows, this is not enough.
According to Forbes, the prestigious universities are up to students, who are much more than good grades; they are about personalities who have already done something worthy or have a unique vision and brilliant ideas. Therefore, they ask children to send not only their GPA and SAT/ACT scores but also personal essays.
If you are new to personal statement essays, we are here to shed some light on them and give some tips and advice on how to nail them.
First things first. What is the personal statement? It is an completely free essays online that reveals the personality of the enrollee. It demonstrates skills, aspirations, and ambitions, shows passion for the field, hints at how extracurricular activities and other relevant experiences have made a person interested in the area, and reveals why they would like to study a particular course or subject for this specific university.
It plays a crucial role in the admission process by humanizing the applicants and revealing their potential and personality. The majority of admission committees agree it can be a tie-breaker whether to proceed with the enrollee or not because when well done, it takes an application to an entirely new level that cuts through the crowd and gets a person noticed.
Therefore, it is vital to nail it. There are many ways to do this. For starters, get as much help as you can from personal essay examples since they can give you a boost in this venture by offering a bunch of benefits for free.
Personal Statement Examples: Importance, Benefits, and Best Practices
There is a lot of information to absorb and process when pursuing higher education. To streamline this process, it is highly recommended to use personal statement examples. As practice shows, they come of enormous importance for college applications simply because they show what it is all about in practice.
For undergraduates, many things that should be done to get into college are new and scary. However, with a good personal statement sample or even a professionally-created template for personal statement, this obscurity that causes stress and tension disappears, providing students with a clear vision of where to head.
That is not all; examples of a personal statement come with huge benefits, especially for college matriculants. Let’s consider them.
Benefits of Using Personal Statement Examples for College
Personal statement examples for college offer a range of benefits:
- They demonstrate in practice what the admission committee wants from the enrollee.
- They relieve the tension of unknowing.
- They ease anxiety and help to avoid depression.
- They show the right path to nail the task.
- They help organize ideas and create an outline that will set a solid foundation for the paper and give some strong guidelines on where to move forward.
- They show how to introduce the great punch into a personal statement introduction to ignite the interest of the admission committee but still stay true to yourself.
- They give unique ideas and force us to see the problem from different angles.
- They show how to make a clear, smooth, and clever transition from SAT scores to personality.
- They teach how to infuse a better flow in your paper by demonstrating the correct format for personal statements.
- They advise on what evidence to choose to make your case sound professional.
- They help develop writing skills in a short period.
- They save time.
Indeed, the personal statement example offers numerous benefits; however, it still does not solve the problem completely. To get an excellent personal essay, it is crucial to implement all essential features and follow the best practices shared by admission committee members.
The Key Features of the Best Personal Statements
Although personal statements come in all shapes and sizes, those who have reached their goals have several essential things in common. Let us consider them:
- They are well-formatted. For instance, the copy has personal statement headings that meet the standards and requirements of the university.
- They use professional language. At a minimum, this means no passive voice, redundant words, urban slang, awkward phrases, clichés, and quotes.
- They have a copy that strikes an intended tone and establishes a proper atmosphere.
- They stick to word counts and line limits precisely as requested.
- They are organized with a clear pattern that ensures the best readability.
- They are free from errors in spelling, grammar, and structure.
- They have a strong opening.
- They directly address the prompt.
- They include future goals and ambitions.
Along with implementing all these critical features in the personal essay, following best practices in this niche is highly recommended. For instance,
- Thoroughly review uni websites, prospectuses, and online student guides.
- Use real-life personal essays examples to overcome writing block and find a structure to stay on track.
- Reflect your authentic voice and character.
- Show your potential to excel.
- Suit your story to the person or committee reading it.
- Organize your response into paragraphs that are no longer than three lines.
- Add real-life examples and share your experience and achievements.
- Supply details to draw a vibrant picture.
- Create a draft and re-read it twice to polish everything.
- Convince your readers that you have a passion for the chosen area of study or work.
- Mention any relevant volunteering you have done.
- Mention personal circumstances such as financial hardship, change of school, physical or mental health condition, or caring for a family member.
- Be careful with humor or anything unusual.
- Check the character and line limit. Note word processors may get different values.
- Do not focus so much on making the first impression and writing a witty first line. The general impression is what matters.
How to Find the Right High School Application Essay Examples for You
High school application essay examples are not that easy to come by, especially the good ones written by experts in the field or top-grade undergraduates. Therefore, start your search in our collection of regularly-updated personal essays. We have a hundred of them in the library so that you can find something unique that fits your purpose and gives insights on how to reveal your personality.
When searching through the list, always consider such crucial factors as level (it can be college, high school, master’s degree, Ph.D. ), type of high school (it can be Business school, Law school, or Medical school), and subject. Pick up several samples, explore them carefully and download one that provides the best value for you.