MAKE YOUR MINUTE COUNT
What could be the Most Important Minute of Your Student’s Future:
The Personal Statement is different than any other kind of writing students may have previously completed. I frequently listen, as parents and students tell me the English teacher has lauded the student as a good writer. That may be the case, especially if the student has good language skills, such as spelling, grammar, and word usage. Other required skills include idea generation, good editing, and perseverance when the writing process doesn’t flow easily. Despite having the skills of a good writer, many students will struggle to construct an effective personal statement for their college applications. There are several reasons for this:
Without proper guidance, it is unlikely that the student understands the expectation.
They have never written anything as important as this essay, which could be a determining factor in their college acceptance. This leads to feelings of intimidation.
The student doesn’t know what the personal statement is supposed to accomplish.
Students are required to engage in a process of thorough and careful self-reflection to create the substance of their personal statement.
Reason number 4 causes most students to struggle. Who knows us better than we know ourselves? We live with ourselves 24/7, all the days of our lives. We know our shortcomings. We also know our strengths. We are the keeper of our secrets. We establish our own goals. We have dreams and desires for the future that we understand better than anyone else. This essay sounds like it should be easy! Yet, it is not.
Many of us have never contemplated the difficulty of having all of this knowledge about ourselves and the challenge of sorting through it all. The writer must filter out which pieces of information to share while attempting to create a favorable impression on a blind audience, who will read the essay and judge the content and the words shared. This is a tall order. The other challenge is to remain authentic, which begs the author to question which one of their personas is the truest version of him/herself?
Once the author has figured out how to find and share their authentic voice in a manner that makes them appear likable, they face another hurdle that proves to be a stumbling block for most. Writing forces the author to clear the mental noise, ever-present in the mind, and organize his or her thoughts in a manner neither required nor afforded by other forms of communication. The organization, along with its content, will determine if the essay will be read in its entirety. If you ever wondered how long it takes to read 650 words, which is the word limit for the personal statement, the answer is one minute. Make that one minute work for you. Your student’s future could depend on it.
College GPS is here to help with the required writing and all of your college needs. Schedule a complimentary college strategy session to learn how College GPS can help your student succeed.