Bad Topic Selection can kill your Personal Statement Examples

Choosing a theme(s) for your personal statement examples or admission essays is the first step, but it is a crucial one. The student-focused myeducationblogonline.com’s blog has plenty to say about this topic. Let me dissect some of their high points:

One of the difficult parts in writing a college admission essay is deciding on a good topic to write about. As these essays can make or break your college application, the pressure builds up that you might turn into a panicked wreck. But deciding what to discuss won’t be so difficult if you keep in mind what the college admission officials are looking for. They are not looking for a Pulitzer Prize winning essay, though it would be good if you could come up with one. What they’re looking for is your unique, personalized, and organized expression in your essay. There are sample college application essays that can give you good ideas, but don’t forget that it would still boil down to your viewpoint and opinion on what a good topic would be.

If you managed to come up with a Pulitzer-grabber, give me a call please. My nephew is about to start with his own personal statement examples, I’ll borrow your choice. Anyway, the writer of this blog mentioned “unique” and “personalized”. Don’t wonder about the difference, for all intents and purposes, there is none.

There are colleges that make things easier for you. They send you specific topics to write about and also a section to write about yourself and the reasons for your college application. It’s made easier since you have topics to write about, but that is not the end of that. How you write about these topics will be the deciding factor for your essay. You can use sample college application essays to see how some topics can be approached and answered. From them, you can also get some tips on idea presentation and organization. Always remember that it’s you who is making the application, so it should be you who should appear on the essay. What that means is that your essay should contain what you actually think and believe in. It’s fine to show off your knowledge, but you should also show how that knowledge affects your beliefs and daily life. You’re not simply asked to list down what you know, you’re also asked of your honest and informed opinion on a certain topic. What they want to see is your personality, critical thinking, and your writing and organizational skills.

I agree with all of this part of the blog article, but I have to give my five cents worth- you may have a very interesting topic that you can really chew, but if the technical aspects (grammar, logic, punctuations) are neglected, your personal statement will be crushed by hundreds of other essays. Editing for punctuations may seem trivial to you, but trust me, it is not.

One last word here, there is something to be said about the less-written topics. It may be true that Gandhi’s life inspired you so much, and it may be true that you can write 2,000 words on how his acts have molded your values, but trust me on this: numberless other applicants will probably use this topic for their personal statement examples.

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