November 10th
2010
I know from experience that college application time can be extremely stressful. Not only do you have to gather all of your scores and fill out information about yourself, most applications also require some type of essay or personal statement.
Here at ISU, we require you to write an approx. 500 word statement addressing the following:
- State why you feel Illinois State University is a good fit for your educational goals.
- Identify and explain your academic strengths and weaknesses.
- Explain any circumstances which affected your high school academic performance, if applicable.
I can’t tell you what to write, the personal statement should be about your experiences. However, to help you with the process, I’ll give you some tips for success.
Remember to revise
Give yourself enough time to write a few drafts. It takes time to think about how you want to answer the questions, so make sure you give yourself enough time to do it effectively.
Read directions very carefully!
The Office of Admissions tells you what to address in your personal statement. So, follow directions! Read the request carefully and respond in a thoughtful manner. If you don’t address questions they asked, you might have left out important information that they needed to know and it could affect their decision.
Tell Admissions something they don’t already know!
They can find your GPA and list of classes on your transcript. Tell them something they can’t find. For example, if your grades slipped your junior year because of a personal issue, now is your time to explain it. For our personal statement, we want to know your habits as a student. We ask you to talk about your academic strengths and weaknesses. When you talk about weaknesses, always tell us what you’ve learned and how you plan to overcome them. It shows that you recognize your weaknesses and have made a plan to not let them hinder your academic success.
Have a clear organizational structure
Don’t just ramble on about your experiences with no organization. Make sure it is easy to follow. Have a few people read your essay to verify it makes sense BEFORE you send it in.
Use specific examples to illustrate ideas
Examples help illustrate your experiences. They also are interesting to read. You may say in your essay you have great time management skills, but how will they know it’s true unless you talk about your experience with balancing multiple projects? Examples also help prove how your experiences have helped you develop as a student. Just make sure your examples are relevant and not too personal.
Proofread, proofread, proofread!
Remember, it’s college. There is no room for spelling or grammar errors. Microsoft Word spell check does not catch all grammar errors, so carefully read over your essay a few times before you send it in. Having other people proofread it will also help you.
Consider these tips when writing your personal statement; it will help you with the process.
Best of luck with your applications and happy writing!
Jennifer
November 4th, 2011 at 4:13 am
Thank You Sooo Much! This helped me out alot,this is the exact tips and advise i needed to write my personal statment,hope to soon be an ISU student (:
November 4th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Glad this post could help.
Thanks for reading. Let me know if you ever have any questions. You can either post here or tweet me at @ISUAdmissions. Good luck with your application!
January 12th, 2012 at 3:16 am
This site was very helpful for me while i was writing my paper. I do want to Thank You for put this out so people like me can be helped. So again Thank You. Now I just hope I get accepted.
January 12th, 2012 at 2:38 pm
Kimani, You’re very welcome! Glad this post was helpful to you. I know the waiting process can be difficult. If you ever get anxious and want to check on the status of your application, tweet me at @ISUAdmissions or post on Facebook – Illinois State University Office of Admissions. I can check the status of your app. for you. Best of luck!