Writing a Personal Statement: The 10 Big Mistakes Students Should Avoid

For many students, writing a personal statement is the most challenging part. This is a much smaller task than any essay they’ve been assigned. But, it carries great importance, which makes the writing process very stressful.

When you study to become a better writer, you learn general useful tips and tricks for research and academic writing. However, this is nothing like the papers you’ve written in college before.

Before you test several statements and decide on how to best present yourself, you should learn what not to do. Here is a list of 10 common mistakes that a student can make when they write a statement.

1.   Grammar & Spelling Mistakes

This is common for every bit of academic writing you ever do. Scratch that – it is common for EVERY writing you ever do. Imagine how annoying it can be for the admission board to find a mistake in a short personal statement. That shows that the student is irresponsible and didn’t even take some time to proofread their statement before it was submitted.

2.   Including Many Clichés

Using clichés can make your writing better worded, but this becomes a bad idea when the wording used is not relevant. You need to use positive language when you write this, but also back it with specific and clear examples, as well as deep analysis. The idea of a statement is to show, not tell.

3.   Not Asking for Help

The personal statement is troublesome for many and yet, some students submit an average application instead of simply asking for help. If you’re having trouble with making your writing creative, Writix can help you both write and edit your personal statement. People who have been working on such assignments daily know what to include and what to exclude, and are impartial about your achievements. It’s hard when you have to pick from your achievements, so a person who hasn’t done them is more objective.

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4.   Too Many Extracurricular Activities

Taking on extracurricular activities is a great way to get some experience and things to include in your application. If you use your experience properly, this can help you stand out as a promising individual. This is the part that best showcases your soft skills, but it doesn’t mean that you should go overboard. You should only include activities that mean something in your personal statement. Check college paper writing service

5.   Excessive Use of Quotes

The same rules as with clichés apply here – too many quotes are never a good idea. These can be a very powerful tool for backing your arguments, but taking quotes out of context or overusing them will have the opposite effect. You’ll appear to be pretentious or worse – like you didn’t know what to include.

6.   Repeating Information

Keep in mind that the person who reads your statement will also check your credentials, read your resume, and know what you’ve accomplished. This is not the place to tell them things they already know. Don’t regurgitate any existing arguments, or remind them of all that you’ve accomplished. They already know all that, so your content won’t stand out.

7.   Not Meeting the Word Limits

It is hard to include all you want in a short statement, so you’ll run out of space on your first and second draft, maybe even your third. But, meeting the word and character limits is essential, so make sure to keep it short and concise.

8.   Making Things Up

Don’t ever – ever lie in your personal statement. The pressure to stand out and impress can be big, but this shouldn’t tempt you to lie in your application. You might be caught and if you are, your chances to achieve your goal will vanish.

9.   Making It Too General

Sending out the same thing to all schools will save you a lot of time, but it will also make you lose opportunities. The committee will get a sense that you’ve created a general statement almost instantly. It simply looks generic, no matter who well it is written.

10. Failing to Give It a Personal Element

There’s a reason why this statement is called ‘’personal’’. The board does not want to read general information about education. They want to learn about you.

It can be much harder to include a lot of important information in a small bit of content. That’s exactly what a personal statement is. Now that you know about the most common mistakes, you can craft your statement and avoid them.

Author’s Bio:

Michael Turner is a professional content writer and blogger. He creates admission papers for students who need assistance. In his spare time, Michael works on several educational blogs where he teaches people how to become better at writing.