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College Essays and Personal Statements
College essays or personal statements that are required for college admissions are an important component of the application. The Counseling Office encourages students to make an appointment with the CHS Writing Center (located in the IMC) for assistance with college essays. The following website and article provide the do's and don'ts and sample essays:
www.accepted.com/college
Understanding the Essay Prompt
Advice for Writing Successful Application Essays (article from Purdue University)
7 Effective Habits of Writing the Best College Essay
Essays That Worked - example of essays nominated by Johns Hopkins admissions committee
The Personal Statement/Essay - helpful tips
UW-System Personal Statement Prompts
The Common Application Essay Prompts for 2020-2021:
1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, please share your story.
2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
4. Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma — anything of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
6. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.
Blog From the University of Wisconsin System Regarding Statements/Essays:
Many of our campuses want to know what you bring to the campus community. A way to begin to gather your thoughts about this is to think about your experiences with work, volunteering, classes, and other ways that you spend your time. What is meaningful about these experiences? What have you learned, and how have you changed? When you think about these types of topics, you can develop ideas over the summer for your personal statements on your application. Colleges want to know what makes you unique.
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