It is not just Martin Luther or JFK who could be used as a theme for the admission essay, if the guidelines of the Committee allow it, you may even use a fictional character from movies, books, etc. You have to be aware though, that your topic may have come from fiction, but your finished essay should not come across as a work of fiction.
Why your favorite fictional character is a good admission essay idea
First, there are greater chances of the Admissions officers getting more interested in reading your essay rather than the old, tired and overused themes of historical icons. Second, your favorite fictional character is close to your heart. If Thomas Odd (a character of Dean Koontz) is your choice because both he and you experienced rescuing a friend from criminally-minded persons, then you could point out (then go to the supporting statements) that you could definitely relate to him.
Ways to discuss this topic in your essay for admission
One warning: usually, you would not be barred from using a cartoon character, but if he/she is either funny or just trivial, you might come across as an applicant who is not serious in applying. Relate the character’s life, values and attitudes to your own, and even connect it to your future goals.
The good thing about using a fictional person in the admission essay is that it’s fun. There are so many stress factors in the application process (not just the writing of the essay), and creating this essay could be both work and play at the same time. Take note, play here does not mean your essay should be lousy or haphazardly done.
Related questions:
1. Can Batman be used as part of the discussions on the admission essay?
2. What is the danger of using a cartoon character as the admission essay theme?
3. How does one discuss the strengths and attributes of the fictional character?
Using Examples of Personal Statements as Guides on How Being Competitive Can Help You Excel in College
Being competitive can be a problem or a benefit, depending on the situation you are in and how you channel your competitive spirit. When you are applying for college, competition is something that you have to be very aware of. With thousands of students applying to the same colleges and universities that you apply to, you definitely have to show the admissions committee why you deserve to be accepted into their school. Although the competition may be tough, you can definitely make it into and through college if you have the right competitive spirit. One of the ways to let this spirit come through to the admissions committee is through your personal statement.
Why is the personal statement so important
The personal statement is one of the most essential requirements in your application package. Even if your transcripts aren’t flawless and your resume isn’t perfect, the personal statement can sway the decision of the admissions committee. In other words, the personal statement can give you a competitive edge over all of the other applicants. The trick is basically to introduce yourself to the committee and show them why you have the right personality, virtues, and values to succeed in college and beyond college.
Writing about competitiveness in your personal statement
A great way to make effective use of your personal statement is to discuss your competitive spirit and how it has helped to form your character and personality. For example, many people who write about competition are athletes or anyone else who participates in competitive events. It’s important not to sound as though you are obsessed with or get carried away by competition. Instead, focus on how your competitive nature has helped you overcome adversity, challenges, and other difficult times in your life. It is also a great idea to explain how you have grown as a person as a result of the various experiences that you have had in the past.
Using examples of personal statements
Examples of personal statements can help you in writing your own competition-inspired essays. The trick is to take note of how other people have developed the theme of competition throughout their essays. Also, try to analyze which types of competitive situations they chose to write about and how they linked these experiences to their personality traits. If you really want to write a moving and heartfelt essay, you can focus on the most difficult competition you have faced in the past, the outcome of the challenge, and how the outcome made you a better person who is more ready to deal with the hardships of college.
How a competitive spirit can help you through college
Aside from focusing on past experiences and how they have made you into the person you are today, you should also think about how your competitive spirit can help you through college in the future. Reflect on the types of traits that competition builds, such as leadership, teamwork, independence, self-motivation, the ability to rise to the occasion, and perseverance. Getting through college has a lot to do with honing these traits and skills. In your essay, try to touch on how your competitive spirit and everything that you have learned from competition can help you get through college and deal with the many challenges ahead of you.
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Using Examples of Personal Statements When Writing An Essay Highlighting Your Excellent Research Skills
Research skills are an invaluable asset in any industry and any profession that you enter into, even in the schooling stages of one’s life. No matter what path you decide to take in your college or post-graduate education, you will find that your research skills can be a great help not only for getting through school, but also for getting into school. You application forms and transcripts will probably give the admissions committee a hint that your research skills are excellent, but you may want to consider highlighting these skills in your personal statement. Read on for some helpful tips on how to write an admission essay about your excellent research skills.
Put your research skills to use
As a good researcher, you probably already know the importance of doing research before starting any major projects. So, before you begin writing your application essay or personal statement, you need to begin by doing some research on the schools that you are applying to. Taking the time and effort to do your research will give you a vital edge when writing your personal statement. Try to get information from the official websites of these schools to get a clear picture of their values, style of education, strengths and weaknesses, campuses, student bodies, and their philosophy of education. You will be able to use all of this information when deciding on your approach for your personal statement. While your research, remember to think of ways that you can tie in the themes of research and your research skills in particular when writing your essay.
Gather some sources
Now that you have done some research on the schools you plan on applying to, it’s time to gather some sources to help you on your personal statement. There are loads of guides and tips on the Internet, but one of the most effective sources for help are examples of personal statements. Gather some examples of personal statements so you can get some ideas about the format, style, tone, themes, and subjects that others have written about in their essays. Because you want to focus on your research skills, you should try to find some examples of personal statements that also focus on research skills. It may take some time to find some good examples of personal statements, but the benefits are well worth it.
How to focus on your research skills in your personal statement
With a good foundation of what the admissions committee expects from your essay, you can now go about writing your personal statement. When you write about your research skills, make sure not to make that the only focus of your personal statement. While research skills are a definite plus, you don’t want the admissions committee to think that it is your only skill or trait. Try to discuss your research skills in relation to how they have helped you deal with difficult situations or challenging times. You can also relate your abilities as an excellent researcher to your values, character traits, virtues, and future goals. Reflection is an important step towards realizing just how much of an impact your research skills have made on you, your personality, and your life in general.
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Respecting Intellectual Property when Viewing Examples of Personal Statements: Why Plagiarism Is Bad
When applying for college or post-graduate studies, one of the most important parts of your admissions package is the personal statement. For many applicants, the personal statement spells the difference between getting accepted or rejected by their school of choice. For this reason, some people turn to examples of personal statements for help with writing their own essays. While making use of examples of personal statements is definitely a good idea, there is a major danger that you should be aware of before you do so: plagiarism. Educational institutions frown upon plagiarism and even punish offenders by expulsion in serious cases. Read on to learn more about plagiarism and how to avoid committing plagiarism when using examples of personal statements to write your essay.
What is plagiarism?
In basic terms, plagiarism is the act of using another writer’s words and ideas without properly citing your sources. Intellectual property is the main concept behind plagiarism, because the original writers have the intellectual property rights over the words and ideas that are expressed in their works. Whenever you make use of someone else’s words, ideas, sounds, images, videos, or any other form of intellectual property, it’s imperative that you document your sources or you run the risk of getting called out for plagiarism. As mentioned earlier, most educational institutions don’t take plagiarism lightly. If you are caught plagiarizing someone else’s works, you can be expelled from your school, get your application rejected, or, in serious cases, get arrested for intellectual property rights infringement.
What does plagiarism have to do with your personal statement?
When you make use of examples of personal statements, you may get tempted to use the ideas and words of the examples that you read. While direct copying of the examples is definitely plagiarism, there are a number of other ways in which you can commit plagiarism. A common misconception about plagiarism is that paraphrasing the original author’s words or ideas is not an offense. The truth is, whether you copy directly, paraphrase, or summarize, you will need to site your sources or run the risk of getting caught for plagiarism. Another plagiarism risk is making use of famous quotes or sayings without stating who originally said or wrote the saying. With all of the risks of committing plagiarism, you’re probably wondering: “So how do I put examples of personal statements to good use?”
How can you put examples of personal statements to good use without plagiarizing?
Plagiarism and intellectual property laws, in general, are complex and difficult to understand, especially if you aren’t a lawyer. First off, it’s important to realize that it probably won’t look good to the admissions committee if your personal statement is full of quotes and citations of sample personal statements, so try to avoid that route. When making use of sample essays, your best bet is to only use these essays as guidelines and sources of inspiration. Instead of actually lifting words or ideas from the examples that you find, try to take note of the characteristics of the examples, such as the tone, format, style, themes, and subject matter that was written about. That way, you will be sure that you won’t commit plagiarism and, at the same time, your essay will be original. Remember, your goal is to introduce your own character and personality through your personal statement, so avoid plagiarism and let your true self shine through in your admissions essays.
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Universities and schools usually have similar processes on screening and admitting applicants. But, if you learn about details on admission requirements such as interview questions and quality and type of personal statements preferred, you can increase your chances of getting accepted into the educational institution of your choice. Below are tips that can help you prepare for the screening and admission process.
Tip 1 – Check out online forums, student blogs, and message boards
You can use the Internet to get assistance and tips on doing excellently in interviews as well as on preparing the requirements for admissions, such as application forms, recommendation letters, and entrance exams. Join online forums, student blogs, and message boards of the schools you want to apply to. In the said websites, you can post questions and wait for members to provide their answers. Most likely, the members who participate in the forums, blog websites, and message boards are current students or are alumni of your preferred universities.
Tip 2 – Use your social network to get information
Do you know people who are studying or have studied in the universities you want to apply to? Get in touch with them to learn more about admission processes. Students or alumni can tell you about their professors who conduct interviews and the characteristics these professors look for in applicants. In addition, students and alumni can give you tips on how to write your personal statements and how to study for the entrance exams.
Tip 3 – Get answers from the horse’s mouth
Other than students and alumni, you can go directly to one or two members of admissions committees and ask them questions. They are, often, more than willing to help you because they want applicants to succeed in getting accepted into universities. Of course, it is essential that you set an appointment with any of the committee members because they are very busy people. And once you get a few minutes with them, ask about the application process and be considerate of their time. With just a bit of research and effort, you can well be on your way to making it to your dream university or college.
Because a personal statement must make an applicant noticed, its 3 most common types revolve on engaging topics. The personal statement or school admission essay must reflect the applicant’s personality. This is a must because the admissions committee wants to get to know you first, the applicant, even through ink and paper alone.
The needs of admission committees have given rise to the 3 most common kinds of personal statements: rising from adversity, use of a quote that summarizes your experiences, and use of a metaphor to illustrate what your life has been so far. Using any of these three does not necessarily mean that you will be writing a tired, overused essay. When you put in your unique angle and your own specific details, you will be able to write an effective personal statement. To make sure that you are doing the right thing while still relating fresh ideas, browse through examples of personal statements. These examples of personal statements will provide you with techniques on how to completely customize your admission essay.
Overcoming the odds
One common type of personal statement is the “rising from adversity” theme. The topics that can be dealt with can vary greatly. Your personal tragedy may be as serious as being a first-generation immigrant who felt like an outcast at high school because of language and cultural barriers or being someone who has supported oneself through college (in cases of applying to graduate school). If you have disabilities, then you can also discuss how you overcame them. Disabilities that you can focus on in your personal statement can include learning disabilities such as dyslexia or physical disabilities. Adversities may vary in gravity such as having to adjust constantly through your formative years because you moved from house to house several times due to your dad’s job.
No matter what the odds in question are, it is the way that you handle your situation that the admissions committee is more interested in. If you have proven that you are made of stronger stuff than the next person without sounding too arrogant, you may just win a slot into the school of your choice. However, remember to keep your tone positive even though you are discussing problems that you have once encountered.
How a quote defines your life
Although some advise against using a quote in your personal statement, there are still several examples of personal statements that make effective use of it. If you do want to use a quote that will define your experiences in life, choose one that has not been overused. Look for quotations from less famous sources in order to present an intriguing take on an otherwise overdone personal statement tactic. You may even use a quote from your mother, your father, or any person that has had a significant influence in your life.
One of the reasons people do not recommend using the quote in the personal statement is that, sometimes, the writer does not come up with an essay that is directly connected or relevant to the quote. Sometimes, the quote feels isolated from the essay. To avoid this common problem, remember to make references to the quote once or twice in your essay so that the reader will see the connection.
Your life as a metaphor
Another common kind of personal statement is the use of a metaphor to describe your life. As with the quote, do be careful not to use an overdone comparison. If handled well, you may project yourself as a creative and philosophical person. You may also be able to convey ideas properly when using metaphors.
Again, similar to the quote, create a clear connection between the metaphor and your life or a specific point in your life. Doing so will tell the reader that your thoughts and ideas are organized and flow coherently.
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