How To Write A Personal Statement For High School
High school students are usually not very conversant with personal statements. This makes it very difficult for them when they find themselves in situations that need them to write personal statements. Irrespective of whether it is intended for use in college or high school, a personal statement needs to pass some information about the student to the reviewers and consequently to the school administration. This is the reason why personal statements are unavoidable prior to admission. Here are a number of tips that will make the process of writing personal statements easier for high school students.
Understand the Requirements
Before you start writing, it is important to first read and understand the directions. Each school has its own set of rules and regulations that need to be followed when writing personal statements. Failure to follow these rules will only leave you in problems because you will not be given credit for your hard work. It’s also important to note that a personal statement is not a résumé. You don’t need to mention every single accomplishment that you have had in the years that you have been in high school.
Talk about You
A personal statement like the name suggests needs to be ‘personal’. You need to mention things that are important to you as an individual. If you talk about things that mean nothing to you in efforts to please the panel, you may get the position then live a life full of regrets when you fail to meet the society’s expectations. It will be of great advantage to you if you can mention some of the things that you hope to achieve in life and how joining the given high school or college that you are applying to join will be in line with these ambitions.
Show Interest in the School
If you are writing a personal statement to join a college, then do some little research and find out the mission and the vision statement that the school upholds. If it’s a private high school, you can look for the values that the school believes in. Once you have found all these, you need to add them to your personal statement to show that you are a serious student who knows where they are going. However, you need to make sure that you do this in a unique and witty manner that will not explicitly link the two.
References:
- Tips on the Personal Statement (University of California)
- Topics and Tips for Writing Your Admission Essays (The University of Texas at Austin)