The ability to write well can open up the door for college acceptance and scholarships. Expressing your thoughts effectively on paper is essential to this process. The personal statement may be your admission ticket into college. If you are a student who does not do well on standardized tests or have a 2.5-2.9 GPA, a great essay may cause the admission reviewers to overlook those deficiencies and admit you on your outstanding essay. Some colleges are test-optional which means the focus will be on your essay, talent, extracurricular activities and volunteering.
In writing any essay it is important that you follow all the guidelines and make sure you answer the questions. You should never send anything until you have had someone proofread your work. It is also important that you read the essay out loud to hear how it sounds and correct your errors. The document should not contain grammatical errors. Submitting an essay with errors sends a negative message about your desire to attend their school or receive a scholarship. When you are competing for thousands of dollars, you do not want to be turned down because of a poorly written essay.
You must write your own essay, reviewers are good at determining a student voice versus an adult voice.
The major stumbling block I see in working with students is the inability to clarify their goals, passion and objectives. Scholarship organizations in particular are looking for you to share your goals, passions and why they are meaningful to you. Students who have not crystallized their thoughts in this area may have difficulty writing the personal statement.
Here are some common errors I encounter when editing college and scholarship applications:
- Subject-verb disagreement
- Too many “I” statements
- Tense Inaccuracies
- Using too many words to express a thought
- Run-on sentences
- Relying too much on spell-check
- Low level vocabulary words
- Not addressing all aspects of the question
- Improper use of prepositional phrases
- Too many contractions.
Carelessness in these areas can disqualify you for college acceptance and scholarships.