essay personal statement sample

Your essays are some of the most important pieces of your application. A well-crafted essay will convey to the admissions committee why Hopkins could be a good fit for you, and how you might contribute to the campus community. Get essay writing tips from the Hopkins Insider. Below, read selected examples of essays that “worked,” as nominated by our admissions committee. These selections represent just a few examples of essays we found impressive and helpful during the past admissions cycle. These entries are distinct and unique to the individual writer; however, each of them assisted the admissions reader in learning more about the student beyond the transcripts and lists of activities. We hope these essays inspire you as you prepare to compose your own personal statements. The most important thing to remember is to be original and creative as you share your own story with us. Breaking Into Cars—Stephen I had never broken into a car before. We were in Laredo, having just finished our first day at a Habitat for Humanity work site. The Hotchkiss volunteers had already left, off to enjoy some Texas BBQ, leaving me behind with the college kids to clean up. Not until we were stranded did we realize we were locked out of the van. Someone picked a coat hanger out of the dumpster, handed it to me, and took a few steps back. “Can you do that thing with a coat hanger to unlock it?” “Why me?” I thought. More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window’s seal like I’d seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame. Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I’d been in this type of situation before. In fact, I’d been born into this type of situation. My upbringing has numbed me to.
Get Accepted Find the service that best meets your needs! Step 1: Pick your target degree MBA EMBA, MBA PT MD, MD/PhD, DO, DDS, DVM Residency, Fellowship JD, LLM MS, MA, PhD, Other Grad BA, BS Step 2: What do you need help with? Essays Whole Application Letters of Recomendation Interview Services Wait List Letter Application Resume Admissions Consulting What do you need help with? Essays Whole Application Letters of Recomendation Interview Services Wait List Letter Application Resume Admissions Consulting What do you need help with? Personal Statement Letters of Recomendation Interview Services Wait List Letter CV/Resume Consulting and Editing Application Review Whole Application What do you need help with? Personal Statement Letters of Recomendation Interview Services CV/Resume Consulting and Editing What do you need help with? Personal Statement Letters of Recomendation Wait List Services CV/Resume Consulting and Editing What do you need help with? Statement of Purpose Letters of Recomendation Wait List Services CV/Resume Consulting and Editing Whole Application What do you need help with? Essay Wait List Services Consulting and Editing What do you need help with? Your goal is to create a medical school essay that puts you ahead of the applicant pack. To accomplish this you'll need to compose a compelling personal statement that portrays you at your best - compassionate, intelligent, and highly motivated. The sample personal statements below will get your creative juices flowing and provide varied examples of winning essays. Pay attention to how each one begins with an engaging opening, follows through with an effective theme, and then wraps up with a conclusive ending. Your essays, like these samples, should give the adcom readers a sense of who you are as an individual, a student, and a future medical professional. They should get the reader to say, Hey, this is.
Your scholarship essay is a very important part of your application. Through your essay the selection committee is able to see you as more than a GPA or major. A well-written essay allows you to single yourself out from the other scholarship applicants. Steps in Writing the Essay Before beginning to write you should gather your transcripts and a list of any awards you have received (if applicable). You will need these as a reference as you develop your essay.   1. Develop a rough draft to use as an outline. Using the topics below as a guide, create an outline of achievements and experiences that you will include in your essay. As these questions refer to most scholarship criteria, you will want to explore as many of these topics as possible in your essay. However, don’t force it. If you have the experience, list it. If not, focus on other areas. You will most likely not be able to devote an entire paragraph to each idea, so instead, consider a way to logically group some ideas together into one section/category. (For example, community involvement may fit well in a paragraph with a discussion of your special knowledge or skills, or they could even fit with your academic and career goals). Scholarships and awards and leadership roles School and community involvement with an emphasis on active contributions to any club, association, or civic organization Skills and special knowledge, special projects, research in your area of study (including teaching and tutoring) Life and educational experiences that have motivated you or have demonstrated your ability to overcome obstacles and challenges successfully in order to continue your education Academic and career goals Address your personal financial circumstances, including any unusual or extenuating circumstances, and why you are a worthy candidate for scholarship consideration.     2. Start with a strong thesis or.
Printer-friendly versionEasy writing makes hard reading. —Ernest Hemingway As a graduate student taking fiction writing workshops many moons ago, I recall what was most motivating to me as a creative writer. It wasn’t the reading of published or award-winning work, and it wasn’t the classroom critique given on high from the professor nor the scribble from my classmates on my manuscripts. All these things were helpful and valuable, but nothing motivated me more than comparing my fiction to the work of my peers. As I read their work carefully, both objectively and subjectively, I found myself thinking at times that I was sure I could write better than the others around me at the seminar table—then I’d read an artful, poignant story that made me wonder whether I could ever even compete. Perhaps somewhere between these two attitudes is the most profitable approach when studying the work of your peers. In critiquing the work of others who essentially represent your competition, you should take a respectful stance both critical and kind, just as selection committee members are likely to do. The sample essays in this chapter represent personal stories that are intriguing, diverse, complex, honest, and humanizing. These samples present opportunities for you to study, admire, question, emulate, reject, and—most importantly—consider how to present the best, truest, most effective picture of yourself, carefully refined for the eyes of others. Below is a pdf link to personal statements and application essays representing strong efforts by students applying for both undergraduate and graduate opportunities. These ten essays have one thing in common: They were all written by students under the constraint of the essay being 1-2 pages due to the target program’s explicit instructions. In such circumstances, writers must attend carefully to the essay prompt (sometimes as simple as.
Some are surprising and some are clever, but they're all good examples of a hook, not the kind with the pointy mustache but something that writers use to grab their reader's attention and make them want to keep reading. Grab Them with the First Line Stanford Magazine compiled the following list of great opening lines written by hopeful Stanford applicants. Essays That Worked Connecticut College posts a list of college essays “that worked.” More Essays that Worked Hamilton College provides access to some of their favorite application essays.Other Resources for College Essay Writing Writing the Personal Statement The Purdue Online Writing lab offers a guide to writing all kinds of personal statements. UC Berkeley Has a Say Check out the University of California at Berkeley’s guide to writing the personal statement. Application Tips: Tackling the Personal Essay Abc.com provides some good tips on approaching the personal essay. 10 Tips for Writing the College Application Essay The famous U.S. News & World Report offers some writing advice. The Elements of Style Flip through this famous guide to writing by William Strunk, Jr. that many students and teachers use. Read the 1918 version for free online. Get Your Writing On Some great handbooks on writing by writing guru Andrea Lunsford. A Guide to Grammar and Writing A cool interactive guide to grammar. Grammar Resources The University of Chicago’s guide to grammar.