After two years and thousands of applications read, Jana and Zaineb have collected some of their thoughts in two posts about the personal statement. While we hope you find them helpful in the process of choosing a topic and writing your statements, we don’t intend to suggest that the statement/essay is of paramount importance in admission decisions. Application essays are important in that they tell us something about what you think, how you think, and how you express what you think–but they rarely “make” or “break” a case by themselves. There are a couple main questions to keep in mind as you craft your statements. How does this essay complement the rest of my application? And what does this essay suggest about me as a potential student and citizen of the Brown community?
We often say that we consider applications holistically, and it’s true. We gather information from every component: background, activities, short answers, transcript, test scores, essays, recommendations, interviews, even supplemental items like musical recordings. Taken together, these components represent a multi-layered means of telling your story. Consider what your application would look like without essays. Is there something important about you that would be left out? Of course there is – you are more than a sum of numbers and grades and activities. If your teachers and counselor know you well, they should be able to add more of a humanistic view of who you are. Still, teachers likely know you in a limited context. What would get left out?
One of the age-old pieces of English teacher advice is to keep your audience in mind while writing. What are they looking for when they read? In the case of admission officers, we are a diverse bunch, but we are reading with a key question in mind: How would this applicant add to our college community? Is she a stellar scientist or a talented linguist? Can I see him adding fresh perspectives in a first year seminar? Is this someone who would make a great roommate, lab partner, or club leader? What this means for you as a writer is that you are not just writing about who you are, but who you are as a candidate. Does your essay show what you have to add to Brown, or any other college?
When your application is complete, you should feel satisfied that, as a whole, it does a reasonably good job of representing who you are as a candidate for admission. Keep the big picture in mind, be thoughtful and genuine, and it will come across in your personal statement and help us consider if you are a good fit for Brown.