Personal Statement Topics Forum

[amydubs]

I'm having a tough time thinking of a topic for my PS, I have a couple of ideas but nothing seems to be jumping out enough. I don't have any extremely unique experiences or perspectives to draw an outstanding personal statement from.

I was thinking of writing about my study abroad experience in New Zealand and how that was my first time out of the country but even if it's well written and tied into personal growth I'm not sure if it would just end up being cliche.

The other idea I was toying with was writing an essay about never wanting to be an attorney when I was growing up. My dad is an attorney and he absolutely loves his solo class-action practice and always assumed and wanted me to follow in his his footsteps, I would obviously elaborate on why I had a repulsion to the legal field and then explain what changed my mind (through work experience in a law firm and also in a small business in the manufacturing industry - I would somehow try and tie it all together.) I don't know how risky that would be or if it would pay off if executed correctly.

Any feedback or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[billyez]

I don't have any extremely unique experiences or perspectives to draw an outstanding personal statement from.

You don't need one. I've read a lot of PS's - some dealing with extremely unique and tragic circumstances - and my favorite was about someone's experience as a rubgy team captain. It was direct. It illustrated a transformative experience for the author. It gave me insight into his character. It acheived what a PS is supposed to do.

New Zealand: You won't know if it's cliche unless you write it. Write a brief (I stress brief) outline if your that concerned about it so you have an idea of what this PS would say about yourself. Then compare it to your alternative topics. Note also that there's nothing worng with cliches - as long as they ring true. Cliches are cliche for a reason...

Attorney idea: I sense there's going to be a knee-jerk reaction against this. But this could be interesting. Once again though, write it and then decide.

Don't invest too much time haggling over what you should be writing about. Instead, just write. Once you get started, you'll start getting a sense about whether something is going to work or not. Nothing's going to "jump out" unless you jump in first.

[freestallion]

I would say no to the second one. The New Zealand one sounds promising, if you can put your own spin on it/make it a bit less cliche.

[amydubs]

Thank you guys for the input, I was weary of the latter topic, I realized it could totally backfire on me, I think will start a rough outline of the study abroad essay, making it as absolutely unique as possible.