Page 1 of 1

How to start PS off with quote?

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 7:59 pm
by thebilt05
If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.-Micheal Jordan


Growing up in a derailed neighborhood ............


Someone please tell me how would I make this work?

Re: How to start PS off with quote?

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:02 pm
by law4vus
Please don't start with a quote. It's cheesy, overdone, and doesn't get the point across in the way you want it to.

Also it's "Michael", not "Micheal". Also, if you quote someone, avoid athletes.

Re: How to start PS off with quote?

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:03 pm
by paratactical
law4vus wrote:Please don't start with a quote. It's cheesy, overdone, and doesn't get the point across in the way you want it to.
This. You only have two pages to impress them. Why waste space with what someone else said?

Re: How to start PS off with quote?

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:06 pm
by theadvancededit
paratactical wrote:
law4vus wrote:Please don't start with a quote. It's cheesy, overdone, and doesn't get the point across in the way you want it to.
This. You only have two pages to impress them. Why waste space with what someone else said?

+1

You can maaaaaaaaaaybe find a way to work in a particular quote, if it is especially pertinent to your statement and you drew enormous, genuine insight from it. Other than that, it's very cliché.

Re: How to start PS off with quote?

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:13 pm
by kaiser
Do NOT use a quote to start your PS. I know a retired admissions counselor who claims this is one of the bigger mistakes people tend to make with their statements. A former dean of admissions from one of the T10 schools does admissions counseling, and posts some videos on youtube, and I distinctly remember him making one on PS tips, and his number 1 tip: do not start with a quote. YOU should be telling them something (though showing them, rather than telling them, is even better). Using someone else's words wastes valuable space and shows an inability on your part to convey the sentiment on your own, through your own words and experiences. Plus, it is incredibly cliche.

Re: How to start PS off with quote?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 3:50 pm
by citygirl000
law4vus wrote:Please don't start with a quote. It's cheesy, overdone, and doesn't get the point across in the way you want it to.

I agree with this - have you read the Anna Ivey book? She was an the admissions board at Chicago and says one should never start off with a quote...