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A simple 1 or 2 would be a sufficient response. Please share your opinions

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I got bored after reading three words into the first idea, so I'm all for idea number 2. I think you can craft a much stronger personal statement around your passion than you can around just your qualities. You'll naturally find ways to highlight your good qualities using the topic as a springboard. I think it's all-around a better choice.

I vote for secret option #3.

Option 1 doesn't sound very interesting and doesn't seem like it would showcase anything interesting about you as an individual. You should use your PS as an opportunity to highlight something that wouldn't otherwise be apparent from your application materials.

As for option 2, I don't think having signed up to volunteer is going to give you enough experience to write meaningfully about your time there and, as you said, you won't be able to actually do much meaningful work for a while. I think with option 2 you run the risk of it looking like you volunteered there for a gimmick.

Secret option 3: look at the your resume, your transcript, think about what your recommenders might say about you. What's missing that you want the adcomms to know about you? That's your PS topic.

benwyatt wrote:I vote for secret option #3.

Option 1 doesn't sound very interesting and doesn't seem like it would showcase anything interesting about you as an individual. You should use your PS as an opportunity to highlight something that wouldn't otherwise be apparent from your application materials.

As for option 2, I don't think having signed up to volunteer is going to give you enough experience to write meaningfully about your time there and, as you said, you won't be able to actually do much meaningful work for a while. I think with option 2 you run the risk of it looking like you volunteered there for a gimmick.

Secret option 3: look at the your resume, your transcript, think about what your recommenders might say about you. What's missing that you want the adcomms to know about you? That's your PS topic.

Fully agree. Unless you have a lot of experience with it leading up to it, I would avoid it. It's possible you have some reason as to why you want to do #2, but I wouldn't write with that as a focus of the essay at all. I.E. if you are going to go route two, go into why you are pursuing it, but I wouldn't really get that much into the volunteer work you are just starting.

I propose option 3: Something else.

Think of something memorable or meaningful in your life that either happened to you or you witnessed that made you respond a certain way. It could be anything. The point of the PS is so that the admissions committee has something extra that they can judge you on on a personal level. What got you involved with that volunteering program? What made you want to do it?

You can also talk about an idea, like how a certain idea changed your mind about something particular and it made you think xyz.