need help... Personal statement for college

[t-maxxracer32]

trying to write my personal statement to get into UOFA (university of arizona) but its not going too well. i really have never been a good writer and this is a huge deal.

heres what it sais...

Personal Statement-For All Freshman Applicants:

A personal statement is our best means of getting to know you and your best means of putting your academic performance and activities in the context of your life. There are no “wrong” answers. When you write your personal statement, tell us about those aspects of your life that are not evident from your academic record. Because personal statements are brief, they usually focus on one aspect of a student’s life. For example, you could focus on a character-defining moment, a cultural awareness, a challenge faced, family background or cultural heritage, individual talents, academic commitment, or extracurricular activities. Tell us what you would like us to know about you in considering you for admission and/or scholarships.
Please use the space below to provide your personal statement. If you choose to send additional pages, be sure to put your name and date of birth on the top of the page. Please limit your answer to fewer than 500 words. If you choose not to provide a personal statement, please be advised that we will be lacking important information about you.
Please type your full name, as listed when you started this application, at the beginning of each Short Response answer. Example, Wilbur J. Wildcat.

here are a couple random facts about me.....

hard worker... like to be the best
hobbies- paintball, rc cars
3.42 gpa in high school
went to europe over summer
pretty good with money (2000 f150 is paid off... have a 50' tv nice desktop and laptop... have money in the bank... etc)
never done drugs or been drunk..
what else they wanna hear?

guys got any tips?

[BL_RV0]

I'd just focus on 1 thing that was very significant during your college years, and make sure you use big words. Use a thesaurus if you have to.

[jayjay283]

What I said if i recall was basically (im not helping out too much here man Im past that and even thinking of this gives me a headache) ... I went into a moment (for me it was my mother being sick) and told them I didnt want to go to college as a means to make more money but to better myself as a person... just friggin lie.. make up anything LOL I got in you can too

[redshift]

"I came here to party and chew bubblegum.... and I'm all out of bubblegum!"

Best I can think of, why I wasn't college material....

Originally Posted by t-maxxracer32

trying to write my personal statement to get into UOFA (university of arizona) but its not going too well. i really have never been a good writer and this is a huge deal.

heres what it sais...

Personal Statement-For All Freshman Applicants:

A personal statement is our best means of getting to know you and your best means of putting your academic performance and activities in the context of your life. There are no “wrong” answers. When you write your personal statement, tell us about those aspects of your life that are not evident from your academic record. Because personal statements are brief, they usually focus on one aspect of a student’s life. For example, you could focus on a character-defining moment, a cultural awareness, a challenge faced, family background or cultural heritage, individual talents, academic commitment, or extracurricular activities. Tell us what you would like us to know about you in considering you for admission and/or scholarships.
Please use the space below to provide your personal statement. If you choose to send additional pages, be sure to put your name and date of birth on the top of the page. Please limit your answer to fewer than 500 words. If you choose not to provide a personal statement, please be advised that we will be lacking important information about you.
Please type your full name, as listed when you started this application, at the beginning of each Short Response answer. Example, Wilbur J. Wildcat.

here are a couple random facts about me.....

hard worker... like to be the best
hobbies- paintball, rc cars
3.42 gpa in high school
went to europe over summer
pretty good with money (2000 f150 is paid off... have a 50' tv nice desktop and laptop... have money in the bank... etc)
never done drugs or been drunk..
what else they wanna hear?

guys got any tips?

hey...what happened to Colorado?...Tucson is a good place to go to school, if you have the math skills they have a great space/science programs...and by the way they will never believe you have never been drunk....

[t-maxxracer32]

colorado would have sucked my college fund so fast i would have not been able to make it through the 4 years without getting some type of loan...

i will be moving to colorado after i finish my degree though. i am looking forward to it more than anything!!

i wouldnt be putting that in my essay its just to show that im not one of those party animals or anything

Lol, you've never been drunk, they will never believe that.. Even if it's true..


Anyway, I would use big words like bl-revo already said..

[t-maxxracer32]

my biggest thing is what the heck do i write about it and what type of format?

first person? narrative? or what!

-i know that i need to use big words and sound intelligent, but at the same time not try to act smarter than i really am.
-i know i need to basically show them that i am a real person.. not just someoene who can get good grades


but how do i write it? how do i start it off?

hello my name is ryan dodd and i want to go to UOFA?

im confused.

[Arct1k]

Write about your trip to Europe... The experience and what is meant - how has it changed your life..

[RCShocker]

Risky Business & The Girl Next Door. There's your answer.


Dont worry so much as what to write or how to start. Just start writing. When your done, start bringing it together. Adding things, changing it some maybe. Rewording things to sound better, etc etc. Dont use too many big words and make it look like you are just throwing them around to sound impressive and/or trying too hard.

And no matter what, make sure everything, 100% is spelled and punctuated correctly. It's small but big in my opinion.

[rschoi_75]

^ Some good advice.

As for a topic... here are some good ones:

- A specific hardship you've overcome. What you learned from that experience.
- A lesson learned in life and how it changed you as a person.
- One success in life, and how you accomplished it.
- One goal in life, and how the UofA can help you accomplish this goal.
- How you managed to Pay for your F150 truck... seriously. They like to hear about kids who are willing to work hard for what they want.

In the end, your goal is to show the admissions people that you are determined to succeed in college, Can stick through it during the hard times, and be a positive impact on the world around you.

good luck.

This looks like what you need...it even gives examples of personal statements

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/642/01/


also

http://www.studential.com/guide/writ..._statement.htm

and one more

http://english.arizona.edu/public/Fi...20Workbook.doc

[t-maxxracer32]

Originally Posted by rschoi_75

^ Some good advice.

As for a topic... here are some good ones:

- A specific hardship you've overcome. What you learned from that experience.
- A lesson learned in life and how it changed you as a person.
- One success in life, and how you accomplished it.
- One goal in life, and how the UofA can help you accomplish this goal.
- How you managed to Pay for your F150 truck... seriously. They like to hear about kids who are willing to work hard for what they want.

In the end, your goal is to show the admissions people that you are determined to succeed in college, Can stick through it during the hard times, and be a positive impact on the world around you.

good luck.

this is exactly what i was looking for!


bustitup ill look into those right now!

[lincpimp]

Originally Posted by rschoi_75

- One goal in life, and how the UofA can help you accomplish this goal.

This is great, especially if you can use something the university offers to gaurantee your success. Focus on the fact you are dedicated to learning and that you focus on your future. Make sure that you stress the fact you are a forward thinker who has multiple goals for your future. Might be a bunch of BS, but the bottom feeders that work at Schools like to try to fool themselves into thinking they make a difference.

[johnrobholmes]

Keep drugs out of it totally. You never know, the guy/ girl reviewing it could be a beer fanatic or something.