Writing a personal statement is made easy if you use a notable sample admission essay as a guide. Carnegie Mellon shares some tips on how to write an excellent essay. Read on to know some interesting observations made on a notable sample admission essay.
The structure of a notable sample admission essay
Structure refers to how you choose to present the information in your personal statement. Good structure will make your piece flow, and enhance the reader’s ability to understand what you are trying to get across.
Some people can write well without thinking too much about structure. They naturally organize their information to be seamless, transitioning well between points and making their comments relevant to a theme. Most people, however, need to work at it a little more. Here are some very basic tips on how to make sure your personal statement has good structure.
The structure of your essay should be as interesting as the content. You admissions essay is a marketing material for yourself. This is why you have to make sure that it is perfect from the content down to the wrapping.
The focus of a sample admission essay
Focus refers to the main point of your statement. Sometimes it is called a theme. Most of what you say in your statement will contribute to supporting your focus. In the very broadest sense, the focus of all medical school personal statements is Why I Should Be Accepted to Medical School. However, you need to choose something a little more subtle and personal to make a positive impression. Your focus should entail a value or an observation that has shaped you as a person. Most of the time a focus is an abstract quality: the desire to help others, the importance of individual contribution, the drive to unite science and compassion.
When you choose a focus, you have to choose it well. A well-chosen focus can spark the interest of the admissions panel. This is why you have to exert effort on choosing the right one.
The frame of a notable statement of purpose sample
When most people think of frames, they think of the structure around a picture, or the structure that holds something up–like a skeleton or building frame. That is a pretty accurate way to think about the frame in writing, too. A frame will give your statement a shape. It will provide a concrete way for you to introduce and talk about your focus.
Just as the skeleton of the human body helps shape your figure or form, the frame will give direction to the flow of your essay.
Transitional devices of an excellent personal statement
The Penn State e-Education Institute has some useful ideas on transitions.
In personal essays, often the best transitions are simply contextual and straightforward, especially if you’re working under the constraint of a low word count. For instance, to discuss graduate research plans, you might simply open a sentence with For my graduate research, I plan to… In broader circumstances, to transition from one idea to another, writers turn to the list below–handy because the transitions are sorted by function, emphasizing the work they do.
Effective transition words will make your essay clear and would give it a better direction. Most of the time, the right use of transition words can make or break the clarity and overall effectiveness of your essay.
Before you write, read excellent essay samples to get ideas. Again, observe how the sample essay chooses a focus, utilizes a frame, and uses transitional devices.
