5 Common Mistakes to Avoid on the Common App Personal Statement

Dr. Sapna Sehgal, College Admissions Consultant 

Writing the Common App Personal statement is one of the biggest challenges students face on their college admissions journey. The Common App Essay Prompts are released at the end of February every year, and it’s a great time to get a head start on your college application process.

Essay writing can be overwhelming at the best of times, but when college admissions are at stake, it’s stressful, right? 

Well, here are a few mistakes to avoid when writing your Common App Personal Statement.

1. Lacking A Compelling Personal Statement Narrative 

Now, this is one of the most difficult parts for students applying to college to get right. Of course, college admissions officers want to hear your story, but remember that they are reading hundreds and hundreds of applications. So, a compelling personal narrative that keeps their attention is key. Students often miss that in trying to write what they think Admissions Officers want to hear.  

Focus on how you truly felt during the experience you’re describing; make us understand the emotions behind your experience and how it impacted you.

2. Forgetting To Be Personal and Specific in Your Personal Statement

Of course, if you’re describing an experience, you need your personal statement to be…personal!  Be personal, specific and authentic.  So, what does that actually mean?  Whether you’re telling your story, or writing a supplemental essay for a specific college application, add in details that are specific to you. What made this experience so life-changing for you?  Or, if you’re writing about a passion that you have, how has it specifically changed your life? How have you grown over the last few years? Remember, the specifics we need are not minute, generic details, but unique elements that are specific to you.

3. Skipping Authentic Reflection on Your Life Experience Before College Admissions

What is “authentic reflection”?  Well, it’s a process where you sit down, think about your most impactful life experiences, and reflect on how they’ve made you grow.

For example, if you’re writing about a failure, admissions officers are less concerned about how you failed, and more about what you’ve learned from it.  It’s important to take the time to brainstorm before writing your college admissions essays, especially the Common App Personal Statement. 

Take some time to reflect on the following questions before you begin writing. (Brainstorming with a friend or your college admissions consultant can help!)

• How did failing (or whichever experience you choose to write about) affect you, exactly? 

• What did you learn after going through the experience you’re describing? 

• Who are you now, compared to before the experience? How have you changed?

4. Not Fully Answering The Common App Question

Okay, this sounds a little silly, right? I can hear you thinking: of course I’m going to answer the question! Well, the truth is that many students are not reading the Common App Personal Statement prompts fully.   Have a look at one of the questions, for example:

Prompt 2: The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Can you see how there are actually three questions in one here?  This question is asking you to talk about an obstacle you encountered, how it affected you, and what you learned. 

Really, it’s asking you to reflect on your experience and talk about how you’ve grown, and students often miss this crucial part of the question.

5. Thinking A Short Word Length Means the Common App Personal Statement is “Easy”

Confusing “short” with “easy” is one of the key mistakes I see students (and parents) make. “It’s only 650 words!” is one of the most common objections I hear to starting early. This also applies to supplemental essays for specific colleges, which can be as little as 100 to 400 words long.

Writing a short essay for college admissions like the Common App Personal Statement is often more difficult than writing a long one.  Well, that sounds a little backwards, right?  However, being concise is a skill, especially in a personal statement when they are asking you to reflect on your life experiences. 

In addition to brainstorming and reflecting on your experiences, you want to consider what the most important parts of your experience were, and focus on those. Writing a compelling narrative with a solid reflection in 650 words is a challenge! 

Don’t make the mistake of starting too late. Remember, early birds get less stressed!

Need Help With Your Common App Personal Statement?

Personal statements can become overwhelming, and you may need more personalized college admissions guidance, even if you follow the tips above. We’re here to help!

Dr. Sapna Sehgal has over 8 years’ experience in college admissions consulting, at the undergraduate and graduate level, and loves helping students and families make the college applications process stress-free.  Her qualifications include a Bachelors’ degree in Business (Marketing) from the University of Alberta, a postgraduate certificate in Education from McGill University, a master’s in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition from the University of Oxford, and a PhD from the University of Barcelona. She also has 20+ years’ experience as a private English tutor, and has worked as a university professor for several universities in English and Business departments.