Selling Trauma - The Latest Trend in Personal Statements

Level 4 - Highly Selective

Welcome back!

For nearly all college and grad school applications, applicants are required to submit some form of a personal statement.

These personal statements typically are designed for the admissions officers to get an opportunity to see a different dimension in the applicant.

Lately, there has been a trend among applicants to try to package some form of trauma or tragedy into a personal statement.

Not only do you not need to do this, but in some cases, you may be actually hurting your chances by following this template.

Let’s dive in.

1. What is the purpose of the personal statement?

As mentioned previously, the personal statement is typically a component of any higher education application.

Traditionally, personal statements align to one of three concepts:

1. Personal statements that connect to the mission of the school or program

2. Personal statements that align to a specific prompt (e.g., provide a time where you showed leadership)

3. Personal statements that allow the applicant to speak to something important about themselves

Personal statements in the first category are typically pretty straight forward - why do you want to be in this program?

The second and third category are less directive - although there may be a question that needs to be answered, the applicant has greater freedom to answer the question as they need to.