Getting Started
Module Content
Who am I?
I’m Ethan Sawyer (aka College Essay Guy), and if you really knew me, you’d know that three of my core values are efficiency, fun, and meaningful work—work that makes a difference in people’s lives.
In the next few minutes, I want to tell you about a tool I’ve created that I hope will bring more ease, purpose, and joy into your life, whether you’re applying to college or helping someone else apply.
Why have I spent almost half my life focusing on personal statements?
Since 2003 I’ve been narrowly focused on helping students write outstanding personal statements. Why have I dedicated almost half my life to exploring this? Because as a writer and teacher, I believe this process can be life-changing. It asks you—and I’ll ask you—to think about who you are, what you love, what you stand for, and why. And just so you know I’m legit, my book, College Essay Essentials, is the bestselling book on the personal statement, and my website, CollegeEssayGuy.com, which offers hundreds of free resources, received more than 5 million hits last year. (I share those details to let you know I’m serious about this, but if you really knew me, you’d also know I feel embarrassed having just bragged about myself right there.)
What’s the purpose of the personal statement?
First, a few things the personal statement is not. It’s not:
… Your chance to impress the reader with all the big words you know
… A thesis-based, five-paragraph English essay that shows your ability to write analytically
… A recap of all your great accomplishments (put those in your Activities and Awards List)
The purpose of your college essay is to demonstrate the skills/qualities/values/interests that you’ll bring with you to college. Often, it provides information that is not included elsewhere in your application, bringing your application to life with—as my friend, former college admission officer Susan Tree says—an “infusion of your personality, heart, and mind in a way that distinguishes you from other, similarly well-qualified applicants.”
And hey, for schools that get lots of well-qualified applicants every year, or are test-optional (which means they don’t look to standardized tests as a make-or-break factor), essays can be pretty important.
What are the keys to a great personal statement? I believe college admission officers are looking for four things:
Core Values
Insight (aka “so what” moments)
Vulnerability (i.e., “is it personal”)
Craft
… Your core values will show colleges what is most meaningful to you.
… Insight will show your ability to think critically.
… Vulnerability will help your reader connect with you.
… Craft will show the admission reader that you can write, and that you’ve taken the time to revise your essay over several drafts.
Yes, but how does a student actually do this in their personal statement? That’s what I’m about to show you. In this tool, I’ll guide you through a series of short exercises designed to help you first figure out what you want to show colleges, and then how to demonstrate all that awesomeness in your essay. Most of the lessons will take you no more than 15 minutes—though a couple times, I’ll ask you to spend a little more time than that.
First steps:
1. What is this tool?
The CYOA Tool is designed to help you work through the writing process step-by-step, from brainstorming to outlining to drafting to revising to refining. At the bottom of each page, you’ll find a button to head to the next module in the process.
On each page you’ll see an expandable section labeled “Module Content.” Much of the written content is optional to read, but we provided it there in case you’d rather not watch the video.
[action_item]
When it’s time to get writing, you’ll see an action item box like this.
2. Download the Essay Workbook
This is where you’ll complete all your brainstorming exercises, write your outlines and draft your essay.
You can either:
Make an editable copy of this Google Doc workbook (Recommended): Once you’ve logged in to your Google account, go to File > Make a copy in the top left hand corner.
Download this workbook as a Word Document on your computer: If you don’t have a Google account, download this document on your computer and complete the exercises there. Click File > Download > Microsoft Word.
Head to the link below for full instructions on how to download your copy of the workbook.
Can’t access Google services? You can download a Microsoft Word version of the workbook here. (But I’d strongly recommend using the “Download the Workbook” link above, as it’s much easier to share.)
3. Answer this question to begin:
or not so much?
If the answer is “no,” start with the Montage Path.
If the answer is “yes,” start with the Narrative Path.
+ What if I’m not sure if I’ve faced significant challenges?
- The quick answer: explore Montage Structure first.
- The slightly longer answer: If you’re unsure about your answer, rather than a binary yes/no, think of “significant” as on a spectrum, with things like bad grades or not making a sports team or losing a big game on the weaker end, and escaping war on the stronger end. The further to the weaker end a challenge is, the harder it is to write a strong essay about it.
- I’ll cover this again later in the Tool, but you do not have to write about challenges in a personal statement. The majority of students I worked with last year chose the Montage Structure (using the techniques I’m about to share with you), and they got into amazing schools. So don’t try to take The Hardest Thing You’ve Been Through and make it seem worse than it was—try the Montage Structure first and then try the Narrative Structure second.
- Here’s a list of some challenges students have written about in the past.
