{"id":683,"date":"2013-09-15T09:00:30","date_gmt":"2013-09-15T16:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kibin.com\/blog\/?p=683"},"modified":"2014-09-29T16:02:59","modified_gmt":"2014-09-29T23:02:59","slug":"personal-statement-topics-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kibin.com\/essay-writing-blog\/personal-statement-topics-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Must-Answer Questions Before Brainstorming Personal Statement Topics"},"content":{"rendered":"

As tempting as it is to pick a topic for your college application personal statement, get writing, and get it over with – this is not the right way to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chances are, you\u2019ll get jammed up with writer\u2019s block, end up wasting a lot of time, and become extremely frustrated.<\/p>\n

Abraham Lincoln said it best:<\/p>\n

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\u201cGive me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening my axe.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If you\u2019re anything like me, creating an outline for your essays is a pretty annoying task. But creating an actionable plan will end up saving you time and it will result in a better personal statement.<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s start sharpening our axe!<\/p>\n

A college personal statement is just that: personal. It\u2019s not an expanded, detailed list of your accomplishments, GPA, or anything else that can be easily gleaned from your required college application.<\/p>\n

Like it or not, you’re going to have to do a little thinking about who you are and what makes you tick. Here are four questions that you absolutely must answer before even picking a topic for your personal statement<\/em>.<\/p>\n

#1 With one-word responses, how would your friends describe you?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Unfortunately, we don\u2019t have time to conduct a 360 review<\/a> with our friends and peers. However, you probably have a pretty good idea as to how they would describe you if asked to do so in just one word.<\/p>\n

They might say things like: intelligent, driven, caring, philanthropic, etc.<\/p>\n

Write down as many adjectives as you can. Remember, just because it is a one word answer doesn\u2019t mean every friend would give the same response. Your friendships and relationships are all different and we need as many self-descriptive adjectives as possible!<\/p>\n

When you feel you\u2019ve exhausted the possibilities and you have a complete list of descriptive adjectives, give them each a point rank from 1-3 based on how representative of you they are. A rank of 3 means you feel the adjective is very representative and a 1 means you feel it\u2019s accurate, but it\u2019s not how you would describe yourself to someone. Your table should look something like this:<\/p>\n