Last Updated on 08/21/2026 by Ethan Sawyer
Expertise from Calvin, CEG’s Director of Coaching
If nothing major has happened in your life, you might be a great fit for a montage-style essay.
A lot of students assume the personal statement has to be a narrative about one big, formative experience—the moment that was super impactful and shaped the way they move through the world.
That kind of essay can absolutely work. It’s just not the only kind that works.
A montage-style essay uses a framework to showcase many different sides of who you are, what you bring to the table, and what makes you a great candidate to be a member of a college’s future community. A framework is just an excuse to talk about multiple different sides of yourself.
What a framework actually looks like
A couple examples that I’ve seen work:
Food. Different foods that have been meaningful in your life, each one tied to a lesson you learned, a moment that mattered, or a meaningful side of you.
The steps in the ceramics process. Each stage—wedging the clay, throwing, glazing, firing—becomes a doorway into a different part of who you are.
Is the essay really about ceramics? No. The essay is really about different sides of a student:
- their love of history
- their attention to detail when they’re preparing for something
- their growth in being willing to take risks
The ceramics is just the container. You’re the subject.
(For more on montage structure, and how to write one, check this guide.)
Why a montage can stand out
When everyone reaches for the most dramatic story they can find, a montage does something different. It shows range. It lets a reader meet four or five sides of you instead of one. And it does that without you having to invent a crisis or artificially raise the stakes.
A montage-style essay can be a great showcase of what you bring to the table. It can also be a lot of fun to write—and it increases the odds that your essay stands out from the crowd.
Your next step
Before you try to brainstorm your own framework from scratch, go read a few. Head to College Essay Guy’s collection of sample essays to find a bunch of montage-style ones. As you read each one, try to name two things:
- the framework the writer is using (the container)
- the different sides of themselves they’re showing off through it
Once you’ve done this with a few essays, frameworks stop feeling so mysterious, and you start to see how ordinary the containers usually are.
Then turn the lens on yourself and ask what could work: a skill or identity you’ve developed over time, a set of objects that show up across your life, a process you could walk someone through with your eyes closed.
Pick one. Then ask: what are four or five different sides of me this could let me show? Start writing from there.
Calvin, CEG’s Director of Coaching, is an ardent reader, writer, and all-around communicator with a deep love of stories. He has a dog, Seymour, whom he loves—in fact far more than Seymour loves him.
Top Values: Adaptability | Meaningful Work | Fun
