College Essay Guy’s Brief Guide to Brainstorming & Helping Students Choose a Personal Statement Topic – PD Series Part 1

What I covered:

  • What’s the purpose of the personal statement?

  • The differences between a personal statement and an English essay

  • A brief intro to two possible personal statement structures

  • My favorite brainstorming exercises & why I’ve settled on these

  • How to brainstorm a narrative (challenges-based) essay and 7 mini exercises for brainstorming a montage (non-challenges-based) essay — in about 25 min each

  • How these exercises have led to great essays

  • A simple assessment tool for helping a student determine if a topic is likely to help them stand out or not

  • A list of common personal statement topics students should perhaps steer clear of

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