——By Lloyd Peterson (凯斯国际教育副总裁，耶鲁大学前招生官) Many of our students have met the difficulties in their personal statement writing. 'What shall I write' and'how to write'are the most frequently asked questions. However, almost every admission officer and experience counselor will tell you that they don't really care about what you have been through and what you have achieved, instead, they are interested in what kinds of things have shaped you.
To some, failure is important. Not desired but important. To fail means to try, to make effort, often times stretching one's self beyond their means--their intellectual or physical or social means. The student who competes in the science competition but does not get past the first round, or the student who tries out for the lead in the school play and does not get it, or the kid who performed her first solo piano performance in competition and missed several notes…We all know students who have suffered through the above scenarios. Again, I do not know any student who looks forward to missing notes in her piano performance, but it happens to most students at least once during their high school career. And the lessons learned when these not-so-pleasant moments occur presents a learning experience that can often be used as a very effective essay topic for a college personal statement.
Let us first discuss the "learning experience". At this point many students ask, "What could colleges possibly learn from a bad experience that the students would appreciate forgetting quickly?" There is always something to learn…and subsequently to write about…from a not-so-pleasant experience. An equally important question is: Why would university admission officers encourage students to write about an unpleasant memory? Why wouldn't admissions officers want aspiring 17-year olds to put these negative memories behind them as quickly as possible? Encourage them to write about accomplishments, victories and awards?
Well that does happen. Most personal statement topics are very positive. They are wonderfully written exposes on winning the debate tournament or winning the piano or science competition. And if the topic is not about "winning", the topic is usually about something pleasant: the trip to the United States last summer, or the incredibly rewarding experience when working with children in Sichuan Province, where you provided much-needed books to help with English language proficiency.
These are fun essays for applicants traits that admission officers look for in the personal statement. The kids in Sichuan province who need the books are good kids, but they are less fortunate than other students who already have books, and iPads, and laptops and other luxuries many teenagers have. To show concern for those kids less fortunate is a likeable personality trait, and an important one to admission officers. I think you can figure out why. The list of personality traits that can be reflected in a personal statement is long. We mentioned "concern for others". In addition, positive experience s can flush out traits such as maturity, and an interest in the international human condition.
By contrast, writing about setbacks and disappointment, if written about correctly, also reveals equally important personality traits about which admission officers are very grateful to learn. As a former senior admission officer, I welcomed personal statement topics that addressed disappointment or setback. The personality traits displayed were important in helping me make an admission decision on that applicant. Of course these traits did not tell me how well a student may perform as a business major. Yet the traits did help me to understand what kind of roommate they would make, or how they would hold up during mid-terms and finals when the pressure intensified.
Students enter university when they are 18 years old. They graduate at 22. This four-year period represents substantial personal and academic growth where much happens. Many achievements and milestones will be reached, along with a disappointment or two. Any exposure while in high school to "disappointment or two. Any exposure while in high school to "disappointment or setback" is good preparation for the growth that will take place in university.
So how does an applicant write convincingly about"setback or disappointment"? How do you turn lemons into lemonade? Here is how. First, you need to know that it is not easy to write about disappointment. It is much easier to write about happy moments in life. Once the student comes to terms with this reality they have cleared a big hurdle in writing on this topic. They will have to spend some time, normally during the beginning of the essay, explaining or "describing" what happened and why. This means intentionally revisiting a bad memory.
Yet the disappointment or the setback should not be the heart and soul of the essay. How the applicant "reacted to that setback" is the heart and soul of the essay. This aspect of the essay is what admission officers look for when reading personal statement that address setback and disappointment For example, when I read where an applicant made drastic mistakes in her piano recital in front of hundreds in the audience, including her parents, I felt badly for that applicant. But, I was more concerned how she handled that setback than I was in the mistake itself-the missed notes.
She is majoring in the business, not piano. If she were a music major, I would have consulted the Chairman of the Music department to see if such mistakes were reparable. As a business major, however, I was more interested in how reacted to such a setback. Did she use the incident as motivation to work harder-not only with piano but also for upcoming physics exam? Or, did she sulk for days afterward, letting the setback affect her grades and her relationship with her best friend? Most applicants put the incident behind them and move on. Her ability to reflect on that setback, put it into perspective, and realize that it was a "learning moment" is what I looked for and what impressed me. I felt better admitting her. I knew that she would be ok when the pressure of Yale's academic life crept up on her, and at some point it creeps up on all students, no matter how smart they are.
Lemonade comes from lemons! It is a litter harder to write about a setback or disappointment. Yet when you know how to approach such topics, they can be equally effective as the traditional positive stories about which applicants traditionally write. And surprisingly, they can be just as rewarding. Good luck and happy writing!