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How to Write About Yourself in a College Essay | Examples

Published on September 21, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on May 31, 2023.

An insightful college admissions essay requires deep self-reflection, authenticity, and a balance between confidence and vulnerability. Your essay shouldn’t just be a resume of your experiences; colleges are looking for a story that demonstrates your most important values and qualities.

To write about your achievements and qualities without sounding arrogant, use specific stories to illustrate them. You can also write about challenges you’ve faced or mistakes you’ve made to show vulnerability and personal growth.

Table of contents

Start with self-reflection, how to write about challenges and mistakes, how to write about your achievements and qualities, how to write about a cliché experience, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

Before you start writing, spend some time reflecting to identify your values and qualities. You should do a comprehensive brainstorming session, but here are a few questions to get you started:

• What are three words your friends or family would use to describe you, and why would they choose them?
• Whom do you admire most and why?
• What are the top five things you are thankful for?
• What has inspired your hobbies or future goals?
• What are you most proud of? Ashamed of?

As you self-reflect, consider how your values and goals reflect your prospective university’s program and culture, and brainstorm stories that demonstrate the fit between the two.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Writing about difficult experiences can be an effective way to show authenticity and create an emotional connection to the reader, but choose carefully which details to share, and aim to demonstrate how the experience helped you learn and grow.

Be vulnerable

It’s not necessary to have a tragic story or a huge confession. But you should openly share your thoughts, feelings, and experiences to evoke an emotional response from the reader. Even a cliché or mundane topic can be made interesting with honest reflection. This honesty is a preface to self-reflection and insight in the essay’s conclusion.

Don’t overshare

With difficult topics, you shouldn’t focus too much on negative aspects. Instead, use your challenging circumstances as a brief introduction to how you responded positively.

Share what you have learned

It’s okay to include your failure or mistakes in your essay if you include a lesson learned. After telling a descriptive, honest story, you should explain what you learned and how you applied it to your life.

While it’s good to sell your strengths, you also don’t want to come across as arrogant. Instead of just stating your extracurricular activities, achievements, or personal qualities, aim to discreetly incorporate them into your story.

Brag indirectly

Mention your extracurricular activities or awards in passing, not outright, to avoid sounding like you’re bragging from a resume.

Use stories to prove your qualities

Even if you don’t have any impressive academic achievements or extracurriculars, you can still demonstrate your academic or personal character. But you should use personal examples to provide proof. In other words, show evidence of your character instead of just telling.

Many high school students write about common topics such as sports, volunteer work, or their family. Your essay topic doesn’t have to be groundbreaking, but do try to include unexpected personal details and your authentic voice to make your essay stand out .

To find an original angle, try these techniques:

• Focus on a specific moment, and describe the scene using your five senses.
• Mention objects that have special significance to you.
• Instead of following a common story arc, include a surprising twist or insight.

Your unique voice can shed new perspective on a common human experience while also revealing your personality. When read out loud, the essay should sound like you are talking.

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Transition words
• Passive voice
• Paraphrasing

 Communication

• How to end an email
• Ms, mrs, miss
• How to start an email
• I hope this email finds you well
• Hope you are doing well

 Parts of speech

• Personal pronouns
• Conjunctions

First, spend time reflecting on your core values and character . You can start with these questions:

However, you should do a comprehensive brainstorming session to fully understand your values. Also consider how your values and goals match your prospective university’s program and culture. Then, brainstorm stories that illustrate the fit between the two.

When writing about yourself , including difficult experiences or failures can be a great way to show vulnerability and authenticity, but be careful not to overshare, and focus on showing how you matured from the experience.

Through specific stories, you can weave your achievements and qualities into your essay so that it doesn’t seem like you’re bragging from a resume.

Include specific, personal details and use your authentic voice to shed a new perspective on a common human experience.

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Personal Characteristics Essay: Top Examples and Tips for Successful Writing

Looking to write a compelling personal characteristics essay? Our article offers top examples and tips for successful writing.

Posted August 18, 2023

Featuring Ellen W.

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When it comes to writing a personal characteristics essay, there are several important factors to consider to ensure that your essay stands out from the rest. This type of essay requires you to talk about your personal traits and characteristics and how they have shaped your life experiences and decisions. Writing a personal characteristics essay can be daunting, but with the right strategies and techniques, you can craft an impressive essay that leaves a lasting impression.

Understanding the Purpose of a Personal Characteristics Essay

Before diving into the writing process, it's essential to understand the purpose of a personal characteristics essay. The purpose of this type of essay is to showcase your unique qualities and characteristics, which makes you stand out from the rest. It's an opportunity for the reader to gain insight into your personality and the way you think. Your essay should not only provide a description of your traits but also demonstrate how they influence your actions and decisions.

Additionally, a personal characteristics essay can also serve as a tool for self-reflection and personal growth. Through the process of writing about your traits and how they have impacted your life, you may gain a deeper understanding of yourself and your values. This type of essay can also help you identify areas for improvement and set goals for personal development.

How to Choose a Topic for Your Personal Characteristics Essay

Choosing the right topic for your personal characteristics essay is crucial. You want to select a topic that not only reflects your personality but also allows you to showcase your writing skills. Start by brainstorming a list of traits and characteristics that define you. From there, select a topic that highlights one or two of these traits. Think about a situation that showcases these traits and how you overcame a challenge or learned a valuable lesson.

Another important factor to consider when choosing a topic for your personal characteristics essay is your audience. Think about who will be reading your essay and what they might be interested in learning about you. Consider selecting a topic that is relatable and relevant to your audience, while still highlighting your unique qualities.

It's also important to remember that your personal characteristics essay should not just be a list of traits or accomplishments. Instead, focus on telling a story that illustrates your personality and how it has shaped your experiences and perspectives. Choose a topic that allows you to delve deeper into your personal journey and share insights that will resonate with your readers.

Brainstorming Techniques for Your Personal Characteristics Essay

Brainstorming is an essential step in the writing process. It allows you to generate ideas and make connections between them. Try using mind maps or free-writing to get your ideas down on paper. You might also consider asking friends or family members what they think your most prominent traits are to get an outside perspective.

Another effective technique for brainstorming your personal characteristics essay is to reflect on your past experiences and how they have shaped you. Think about challenges you have faced and how you overcame them, or moments of success and how they have contributed to your personal growth. These experiences can provide valuable insight into your character and help you identify key traits to highlight in your essay.

The Importance of Organizing Your Thoughts and Ideas

Once you've generated your ideas, it's time to organize them. Start by creating an outline that includes the main points you want to make in your essay. Your outline should also include the introduction, body, and conclusion sections of your essay. Organizing your thoughts and ideas will help you stay on track and ensure that you cover all the necessary points in your essay.

Moreover, organizing your thoughts and ideas can also help you identify any gaps in your argument or areas where you need to do more research. By creating an outline, you can see where you need to add more information or examples to support your points. This can help you create a more well-rounded and convincing essay.

Additionally, organizing your thoughts and ideas can also help you save time in the long run. When you have a clear outline to follow, you can write your essay more efficiently and effectively. You won't waste time trying to figure out what to write next or how to structure your essay. Instead, you can focus on writing high-quality content that supports your thesis statement and engages your readers.

Tips for Writing a Strong Introduction to Your Essay

The introduction to your essay is crucial as it sets the tone for the rest of your essay. Your introduction should grab the reader's attention and entice them to keep reading. Consider starting with a hook, such as a quote, an anecdote, or a question. Your introduction should also include your thesis statement, which outlines the main point of your essay.

In addition to a hook and thesis statement, your introduction should also provide some background information on the topic you are writing about. This can help to contextualize your essay and give the reader a better understanding of the subject matter. However, be careful not to include too much information in your introduction, as it can become overwhelming and detract from the main point of your essay.

The Art of Developing a Compelling Thesis Statement

Your thesis statement should be concise and clear. It should provide a roadmap for the rest of your essay. Think about the main point you want to make and how you plan on supporting it throughout your essay. Make sure your thesis statement is arguable and specific.

Supporting Your Claims with Relevant Examples and Evidence

To make your essay more compelling, you should back up your claims and arguments with relevant examples and evidence. This will help your reader understand the extent of your personal qualities and how they have impacted your life experiences. Make sure to include specific examples from your life that illustrate the qualities you're discussing in your essay.

One effective way to provide evidence for your claims is to use statistics or data that support your argument. For example, if you're writing an essay about the benefits of exercise, you could include statistics about the number of people who have improved their health through regular exercise. This will add credibility to your argument and make it more convincing.

Another way to support your claims is to use expert opinions or quotes from reputable sources. This can help to strengthen your argument and show that you have done your research on the topic. Be sure to properly cite any sources you use in your essay.

The Power of Descriptive Writing: Painting a Vivid Picture with Words

Descriptive writing is a powerful tool that can be used to paint a vivid picture of your experiences and personality in your essay. Use sensory details to help your reader visualize your experiences. Consider incorporating metaphors or similes to make your writing more interesting and engaging.

Adding Depth and Complexity to Your Essay through Analysis and Reflection

Analysis and reflection are essential elements of an outstanding personal characteristics essay. Once you have described your traits and experiences, you should analyze how they have contributed to your personal growth and development. Reflection is also important as it allows you to consider how you might apply your characteristics to future situations.

The Benefits of Peer Review and Collaboration in Essay Writing

Collaborating with others can be immensely helpful in refining your essay. You might consider having a friend or family member review your essay and provide feedback. Peer review can help you identify areas where your essay needs improvement and provide suggestions for how to improve it.

Strategies for Effective Editing and Proofreading

Editing and proofreading are crucial steps in the writing process. Once you have completed your essay, take a break and come back to it with fresh eyes. Look for errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Make sure to also check that your essay flows logically and that your arguments are well-supported.

Addressing Common Pitfalls in Personal Characteristics Essays

One common pitfall in personal characteristics essays is focusing too much on describing your traits instead of analyzing how they have impacted your life experiences. Another common pitfall is using cliches or generic language instead of making your essay unique and interesting. Be sure to avoid these pitfalls to ensure your essay stands out.

Using Keywords and Meta Tags to Optimize Your Essay for Search Engines

If you plan on publishing your essay online, you might consider optimizing it for search engines such as Google. This involves using keywords and meta tags in your essay that will help it appear higher in search results. Be sure to research the most popular keywords related to your topic and include them strategically in your essay.

Crafting an Impressive Conclusion that Leaves a Lasting Impression

Finally, your conclusion should leave a lasting impression on the reader. Summarize your main points and reiterate your thesis statement. Think about what you want your reader to take away from your essay. Consider ending with a call to action or a memorable quote.

Writing a personal characteristics essay can be a challenging task, but with the right strategies and techniques, you can craft an impressive essay that showcases your unique qualities and characteristics. By following the tips outlined above, you'll be well on your way to writing a successful personal characteristics essay that leaves a lasting impression.

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A guide to writing the best personal statement for your college application (with template and examples!)

Why is boasting about a best friend SO much easier than writing about yourself? Unfortunately, writing about yourself is exactly what a personal statement essay requires you to do–whether it’s for your college admissions application, or for a scholarship application to pay for college . Here’s our guide, to ensure you’re well-equipped to write a killer personal statement!

First off, what’s the purpose of a personal statement?

What topics can i write about, how do i decide what to focus on, in my college essay, okay, i’ve got my personal statement topic. but now i have to actually write it. 😱what do i do .

• Do you have personal statement examples? 

Now it’s your turn.

Your personal statement should share something about who you are, something that can’t be found in your resume or transcript.

For colleges:

• It should paint a picture for colleges to understand who we are and what we bring to the table. This is why it’s often better to tell a story, or give examples, rather than just list accomplishments.
• It should complement the other parts of your application. Consider your college application as a whole. Your personal statement, application short answers, and supporting documentation should together tell a story about who you are. This also means not being super repetitive with your personal statement and your short essays. (For instance, if you have to answer 3 questions AND submit a personal statement, maybe they shouldn’t ALL focus on music.)

For scholarship applications:

• It should indicate why you’re deserving of the scholarship. This often means making sure your essay relates to the scholarship provider’s goals. (Get more help on writing a killer scholarship essay here , and then make sure you’re applying as efficiently as possible. )
• It should showcase your strengths. This doesn’t mean it can’t acknowledge any weaknesses, but it surely shouldn’t only focus on negative aspects!

It can be overwhelming to figure out where to start. First, figure out what your choices are. Some colleges may have very specific college essay prompts. That said, many students apply using the Common App, which this year offers these 7 topics to choose from : 

• Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? ( Psst – If you choose this topic, you can sign up for Going Merry and apply for a scholarship bundle : one essay, multiple scholarships! )
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma – anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

You’ll notice that #7 is a catch-all that allows you to submit any personal statement about anything at all . 

So maybe that doesn’t help you narrow it down. 

Here’s a 3-step solution:

STEP 1. Brainstorm about your life

Dedicate 5-10 minutes each to brainstorming about these 4 sets of questions.

You can do this by yourself (writing down your thoughts), or do this exercise out loud with a friend or family member, and then jot down notes as you’re talking. If you “think out loud” better than you do on paper, brainstorming with someone else may be the way to go! 

(A) What were defining moments in your life?

How did these moments in your life changed you, what did you learn from it, and how has it shaped your future plans? Some topics might include:

• An accident or injury
• A best friend you made (or lost)
• A defining talk with a peer
• Something new you tried for the first time
• Revealing a sexual or gender identity, to friends or family
• Discovering something about your family ( e.g., see Jesus’s story )
• Moving to a new city
• Traveling somewhere, or learning about a new culture ( e.g., see Gabby’s story )
• Your first pet (new responsibilities as a fur mom or dad)

(B) What have you chosen to spend time on?

Remember to focus not just on the what , but also the why – What were your motivations? How did you feel? What have you learned? Some topics on this might include: 

• The moment you joined band, color guard, or the soccer team. 
• A time you struggled with that activity – e.g., Maybe you got passed over for captain of the soccer? Or maybe you got an injury and had to sit out on the sidelines? 
• Maybe a moment you really fell in love with that activity – e.g. Maybe the first time you investigated a story for the school newspaper and realized journalism was your calling?

(C) Whom or what are you inspired by?

How did you find out about this person or thing? Why are you inspired? In what ways are you inspired? Is there anything that inspiration has made you do (e.g. join a club, do an activity or internship on the topic)? Some topics on this might include: 

• Technology – Maybe a specific App made you inspired to learn to code? 
• Person in your life – Maybe meeting someone (or knowing someone in your family) has affected you? 
• A show, movie, book, or podcast that inspired you to look at life differently
• A dance or song that has made you interested in performing arts

(D) What are you proud of?

Make a list of all the things you’re proud of. These can be milestones, hobbies, qualities, or quirks that are what make you, you. Topics to consider might be:

• Times you saved the day – like that epic left-handed catch you made on the field
• Personal qualities – Maybe you’re really funny, or amazingly calm under pressure. What are some examples of times when you showed those qualities?
• Random life things you’re amazing at – Baking a mean chocolate brownie. Guessing how many gumballs are in a jar. Tell a story when that amazing talent was handy!

Don’t worry if some of your ideas repeat between sections. This is just a way to get ideas flowing! 

STEP 2. Shortlist your ideas

Identify your strongest ideas out of the bunch. This should probably be very few (2-4).

STEP 3. Freewrite about your possible essay topics.

Once you’ve brainstormed some ideas and identified 2-4 winners, we agree with Find the Right College – just start freewriting! Start by writing a few sentences or paragraphs about any of your shortlisted topics, and let the words flow. Write for about 15 minutes, on each shortlisted topic. Don’t worry about structure or organization – this is just an exercise so you feel comfortable getting the thoughts out of your head and onto paper. 

It will also allow you to see which of the topics seems to have the most “legs” — often, you’ll notice that your best topic will:

• Be the easiest to write about (those 15 minutes flew by!)
• Lead you to tell at least one interesting story
• Feel like it genuinely reveals something important about who you are
• Not be captured easily by other parts of your application (you’ll need a full 500 words to really be able to tackle this meaty topic)

Well, let’s start here: What makes a personal statement good or even great ?

Here are some things to keep in mind: 

1. Get personal.

Remember the “personal” in personal statement. We all have a story to tell, and we all have a different journey that led us to where we are today. We might think “someone already wrote about this” or we might think our story isn’t unique, but IT IS.

2. Speak like you.

Write your personal statement in a genuine tone that reflects who you are . There’s no right or wrong tone – just make sure your tone represents YOU. This means, in particular, not using big words just to show off. Often, this just seems like you’re trying to hard. (Or, even worse, you accidentally use the word incorrectly!)

3. Think about your audience.

Who will you be writing your personal statement for? What message do you want to convey? If it’s for to the college admissions committee, how do you show you’ll align well with the culture of the school? If it’s for a scholarship provider, how do you show you support their mission?

4. Hit the big three: Story, Implication, Connection to college/major.

Most successful college essays do at least 3 things: 

• Mention at least one anecdote or story. (“Show, don’t tell.”)
• Explain why that anecdote or story is important to who you are.
• End (or begin) by connecting this information, to why you are applying to this specific college. This may include information about the major (why you think their department/program is great), or more general information about what attracts you to the school (e.g., location, sports, extracurricular activities, Greek life). Get specific so the school knows you’re really interested in them! This is the one piece of your personal statement that probably shouldn’t be cut & paste.

Here’s an example of how to use that personal essay template:

• Story: When I was 11, my family traveled to Italy and visited museums — one specific painting made me fall in love with art. ( 1-2 paragraphs )
• Why important: After that trip, I did lots of art and studied lots of art. Mention specific extracurriculars. ( 3 paragraphs )
• Why this college: I want to apply to X college because of its excellent art program, which I can also complement by joining Y and Z clubs. Since it’s in New York, it’ll also offer my the opportunity to visit the countless art museums like MOMA. ( 1 paragraph )

5. Hit the length.

Make sure you keep within the required length. Normally if you aim for 500 words, you’re golden. Some college or scholarship applications will allow you to write up to 600 or 650 words.

6. Edit your work.

Once you’ve written your personal statement, step away from it. There was a time when we used to rely on pencil and paper to write down all of our ideas and information (including first-draft college essays). Now, we mainly rely on screens, so our eyes grow tired, causing us to miss typos and grammar mistakes.

So save that document in an easy-to-find folder on your computer. Then stepping away from your computer and taking a break helps relax your mind and body and then refocus when you come back to edit the document.

( Psst – If you’re applying for scholarships with Going Merry, we’ve got built-in spellcheck, and we allow you to save essays in your documents folder, so no work will get lost! )

We can’t stress this one enough: Don’t submit your personal statement without checking your spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.! All the grammar things! Your personal statement reflects who you are, from the topic you choose to the style you write it in, so impress colleges (or scholarship providers) with excellent structure and great grammar!

7. Then, ask someone else to edit it too.

We recommend asking a friend, counselor, or parent to read your personal statement before you submit the document. One more set of eyes will really help you get a second opinion on the tone, writing quality, and overall representation of who you are in your personal statement.

8. Be brave, and hit that “submit” button on your personal statement!

Finally, when everything is completed, click submit! Don’t hold back!

9. Remember, personal statements for your college app, can also be reused as scholarship essays.

Get double-use out of your personal statement. Going Merry is your home for all things scholarships–fill out a profile, get matched to eligible scholarships, and apply. You can even save essays so that you can easily upload the same one for multiple scholarship applications. (We were inspired by the Common App to make applying for scholarships easier.)

Register for an account here , get the full lowdown on how it works , or just sign up for the newsletter below (to get 20 scholarship opportunities delivered to our inbox each each week!).

Do you have personal statement examples ? 

Oh yes we do. First, here are some excerpts of personal statements from members of our very own Going Merry team!

Charlie Maynard, Going Merry CEO – wrote about what matters most to him and why, for his grad school application.

• The open paragraph read: “Being open to new ideas and able to take advantage of opportunities is what is most important to me. The most extraordinary times in my life have come as a result of moments when I’ve seized opportunities. This has been evident in my educational life, my travels around the world and my professional career.”
• This anchored the main topic of his essay. He then went on to explain examples.

Charlotte Lau, Going Merry Head of Growth – wrote for her college Common App personal statement:

“As a child, I was never close with my father, though we were always on good terms. He made me laugh and taught me all the things that made me into a young tomboy: what an RBI is, how to correctly hook a fish when I feel it biting, what to bring on a camping trip. But whenever I was upset, he wouldn’t know how to comfort me. He is a man of jokes and words, not of comforting motions.

But as I grew older and I too became infatuated with words—albeit in written form—our topics of conversation became more diverse and often more profound. We continued to watch sports games together, but during commercials, we’d have epistemological and ethical discussions more fitting for a philosophy class than a chat during a Knicks’ time-out. During these talks, my father would insert stories about his youth. They’d always be transitory or anecdotal, told as if they were beside the point. Still, I’d eagerly commit them to memory, and, over time, I began to get a sense of who my father was—and, in turn, who I am.”

Now, here are some excerpts from other sample personal statements:

These 3 are college essays about personal characteristics:

Essay 1: Humorous essay about getting a D and learning a lesson

“Getting a D probably isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it’s not something anyone wants to see, let alone put, on a college application. It came back to me, scrawled in red, on the first big history test of the year. The one the teacher had assured us was a third of our grade. I could already see my chances of a four-year college going up in smoke and my school year hadn’t even started yet.

What happened? I’m not a D student. I’ll get the occasional C as well as the occasional A. D’s are out of character for me, and enough of a stomach punch to really get my attention. The short version is, I didn’t study, and I don’t remember precisely why. There is always a reason not to study, isn’t there? I didn’t study and I went into a test woefully unprepared and got beaten up.

I had two options here. I could accept that I was in fact a D student despite what I had thought. Or I could study hard for the next test and try to bring my grade up by the force of the average.”

Essay 2: Why a talent (in this case, one at football) is also a responsibility

“Talent is not remarkable. It’s usually the first thing anyone compliments. “You’re so talented.” It doesn’t mean what they think it means. It doesn’t mean I worked hard. It means I was lucky, or blessed, or anything else you want to call it.

I have talent. I’ve known since I was old enough to hold a football. The game just makes intuitive sense to me. The pathways of the players, both my team and the others, where the ball has to go, and what I’m doing. In the silence before a snap, I’m already playing out what is going to happen, watching the holes in my lines, tracing the route of my receivers. […]

It is far too easy to view talent as an excuse. For me, it is a motivator. For my talent, I will accept nothing less than a dream that only a tiny percentage of people ever get to experience. To get there, I’m willing to work hard and wring every last accomplishment from myself.

Talent is a responsibility. Because you had nothing to do with acquiring it, you are compelled to achieve every last bit you can with it. While I had grown used to thinking varsity would be it, that was not the case. Now, I can focus on the goal while I accomplish the steps.”

Essay 3: On living with depression

“Before I was diagnosed, I had been told it was a normal part of growing up. I was told that teens are moody. I would grow out of it. I couldn’t imagine anyone growing out of what I was feeling. I couldn’t imagine anyone surviving.

Diagnosis and medication have saved my life, allowing me to see the world as people without my brain chemistry would. […] what I found was a place of tiny kindnesses.

It might sound bad—as though kindness can only exist in the smallest forms. This is not what I mean. There are extraordinary people out there who devote their lives to doing very large, very important things for others. I’m not talking about them, partially because they are extraordinary. They are not the norm.

What is normal are the tiny kindnesses. These do not cost a person much of anything. A slice of time, a moment of openness, and little else. They are a smile when you’re feeling down, a comforting hand on the shoulder, a moment to talk.”

And here are 3 college personal statements, about what drove their interest in their intended major: 

Essay 4: On why this applicant wants to study music

“My great-great-uncle Giacomo Ferrari was born in 1912 in Neverland, NY, the youngest of four sons. His parents had emigrated from Italy with his two eldest brothers in the early 1900s in search of a better life in America. Their struggles as immigrants are in themselves inspiring, but the challenges they faced are undoubtedly similar to those that many other immigrant families had to overcome; because of this, the actions that my relatives embarked upon are that much more extraordinary. Giacomo’s oldest brother Antonio, my great-grandfather, decided to take a correspondence course in violin, and to teach his youngest brother Giacomo how to play as well. Giacomo Ferrari eventually became an accomplished violinist and started a free “Lunchtime Strings” program for all the elementary schools in the Neverland area, giving free violin lessons and monthly concerts.

As a native English speaker who has had the privilege of studying viola and violin with trained, private teachers, I can only imagine the perseverance it took for my great-grandfather and great-great uncle to learn an instrument like the violin out of booklets and lessons that were not even written in their native language. Their passion and dedication to learning something new, something not part of their lives as blue-collar, immigrant workers, and their desire to share it with others, has inspired me as a musician and a person. It is this spirit that has motivated me to pursue an MA at Composition at the University of XXX.”

Essay 5: On why this applicant wants to be an allergy specialist

“Suddenly I started scratching my neck, feeling the hives that had started to form. I rushed to the restroom to throw up because my throat was itchy and I felt a weight on my chest. I was experiencing anaphylactic shock, which prevented me from taking anything but shallow breaths. I was fighting the one thing that is meant to protect me and keep me alive – my own body.

[…] After that incident, I began to fear. I became scared of death, eating, and even my own body. As I grew older, I became paranoid about checking food labels and I avoided eating if I didn’t know what was in the food. I knew what could happen if I ate one wrong thing, and I wasn’t willing to risk it for a snack. Ultimately, that fear turned into resentment; I resented my body for making me an outsider.

In the years that followed, this experience and my regular visits to my allergy specialist inspired me to become an allergy specialist. Even though I was probably only ten at the time, I wanted to find a way to help kids like me. I wanted to find a solution so that nobody would have to feel the way I did; nobody deserved to feel that pain, fear, and resentment. As I learned more about the medical world, I became more fascinated with the body’s immune responses, specifically, how a body reacts to allergens.”

Essay 6 : On why this applicant wants to study medicine  

“My passion for teaching others and sharing knowledge emanates from my curiosity and love for learning. My shadowing experiences in particular have stimulated my curiosity and desire to learn more about the world around me. How does platelet rich plasma stimulate tissue growth? How does diabetes affect the proximal convoluted tubule? My questions never stopped. I wanted to know everything and it felt very satisfying to apply my knowledge to clinical problems. distinct concepts together to form a coherent picture truly attracts me to medicine.

It is hard to separate science from medicine; in fact, medicine is science. However, medicine is also about people—their feelings, struggles and concerns. Humans are not pre-programmed robots that all face the same problems. Humans deserve sensitive and understanding physicians. Humans deserve doctors who are infinitely curious, constantly questioning new advents in medicine. They deserve someone who loves the challenge of problem solving and coming up with innovative individualized solutions. I want to be that physician. I want to be able to approach each case as a unique entity and incorporate my strengths into providing personalized care for my patients. Until that time, I may be found Friday mornings in the operating room, peering over shoulders, dreaming about the day I get to hold the drill.”

You made it this far. Now, it’s time to write your personal statement!

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Home Essay Samples Sociology

Essay Samples on Personal Qualities

What do you love about yourself: embracing my unique qualitie.

Embracing self-love is a transformative journey that involves acknowledging our strengths, embracing our imperfections, and celebrating the qualities that make us distinctively who we are. In this essay, I delve into the question of "what do you love about yourself," shedding light on the attributes...

• About Myself
• Personal Qualities

Reflecting on My Negative Qualities

** Introduction ** We are all complex beings, composed of both admirable qualities and less desirable traits. In this essay, I take a candid look at the negative qualities within me, acknowledging that self-awareness is the first step towards growth and self-improvement. While discussing these...

Object That Represents Yourself: A Reflection

As human being, you are often attached to a certain object that represents yourself. This essay is about the objects that represent us or hold a special significance. These meaningful objects can be anything, from a piece of jewelry to a book or even a...

• Personal Life
• Personality

A Quality That Makes Me Unique: Everybody Has A Unique Feature

Everybody has a unique touch that can be fruitful for his society. For me,helping people and putting smiles on their faces mean a lot to me. Therefore, I try my best to spread love and good energy wherever I go, and push people to overcome...

The Meaning Of Leadership To Me: Qualities That Create A Leader

For countless millennia, we had witnessed the birth of several societies and organizations that had flourished from successful leadership. Today, in modern businesses you could immediately tell how the leadership it had evolved into at present and the leadership it had decades earlier. Take for...

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The Importance Of Patience And Other Qualities Often Found In A Hero 

Have you ever wondered what qualities are needed to be a hero? Many people think that heroes are only people who are popular or talented. A hero can be anyone or anything that helps out people, their town, and has the qualities that a hero...

Defining What Is Success: Definition Of Success

There are billions of people on this Earth that outlook success in their own unique way. Though with many minds there tend to be some that think alike. In the English dictionary it’s definition of success is, “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” Throughout...

• Personal Goals

Ambition: Positive Or Negative Quality

The dictionary definition of ambition is a noun- an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power; the desire to achieve a particular end. It is inclining to achieve greatness, and usually includes doing things that weren't previously expected of you. Sometimes, it means reaching past...

Patience As A Standout Quality Of Perfect Life

To begin with, patience is one of the obvious standout themes as one begins to read through the book of James. According to Merriam Webster, “the ability to remain calm and not become annoyed when waiting for a long time or when dealing with problems...

• Quality of Life

A Journey From Being An Introvert To Being An Extrovert

I was a nerd like of a child who always wanted to sit in his room and want to study. I was the topper right from the very beginning. I did not have any social life. I was very different from the students of my...

Sunni Muslims And Importance Of Patience

Patience is one amongst the predominant themes of the Muhammadan worldview. The population of Muslims worldwide is quite one.5 billion. The Sunni, derived from the Arabic word “Sunnah” which means the tradition of the Prophet Mohammad, is that the largest branch of Islam, constituting ninety...

Being Introvert, Not An Extrovert Is No Barrier To Entrepreneurship

Being an introvert or extrovert is no question on your vision and business abilities. With the right faith and self-confidence, introverts can achieve all that they can think of Collaborating with the right people and exploiting the technology in the right way can become the...

The Qualitie Of A Leader In Mother Teresa That Inspire

Mother Teresa has showed Persuasion and Influencing Skills. A good leader use a range of tools for this. Leader also need tools to help them understand the way that other behave and also create positive interactions or giving motivation to followers (Skills You Need Limited,...

• Mother Teresa

Overview Of The Values That Make Up A Person Of Substance

In our daily life, we encounter all kinds of people. Some we like, some we admire, some we avoid, and some we despise. We should always be asking ourselves “what kind of person I want to be?”. Even though we may be a fully-grown adult,...

• Individual Identity
• Anne of Green Gables

Anne Shirley was adopted by Matthew and Marilla by mistake as they wished to adopt a boy when she was 12 years old. Anne is a talkative girl with a great imagination. She often talks to herself before the mirror. She doesn’t like her red...

Selfishness as an Integral Part of Human Nature

“It is truth universally acknowledged that humans are selfish and self – centered. Selfishness is not a characteristic only a bad person has, but is part of our human nature. Despite most human being’s perspectives, “selfishness is the driving force behind everything we do.”(Richard) We...

• Selfishness

All Love Is Expansion, All Selfishness is Contraction

People who believe love is the law of life are free birds who aren’t bound by shackles of Exclusiveness & Insecurities whereas those who only care about their own selfish interests & needs are cocooned in the shell of isolation. Life is dynamic and sometimes...

The Feeling of Being Ashamed and Being Shameless: The Nature of Being Human

Shamelessness and nakedness without shame may mean the same thing if you only look through the word itself. However they are very different as you dig dipper to its meaning. A person named Christopher West discusses this topic with a student who is majoring in...

• Human Nature

The Lack of Profit and Advantages in Altruism

We have all had someone hold a door open for us to walk through. At some point someone might welcomed you into their home when you had nowhere to stay, and at rare times someone might have given up their parking spot for you to...

The Positives of Altruism Principle in the Moon of the Crusted Snow

Literature has an important place within our society, as it is a source of inspiration, entertainment, and knowledge. However, it also can give us a new perspective and teach us lessons that we have not been exposed to before. After reading the book Moon of...

• Book Review

The Origins of Jealousy and how to Deal with It

Let’s admit it, we all indulge ourselves in a bit of jealousy or envy every now and then. The old dogma has always been that the most complex aspects of human emotions are driven by culture; Germans and English are thought to be straight-laced whereas...

How Can the Virtue of Gratitude Enchanse Your Career Growth

Do you remember the time when you wished for something you dearly wanted and you achieved it without any delays? It could have been a dress you had been hunting for. Or, a book you had been yearning to buy and read. Or, a vacation...

What Practicing Gratitude Taught Me

I had never realized how lucky I am, and the power that I have to motivate others until I practiced gratitude. The exercise involved being grateful to myself, and showing gratitude to others every day, even for the simplest things. By the end of the...

How the Power of Gratitude Can Change Your Life

To have a healthier heart we must relax and learn to value the little things and value what we have in its rightful measure. Lao Tzu left us a phrase that should make us reflect: 'gratitude is the memory of the heart'. The power of...

• Personal Growth and Development

Living with Gratitude: Opening the Door for Self-Improvement

Gratitude Living: More often than not, we find ourselves going through life with a lot of anxiety, stress, sadness and hurt and mostly for things that are beyond our control. In the present world, it seems that we are all in a craze to achieve...

The Range of Human Emotions in Inside Out

At first glance, Disney’s Inside Out seems to be a standard coming of age film. The movies follow an 11-year-old girl named Riley; Riley is forced to make a move from Minnesota to San Francisco with her parents. However, a deeper look at the movie...

• Emotional Intelligence

Three Lives and Greed: Phases of This Vile Emotion and Aftermath

The book Three lives has a lot of meanings and themes throughout the entire book. There are three parts to this book, with three different parts of the story. The first part of the story is followed by Anna Federner a German woman whose whole...

Impactful Inventions That Were Made by Mistake

You can’t learn anything from being perfect, so the most valuable thing you can make is a mistake. What looks like a mistake to others has been a milestone in others life. In fact, each mistake teaches you a new lesson which makes you more...

Personal Improvement From Making Mistakes

There are many deferent cases of mistakes in the world, and it is not the same case for everyone because the mistake is a special thing that unique per person, someone fails on this, but another one fails in another thing. On the other hand,...

• Personal Development Planning

Exploring One's Individuality with Personal Development Analysis

Personal development is an important aspect of training to become a counsellor, due to the fact that the counsellor must be able to bring about personal growth in others - which necessitates an awareness of oneself. Personal development is also, usually, a professional requirement of...

The Score of One's Grit and Preservance

A basic definition of grit would be “having passion and perseverance for long-term goals.” Passion means to have the ability to have stamina, and sticking with your future day in and day out for years and working really hard in order to turn your future...

The Journal Assessment of Ageism Concept

The first similarity of two journals is that a health care provider should understand personal characteristics and dignity before the assessment of a patient. This is because health care providers who do not deeply understand the patient’s personhood is more likely to provide poor health...

Managing Work Stress with Type A Personality

Introduction The employees of Frank Taylor's automobile dealership have been experiencing stress-related problems for some time. As a result, I have been hired at Frank Taylor's automobile dealership to help high-achieving salespeople to reduce and manage work stress. Upon my arrival to the firm, I...

• Stress Management

Well-Being and Experience of Burnout in the Activism Community

As to the discussion for when to intervene in situations of injustice arises, society is often caught in-between two polarized options: action and inaction. And, often enough, inaction is the choice. Personal, alongside non-personal factors, directly contribute to this decision-making process. Personal factors can include...

Optimism as an Organizational Behavioural Concept

Introduction This research aims to investigate and review the Organizational Behaviour element which is “Optimism”, in order to relate and apply to the daily work and life. This topic is a very important concept that should be developed by theory and practice in management. The...

The Positive Presence of Tolerance in Society

Society is formed by groups of individuals who possess different life elements that make them who they are. We all have unique personalities that make us different from one another; these qualities are the building blocks for a better society. Tolerance is one of those...

• Religious Tolerance

Patience Is An Important Virtue

It was a sunny day. Brighter than usual and humidity was higher. In my university, there was a long queue of girls waiting for their turn to pay midterm fees. So I was waiting too for my turn and sadly it did not seem coming...

Self-Assessment Of The Principals And Practices Of Personal Effectiveness

Introduction The aim of this assignment is to submit a piece of written work that demonstrates my understanding of the principals and practices of personal effectiveness which include: Self-awareness Time management Goal setting Stress management Positive management Reflection and evaluation of learning. For all of...

• Personal Strengths

Strengths And Weakness Of A Successful CEO

Strengths and Weakness It is important for a successful CEO to acknowledge its strengths and weaknesses in other to better deal with his/her limitation because “The way leaders respond to challenges, their attitudes and their behaviors – combine to hold great sway over the psychological...

• Leadership and Management

Taking Judgement In A Positive Way

Most people judge others based on their own inner insecurities. This has been a universal issue which causes most specifically body issues. These issues grow based on how one presents themselves. Every individual has their own story and own experiences which enables the way one...

• Personal Identity
• Positive Psychology

Argument Men and Particularly Princes

Princes may be beneficent which seems to be a distinctive feature but it may be giving them an awful recognition amongst their subjects. That is due to the fact that such princes may be beneficent and turn out to be using up all their sources...

• Responsibility

Comparison of the Roles of the Spectator and the Participant

We are always told that “the grass is always greener on the other side”. Most people have sat through or been a spectator to various events like a sports game or a theatre production. Many people think, “They (Athletes or Actors) make it look so...

• Human Behavior

The Similarities Between Ayn Rand And The Main Heroine In The Fountainhead

Ayn Rand author of The Fountainhead and well-known philosopher was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on February 2, 1905. As a young child growing up in Communist Russia, Rand always felt opposed to the collectivism of Russian culture and identified herself as a European writer....

The Social Influence Of Leadership On Human

For many years, many people (scholars) have had lot of interest in leadership, there have been many debates and some occasional confusion explaining the concept of leadership or what it really means. (Bass 1981) (Northouse, P 2016) Even now, defining it is not as easy...

Personal Beliefs About Talent

When we were born, we all received gifts from the Holy Spirit. These gifts may vary in different forms, such as creativity or our ability to make others smile. In our lives we must also learn to use these gifts in various ways. For me,...

• Personal Beliefs

Ethical Dilemmas: Personal Values versus Professional Ethics

The values I personally hold dearest and strive every day to realize, exemplify, and uphold for others as well as myself are fairness, social justice, tolerance, integrity, dignity, and equality. These values are deeply rooted in my personality and have, for as long as I...

Best topics on Personal Qualities

1. What Do You Love About Yourself: Embracing My Unique Qualitie

2. Reflecting on My Negative Qualities

3. Object That Represents Yourself: A Reflection

4. A Quality That Makes Me Unique: Everybody Has A Unique Feature

5. The Meaning Of Leadership To Me: Qualities That Create A Leader

6. The Importance Of Patience And Other Qualities Often Found In A Hero 

7. Defining What Is Success: Definition Of Success

8. Ambition: Positive Or Negative Quality

9. Patience As A Standout Quality Of Perfect Life

10. A Journey From Being An Introvert To Being An Extrovert

11. Sunni Muslims And Importance Of Patience

12. Being Introvert, Not An Extrovert Is No Barrier To Entrepreneurship

13. The Qualitie Of A Leader In Mother Teresa That Inspire

14. Overview Of The Values That Make Up A Person Of Substance

15. Anne of Green Gables

• Gender Roles
• Social Media
• Cultural Identity
• National Honor Society
• Collaboration
• Interpersonal Communication
• Stereotypes

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What Is a Personal Essay (Personal Statement)?

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

A personal essay is a short work of autobiographical nonfiction characterized by a sense of intimacy and a conversational manner. Also called a personal statement . 

A type of creative nonfiction , the personal essay is "all over the map," according to Annie Dillard. "There's nothing you can't do with it. No subject matter is forbidden, no structure is prescribed. You get to make up your own form every time." ("To Fashion a Text," 1998) .

Examples of Personal Essays

• An Apology for Idlers , by Robert Louis Stevenson
• On Laziness , by Christopher Morley
• Coney Island at Night, by James Huneker
• New Year's Eve , by Charles Lamb
• How It Feels to Be Colored Me , by Zora Neale Hurston
• My Wood, by E.M. Forster
• Two Ways of Seeing a River , by Mark Twain
• What I Think and Feel at 25, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Observations

• The personal essay is one of the most common types of writing assignment--and not only in freshman composition courses. Many employers, as well as graduate and professional schools, will ask you to submit a personal essay (sometimes called a personal statement ) before even considering you for an interview. Being able to compose a coherent version of yourself in words is clearly an important skill.
• What qualities does a personal essay reveal about you? Here are just a few:
• Communication Skills How effective are your communication skills? Do you write clearly, concisely, and correctly? Note that many employers put communication skills at the top of the list of essential qualifications.
• Critical Thinking Skills How fresh and imaginative are you in your thinking? Is your writing cluttered with cliches , or is it obvious that you have original ideas to contribute?
• Maturity What specific lessons have you learned from experience, and are you ready to apply those lessons to the job or the academic program you're considering? Keep in mind that it's not enough to be able to recount a personal experience; you should be prepared to interpret it as well.
• Self and Subject in Personal Essays "[W]here the familiar essay is characterized by its everyday subject matter, the personal essay is defined more by the personality of its writer, which takes precedence over the subject. On the other hand, the personal essayist does not place himself firmly in center stage, as does the autobiographical essayist; the autobiographical element of the personal essay is far less calculated..."
• The Essayist's Persona "Personal essayists from Montaigne on have been fascinated with the changeableness and plasticity of the materials of human personality. Starting with self-description, they have realized they can never render all at once the entire complexity of a personality. So they have elected to follow an additive strategy, offering incomplete shards, one mask or persona after another: the eager, skeptical, amiable, tender, curmudgeonly, antic, somber. If 'we must remove the mask,' it is only to substitute another mask..."
• The "Antigenre": An Alternative to Academic Prose "[T]he more personal essay offers an escape from the confines of academic prose . By using this antigenre form that in contemporary essays embodies multiple kinds of writing, many essayists in search of democracy find a freedom for expressing in their writings spontaneity, self-reflexivity, accessibility, and a rhetoric of sincerity."
• Teaching the Personal Essay "Given the opportunity to speak their own authority as writers, given a turn in the conversation, students can claim their stories as primary source material and transform their experiences into evidence ..."
• Essay Forms "Despite the anthologists' custom of presenting essays as 'models of organization ,' it is the loose structure or apparent shapelessness of the essay that is often stressed in standard definitions. . . . Samuel Johnson famously defined the essay as 'an irregular, indigested piece, not a regular and orderly performance.' And certainly, a number of essayists (Hazlitt and Emerson, for instance, after the fashion of Montaigne) are readily identifiable by the wayward or fragmentary nature of their explorations. Yet each of these writers observes certain distinctive organizing (or disorganizing) principles of his own, thus charting the ramble and shaping the form. As Jeanette Harris observes in Expressive Discourse , 'Even in the case of a personal essay , which may appear informal and loosely structured, the writer has crafted with care this very appearance of informality' (122).

Theresa Werner, "Personal Essay."  Encyclopedia of the Essay , ed. by Tracy Chevalier. Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997

E.B. White , Foreword to  Essays of E.B. White . Harper and Row, 1977

Cristina Kirklighter,  Traversing the Democratic Borders of the Essay . SUNY Press, 2002

Nancy Sommers, "Between the Drafts."  College Composition and Communication , February 1992

Richard F. Nordquist, "Voices of the Modern Essay." Dissertation University of Georgia, 1991

• What Are the Different Types and Characteristics of Essays?
• The Essay: History and Definition
• Compose a Narrative Essay or Personal Statement
• 6 Steps to Writing the Perfect Personal Essay
• Free Modifiers: Definition, Usage, and Examples
• What is a Familiar Essay in Composition?
• personal statement (essay)
• The Difference Between an Article and an Essay
• Biographies: The Stories of Humanity
• Genres in Literature
• Understanding Organization in Composition and Speech
• Tips for the Pre-2013 Personal Essay Options on the Common Application
• What Does "Persona" Mean?
• Definition and Examples of Formal Essays
• Point of View in Grammar and Composition
• What E.B. White Has to Say About Writing

Personality Traits Essay

The study of personality traits has always been a fascinating subject for researchers. In this personality traits essay, the author dives into the personality theories that explain an individual’s unique personality. From extroversion to conscientiousness, this essay on personality traits will explore the different elements that shape our behavior and interactions with the world. The paper aims to comprehensively understand the complexity of human personality and its impact on our daily lives.

Introduction

Research/theories.

Different individuals are characterized by different physiological and psychological characteristics or values. Collectively, these factors contribute significantly to the nature of the behavior of these individuals. The term personality trait refers to these intrinsic differences in individuals that remain outstanding and stable throughout the life of the individuals.

In many individuals these intrinsic differences remain a personal and constant aspect that explains why the individual behave or react towards situations the way the do. Personality theories explain that individuals have distinctive and characteristic behavior which remains distinctive throughout a variety of situations.

Humans are in one way or another compelled to articulating a certain behavioral pattern and to identify or note differences in the way other people behave. (Emotional Competency, 2009).

Personality trait theories try to explain the differences in behavior patterns that are displayed by different personalities in similar situations. They as well try to explain why individuals behave differently in such situations. An individual can be said to be cheerful, talkative, cold, compulsive, and intelligent.

It can be noted that these personality traits remains more or less consistent over a long period of time or probably they last over a life time. What brings continuity in a person’s behavior characteristic is described as his or her personality.

Lexical hypothesis has found it extended application in describing personality traits. According to the hypothesis, people become used to characteristic differences more and more until they finally get engrossed into their languages of communication.

The hypothesis argue that the more important a difference is, the more people will notice it and the more they will talk about it and consequently they will invent a word for it. (Emotional Competency, 2009).

Researchers extracted from a list of 18000 words and came up with the Big Five Personality Factors. There factors happens to be very similar to the Five Factor Model of Personality. These Five Personality Factors includes:

• Extraversion. Examples include talkative, extroverted, aggressive, bold, assertive, unrestrained, shy, quiet, untalkative and confident.
• Agreeableness. Examples include sympathetic, kind, warm, considerate, cold, unsympathetic, unkind, helpful, affectionate and truthful.
• Conscientiousness. Examples include organized, orderly, neat, disorganized, disorderly, careless and sloppy.
• Emotional stability. Examples include relaxed, unenvious, unexcitable, patient, moody, temperamental, touchy, envious irritable and self-pity.
• Intellect. Examples include creative, intellectual, imaginative, philosophical, unimaginative, uncreative, unsophisticated and imperceptive. (Emotional Competency, 2009).

As earlier stated, personality traits last for long period of time and in many cases they extend throughout the life of the individual. Sources have shown that it is these personal attributes that form integration web among our communities. In the process of understanding oneself, it becomes substantially important for one to understand, accept and apply his or her personality traits. (Emotional Competency, 2009).

Social unacceptability is connected to social inclusion or exclusion from certain social groupings. The issue of exclusion or inclusion is a major decision the humans as social animals have to take care of. An individual is either included or excluded from certain social entities.

A different approach on defining personality trait aimed at identifying descriptive nouns. From this research, there was development of the Eight Factor Model of Personality traits. According to this model, the eight factors that are a part and parcel of people personality tarts are; social unacceptability, intellect, egocentrism, ruggedness, delinquency, attractiveness, liveliness and disorientation.

According to this development, characteristic traits such as lawbreaker, alcoholic, rebel, comedian, speculator, daydreamer, tough, dummy, moron, poet, aggressor and many others were developed. (Emotional Competency, 2009). The above eight factors can be seen to correlate with people primal concerns as follows:

• Intellect refers to the level of enlightenment in matters that affect the community at large. The levels of intelligency place humans at different social orientations. Sometimes the level of intelligence is seen as the levels of evolutionary advancement and therefore distinguishes humans that belong to a certain generational grouping.
• Egocentrism on the other hand relates to lack of empathy and concern for others. It sometimes can be presented as a false self-image or someone being overzealous.
• The fourth factor, ruggedness relates to aggression, dominance and hunger to attain power.
• Delinquency is more or less similar to cheating. The importance and effectiveness of cheater detectors within the society cannot be overemphasized as explained in the theory of reciprocal altruism.
• Sex and procreating are bonded together in this sixth factor of personality trait.
• Factor seven is related to attracting attention. This factor is termed as important in attracting attention especially from mates of the opposite sex.
• Disorientation relates to reliability and competence of a person. (Emotional Competency, 2009).

According to the developed theories, personality trait understanding are very critical if understanding different behavior patterns that are displayed by different persons is anything to go by.(Emotional Competency, 2009).

It is therefore important to understand ones personal trait so that if there is anything negative about how e behave, one can consider the possibility of averting from it. This is necessary because some of these traits are detrimental in the way we live and relate with those who live with us. (Emotional Competency, 2009).

Emotional Competency. (2009). Personality Traits . Web.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, October 28). Personality Traits Essay. https://ivypanda.com/essays/personality-traits/

"Personality Traits Essay." IvyPanda , 28 Oct. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/personality-traits/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Personality Traits Essay'. 28 October.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Personality Traits Essay." October 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/personality-traits/.

1. IvyPanda . "Personality Traits Essay." October 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/personality-traits/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Personality Traits Essay." October 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/personality-traits/.

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Your Guide To Writing A Great TMDSAS Personal Characteristics Essay

Featured Expert: Dr. Vincent Athanas, MD

The  TMDSAS  application system has several unique essay components, including the TMDSAS personal characteristics essay. While most students understand the meaning behind  TMDSAS personal statement , many of them find writing the TMDSAS personal characteristics essay more challenging. We are here to show you how to write an outstanding TMDSAS personal characteristics essay and provide examples that inspire you to write your own!

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Article Contents 5 min read

What is the tmdsas personal characteristics essay.

The TMDSAS Personal Characteristics Essay is a required component of the Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service (TMDSAS) that asks applicants to describe personal characteristics and experiences that will contribute to the diversity and educational benefits of the student body.

This essay provides an opportunity for applicants to highlight unique aspects of their background, experiences, and personal qualities that align with the values of the healthcare profession. In 2500 characters or less, including spaces, students must respond to the following prompt:

Learning from others is enhanced in educational settings that include individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Please describe your personal characteristics (background, talents, skills, etc.) or experiences that would add to the educational experience of others. ","label":"TMDSAS Personal Characteristics Essay Prompt","title":"TMDSAS Personal Characteristics Essay Prompt"}]" code="tab1" template="BlogArticle">

Would You Like Our Help With Your TMDSAS Application? ","buttonText":"free strategy call","buttonColor":"#ffffff","addTrustpilot":"false","bannerUnderText":" Limited Spots Available ","belowButtonText1":null,"belowButtonText2":null,"trustpilot":false}" :url=""https:\/\/bemoacademicconsulting.com\/contact-schedule-free-strategy-call"" code="banner1" background-color="#000066" button-color="#ffffff" banner-image> Decoding the prompt and figuring out how to answer it appropriately can be challenging; so don’t stress if you aren’t sure where to start. We’re going to help you better understand the purpose of this essay. In fact, work with students on components of various applications (including TMDSAS ones) every single day; it’s what we do best! “Danielle Payne was so, so helpful during my brainstorming session for my TMDSAS essay. Before the session, I had been struggling to come up with ideas for the essay and had re-written it multiple times. However, now I feel confident with my first new draft!” – Anonymous, Former BeMo Student

Before we get into the details of this essay, we want to encourage you think of the task as one to emphasize your own diverse experiences and uniqueness. The admissions committee wants to know what form of diversity you can bring to your medical class that will benefit your peers.

Picture a class of 100 medical students who all grew up in the same city, and came from certain economic and personal backgrounds…this class would be sorely lacking in diverse and unique perspectives. Students coming from different cultural, ethnic, religious, or other backgrounds bring with them captivating and invaluable perspectives that will only help them, and those they interact with, in the medical field.

In this essay, it's your responsibility to demonstrate how you are unique as a candidate and how you can enrich other students in your class based on your own personal experiences in life. As one of our former students, Alison, a non-traditional applicant stated:

“It’s important to provide honest insights into your journey, challenges, and the lessons learned along the way”. By reflecting on my experiences and articulating how they have shaped my aspirations in medicine, I aimed to present herself as a thoughtful and introspective candidate.” – Alison Edwards, Former BeMo Student, Dell Medical School

The following  medical schools in Texas , both  MD and DO , as well as Dental schools in Texas and Vet schools, participate in the TMDSAS  medical school application  service and therefore require the submission of a personal characteristics essay. Take note of the  medical school GPA requirements  to help you decide which schools are ideal for you to apply to.

TMDSAS MD Schools

• Texas A&M University School of Medicine
• Baylor College of Medicine
• McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
• Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio
• Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine at El Paso
• Texas Tech University Health Science Center School of Medicine at Lubbock
• Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine at University of Houston
• John Sealy School of Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
• The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
• The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• The University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine
• The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School

The DO school rankings below contain schools that also participate in the TMDSAS service. However, keep in mind that many other osteopathic schools use the traditional DO school application , the AACOMAS, so be sure to verify which system you need to use beforehand.

• Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• University of North Texas Health Science Center Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine

TMDSAS Veterinary Schools

Check out the following best vet schools  that participate in the TMDSAS application service. If you’re considering applying to some of these schools, make sure to check out their veterinary school acceptance rates .

• Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine
• Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine

TMDSAS Dental Schools

And finally, check out  dental school acceptance rates among the schools that use the TMDSAS application service.

• Texas Tech University Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine
• The University of Texas Health San Antonio School of Dentistry
• The University of Texas Health School of Dentistry at Houston

Applying through TMDSAS? Watch this video to learn more!

How Can I Demonstrate Diversity in My TMDSAS Personal Characteristics Essay?

It’s common for students to feel as though they don’t bring any diverse qualities to the table, and thus, struggle with this essay. They may think that because they are not from a traditional “category of diversity” such as race, economic class, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, culture, language, immigration and disability, that they have nothing worth discussing. This couldn't be further from the truth and has to do with a misunderstanding of the meaning behind the word.

In the case of the TMDSAS personal characteristics essay, ‘diversity’ is broadly defined to encompass a wide range of personal experiences, backgrounds, and unique attributes that an applicant brings to the medical field. This includes, but is not limited to, cultural, socioeconomic, educational diversity, life experiences, and personal challenges overcome, which contribute to a richer, more diverse medical community.

If you feel you need assistance with crafting your diversity story for your characteristics essay, our academic advisors can help:

“Ashley was really helpful in finding ways for me to think about my experiences and how they might be incorporated into my diversity essays. I struggled writing those essays and left them for last because I was lost on how to start them, let alone what to write about.” – Anonymous, Former BeMo Student

Our former student Alison reflected on her unique experience with the AMCAS and TMDSAS essays. She understands the important of students drawing from their life experiences to showcase well-roundedness and abilities to contribute to the medical school community:

“It’s important to present diverse set of experiences in applications, not only those directly related to medicine. I was a music major and athlete. This approach helped to paint a more complete picture of who I was as a person. I also used [my third essay] to talk about an academic dishonesty incident, focusing not on excuses, but on what I learned from the experience and how it's going to make me a better physician."- Alison Edwards, Former BeMo Student, Dell Medical School

What's your story? Here're some questions for you to consider when you prepare your TMDSAS personal characteristics essay:

As previously mentioned, every student has something to contribute, you don't have to have climbed Mount Everest or traveled overseas for your experience to be worthwhile. Experiences don't have to be exotic or require travel, you just have to connect back to how that experience influenced you in your journey to become a physician.

You have problem heard the saying, \u2018show, don\u2019t tell\u2019 when it comes to writing essays. This is crucial. Make sure you use concrete examples and describe why you are more resilient, introspective, empathetic (or whatever qualities you decide to discuss) today. Listing items holds no value and isn't believable. Everyone can list an item, but not everyone can support their discussion through personal examples. ","label":"Show, don't tell","title":"Show, don't tell"}]" code="tab2" template="BlogArticle">

TMDSAS Medical School Application Timeline

Refer to the following important dates for you to navigate the application in a timely fashion:

Medical applicants must decide which program to accept "}]">

The personal characteristics essay is one of the required components of your TMDSAS application. Simply put, you can regard this essay’s prompt as a diversity prompt. You must demonstrate what new perspectives, knowledge, or skills you can contribute to the incoming medical class. Note that the term diversity is meant very broadly here. 

While you can write about traditional categories of diversity such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or immigration status, you are also encouraged to get creative with what you include in your essay. Every single person on the planet has unique experiences and events that shaped who they are – dig deep and brainstorm distinctive narratives that you can include in your personal characteristics essay.

As I already mentioned, you must get creative with your essay. Just because you have lived in the same town or city your entire life or never swam across Lake Ontario does not mean that you do not have a unique story to tell. There is no need to fabricate events or experiences, believe me. Ask yourself the following: 

• Have you ever faced a challenge? How did it shape your character? What did you do to overcome it? 
• Have you ever met a person whose worldview was completely different from yours? What did you learn? How did this impact you?
• What do you do in your free time? Do you have a passion outside of medicine? Do you play music, sports, or create art? 
• Reflect on your family circumstances and how they shaped you and your desire to become a physician. 

I can go on and on, but the point here is that your story is unique – share it with the admissions committee.

While the personal statement asks why you are the right candidate for medical school, the personal characteristics essay asks you to demonstrate your unique experiences and skills that can broaden the perspectives of your future medical school peers, and the optional essay is your chance to discuss any experiences or events that are relevant to your application which you have not previously discussed. I know it may be frustrating to prepare so many primary essays for your application, but all your essays must be of the highest quality – do not think the personal characteristics essay is any less important than the personal essay. 

Remember, the prompts are all different. To succeed, you must answer the prompt of the essay you are writing, whether it’s the personal statement, personal characteristics essay, optional essay, or the  medical school secondary essays . 

I strongly advise you to stick to 1-3 experiences or events. Remember, you must show rather than tell your story. Include concrete examples, describe your feelings and mental state, explain how certain experiences or events shaped you. Do not simply say, for example, “I served in the military. It was challenging.” – give the reader a vivid image of you in the military and how it shaped your character. What can your peers in medical school learn from you and your experience? Sticking to 1-3 experiences will allow you to speak of them in detail.

TMDSAS limits your personal characteristics essay to 2500 characters including spaces.

The composition of your personal characteristics essay will follow the academic essay structure: introduction, body, and conclusion. While this essay will be shorter than the personal statement, nevertheless, it must be well organized, clean, and easy to follow. 

Unfortunately, you can’t change your essay after you submit it. The only items in your application that you can change after you submit your application include the following: contact information, colleges attended, college coursework, terms attended, planned enrollment, My Account, and Test Scores.

While this application component is absolutely essential, it is not the sole reason for your acceptance or medical school rejection . You will need to have other strong elements, including transcripts, evaluators, and standardized test scores.

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54 Personal Qualities Examples

The most popular personal qualities to list on a resume include trustworthiness , organization skills, motivation, and flexibility.

The personal qualities that you present on your resume should directly demonstrate your aptitude for the job at hand.

For example: 

• If it’s a job requiring customer service, you should demonstrate that you’re a personable and approachable employee.
• If it’s a job requiring you to work alone, then you should demonstrate that you’re trustworthy and self-reliant.

Below are 50 examples of personal qualities for you to use as inspiration.

Personal Qualities for a Resume

1. Trustworthy – Trustworthiness is a good personal quality for someone working with expensive goods, sensitive information, or in a leadership position.

2. Organized – State your organizational skills if you are seeking a job as an executive assistant, travel agent, accountant, or a related role.

3. Approachable – Approachability is desirable in customer-facing roles like a retail assistant or leadership roles where you need to be approachable for your staff.

4. Patient – Patience is an ideal personal quality for teachers, nurses, or other people working with vulnerable populations.

5. Confident – Confidence is desirable in sales roles or roles involving business-to-business interactions.

6. Motivated – Being motivated is a desirable personal quality across all job roles, making it a versatile choice for a generic resume skills section .

7. Conscientious – Conscientiousness is about doing the right thing, even when others aren’t looking. This is good in positions where you will be working independently a lot of the time.

8. Enthusiastic – Enthusiasm is a good trait to have in your job, but it’s also a little over-used as a personal quality descriptor on a resume.

9. Flexible – If you’re applying for shift work positions, employers often want you to be flexible so you can fit around an ever-changing schedule.

10. Honest – Honesty is a desired trait in positions where you’re working with a large team or sensitive information.

11. Attention to Detail – Attention to detail is desirable in skilled service roles like cleaning, mechanics, and carpentry. Another role where it’s desirable is bookkeeping.

12. Team Player – Team players are required in organizations where you are a member of a group working on projects collaboratively.

13. Fast Learner – All employers want fast learners, so this can be a skill you can put forward if you want to demonstrate that you’ll be able to meet the challenges they send your way.

14. Independent – Demonstrate your independence for jobs where you will be expected to work on your own or take charge of projects.

15. Resilient – Jobs that are potentially difficult or hard physical labor will require resilient employees.

16. Reliable – Reliability is required for shift work or jobs where you’ll have to attend lots of meetings and work alongside team membres.

17. Considerate – Being considerate of others is a good personal quality to have when you’re going to be working in an environment where there are many people sharing the same space.

18. Mature – Older employees often like to differentiate themselves by discussing their maturity. I used to write ‘mature’ as a personal quality as a teenage, though, because I wanted to demonstrate that I could be trusted despite my age.

19. Responsible – Demonstrate your responsibility if you’ll be working with money, independently, or with valuables.

20. Reflective – A reflective employee is great in professional and lifelong learning roles such as teaching and nursing.

21. Tactful – To be tactful means that you are ‘tactical’. In other words, you think about the best way to say or do something before you act. You might need to be tactful if you’re working with difficult clients all day long!

22. Helpful – Describe yourself as helpful if you’re working in an assistant or clerical role. A super helpful person may also be highly valuable in a retail or customer service role.

23. Self-Disciplined – Self-disciplined employees are highly valued in military or paramilitary settings such as firefighting or the police.

24. Punctual – Punctuality is most highly valued in blue collar jobs where you’re often working in shifts.

25. Cooperative – Employers want a cooperative employee so they will work toward a team goal rather than for their own purposes.

26. Intelligent – Intelligence is clearly desirable in all situations, but may be particularly good to place on a resume if you’re heading into roles requiring independent thinking skills.

27. Ethical – Highlight that you’re an ethical person if you know your employer is going to have to trust you with valuable things. This is a personal value that is highly regarded in just about all situations.

28. Versatile – Highlight your versatility if you want to let the employer know that you will be able to tackle any task they throw at you. I really like versatile employees!

29. Productive – Productivity means you aren’t going to slack-off at work. Of course, any employer wants a productive employee.

30. Inclusive – In today’s day and age, inclusivity is more important than ever. Inclusivity means that you’re going to be welcoming in the workplace.

31. Observant – A job where you have to pay attention to detail may require you to be observant so you don’t miss anything important. Observant people are also usually very good learners, which is another desirable personal quality.

32. Sensible – This might be a good personal quality to highlight for your first job. Employers might worry that a young person isn’t sensible, so put their mind at ease.

33. Hard-working – This trait transcends all jobs. Any employer wants their workers to be hard-working so they get value for money when hiring people!

34. Personable – Being personable is an important trait in two ways. First, you need to be personable when working with other people in the office. Second, you need to be personable in a customer-facing role.

35. Experienced – If you’ve got experience in a career role, then of course, you really need to say that your experience is a central quality of yours!

36. Attentive – Attentiveness means you’re not going to drift-off halfway through a meeting! It’s an ideal trait for an executive assistant, for example.

37. Diligent – Diligence shows that you really care about what you’re doing. You’re not going to drift off or take shortcuts in your work.

38. Eager – Eagerness is great for a young employee with little experience. Make up for your lack of experience with your eagerness to learn.

39. Optimistic – Optimism might be a good trait to demonstrate if you’re someone who works in a customer-facing role or you need to represent the brand publicly.

40. Skilful – If you’re applying for a job that requires a specialized skill, then of course you’ll want to show that you’re skillful in the skill that you need to be able to demonstrate.

41. Enterprising – An enterprising employee is more desirable in a job where you’re expected to take the lead on your own projects, but less desirable in factory-line roles where your job is limited and you’re not expected to be creative.

42. Practical – Being practical is extremely desirable in blue-collar jobs like mechanics because these sorts of jobs require you to be able to get things done and solve physical real-life problems.

43. Thorough – A thorough person will be desirable in a role like bookkeeper, stocktaker, or accountant where you can’t miss the tiny details. You’d probably want a thorough painter or even software developer so there are no mistakes.

44. Careful – Highlight your carefulness when you need to demonstrate that you’re going to look after the things (or people) you’re looking after. For example, carefulness is a good personal quality for a nurse.

45. Persuasive – Persuasiveness is ideal for a person in a sales job.

46. Systematic – You need to be systematic in a job that follows specific procedures or needs to be thoroughly completed.

47. Persistent – A persistent person would be highly desirable in a sales job where you need to convince someone to purchase a product.

48. Resilient – Resilience means you can continue to work through difficulty and obstacles. Resilient employees are desirable because they won’t quit when times get tough.

49. Passionate – A passionate person is great if an employer needs someone to take over a specific role and run with it. For example, you’d really hope a CEO is passionate about their job.

50. Intuitive – Intuitiveness is ideal because it represents a person’s ability to adapt, infer, and make decisions based on subtle cues.

51. Creative – Creativity is highly desired in the arts and roles where you’re expected to create and innovate rather than simply following order.

52. Adaptable – Employers love adaptable people because they like people who will easily react to changes in the workplace.

53. Innovative – An innovative employee would be good in a role where you’re producing new product lines or coming up with new approaches to marketing.

54. Determined – A determined employee won’t quit or give up. If you give them a task, they will get it done no matter what.

Best Answers for “What are your personal qualities?

1. high school student applying for a retail job.

“I am a hard-working, diligent, and responsible worker. I have demonstrated my ability to persist through difficulty at school, where I’ve consistently achieved B+ and above grades through hard-work and dedication. I also pride myself in my maturity. I am regularly called upon by my teachers to take on roles that require me to follow instructions and demonstrate my independence when the teacher isn’t there looking over my shoulder all the time. For example, I’m trusted to be the hall monitor on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays each week.”

Why it Works: High school students often don’t have experience, so they need to explain that they are trusted by their teachers. Highlight your maturity and independence as employers worry they will employ a high-school student who can’t hack it in the workplace.

2. Teacher Applying at a School

“I am dedicated to applying an action-based teaching philosophy where I employer my students to learn through experimentation and project-based learning. My greatest strength as a teacher is my ability to encourage my students. I see failure as a lesson and let my students know that it’s nothing to be ashamed of. I’m also excellent at diffusing tough situations with parents and aim to be a collaborative educator who works with, not against, parents, to achieve the best for the child.”

Why it Works: School principals want a teacher who can handle difficult situations, work well with parents, and set high standards for their students.

Go Deeper: Qualities of a Good Teacher

3. Nurse Applying at a Hospital

“I am a compassionate nurse who focuses on ensuring patients are comfortable, well cared for, and respected at all times. As an experienced nurse, I know the importance of being thorough, diligent, and careful in order to ensure the highest standards are met at all times.”

Why it Works: The main focus for hospital administrators is that nurses do not make mistakes, follow the highest standards, and ensure patients feel they are seen and well-cared-for.

4. Freelancer Applying for a Blog Post Writing Position

“I am an excellent writer with strong attention to detail, creative writing skills, and great work ethic. I can create high-quality articles on most topics because of my versatile writing skills . I know employers struggle to find writers who can follow their instructions. If you give me a chance to demonstrate my skills, I can show you that I can follow instructions, pay attention to details, and solve problems to ensure you receive high-quality output at all times.”

Why it Works: People employing writers want someone who is versatile and have excellent attention to detail.

5. College Student Applying for a Scholarship

“I am determined and excited about achieving my goal of graduating with a 3.5 GPA in my degree. To get there, I will use my personal qualities of resilience, diligence, and determination. I have a clear study schedule that I’ve followed every week for the past year, even during summer holidays. Furthermore, I go above and beyond to make sure I achieve my goals, including by making use of all the library resources and my tutors as much as possible.”

Why it Works: The biggest worry with college students is that they will give up and pull out. So, you need to highlight your resilience and determination.

Go Deeper: Qualities of a Good College Student

You always want to be honest when demonstrating your personal qualities, but it’s also important to think about the context. What qualities do you think the person across the table from you wants to see? Do you think you have those personal qualities, and if so, can you demonstrate them?

The best way to demonstrate your personal qualities is to use clear examples of times when you have utilized those qualities to achieve your goals and overcome problems.

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 5 Top Tips for Succeeding at University
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 50 Durable Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 100 Consumer Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 30 Globalization Pros and Cons

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How to write the tmdsas personal characteristics essay.

Reviewed by:

Jonathan Preminger

Former Admissions Committee Member, Hofstra-Northwell School of Medicine

Reviewed: 6/23/23

Applying through the TMDSAS? Read on to learn more about personal characteristics essays for TMDSAS schools! 

If you’re preparing to apply to medical school, you’re probably familiar with AMCAS . However, if you’re planning to apply to medical, dental, or veterinary school in Texas, you’ll need to apply using the Texas Medical & Dental Schools Application Service (TMDSAS) .

On top of your personal statement, you’ll need to write a personal characteristics essay. We’ll highlight everything you need to know about the TMDSAS personal characteristics essay and how to craft a narrative that maximizes your chances of getting accepted into your dream Texas medical school .

Get The Ultimate Guide on Writing an Unforgettable Personal Statement

Purpose of the TMDSAS ‍

Texas is a large and populous state; the purpose of the TMDSAS is to provide a centralized application service for Texas-only medical, dental, and veterinary schools. 

In fact, the TMDSAS pre-dates the AMCAS! The following medical schools participate in the TMDSAS network:

• The Baylor College of Medicine
• The Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio
• The McGovern Medical School at UT Health Houston
• The Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• The Texas A&M College of Medicine
• The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine at El Paso
• The Texas Tech University Health Science Center School of Medicine at Lubbock
• The University of Houston College of Medicine
• The University of North Texas Health Science Center Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
• The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School
• The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
• The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
• The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School

Two Texas medical schools don’t participate in the TMDSAS:

• The TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine requires applicants to use the AMCAS .
• The University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine requires applicants to use AACOMAS . 

Be sure to stay up-to-date with Texas medical school application procedures and visit the school websites to use the correct application portal.

TMDSAS Essay Overview ‍

Like AMCAS , the TMDSAS also requires a personal statement. The TMDSAS requires a personal characteristics essay and allows candidates to write an additional optional essay. 

The personal characteristics essay is unique to TMDSAS, so let’s highlight some key information, such as its purpose, tips on how to write a compelling narrative, and sample personal characteristics essays that thoroughly answer the prompt.

Purpose of the TMDSAS Personal Characteristics Essay

The TMDSAS personal characteristics essay must be 2,500 characters or fewer (including spaces). Applicants must respond to the following prompt:

“Learning from others is enhanced in educational settings that include individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Please describe your personal characteristics (background, talents, skills, etc.) or experiences that would add to the educational experience of others.”

The way this prompt is worded might sound confusing and challenging, but we can simplify it – you can think of this as a diversity essay . Diversity has different contexts for this prompt. These may include your: 

• Unique background (ethnic, racial, socioeconomic, etc.) 
• Perspectives
• Ideas, talents, or skills
• Experiences
• Critical thinking

A strong personal characteristics essay connects your diverse background to medical school and illustrates how your peers, program, and the medical school can benefit from your diversity. 

Every entering class consists of diverse students with differing cultures, upbringings, socioeconomic statuses, birthplaces, educational experiences, and more. A diverse student body can expose students to new perspectives, insights, and information. 

This student body can challenge one another to grow, empathize with others, and foster a global mindset that is open, accepting, and critical in medicine. This is the heart of the personal characteristics essay, and what medical schools are looking for in future leaders – how will you add diversity and value to the class? 

How to Write the TMDSAS Personal Characteristics Essay

The TMDSAS personal characteristics essay is only 2,500 characters, including spaces, so every word must count. Here are tips for writing a strong and compelling personal characteristics essay:

1. Brainstorm Ideas That Demonstrate Your Diversity

Brainstorming is an effective technique to recall memories and experiences you can write about. You aren’t editing or revising your thoughts; don’t worry about grammar, structure, or spelling at this stage. 

You simply want to write down every idea that comes to you that may be relevant to your narrative. Here’s a list of questions to get started with thinking about diversity:

• Who are you at your core, and what experience(s) defined you?
• How do you identify yourself?
• Where did you grow up, and what was it like to live there?
• What was your family like?
• What have you done or experienced that shaped who you are today?
• Have you traveled abroad?
• Have you learned another language?
• Did you serve in the military?
• Have you volunteered in your community?
• Are you a part of any teams, groups, or organizations?
• Have you suffered or had to overcome disability, injury, or illness?
• Have you been a caregiver for someone with a disability or illness?
• Have you had to face and overcome rejection?
• Have you been bullied? How did you overcome it?

2. Pick Your Most Meaningful Anecdotes

After brainstorming, pick one to three stories that fulfill the prompt and are meaningful in your pursuit of medicine. Remember, you don’t want to choose similar experiences to those outlined in your personal statement! 

3. Outline the Structure of Your Essay

Create an outline to structure and organize your essay. Although the personal characteristics essay is relatively short, you want your narrative to flow. 

The essay should have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion:

4. Write Your First Draft 

After completing your outline, begin writing your first draft. Your tone should be professional yet conversational – you don’t want to be too stiff or casual.

It’s important to show rather than tell; instead of writing “I am compassionate,” tell a story that conveys your compassion. Remember, your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect, and it may even exceed the word limit the first time – changes can be made in the next step. 

5. Edit Your Work 

Review your first draft for spelling, grammar, clarity, and sentence structure errors. If there are weak sentences, cross them out and rewrite them. You can also check for concision – does every word serve a purpose? Eliminate wordy phrases to leave more room for rich descriptions. 

The introduction should flow seamlessly to the body and the body to the conclusion. Another pair of eyes can help provide a fresh perspective on your work – consider an admissions counselor’s help to ensure your writing aligns with what Texan med schools seek! 

TMDSAS Personal Characteristics Essay Examples

Here are some personal characteristics essay samples to help inspire you as you write your own drafts:

TMDSAS Essay Example #1 

Here’s the first TMDSAS essay example: 

“Being South Asian, I have firsthand knowledge of what it means not to access basic healthcare. As a child, my mother took me to Pakistan every year, where I spent summers with my grandfather, a top pediatrician in the nation. He had a free clinic attached to his home in Faisalabad, and his practice was so renowned and respected that people from all over the country would travel great distances to have my grandfather treat their children.  Pakistan is a developing country where a significant part of the population remains illiterate and uneducated due to the lack of resources and opportunities. This population is the most vulnerable, with extremely high numbers of infectious disease and mortality rates. Yet, it is entirely underserved. With the lack of hospitals, clinics, and doctor’s offices in rural Pakistan, parents of ailing children must travel great distances and wait in long lines to receive proper healthcare.  Every summer at my grandfather’s clinic, from ages five to seventeen, my job was to open the doors to long lines of tired, hungry, and thirsty parents with their sick children. I would pass out bottled water and pieces of fruit. I would record names, where the patients came from, and reasons for their visit. I would scurry back inside with the information for my grandfather to assess, and then he’d send me running back out again to let the next family inside. I learned in my formative years how to communicate with diverse patient populations with special needs and lack of basic necessities. I learned to listen to every family’s unique reasons for their visit, and some of their desperation and pleading for the lives of their children will stay with me forever. When I get into medical school, I hope to share the story of how Gulzarah carried her dehydrated daughter for twelve miles in the Pakistani summer heat without rest (thanks to my grandfather, she later made a full recovery). I want to tell my peers that doctors like my grandfather are not only healers in biology but healers in spirit when he made up heroic songs for the children and sang the fear out of their hearts. I want to show my peers that patients are unique individuals who have suffered and sacrificed to trust us with their healthcare, so we must honor their trust by providing quality treatment and empathy. My formative experiences in pediatrics contributed to my globally conscious mindset, and I look forward to sharing these diverse insights in my medical career.”  This essay connects the writer’s ethnic background and experiences interacting with underserved patients.  The communication skills they learned, their experiences with diverse individuals, and the stories patients shared with them will allow them to add diversity to the incoming class while sharing new insights and perspectives with their peers.  

TMDSAS Essay Example #2

This diversity essay example was adapted from a personal statement but still checks the boxes to showcase the author’s experiences and interests:

“Hatha yoga emphasizes the ability to sculpt the human form into a fit, healthy, balanced vehicle for self-awareness and discovery…My instructor, John, encouraged me to push myself further until full splits and headstands could be achieved with ease. Yoga therapy and instruction became a way for me to connect to people in many aspects of my life…  I cherish the diversity I encounter. It is what excites and motivates me. My study of yoga grew from my interest in exploring the philosophies of Eastern cultures. Traveling, mostly independently, to over 20 countries and living in Germany challenged me to continuously learn more about the diverse world around me. Ordinary tasks such as getting water and preparing food can become unique challenges as different modes of operation and cultural differences come into play. Incorporating “sanuk,” the Thai description for playful contentment, became a key tool for overcoming the obstacles of traveling alone in Asia.  Living abroad afforded me the opportunity to learn a language in a shorter time than studying in an English-speaking environment. Having studied Spanish and German encouraged me to be precise in the messages I want to convey. As I continue to travel, I am touched by the sincere desire and efforts of people to improve their English speaking skills. This invigorated my desire, and I find myself jumping at the opportunity to practice my language skills. These experiences will be valuable resources in establishing trust and building thoughtful communication with patients… Since college, I have been committed to volunteer work as a means of improving social conditions and quality of life. As a therapist, I offered massages and yoga instruction to low-income individuals in exchange for donations to Habit for Humanity and Doctors Without Borders. I was able to raise hundreds of dollars for these organizations while providing massages to people who would ordinarily not be able to afford such services. …Observing work done in hospitals in India provided an insight into the ways in which I can incorporate a desire to work in underserved communities into my career as a physician… Though the path I have chosen may be arduous at times, my practice of yoga, meditation, and mindfulness will help keep my own physical and emotional health in balance. It is this integrated balance, along with a sincere desire to help people, that I have to share with my community and the medical profession.”  This diversity essay showcases the writer’s passion for yoga and how their pursuit of new experiences in new places invigorates them. While they connect their travels and other experiences to how it will help them become a better doctor, they could have been more direct about what they could teach their peers. 

TMDSAS Essay Example #3  

Here’s another TMDSAS personal characteristics essay sample : 

“I grew up in a household of six, and I am the youngest of four siblings, with two older brothers and one older sister. I spent the first eighteen years of my life living in Cedar Hill, a suburb of Dallas with a population of 50,000 and around 50% of that being Black. All of my siblings played sports, and everyone was very competitive, but in a good way…It was more about doing better than your previous best than being the other person. This was especially true after I became a swimmer in higher school. Before every race, my swim coaches always made sure to tell me that it was me against the clock, not against the people who were swimming around me. It instilled in me a very internally motivated hard work ethic. I want to improve myself because I know that my full potential has not been reached, not because other people are doing better. As a medical student, this will only make me a better doctor, as I will always be striving to become a better caregiver than I was before, whether that means learning more about the body and disease or learning how to become more compassionate so that I can serve my patients to the best of my ability. But hard work is not all that is necessary for success.  My life has been heavily affected by my Blackness. My dad used to give me lessons on what to do if I were stopped by the police. He said that because of the color of my skin, I would have to be as subservient as possible that there was less of a chance of my name becoming another hashtag. When I walked to school, I saw confederate flags flying on people’s houses. I was told, “You’re so lucky you’re black,” referring the the advantage in college admissions people thought I received because of my race, disregarding the struggles that come with growing up black, including the criminalization of Black people. The same criminalization that has a very negative impact on Black people, causing us to see things such as the color of our skin as negative…But because I had such a strong support system and grew up in a family full of Black role models, I did not see my Blackness as a detriment, but something to be celebrated.  It is important and uplifting to see people who look like you as successful. It is even more important that you have a connection with these people, and my Blackness taught me the value of mentorship. If I had not had powerful Black people pouring into me, things would be a lot different. Because mentorship influenced me so much, I became a mentor while at Vanderbilt, leading mentorship organizations such as Project I Am and After School Program. I want to continue to be a mentor and role model as I pursue my career as a doctor, being a positive example for aspiring Black doctors and communities of color in general. Yes, hard work is necessary to succeed, and you will accomplish much by being hard-working, but you need mentors and role models. Everyone needs someone to look up to who will guide, encourage and care for them.”  This essay showcases various aspects of the writer’s background, interests, and insights. They’ve seamlessly tied their home upbringing, racial identity, perspectives on competition, and appreciation for mentorship.  They clearly reference how they want to be a mentor and role model for other doctors who are Black or POC. 

Still have questions about the TMDSAS’ personal characteristics essay? Then check out these FAQs! 

1. What Does Diversity Mean in the TMDSAS Personal Characteristics Essay? 

For the TMDSAS essay, diversity doesn’t only mean racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, or gender diversity. You can broaden the definition and think of any unique event or experience that’s meaningful and shows how your acceptance would benefit your peers.

2. What’s the Difference Between the TMDSAS Personal Statement and Personal Characteristics Essay?

The personal statement addresses why you’re the right candidate for med school. The personal characteristics essay focuses on your diversity and the insights you can bring to the class to educate your peers and add value to the program.

3. What Do I Write About In My Personal Characteristics Essay? 

Ideally, one to three events or experiences are sufficient to answer the prompt. It’s better to have quality over quantity. The essay should be clear, well-organized, and professional. It’s easier to achieve a compelling, coherent essay by focusing on a couple of key ideas.

4. What Should I Avoid in My Personal Characteristics Essay?

Some things to avoid in your TMDSAS essay include rehashing your resume, writing controversial or alienating statements, being overly negative or critical, not editing, using filler words, and lying or embellishing. 

5. What Is the Character Limit of the TMDSAS Essays?

The TMDSAS personal statement is 5,000 characters (including spaces). The TMDSAS personal characteristics essay is 2,500 characters (including spaces). 

Final Thoughts 

The personal characteristics essay is a required TMDSAS component that shares your diversity and how it would enhance the entering class. With our guide, you’re well on your way to crafting a successful TMDSAS personal characteristics essay that showcases your diversity, fit, background, and experiences! 

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How to Write a Personal Statement for a Scholarship + Examples

What’s covered:, what is the purpose of the scholarship personal statement, what to include in your personal statement, personal statement example: breakdown + analysis, how to make sure your writing is effective.

Either before or after you’ve gotten into your dream school, you’ll have to figure out how to pay for it. For most students, this involves a combination of financial aid, parent contributions, self-contributions, student loans, and scholarships/grants. Because scholarships are money out of someone else’s pocket that you never have to pay back, they are a great place to start!

Scholarships come in two forms: merit-based and need-based. Need-based scholarships are also often called grants. These designations tell you whether an organization looks at your financial situation when deciding about your scholarship.

Additionally, different scholarships fall under different categories based on the mission of the organization or person providing the scholarship’s financing. These missions typically emphasize different things like academic achievement, specific career goals, community service, leadership, family background, skill in the arts, or having overcome hardship. As you select scholarships to apply for and complete your applications, you should keep these missions in mind.

No matter what type of scholarship you are applying for, you will be asked to provide the review committee with standard materials. This includes your transcript, GPA, and resume/extracurriculars, but also, importantly, your personal statement. A scholarship personal statement is a bit different from your normal college essay, so we’ve put together this guide and some examples to help you get started!

The purpose of your personal statement is to help a review committee learn more about your personality, values, goals, and what makes you special. Ultimately, like with your college essays, you are trying to humanize your profile beyond your transcript, GPA, and test scores.

College essays all have one goal in mind (which is why you can apply to multiple schools at once through applications like the Common App or Coalition App): convince admissions officers that you would be a valuable addition to the university environment. The goal of your scholarship personal statement is different and differs more from one scholarship to the next. Rather than convincing various review committees that you are a generally good candidate for extra funding for college, you need to convince each review committee that your values have historically aligned with their organization’s mission and will continue to align with their organization’s mission.

Common missions amongst those who give scholarships include:

• Providing opportunities for students with career ambitions in a particular field
• Helping students who have experienced unexpected hardship
• Supporting students who show outstanding academic achievement
• Funding the arts through investing in young artists with strong technical skill
• Supporting the development of civic-minded community service leaders of the future
• Providing opportunities for historically underrepresented ethnic communities 

If a specific mission like this is outlined on an organization’s website or in the promotional material for its scholarship, the purpose of your personal statement is to show how you exemplify that mission.

Some scholarships ask for your personal statement to be guided by a prompt, while others leave things open for interpretation. When you are provided a prompt, it is obvious what you must do: answer the prompt. When you are not provided a prompt, you want to write a personal statement that is essentially a small-scale autobiography where you position yourself as a good investment. In either case, you should identify a focus or theme for what you are trying to say about yourself so that your application does not get lost in the shuffle.

Prompts include questions like:

• Why do you deserve this scholarship?
• How have you shown your commitment to (leadership/community service/diversity) in your community?
• When did you overcome adversity?
• Why is attending college important to you?

If you are provided a prompt, develop a theme for your response that showcases both your values and your achievements. This will help your essay feel focused and will subsequently help the review committee to remember which candidate you were as they deliberate.

Themes include things like:

• I deserve this community service scholarship because my compassion for intergenerational trauma has inspired me to volunteer with a local after-school program. I didn’t just sympathize. I did something about my sympathy because that’s the type of person I am. Within the program, I have identified avenues for improvement and worked alongside full-time staff to develop new strategies for increasing attendance.
• I overcame adversity when my mother had to have a major surgery two months after giving birth to my younger brother. I was just a kid but was thrown into a situation where I had to raise another kid. It was hard, but I’m the kind of person who tries to grow from hard times and, through my experience taking care of a baby, I learned the importance of listening to body language and nonverbal cues to understand the needs of others (baby and nonbaby, alike).

Without a prompt, clarity can be harder to achieve. That said, it is of the utmost importance that you find a focus. First, think about both your goals and your values.

Types of goals include:

• Career goals
• Goals for personal growth
• The type of friend you want to be
• The change you want to make in the world

Values could include:

• Authenticity
• And many more!

After you write out your goals/values, write out your achievements to see what goals/values you have “proof” of your commitment to. Your essay will ultimately be an exploration of your goal/value, what you have done about your goal/value in the past, and what you aspire to in the future.

You might be tempted to reflect on areas for improvement, but scholarships care about you living out your values. It is not enough to aspire to be exemplary in leadership, community service, or your academic field. For scholarships, you have to already be exemplary.

Finally, keep in mind that the review committee likely already has a copy of your extracurricular activities and involvement. Pick one or two accomplishments, then strive for depth, not breadth as you explore them.

My interest in the field of neuroscience began at a young age.  When I was twelve years old, my sister developed a condition called Pseudotumor Cerebri following multiple concussions during a basketball game.  It took the doctors over six months to make a proper diagnosis, followed by three years of treatment before she recovered.  During this time, my love for neuroscience was sparked as I began to research her condition and, then, other neurocognitive conditions.  Later, my love of neuroscience was amplified when my mother began to suffer from brain-related health issues.  My mother had been a practicing attorney in Dallas for over twenty years.  She was a determined litigator who relentlessly tried difficult cases that changed people’s lives.  Now, she suffers from a cognitive impairment and is no longer able to practice law.  Oftentimes, she has headaches, she gets “cloudy,” her executive functioning slows down, she feels overwhelmed, and she forgets things.  My mother has gone from being the strong, confident, emotional and financial caretaker of our family to needing significant help on a daily basis. Once again, with this illness came a lot of research on my part — research that encouraged me to pursue my dreams of exploring neuroscience.

Due to my experiences with my mother and sister when I was in middle school, I knew that I wanted to make a difference in the field of neuroscience.  I also knew that, to obtain this goal, I needed to maintain superior grades in school while also pursuing opportunities outside of school to further my education.  In school, I was able to maintain superior grades to the point where I am currently valedictorian in a class of 567 students.  In addition, in school, I challenged myself by taking 16 Advanced Placement classes and 19 Honors classes.  Two of the most beneficial classes were AP Capstone Seminar and AP Capstone Research.  AP Capstone Seminar and AP Capstone Research are research-oriented classes where students are given the opportunity to pursue whatever track their research takes them down.  As a junior in AP Capstone Seminar, I researched the effects of harmful pesticide use on the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in children.  This year, as a senior in AP Capstone Research, I am learning about the effects of medical marijuana on the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (MS).  

Outside of school, I furthered my education through taking advantage of the Duke TiP summer program. Duke TiP is a summer program run by Duke University where students who score extremely well on the SAT as middle schoolers are able to take college classes at different universities throughout the summers of their middle school and high school years.  I took advantage of this opportunity twice.  First, I went to Trinity University in San Antonio to expand my horizons and learn more about debate.  However, once I was done exploring, I decided I wanted to go into neuroscience.  This led me to take an Abnormal Psychology class at Duke University’s West Campus.  This class opened my eyes to the interaction between neuroscience and mental health, mental illness, and personality.  Years later, I am currently continuing my education outside of school as an intern at the University of Texas Dallas Center for Brain Health.  Through this internship, I have been able to see different aspects of neuroscience including brain pattern testing, virtual reality therapy, and longitudinal research studies.  With this background, I have positioned myself to be accepted by top neuroscience programs throughout the nation.  So far, I have been accepted to the neuroscience department of University of Southern California, the University of Virginia, the University of Texas, and Southern Methodist University, as well as the chemistry department at University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill.  

It is with this passion for neuroscience driven by my family and passion for education driven by internal motivation that I will set out to conquer my career objectives.  My educational aspirations consist of acquiring a bachelor’s degree in a biological or health science that would assist me in pursuing a medical career as a neuroscience researcher.  I decided to attain a career as a researcher since my passion has always been assisting others and trying to improve their quality of life.  After obtaining my Masters and my PhD, I plan to become a professor at a prestigious university and continue performing lab research on cognitive disorders.  I am particularly interested in disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).  In the lab, I hope to find different therapies and medications to help treat the 3.5 million people around the world suffering from ASD.  Furthermore, I want to contribute back to underserved populations that struggle because they do not have as much access to medical assistance as other privileged groups.  As such, I hope to do a part of my research in less developed or developing Spanish-speaking countries. This will also allow me to pursue my love of Spanish while pursuing my love of neuroscience.  I think that following such a career path will provide me the opportunity to learn about the medical needs of the autistic community and improve their quality of health.  Furthermore, I hope to train a new generation of students to strive to research and make comparable discoveries.  Whether it be through virtual reality labs or new drug discoveries, I believe that research leads to innovation which leads to a brighter future. 

This student does a great job of making themself appear competent and dedicated to the field of neuroscience. This is primarily because they provided tangible evidence of how they have pursued their dedication in the past—through their AP Capstone courses, their Abnormal Psychology class at Duke TiP, and their internship at UTD. There is no doubt in the mind of a reader that this student is high-achieving. 

This student also engages successfully with a past-future trajectory, where they end with a vision of how they will continue to use neuroscience in the future. This helps the review committee see what they are investing in and the ways that their money will go to good use.

This student has two major areas for improvement. As we have said, the purpose of a personal statement is for a student to humanize themself to a review committee. This student struggles to depict themself separately from their academic achievements. A solution to this would be for the student to establish a theme towards the beginning of their essay that relates to both their values as a human and their achievements.

At the beginning of the essay, the student explores how their interest in neuroscience began. They explain their interest through the following sentences: “During this time, my love for neuroscience was sparked as I began to research her condition and, then, other neurocognitive conditions” and “Once again, with this illness came a lot of research on my part — research that encouraged me to pursue my dreams of exploring neuroscience.” The student made the great decision to tell the backstory of their interest, but they described their research in very mundane and redundant terms. Instead, they could have focused on their value of intellectual curiosity as a magnetic force that encouraged them to research their mother and sister’s ailments. Curiosity, then, could serve as a value-related thematic throughline to taking AP Capstone classes, taking college courses during the summer that weren’t required, and interning before even graduating high school.

A second area for improvement would be avoiding statistics. As the student identifies their valedictorian status and the number of AP classes they have taken, they might turn away certain personalities on a review committee by appearing braggy. Even further, these statistics are a waste of space. The review committee already has access to this information. These words distract from the major theme of the essay and would have been better used to humanize the student.

Throughout my academic career, I have been an avid scholar, constantly pushing myself towards ambitious goals. I held and continue to hold myself to a high standard, enrolling myself in rigorous curriculum, including Honors and Advanced Placement courses to stretch my mental potential. During my junior year of high school, I took four AP tests, two on the same day, and earned the AP Scholar with Honor Award. Additionally, I received the Letter of Commendation for the PSAT/NMSQT, and qualified for Rotary Top 100 Students both my freshman and senior year, a sign of my commitment to my studies. However, school has not been all about having the best GPA for me; beyond the numbers, I have a deep drive to learn which motivates me to do well academically. I truly enjoy learning new things, whether it be a new essay style or a math theorem. I always give each class my best effort and try my hardest on every assignment. My teachers have noticed this as well, and I have received school Lancer Awards and Student of the Month recognitions as a result. It is a major goal of mine to continue to aspire towards a high level of achievement regarding future educational and occupational endeavors; I plan on continuing this level of dedication throughout my educational career and implementing the skills I have learned and will learn into my college experience and beyond.

This fall, I will begin attending the University of California Los Angeles as an English major. I chose this major because I am fascinated by written language, especially its ability to convey powerful messages and emotions. I also enjoy delving into the works of other authors to analyze specific components of their writing to discover the meaning behind their words. In particular, I cannot wait to begin in-depth literary criticism and learn new stylistic techniques to add more depth to my writing. Furthermore, I recently went to UCLA’s Bruin Day, an event for incoming freshmen, where I was exposed to many different extracurriculars, some of which really piqued my interest. I plan on joining the Writing Success Program, where I can help students receive free writing help, and Mock Trial, where I can debate issues with peers in front of a real judge. The latter, combined with a strong writing background from my undergraduate English studies will be extremely beneficial because I plan to apply to law school after my undergraduate degree. As of now, my career goal is to become a civil rights lawyer, to stand up for those who are discriminated against and protect minority groups to proliferate equality.

As a lawyer, I wish to utilize legislation to ameliorate the plight of the millions of Americans who feel prejudice and help them receive equity in the workplace, society, and so on. Though this seems a daunting task, I feel that my work ethic and past experience will give me the jumpstart I need to establish myself as a successful lawyer and give a voice to those who are often unheard in today’s legal system. I have been a Girl Scout for over a decade and continually participate in community service for the homeless, elderly, veterans, and more. My most recent project was the Gold Award, which I conducted in the Fullerton School District. I facilitated over ten workshops where junior high students taught elementary pupils STEM principles such as density and aerodynamics via creative activities like building aluminum boats and paper airplanes. I also work at Kumon, a tutoring center, where I teach students to advance their academic success. I love my job, and helping students from local schools reach their potential fills me with much pride.

Both being a Girl Scout and working at Kumon have inspired me to help those in need, contributing significantly to my desire to become a lawyer and aid others. My extracurriculars have allowed me to gain a new perspective on both learning and teaching, and have solidified my will to help the less fortunate. In college, I hope to continue to gain knowledge and further develop my leadership skills, amassing qualities that will help me assist others. I plan to join multiple community service clubs, such as UCLA’s local outreach programs that directly aid residents of Los Angeles. I want to help my fellow pupils as well, and plan on volunteering at peer tutoring and peer editing programs on campus. After college, during my career, I want to use legal tactics to assist the underdog and take a chance on those who are often overlooked for opportunities. I wish to represent those that are scared to seek out help or cannot afford it. Rather than battling conflict with additional conflict, I want to implement peaceful but strong, efficient tactics that will help make my state, country, and eventually the world more welcoming to people of all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. These goals are close to my heart and therefore I will be as diligent as I am passionate about them. My perseverance and love for learning and community service drive my ambition in both education and life as a whole, and the drive to make the world a better place is one that I will carry with me for my entire life.

This student emphasizes two values in this essay: hard work and community service. These are values that go together nicely, and definitely make sense with this student’s end goal of becoming a civil rights lawyer! That said, some changes could be made to the way the student presents their values that would make their personal statement more convincing and engaging.

Structurally, instead of using a past-future trajectory, this student starts by explaining their academic achievements, then explains their career goals, then explains their history of community service, then explains their future desires for community service. This structure loses the reader. Instead, the student should have started with either the past or the future. 

This could look like 1) identifying their career goals, 2) explaining that hard work and a commitment to community service are necessary to get there, and 3) explaining that they aren’t worried because of their past commitment to hard work and community service. Or it could look like 1) providing examples of their hard work and community service in the past, then 2) explaining how those values will help them achieve their career goals.

Additionally, like with our other example, this student shows a heavy investment in statistics and spouting off accomplishments. This can be unappealing. Unfortunately, even when the student recognizes that they are doing this, writing “beyond the numbers, I have a deep drive to learn which motivates me to do well academically. I truly enjoy learning new things, whether it be a new essay style or a math theorem,” they continue on to cite their achievements, writing “My teachers have noticed this as well, and I have received school Lancer Awards and Student of the Month recognitions as a result.” They say they are going beyond the numbers, but they don’t go beyond the awards. They don’t look inward. One way to fix this would be to make community service the theme around which the essay operates, supplementing with statistics in ways that advance the image of the student as dedicated to community service.

Finally, this student would be more successful if they varied their sentence structure. While a small-scale autobiography can be good, if organized, every sentence should not begin with ‘I.’ The essay still needs to be engaging or the review committee might stop reading.

Feedback is ultimately any writer’s best source of improvement! To get your personal statement edited for free, use our Peer Review Essay Tool . With this tool, other students can tell you if your scholarship essay is effective and help you improve your essay so that you can have the best chances of gaining those extra funds!

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Home — Essay Samples — Philosophy — Values of Life — My Personal Values in Life

My Personal Values in Life

• Categories: Values of Life

About this sample

Words: 773 |

Published: Jan 31, 2024

Words: 773 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, body paragraph 1: personal value 1, body paragraph 2: personal value 2, body paragraph 3: personal value 3, counterargument.

• Adler, M. J. (2000). The four dimensions of philosophy: Metaphysical, moral, objective, categorical. Routledge.
• Miller, W. R., & Thoresen, C. E. (2003). Spirituality, religion, and health: An emerging research field. American Psychologist, 58(1), 24-35.
• Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. Oxford University Press.

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