By this point, you should hopefully have completed the Archetype and Stanford Items Exercises. You may have also answered some brainstorming questions. With those under your belt, you should have at least a topic or two in mind. You’ve should also have thought a bit about your core strengths and how you can connect them to concrete experiences in your life. All of that combined, you may have come up with a topic list that looks something like this:

• The lessons I learned from babysitting my sister
• What it was like to lose the big debate tournament
• My interest in ecology
• Helping my mom can vegetables every winter
• Building my computer from scratch

Now, you could just jump into your essay at this point and start writing. Some people prefer that method. But many writers find that writing without a plan leads to a jumbled mess. And you don’t want your personal statement to be a jumbled mess. To make your life easier, it’s probably best that you sketch out a plan. More specifically, it’s helpful to sketch out a plan that turns your topic into a narrative. Whereas a topic is just an idea, a narrative is a roadmap. It’s how your readers will get from the beginning of your story to the end. It details all the twists and turns, those key moments, and the overall understanding your reader should take away. To fit your topic into a narrative, you’ll have to think about the format of your personal statement. Like all personal essays, personal statements have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. These elements are essential components of any narrative. Here’s what each of those sections should do: Introduction: The introduction always begins with what we call a “hook”—a single sentence intentionally written to grab a reader’s attention, compel them to keep reading, and give them an idea of what your essay will be about. The rest of the introductory paragraph sets the scene, introduces your reader to the central conflict of the essay, or establishes the story the rest of the essay will tell. Unlike an essay for English or History class, you don’t necessarily have to end your introduction with your essay’s “thesis” statement. But your introduction should at least hint to your reader where the essay is headed. Length: In a personal essay, your introduction is typically around one or two short paragraphs. Body: The body of your personal statement is where all the excitement happens. It’s where you tell your story, detail anecdotes from your life, and craft your overall narrative. Importantly, your body paragraphs should also have at least a small level of personal reflection. Since the goal of a personal statement is to provide your reader with meaningful reflection on some part of your life, don’t save it all to the conclusion. Mix it in with your narrative. Length: The body of your essay will likely be several paragraphs, depending on how long you want your paragraphs to be. But the body of your essay should be at least two paragraphs. Trying to cram all your information into one giant paragraph leaves your readers tired and confused—and you don’t want an admissions officer who is tired and confused. Conclusion: Personal statement conclusions can be tricky to write. The goal of your conclusion is threefold: 1) to tie up any loose ends that the body of your essay didn’t resolve, 2) to meaningfully reflect on the overall message of your essay, and 3) to leave your admissions officers saying, “Wow, that was a great essay.” Length: As long as your conclusion fulfills these goals, it can be as long as a few sentences or as short as a single sentence. Once you have your story broken up into an introduction, middle, and conclusion, you can begin to get more granular. That means plotting out your narrative in an outline.

The Three Most Common Personal Statement Outlines

Outlines give you an even clearer roadmap for your essay. If the basic format you laid out in the previous section is an old-fashioned map, then an outline is the detailed Google Maps directions that will get you there. The good thing about college personal statements is that you’re not the first person to have written one. There are some standard narrative structures—ones that have proven to work effectively—that you can fall back on. Finding the right essay structure is important for two reasons: a) It helps you organize your ideas so you stay on track. An unorganized essay can go on too many tangents, lose its main point, and be ultimately confusing for readers. b) Clear organization makes your overall theme more impactful and digestible for your reader. Organizing your story into a plot structure they’re familiar with can help you convey your message more clearly. These narrative structures give you a basic outline within which to plot your own story. In this post, we’ll cover three of the most common ones.

1. Upward Trending Growth A very common structure is one I like to call Upward Trending Growth. Since college personal statements are all about showing your maturity and insight to admissions officers, many students choose to take an “upward trending growth” approach to their college essays. Upward Trending Growth essays, as the name implies, are stories about how a writer has grown in a specific area of their life. These essays often contain explicit turning points and deep reflection about the meaning of the growth to the writer. The Upward Trending Growth outline can be an effective way to structure essays about family background, personal challenges, obstacles you’ve overcome, and more. It may work especially well for essays that respond to Common App prompts #2, 3, and 5. I. Introduction: You begin at Point A. Point A is in some way a “low” point from which you’ll need to grow. Your introduction describes what Point A looks and feels like as the “before” state. II. Middle: The difficulty grows, and the need to move from Point A becomes clearer. Then there’s a driving moment that sparks the climb from Point A to Point B. The transition may be difficult, but you show how you finally move from Point A to Point B. III. You reflect on the growth that occurred. You may also reflect on how that growth will serve you moving forward.
2. Going on a Journey Essays that detail a personal journey are similar to Upward Trending Growth essays, but they aren’t necessarily about getting yourself out of a hole. They may be simply a journey of self-discovery, creativity, or education. Going on a Journey essays do exactly that: they bring your reader on a journey with you. This journey can highlight your strengths by showing how hard you’ve worked to cultivate them. If you want to write about your experience in a particular activity or your journey learning about one of your academic interests, then this essay outline might be the right choice for you. While it can work for many essay prompts, you might find it helpful for Common App prompts #1 and 6. I. Introduction: You begin in a place of discomfort or unease. II. Middle: You push yourself further out of your comfort zone. The discomfort gets worse. But there’s a turning point. You being to transform—you learn something new, see the world from a different perspective, or gain a new skill. After taking readers on through your journey with you, they begin to see who you are now as a result of this journey. III. Conclusion: You reflect on the journey, the changes you’ve made, and where you are now. You may even look forward to the journey that is still yet to come.
3. Understanding Self Through Other Finally, another common personal statement topic is about how a person or object has influenced you. In particular, many students write about how a loved one has influenced them. Other students describe how a meaningful object in their life—a doll, car, or book, for example—shaped them or is in some way a reflection of who they are today. These essays can be effective ways to show multiple strengths at once. Not only do you get to represent the lessons you’ve learned from the “other,” but you also get to showcase the more personal side of your relationship to your “other.” If you’re writing about your experience canning with your mom, for example, you can show that you have an interest in the science behind canning at the same time you show your care and compassion as a son or daughter. The Understanding Self Through Other essay outline can help you translate this large sense of meaning into a concrete narrative. It works particularly well for Common App prompts #1, 4, and 7. I. Introduction: You introduce the person or object by opening with vivid details. The introduction makes it clear why they are important to you. II. Middle: You elaborate on the person or object and explain what your relationship is and why it’s important to you. The focus stays on yourself rather than the “other.” The reader truly gets a sense of how the “other” has impacted you as a person. There may or may not be an inciting incident that sparks some kind of change. III. Conclusion: You reflect on what your relationship with the “other” has meant for you.

(Want to see more personal statement example structures? Join the Essay Academy for exclusive examples and video content.) Once you have your outline in place, it’s time to start writing. The first draft of your essay is simply about getting your words on paper. They certainly don’t have to be perfect. They don’t even have to be good. What’s important is that you start writing.