This is a sponsored guest post.
Writing a personal statement or a college essay is something all students have to do at some point in their lives. They usually need to submit a personal statement essay when they are applying to university, this essay being the opportunity to share things about them that are not presented elsewhere. The personal statement is a great opportunity to show your personality, state the reasons why you have chosen that program, and impress the admission tutor.
But this process can turn out to be a challenging one for many students, especially if they do not have any writing experience. And this is the moment where parents can step in and support their teens with personal statement writing for university. But how can you do this as a parent without interfering too much and creating the perfect environment for your teen to develop his or her skills?
Read as many Prompts as You Can
The most important part of writing a personal statement is understanding the prompt. Each university has a specific essay prompt for every program or college you can apply to. The prompt asks teens to focus their personal statement essays on a specific topic and to follow the requirements. Parents often ask themselves how they can help their teens succeed and offer their personal statement writing help.
Admission tutors take into consideration many details such as the SAT scores and how the personal statement was crafted. There is an application called Common Application where you can sign up for an account, even though you are not applying to any university. There you can find many prompts examples to go through and understand more about the format, tone of voice, and requirements that need to be followed. Like this, you will have the knowledge necessary to guide your teen and support him or her in having a good start.
Build the Timeline with Your Teen
To write my personal statement essay to get an education was one of the most challenging experiences. This is because teens might not have well-developed writing skills, as they are about to enter college and improve and polish them tremendously. Even so, admission tutors are understanding and give students guidelines to follow.
But one of the things that might make teens fall behind the deadlines is poor time management skills. Many teens expect the summer to come to have fun, meet with friends, and relax. But summer might be the right moment to start working on their personal statement. Summer is free of school stuff to do, so they have more freedom to accomplish their plans. Writing a personal statement is not something that is done in a day. It is an entire process where you share things about your personality, enthusiasm, reasons for applying, and so on. To get a scholarship or be admitted to college, teens need to craft powerful and compelling personal statement essays, like those on Writix. And parents can come with help by encouraging them to build a timeline. The first draft needs to be reread, edited, and proofread, things that will take time too. So, it is better to prepare ahead than to rush things to meet the deadline.
Be Supportive and Do Not Interfere
As parents, you always want the best for your children. You want to help and support them whenever they need it, but sometimes this help can do more harm than good, no matter how odd it may seem. It is the case of personal statement essays which sometimes turn out to be difficult to write for some teens. Parents might feel the urge to step in and write paragraphs or the entire personal statement essay.
But this is not the recommended solution, as the personal statement should reflect the teen’s opinion and ideas. You can help your teen by sharing insights and offering suggestions, but avoid writing the personal statement by yourself. This is a challenge your teen can overcome and you can help him or her. College life will be full of bigger challenges, so this is a nice moment to nurture the development of their coping skills.
Final Words
Writing a personal statement essay for university may be seen as an insurmountable challenge by many students. However, this is not the biggest one they will encounter through their lives, but one where they need their parents’ support. How can you do this? By reading personal statement prompts you can gain more insight into the expectations admission tutors have. You can also help your teen build his or her timeline and improve time management skills. Be there when your teen needs you, but do not interfere with the writing process.
Bio lines: Vendy Adams is a content and essay writer. She supports teens with writing personal statement essays. Vendy is passionate about reading history books and has three cats.
