Study Abroad

WRITING TIPS FOR PERSONAL STATEMENTS, SCHOLARSHIP ESSAYS

THE BASICS: WHAT IS A PERSONAL STATEMENT?

A personal statement is an essay used to:

• Support a university or college application
• Apply for a scholarship
• Apply for an internship or research opportunity

The purpose of a personal statement is to provide the reader with more information about the candidate.

GETTING STARTED

Read and analyze the prompt carefully.

• Look for hints of what the readers are looking for.
  For example, the Gilman Scholarship Statement of Purpose directions tell applicants to "be specific" and "address ALL questions."

Look for other requirements (example: word or character count, pages, etc.).

Do some research.

• Look at the program's website. Oftentimes there will be helpful information like profiles of past winners and example essays.

Suggestion: Print out and annotate the prompt page to help you keep track of all requirements.
*This is especially helpful for multi-part applications like the Gilman.

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BRAINSTORMING IDEAS

Brainstorming can help you:

• Figure out what you want to write about
• Organize your writing before the writing process

Techniques

• Listing
• Free writing
• Clustering or bubbling
• And more! Even talking out your ideas with a friend, family member, tutor or advisor is brainstorming.

Suggestion: Ask yourself open-ended questions, such as:

• What do I want the readers to know about me?
• Why should I be picked for the scholarship?
• Why do I want the scholarship/opportunity?

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ESSAY ORGANIZATION

OUTLINING

An outline is a plan for your essay. Creating one can help you organize your thoughts and stay on track.

• An outline shows two things:
  • The relationship between the main idea of your essay, your topic sentences and your supporting points
  • The order in which you plan to put all of this information together
    
    
• There are two main types of outlines:
  • Topic outline: brief ideas (informal)
  • Sentence outline: includes complete sentences (formal)

Suggestion: Write your outline in the same order as basic essay structure (see below). This is also a way to see if ideas are placed in logical order before you begin writing a long (and hard to edit) draft.

BASIC STRUCTURE

The following is basic essay organization. Always make sure to follow any guidelines provided by the program you are applying for. Oftentimes, the structure of a personal statement/scholarship essay will differ from what you would write for class.

1. Introductory Paragraph
   1. Hook: Draw your audience into the essay
   2. Thesis Statement: Main idea of your essay
2. Body Paragraph #1
   Topic Sentence #1
   1. Supporting Point #1
   2. Supporting Point #2
   3. Supporting Point #3
      ** Repeat this process for each body paragraph
3. Conclusion Paragraph
   1. Restate Thesis/Main Ideas
   2. Wrap Up Ideas

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TOP TIPS FOR STUDENTS

Here are the top tips we tell students for writing their personal statements.

• Don't skip reading the prompt and brainstorming
• Research the program or scholarship to which you are applying
• Focus on your strengths
• Provide context (This can be for academic highs and lows or for program specific information.)
• Be self-reflective to show how you have learned from your experiences
• Avoid being overdramatic or focusing on the negative
• Be authentic
• Focus on possible key themes
• Revise and proofread carefully and have others look at it, too!

AVOID THE FOLLOWING
When writing personal statements, students should typically avoid the following:

• Unknown acronyms
• Quotes/dialogue
• Creative writing
• Storytelling/scene setting
• Repetition
• Asking questions
• Inappropriate use of humor
• Analogies
• Generalities - be specific!

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: THE WRITING CENTER

• Drop-in Tutoring
  Available online via Zoom or in-person (ED 113). No appointment required. View the Learning Center's web page for semester/session hours of operation.

• Question and Essay Submission
  Email your essay and a couple of specific questions to us and receive feedback within 24 hours (except Sunday) to writingcenter@citruscollege.edu

• Online Workshops
  We offer over a dozen self-paced writing skills workshops available 24/7 with a student login. Click here to review the online workshop offerings.

Information provided by the Citrus College Writing Center and posted February 25, 2025

WRITING A WINNING SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY

DO YOUR RESEARCH

• Read the scholarship application. What kind of essay(s) should be written?
• Make a list of the study abroad program features (courses, housing, cultural activities, excursions, field trips). Why do you want to attend this program? What features interests you? What will be helpful or relevant to your current studies and to your future?
• Make a list about the city and region where your program will take place, such as places/monuments/museums, traditions, food, language, culture and the like. Why do you want to go to (program location)? Learn about the place where you will be studying!
• Have you traveled to other countries? Where did you go? What did you do/see? Make a list of everything you loved about your trip. If you have never traveled, describe why leaving will be significant to your growth and what you want out of the experience.
• What has inspired you to study abroad? Be specific. Is your reason in the personal, academic or professional categories?

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PERSONAL STATEMENT ESSAY FOCUS POINTS

Focus on your trajectory. Take the reader on a journey of your life.

Make a list with three categories. This will be your OUTLINE. Use bullet points but write full length, articulated thoughts: "I graduated from Central High School in June 2023."

• Personal: Who you were before? Your past up to this moment. Tell your story.
• Academic: Your academic journey. Your present. Remember, the reader is meeting you now as a student at "insert name of school, college or university.
• Professional: Where are you going? Your future. Bring your study abroad location into your journey.

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BRAINSTORMING

Start by BRAINSTORMING the categories in the following order:

Academic

• High school, current college. Be sure to mention you are a community college student.
• Year and major. Do you have a unique major?
• Why did you choose this major? Make us care.
• Are you a first-generation college student? Are you a post-traditional student?
• Do you speak a foreign language?
• Have you had issues or obstacles in your education?
• How will study abroad help you with your GE/major coursework? How can it help you transfer?
• Is there a course offered on the program that you're interested in especially or that will benefit you/your major? Email the faculty for more information, if needed.
• How does the program site benefit you/your major?
• What kinds of skills and qualities does a person with your major need to have?
• What is your transfer plan or dream? School, major, degree. (Do some research.)
• Do you want a graduate degree? In what? Where? (Do some research.)
  
  

Professional

• What is your dream job? Why is this your dream job?
• How would study abroad/international experience be helpful/needed?
• Do you want to help people? Who? How?
• Where do you want to work? Internationally? (Research some jobs/organizations.)
• What experiences, studies, degrees are needed for this job?
• What skills/qualities are needed for be a good [insert your dream profession]?
• Will skills needed for your dream job can be gained in the study abroad experience?
• What skills will be challenged in the study abroad experience?
• Be specific on how a professional in your dream job would need/use these skills.
  
  

Personal

• What is your age?
• Where are you from? Where were you born?
• What is your ethnicity?
• Describe any other important information that could help the reader understand you better (gender, sexual orientation, immigrant, veteran, person who lives with a disability, income-eligible, etc.)
• What were you like younger? In high school?
• Family relationships: parents, siblings, important extended family
• What was it like growing up in your family? In your city?
• What's the hardest thing you have ever had to go through? What made it hard? What were you and/or your family like before? How are you different as a result? Describe how it made/makes you feel.
• Describe any other incidents/issues in the same manner as above.
• Do you have a personal connection to the study abroad location?
• What is in this city that is unique and you can't find anywhere else? (Specific museum, custom, grad school, etc.)
• Will you be staying in a homestay or an apartment? Is your living situation a significant reason why you are choosing to study abroad (e.g., I need to become more independent; I want to learn how to live with strangers before I transfer; I can practice the foreign language; I want to learn with my host family, etc.)?
• How will study abroad help you grow personally?
• Are there any specific life skills/character traits study abroad can help you either acquire or grow out of?

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WRITING THE PERSONAL STATEMENT ESSAY

• A good, thorough outline makes an excellent essay. Go back through the essay and circle all the best lines. Does a theme jump out at you? If you can find a theme in your work then definitely build off that. Having a clear theme really helps the reader out in terms of comprehending your argument and making you memorable. Themes can include giving back, becoming a global citizen, independence and freedom, taking risks, overcoming hardship, etc.
  
  1. Start with the personal column. Write a paragraph summarizing your personal journey. For a study abroad scholarship, make sure you add in elements of the program/location that will help you in your personal growth. (Use your research.)
  2. Now write a paragraph on your academic journey. For a study abroad scholarship, make sure that you add in elements of the program/location that will help you in your academic future. (Use your research.)
  3. Write the professional journey. For a study abroad scholarship, make sure you add in elements of the program/location that will help you in your professional future. (Use your research.)
• Do you need a short introduction or conclusion?
• Re-read the essay. Fix any grammar or spelling errors. Can you edit any sentences and make it shorter, more to the point?
• Take the essay to the Writing Center on campus or a professor willing to look it over and give you advice.
• Readers have three to five minutes per essay to read and decide if the essay passes. Was your essay organized? Was it easy to read? Did it answer any specific questions asked by the scholarship prompt? Did it make the reader feel something for you?
• Finally, MAKE SURE YOU WERE SPECIFIC. Students often believe they are answering the question when in reality their answers are extremely vague, ambiguous or even incomplete. If you find you weren't particular, go back and edit. The details matter and show that you are seriously thinking about this study abroad program.
  
  

  Vague sentence: I want to study abroad in London because I love history and want to take in all of the great art and culture.

  • What kind of history do you love? Why do you love it? Culture is vague – do you want to experience a new country's cuisine, understand their political system or a culture's relationship to art, etc.? How exactly will you learn about these things?
    
    
  Specific sentence: As an art history major, I plan to visit the British Museum in London. I want to work with art from ancient empires in the future, so visiting this museum and experiencing the world's largest collection of Egyptian artifacts up close will provide me with important exposure to the field.

For Gilman scholarship and study abroad scholarships, make sure these questions are answered:

• Do you make a connection between your program and goals?
• Do you make a connection between your country and your goals?
• Do you share how you will be academically successful on your program?
• Do you give examples of your experiences, skills and knowledge that you will use to meet program challenges?
• Do you address how this abroad experience will impact your future?

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GILMAN SCHOLARSHIP SPECIFIC ESSAY: BUILDING MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

Gilman is a prestigious scholarship and Gilman Scholars are expected to be good ambassadors of the U.S. during their time abroad, representing the best of American youth and reflecting a diversity of values and beliefs. Gilman Scholars are expected to contribute to the goal of building mutual understanding between the host country and the U.S.

Paragraph I
What does being an American mean to you? Can you summarize your American story? How will you represent your culture and your country while abroad? What is being a good U.S. citizen representative while abroad? What is mutual understanding?

Paragraph II
Be specific. How will you become culturally engaged? How will you look for these opportunities? What aspects of the study abroad program will facilitate that? What kinds of things will you/can you do to actively engage in the host culture and with local citizens? How will you contribute to the goal of building mutual understanding?

Paragraph III
Describe the intended impact. How will this experience impact you and the host culture? How do you hope to bring back aspects of the local culture and community to the U.S. post-study abroad?

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GILMAN SCHOLARSHIP SPECIFIC ESSAY: FOLLOW ON SERVICE PROJECT PROPOSAL

Gilman aims to increase the amount of students studying abroad in your community or at your campus.

1. Answer the following questions.
   • Identify your project. What are your skills? What are your connections/resources?
   • Who will you collaborate with? On campus? In your community? Who is your target population on campus or in your community? Do you have data about the target population? Do they study abroad?
   • What resources will you need?
   • What impact do you want to make? Be realistic. Is there a timeline for this goal?
     
     

   Make sure to include these questions in your essay:

   • Does your Future Opportunities Scholarship Program (FOSP) increase awareness of the Gilman Scholarship and study abroad?
   • Is your project feasible?
   • Do you give a detailed plan for your project?
   • Do you include your study abroad experience into your project?
   • Do you have an intended audience? Who will you collaborate with to reach this community?
     
     
2. Write the essay.
   • Paragraph I
     Write about study abroad on your campus. Statistics, facts, situation. Lack of information? Opportunities? What is needed to improve study abroad on your campus? Identify and introduce your project idea.
   • Paragraph II
     Explain your project. Answer the questions above. Use specific activities, materials, etc. How will you execute your idea?
   • Paragraph III
     Describe the intended impact. How will this help promote study abroad to your target population? Why is your project important and needed? How will you measure the impact?
     
     
3. Review your personal statement.
   Go back to your personal statement and add in a sentence or two about your project in the academic section. If you have a clear theme from your personal statement to work off of, this could be a great segue to your project proposal.
   
   

   Example: If you wrote about becoming a social worker in your future and how studying abroad will help you accomplish that goal in your personal statement, maybe your project can collaborate with the REACH/Next Up program on campus to help foster students travel.

posted October 2023, updated February 2025