The Questions
There’s really only one: tell us about yourself. Some schools ask you that question straight up (“Tell us about yourself” or “A topic of your choice”). Others ask you to tell them about yourself through a choice—a significant experience, a book, an event, a social issue of interest. Even the “what would you add to our community” is really a “tell us about yourself” question. That’s why we suggest you look in before you look out. If you have thought about who you are and what your strengths and talents are, these “tell us about yourself” questions aren’t hard. Even “If you were a kitchen implement, which kitchen implement would you be?” is doable if you’ve decided what you want them to know about you. (Clearly you’d be a sieve if you’re someone who takes the best out of every experience and pays little attention to the rest.)

There is a short paragraph about an extracurricular experience or your employment. And there may be some supplemental questions, most commonly something like, “Why in particular do you wish to attend School X?” These require a different strategy.

But if you want to get started on this essay project—and you need to do that pretty soon—your main concern is the personal statement essay and no matter how you approach it, you’re going to end up “telling them about yourself.”