# personal statement / essays (1 Viewer)



## Dredus

hi i've come across this site in madness - I'm having a really hard time thinking of what to write for my USC Personal Statement essay.

I'm looking for any help. I guess I'll talk about how I became involved with filmmaking, but how do I write this essay? Any who's written it, how did you write it? Was it basically very relaxed, or somewhat professional, or a very 'creative' style?

thanks


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## Kurt Wagner

I would start by just writing whatever comes to mind.  Just take notes on your life experiences, influences in filmmaking, etc.  Just get the content out.

After that, then work on forming the statement.  I would keep it professional, but from the samples I've read in book on writing personal statements, they range from casual, creative and professional.  It depends on the person's personality.  But one thing you shouldn't do is fancy fonts or colors... that's not being creative... that will just make you look bad.


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## Dredus

should I title the personal statement?

thanks


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## Kurt Wagner

yes, put a title.


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## yawnface86

From what I was told by a graduate from the program I am applying to, I was told to write about yourself including background, influences, career path, as well as any other objectives.

 If you have done positive things to improve your chances of getting in to include those example: volunteering (include what you learned!) . If you had negative issues to include them as learning experiences and how you have changed that to the good. It should be professionally creative. Totally professional is boring and too creative is wacky. You want a mix of the both. I started writing mine 6 months before it was due and am still tweaking, the more time you have the better. Get at least 5 people to read your paper and proof. Accept their feedback and tweak again    

Title should be  - or if you have a different title to call it that.

Statement of Purpose
NAME


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## Josh

They like to hear about personal experiences and what you learned from them and how you grew, etc. I wrote about climbing Kilimanjaro on all my applications and I was accepted to every school that I applied to. They love that stuff.


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