Audience and Voice
It's important to keep your audience in mind as your write your personal essay. While the admissions committee appreciates creative essays, they also know all the tricks. After all, many of them have been reading thousands of applications for decades. So, make yourself stand out, but dont' write what you think the committee wants to hear. First of all, they've heard all that before. Second, they can see through your attempts to please. The most successful essays are those in which the author is honest and genuine. The best advice we can give you is simply to be yourself. That also means paying some attention to voice, or the personality behind your writing. You should not be afraid of using "I" in your personal statement. This essay should not be a dry, academic essay, but neither should it be one stand-up comic routine; instead, you should strive for a balance between the two. Admissions committees also complain that many students try excessively hard to create an entertaining voice or write what they deem sophisticated prose. Often, these attempts backfire, making the essay sound contrived and flowery. You can avoid these pitfalls simply by being yourself.
This handout was written with the help of Michael Nguyen.
译:
在写作申请信时,您一定要时刻记住是谁在阅读您的文章. 录取委员会当然欣赏那些有创造力的文章, 但是他们也了解所有的小伎俩. 毕竟, 他们中的许多人在过去的数十年中已经阅读了成千上万份申请材料. 因此, 您应该使自己与众不同, 但是不要写一些你认为录取方想听的话. 首先, 他们都已经听过了. 其次, 他们能看穿您的取悦企图. 最成功的文章往往是那些诚实而真实的文章. 我们能给您的最好建议就是----做您自己. 这就意味着您应该注意文中的语气口吻, 以及文中刻画的人物性格. 您不应该害怕在申请信中使用"我"这第一人称. 申请信不能成为一篇枯燥的教条式的文章, 但更不能演化成一幕滑稽的闹剧; 相反, 您应该在这两个极端中取得一个平衡. 录取委员会的委员们抱怨道, 很多学生过分地试图在文中营造一种滑稽的气氛, 或者把申请信写成了一篇他们认为很不错的散文. 这种起反作用的试图常常使得文章看起来很做作, 华而不实. 其实您可以避免这些写作陷阱, 只要您简单地----做您自己.