How to Write an Essay About Yourself: Tips to Consider and Samples

Knowing how to write a personal essay is critical in the academic context. Be it a personal narrative essay or an admission paper, a student needs to walk a fine line between focusing on the most remarkable achievements and avoiding overestimations. It may seem that there is nothing easier than discussing your experience. However, when it comes to the writing process, you may discover different writing styles and requirements. Read the article to find out the basics of composing an essay about yourself for various academic purposes.

What Is an Essay About Yourself 

An essay about yourself is a piece of writing that describes the writer's meaningful experience. Personal writing focuses on the life situations, challenges or events that have a profound impact on the author. In this type of essay, a story is narrated in the first person. Composing an essay about yourself is a great way to demonstrate your core skills, achievements and preparedness to overcome obstacles. If you want to make sure that your writing stands out, contact our team of academic experts and ask 'write my essay'.

Purpose of Personal Writing

An essay about yourself may be written for a number of purposes. The main objective of a paper about oneself is to share a significant event or tell about a person that has left a lasting impression. This type of essay is commonly used to support your resume or college admission form. In this case, it should provide decent reasons to choose your candidacy over the other applicants. Paper about oneself may also be used to narrate a personal story and, as such, should be written in the form of a personal narrative.

Personal Essay Types

Depending on the intent of a piece, personal essays differ in writing style and tone. Generally, there are two major types of personal writing you may be required to create in the academic context:

• A cover letter.  Otherwise known as an admission essay, it is a formal writing piece that introduces a student for internship or admission. A cover letter is commonly used to provide additional information about a candidate for college or university admissions, scholarships, or job interviews.
• A personal essay for high school. A paper about yourself may be a part of a high school assignment or college application. Its purpose is to narrate about a writer and explore valuable experience in a semi-formal manner.

It is essential to distinguish these two types of essays to choose an appropriate tone of voice and writing style. After all, you don't want your paper to sound too conversational if your primary purpose is to craft a cover letter for a scholarship application. In case you are not sure how to write a scholarship essay, we have got you covered.

Refer to the comparison table below to learn more about the main characteristics of each essay type.

A cover letter	A personal essay
Written in formal style Provides a list of skills and experiences Uses the academic tone of voice Designed to show your academic or professional qualification	Written in a nonfiction manner Explores a separate life story in detail Contains rich sensory descriptions Leads to a meaningful takeaway

Now that you are familiar with the peculiarities of each type of paper, it's time to learn how to write an essay about yourself for different academic purposes.

Tips on Crafting a Cover Letter 

01. Split up the question into subtopics. Whether it's a college essay or a scholarship paper, you most likely will be given the main question that needs to be answered in your paper. Try to divide the main topic into subtopics and then address them one by one. Assuming you need to write an essay about your achievements, then you will need to cover the following related subtopics:

• Brief background information on your accomplishment 
• Your experience that influenced your achievements 
• The challenges you had to overcome to achieve your goals
• Your valuable takeaways

02. Create an Outline.  A well-structured outline will allow you to remain focused on the main objective. An outline should comprise all subtopics related to the subject matter. Once you've got the main prompt subject divided into smaller sections, it's time to organize them logically. You can use a standard five paragraph essay structure.

03. Describe an education-related experience.  Describing your first wedding ceremony is not the best idea. Highlight the insights you've gained at school, college, or other educational institutions. If you have a specific person who has inspired you to enter a target college or choose a particular domain, you may create a reflective paragraph to integrate such information.

04. Start an essay with a captivating opening line. Even though the essay about you should be focused on your achievements and professional skills, do not start your writing with meaningless phrases. Use statistics and interesting facts to begin your paper. Another great way to start an essay about yourself is to put an intriguing question that requires an answer in the end.

05. Show your goals and ambitions. If you are writing a paper about yourself as a part of your admission, describe your skills and university goals. Give an admission officer an overall idea of your strengths, and explain how you can apply your knowledge at that particular college or university.

06. Format your paper. An essay about yourself doesn't require an additional abstract or reference page. However, you need to format your essay properly. Check the writing requirements to ensure that you are using the right font, size, margins, intervals and borders. In other words, a paper about your professional experience should look organized and structured.

07. Revise the paper. A finished draft is only half the battle. Once an essay about yourself is done, double-check it for grammar, spelling, or punctuation mistakes. You may download a grammar checker or use the tools available online to make sure that your essay is error-free. Also remember that your writing should be 100% original.

Admission Essay Sample 

Do not hesitate to refer to the sample of an excellent admission essay attached below.

Tips on Writing a Personal Essay 

01. Choose a meaningful event to narrate.  Tell a memorable story that has a significant impact on you. This type of writing aims to discuss a life situation that leads to the broader idea. Generally, a personal essay for school focuses on challenges, failures, outstanding achievements, or life lessons.

02. Focus on a real-life story.  Whether it's a student or a teacher, your reader would like to learn about the actual things you have gone through. Don't write about situations or events that have never taken place in your real life. You should be as sincere as possible.

03. Develop your essay around a single topic.  The primary purpose of personal non-fiction writing is to address a separate issue at a time. Do not list all your achievements, as you would do in a scholarship essay. Try to focus on a single challenge or life situation that has shaped your perspective.

04. Outline your essay.  Having a structured essay outline helps to stay on track. A typical personal essay for the high school includes an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Start with a brief overview of a life experience significant to you, and then cover all related points in the body part. Conclude your paper with a summary, and remember to highlight a takeaway.

05. It's all about a great introduction. An introductory part should be powerful to make your reader want to read the rest of the essay. Forget about general phrases like "My name is..." or "Everybody loves..". When you compose an essay about your life, you don't have to sound trivial. Start your paper with a fascinating fact from your life or an intriguing question.

06. Avoid sensitive topics.  Writing a piece that reflects your experience should not hurt the feelings of other students or teachers. The taboo topics you want to avoid when crafting your personal paper include gender, racial, political, and religious issues. It is recommended to focus on commonly accepted things, even if you want to share your thoughts on tough times in your life.

07. Proofread your paper.  Students often ignore this step, and by doing so compromise the quality. Even a single mistake can confuse or even bother your readers. Remember to check your writing for grammar and stylistic errors.

Personal Essay Sample 

Below you can find an excellent sample of a personal essay for high school. Feel free to use it as a reference as you write an essay about yourself.

Essay About Yourself Topics 

Now that you are familiar with all tips and tricks on how to write an essay about yourself, it's time to select a great topic. Below is a list of the top essay topic ideas compiled by our expert writers.

• Tell about your most significant achievement. 
• Discuss your biggest failure and how it has influenced you? 
• Tell about the challenges you had to overcome. 
• What makes you a perfect candidate for this scholarship? 
• How do you see yourself in 5 years? 

Bottom Line 

Before crafting an essay about yourself, a writer should identify the primary purpose of writing. If it's a part of a school assignment, it's advised to stick to the semi-formal style and explore a single event. A cover letter or a scholarship essay, instead, should be written in a formal manner and focus on the skills that will make you shine through.