Personal Survey Questionnaire
The admissions essay portion of a college application can mean to difference between acceptance and
rejection. Your personal statement shows the admissions committee why you are different from everyone
else; it provides information that your test scores, grades, and activities cannot. The essay can describe
a favorite activity or tell a story, but it should capture the reader's attention.
Superlatives Write a superlative or good example for each of the categories. Choose responses that
you could write about or discuss with a stranger, such as a college admissions counselor.
1. Most significant personal event/incident in your life:
2. Another significant personal event/incident from your life:
3. The most personally important spiritual event in your life:
4. The most amusing event in your life:
5. The greatest learning experience/incident in your life:
6. The most important person in your family:
7. The most important person NOT in your family:
8. The most important person in history:
9. The most important change you've made:
10. The most significant historical event:
11. The most important news event:
12. The biggest hope/dream/goal for yourself:
13. The biggest hope or dream for the world:
14. The most important NON-school teacher in your life:
15. The biggest problem you've overcome:
16. The most significant idea you've encountered:
17. The most embarrassing moment in your life:
18: The most important writer:
19. Your most important achievement:
20. The most important or significant thing you've done outside the home:
21. The most important change you'd like to see in the world:
22. The most important lesson you've learned:
23. The kindest person you've met:
24. The most important class you've taken:
25. The greatest challenge you have faced:
26. The most influential person in your life:
27. The most important value you hold:
28. The historical person you would most like to spend some time with:
29. The most important or significant book you have read:
30. The best piece of advice you have received:
31. The invention you would most like to develop or see developed:
32. Your most important nonacademic interest:
33. The word that best describes you:
34. What you'd most like to be remembered for from your first 18 years:
35. Your favorite piece of music:
36. The most important advice you'd give a high school freshman:
37. The best job you've ever had:
38. The most significant news event during your life:
39. The most important reason for going to college:
41. The most interesting place you've visited:
42. The place you've not been to that you would most like to visit:
43. What are my strengths?
44.What are my weaknesses?
45. What is special about me? What kind of person am I? What do I care about?
NOW CHOOSE AND CIRCLE 3 OF THE ITEMS ABOVE. FOR EACH ONE (ON SEPARATE SHEETS
OF PAPER) WRITE A PARAGRAPH OF ABOUT 100 WORDS.
Step One: Brainstorming
Begin by creating a brainstorm sheet. Be totally honest! Ask yourself the following questions, and write
out your answers.
Why is (BLANK) more important to me than (BLANK)? (Fill in the blanks.)
What is it like growing up in (BLANK)?
What is it like going to school at (BLANK)?
• An achievement that made me feel terrific...
• Something I have struggled to overcome or change about myself or my life...
• An event or experience that taught me something special...
• A "real drag" of an experience that I had to get past...
• Someone's act of strength or courage that affected me...
• A family experience that influenced me in some powerful way...
• A lesson, class project, activity or job that had an impact on my academic or career goals...
• A time I blew it, failed, made bad choices, and how I got past it...
• Some memorable event or advice involving an older person...
• An event that helps to define me, in terms of my background...
From brainstorming, you may find a topic that you had not thought of at first. Consider these questions:
1. What is your strongest personality trait?
2. Does any attribute, quality, or skill distinguish you from everyone else? How did you develop this
attribute?
3. How would your friends characterize you? What would they write about if they were writing your
admissions essay for you?
4. Consider your favorite books, movies, works of art, etc. Why are they your favorites?
Have they influenced your life in meaningful way?
5. Have you experienced a moment of epiphany, as if your eyes were opened to something to which
you were previously blind?
6. What are your major accomplishments and why do you consider them accomplishments?
7. What have you done outside of the classroom that demonstrates qualities sought after by
universities? Of these, which means the most to you?
8. Have you ever struggled mightily for something and succeeded? What made you successful?
9. Have your ever struggled mightily for something and failed? How did you respond?
10. What was the most difficult time in your life and why? How did your perspective on life change
because of the difficulty?
11. Of everything in the world, what would you most like to be doing right now? Where would you
most like to be?
12. When you look back on your life in thirty years, what would it take to consider your life
successful?