A personal essay is frequently included into application packages, and is written to display the applicant’s personal qualities and experiences. Personal essay is a very important application package as it discloses the applicant’s personality in the most efficient way, and therefore personal essay requires careful selection, preparation, and interpretation of the personal information. Before writing a personal essay an applicant has to brainstorm the following questions making field notes for preparation of the future paper:

-What are the special features that set you apart among other applicants?

-Is there any peculiar information that will enable the evaluation committee to understand you personality better?

-What connects your personal interest with the selected field? Why and how have you decided to apply?

-What are your career plans?

-What personal characteristics and skills enable you to participate in the selected program?

The writer should demonstrate clear and attention-grabbing writing style with no spelling, grammatical, stylistic or punctuation errors. The writer should avoid information falsification, emphasis on negative moments and features of the applicant’s personality, arrogant tone, prejudices about sex, religion, ethnicity, politics or any other disputable issues. Laconism is critical, as in many cases personal information may require too many space. It is preferable to concentrate upon the most essential and relevant points, expounding the additional information in the form of a short resume or CV. It is essential to avoid repetitive representation of information stated elsewhere within the application package.