Answer 3 Questions to Write Your Personal Essay for a U.S. College

Prospective international students should focus on the experiences that have influenced their life and growth to write a personal statement.

You might wish you could just close your eyes and the personal statement for college would write itself. But even if it could, it wouldn't sound like you. To avoid having your personal statement sound fake, you'll still need to write it yourself.

Many international students struggle with writing a personal statement. Part of the college application, it is a short essay that asks you to tell the admissions department about yourself.

While that sounds simple, it can be tough to figure out what to write about and how to write it.

Some students tackle these challenges head-on, and they are the ones who are most likely to submit a genuine piece that shows their thorough self-reflection. You can too by asking yourself the following questions.

[Find out which universities draw the most international students.]

1. Are you trying to find the perfect topic? If you are struggling to do so, just stop and think: Do admissions officers look for a perfect topic? Every anecdote is its own precious story, and the way you tell it is what matters.

Your words, expressing your self-reflection combined with your original background, are the ones that admissions officers would like to discover, not a perfect essay similar to thousands of applications they have already read.

Don't worry if yours is not about a volunteer trip to Africa or a journey abroad that changed your life. If you have a great-grandpa whom you admire for his passion for gardening, write about what you learned from him that helped you, a teenager. If you love swimming, write about how the feel of the water helps you think through your difficulties.

As a prospective international student, you can use your home country as inspiration. Showing how your background makes you a good candidate for a U.S. college can strengthen your application and set you apart from your American peers.

Just keep calm and try to add depth to the ideas you have right now.

[Learn how to evaluate your dream U.S. college.]

2. Are you writing about someone else? Don't waste this precious opportunity by imitating a great essay you read somewhere. Writing about an ideal – or someone else – might be easy at first, but you will soon find out that your ideas and inspiration run out quickly.

In the college application package, you have only one chance to tell the admissions officers who you are in your own voice, not through your professors' perspectives or school documents. That chance is your essay.

Self-reflection is not always easy, but it's all about you and it's unique. Be honest and be you. Write, think and then rewrite until you get a true sense of how your piece could sound better.

Ultimately you will be surprised by how much the process of writing this personal statement helps you understand your dreams, your passions and yourself more thoroughly.

[Ask about cost and reputation before applying to a U.S. college.]

3. Are you procrastinating? Another big mistake applicants make is not starting early. It delays your application process, makes you rush unnecessarily at the end of the application season and can lead you to miss deadlines or send your piece to the wrong school.

Many of my friends wish they could have had more time to write and proofread their personal statements more carefully. That would have helped them avoid submitting a statement with lots of grammatical mistakes or that used phrases that only speakers from their native country would understand.

Prospective international students whose first language is not English should plan to take extra time to revise and proofread their essays. It is not always easy to choose the right phrases that can clearly express your ideas. The earlier you start, the more time you have to sharpen your personal statement.

In my own experience, rushing to get the piece finished has never given me a happy feeling, and I was never satisfied with the result.

Rather than writing your personal statement just to get it done, treat the process of writing as a journey to discover yourself. From there, your inspiration should blossom.

Mai-Linh Bui, from Vietnam, is a junior at Drexel University, studying Communications, French and International Area Studies.

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Budget for Unexpected Personal Expenses in College

Consider fluctuating costs for personal expenses and necessities like gas and food as you plan your college savings strategy.

The cost of college beyond tuition and fees, textbooks and room and board can come as a shock to many parents and students.

University of Nebraska—Lincoln senior Sadid Carrillo says he's been able to budget for his college years because he "tried not to be wasteful."

He avoids eating out most of the time, and says dining off campus is the downfall for most students' budgets. "Especially in Lincoln you're a block away from where all the restaurants are at, so it's hard not to go out and eat everyday, which a lot of students do," he says.

[Learn how to create a student budget.]

"Families don't normally plan for these expenses, but they do occur," says Paul Goebel, director of the Student Money Management Center at the University of North Texas. His office offers budgeting help to parents, students and alumni.

"Whenever the price of gas goes up, so do the number of consultations students schedule with our office," says Goebel. "Transportation is often an underestimated cost," whether students come to campus for classes, drive to jobs or go home.

"An increase of any personal expense can easily throw a student's budget into the red," he says.

Parents and students should not only remember to save for these expenses, but to save more than they estimate.

"One reason for this is personal expenses are the great unknown," says Bob Burger, an Arizona-based financial planner. The rising costs of tuition and fees and room and board have been well-documented in studies – including those published by the College Board and the Department of Education – but the rising costs of transportation and personal expenses aren't as well known.

Experts suggest parents plan to save for these costs outside of 529 plan accounts, because withdrawals for nonqualified expenses like gas from these tax-advantaged college savings accounts can carry steep penalties. On a $2,000 withdrawal from a 529 account, the penalty would be $200 on investment earnings before any taxes.

Both Burger and David Blain, a certified financial planner from North Carolina, recommend parents incorporate saving for college as part of their overall financial planning.

Parents shouldn't neglect their own needs while planning for their children's. Financial goals such as retirement shouldn't be disregarded.

"Very few parents are going to say 'Nope, you have this amount in your 529 plan, I'm not helping with anything else,'" Burger says. He's told parents of current college students, "'You're going to run out of retirement if you pay for these college expenses,' and they still do it."

The best defense is planning ahead and setting limits. Blain tells parents to put money in their children's names that they will never need for themselves.

[Encourage children to save for college with these tips.]

Burger says any money left over after parents pay educational expenses can be used for a wedding, a down payment on a future home or another way to make an adult child's life easier.

To decide how much to save for a child's personal expenses, Blain and Burger recommend slightly different strategies. Burger says he takes an estimate of the current cost of these expenses and adds 3 percent per year for each year until the child is expected to use the funds to account for rising prices.

For parents of young children, Blain generally estimates these expenses will run about 20 percent of tuition and fees and room and board per year, and then he adds the cost of inflation. However, he also tells parents to decide just how much they want to spend. At a school that costs $14,000, he recommends parents expect $1,500 to $3,000 in extra expenses.

[Discover more ways to save on college costs.]

"The higher the cost of the school, the more students will likely need for personal expenses such as extracurricular activities," he says.

For parents of teens about to head to college, Blain asks specific questions: "Are they going to have a car? Is the parent's insurance rate going to go up? Does the college offer health care, or are they going to stay on the parent's plan?"

Whatever amount parents decide to set aside for a student's personal expenses, Goebel recommends they hold the student responsible for sticking to it.

"The college years are a time for all students to learn how to become more independent, both personally and financially," Goebel says.

Trying to fund your education? Get tips and more in the U.S. News Paying for College center.

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Sharjah, UAE Personal Cost Estimates, Spring 2012

These figures are designed to assist students with financial planning but are only estimates based on an exchange rate of $1 to 3.67 UAE dirham. They do not include any entertainment or vacation travel costs.

The above numbers are general estimates of expenses during a program abroad. We recommend taking into account your current spending habits, the cost of living in your host country and the current exchange rate. Your IFSA-Butler program advisor can be helpful as you attempt to work on a personal budget for your experience abroad.

† Personal Miscellaneous estimates cover general expenses of college life, including laundry, course supplies, photocopying, toiletries, snacks, personal care, etc.

**Commuting cost estimates are for transportation between housing and university. Transportation for personal or recreational purposes is not included in the above estimates.

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