(October 26, 2001) — Overused topics. The thesaurus syndrome. Too much cynicism. Too long. Too short. These are only a few of the mistakes that teachers warn students of when writing personal statements. Don’t worry; there is a whole list of other do’s and don’ts. And even after writing the personal statement, the revision process is rigorous: the statement must be reread and reviewed time and time again until it is perfect. Why go to all this trouble? Ever since the president of the Universities of California (UCs) announced in May of last year that he was considering abolishing the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) admissions requirement, a great emphasis has been directed to the personal statements element of the process. “It’s the hardest part,” said senior Chester Ramos, “and I’m beginning to think that it’s probably the most important part, next to grades.” In a recent current events class, teacher Ira West turned the tables on the students. As a class activity, his students had to play the role of members on an admissions committee. They quickly realized the importance of the personal statements when it came time to vote for the best candidate for their school. Martha Wang, Senior, found that the personal statement helped her decide who would be the best asset to her mock college. “Lots of people get high GPA’s. The personal statement is what makes you unique.” Senior Nabihah Basrai said she is also aware of the importance the personal statement holds. “Somebody without a high GPA or SAT score could be considered, if their essay is good,” she said. However, the statement has to be more than just grammatically correct to receive good reviews. The first sentence has to grab the reader’s attention and hold it, advised teacher Stephanie Sajjadieh to her English classes. “I haven’t really started focusing on whole the standing out part,” Basrai continued. “It still needs a lot of work.” But advisors warn, be careful of falling into the trap of making the statement “too gimmicky.” Ramos attended a seminar in which they cautioned against trying to make it too unique, stating that it often times “misrepresents who you really are.” “I gave up trying to make [my personal statement] unique,” he said. His advice? “Just write what you feel.”