How to Write a Standout College Essay: For Computer Science and Engineering Applicants
What is a Personal Statement?
The goal of a personal statement is to share more with colleges about yourself than they can otherwise learn from your other application components. A strong personal statement shows who you are as a person and what makes you unique and different from other students with similar grades, courses, standardized test scores, and activities. A powerful personal statement humanizes you, makes an emotional connection to the reader, and persuades an admissions officer that you are the type of person they would like to have in their campus community. It differentiates and individualizes you.
Students may write about any topic for their personal statement as long as it effectively shares important characteristics about them – sometimes, I call these characteristics “their adjectives.”
The Personal Statement for Computer Science (CS)/Engineering Majors
As people, students have many ‘adjectives’ they can showcase; there are no right or wrong characteristics to highlight. That said, I’ve found that my students with excellent CS and engineering application outcomes have written personal statements that show creative thinking and problem-solving in novel and interesting ways. This makes sense since, at their core, CS and engineering are about creative problem-solving. If you have a story to share demonstrating creative problem-solving skills - and as an aspiring CS or engineering student, you likely have many - you might want to consider using it as the basis for your college essay.
Example Personal Statement
My online course, “How to Write a Standout Computer Science College Application” includes case studies of successful personal statements as well as guidance for writing responses for other common essay prompts as an engineering and CS applicant.
Here is one of those case studies: A personal statement of one of my students applying to schools as a CS major. He now studies CS at Olin College of Engineering.
I can fix anything wrong with a Whole Foods self-checkout machine. I know how every part works and how they function together as a mediocre system. Sometimes the problem is people jamming their credit card into the cash slot; sometimes, it's the change dispenser malfunctioning and not giving proper change. It's not technically my job to fix these things, but the machines break so frequently that we can't call someone whenever one of them does. When the self-checkout machines were installed, I made it my mission to figure out how they worked, which led to me becoming the de facto handyman of the front end of the store. There is something so satisfying about entering my own world where the machine is the only thing that matters. It’s the reason I found myself drawn to this role. There is no better feeling than when something needs to be fixed, and I can fix it. Machines are simple that way, as everything inside of them is designed for a purpose and works the same way every time. People, on the other hand, are not that simple. It’s just as rewarding to help someone, but unlike machines, it's more complicated than tinkering around until something works.
Working at a grocery store, I talk to hundreds of people daily, and many of them interact with the world in wildly different ways than I do. Whenever I believe I've met every type of person imaginable, someone always manages to surprise me. Some are nice and outgoing, exchanging words about the weather or asking how my shift is going; others are completely unaware of their surroundings, talking on the phone, or leaving things behind. There is something inherently intriguing about how different every person is. Unlike machines, people do sporadic and random things that don't make any sense. As a child, I was never the type that liked to interact with anyone. I was wracked with social anxiety and especially uncomfortable with new people. Still, I have found this job fascinating and very enjoyable, even though it is one where I am sociable and have to engage with strangers. Unlike fixing a machine, dealing with customers involves infinite possible interactions, and nothing can really be fixed the same way.
Only about twenty people work in the front end of our small Whole Foods. While I don’t get along famously with everyone, there are some awesome people I have been able to bond with. I have become close to my supervisors in particular. They are all at least ten years older than me, making it hard to relate to some of their real-world experiences. Being seventeen, the most important and stressful conversations with friends and classmates are about college, classes, or interpersonal relationships, so when a coworker mentions that they are being forced out of their apartment because of rent increases, it takes longer to find the words to comfort them. The desire to fix a situation is ingrained deep within me, and when I'm unable to understand what I can do, I feel helpless. But I have learned that even when I don’t have a “fix,” just talking things through and providing encouragement can be somewhat of a solution.
During my time at Whole Foods, there have been days when I have had to run around like a crazy person for 8 hours straight. There are days when I have had to encourage people to leave 15 minutes after the store has closed for the night. There are slow days when I just get to mess around with my coworkers because the store is quiet. And there are timeless days when I get lost in the innards of a self-checkout machine. All these experiences slowly changed me into a more empathetic and outgoing person who doesn't shy away from new experiences or people and someone who can truly appreciate the complexity of every single person.
Why is this a strong personal statement?
To start, what a great first line! It is one of my favorites. I just love it! It is confident and direct and pulls you in, so you want to keep reading.
Also, the essay is written in the first person using an active voice and the word I, which we know is important for connecting to the reader.
It also shows a lot of positive adjectives about the author. The writer is funny, caring, empathetic, and wants to help people. He steps up on his own to try to help others and to do things that he sees that need to be done. He also loves to fix things and understand how things work. He is a creative problem solver. He is reflective, too. He applies what he knows of how machines work to try to better understand himself and others. He tries to improve himself.
The writer shows these attributes rather than stating what they are. For instance, instead of telling the reader that he loves to fix things and understand how things work, he writes, “And there are timeless days when I get lost in the innards of a self-checkout machine.” Similarly, rather than say he takes the initiative to do things that need to be done, he writes, “It's not technically my job to fix these things, but the machines break so frequently that we can't call someone whenever one of them does. When the self-checkout machines were installed, I made it my mission to figure out how they worked, which led to me becoming the de facto handyman of the front end of the store.”
The writer is self-aware and reflects on how he has grown and gained confidence socially through his job experiences.
The essay topic reveals that the author has a job as a cashier at a grocery store. That he has a job is valuable to share. Students who work learn important lessons about responsibility, independence, accountability, time management, and the value of their time and money. They also may learn some specific skills that they can apply otherwise in their life. Here, it is also compelling that the student is working hard at a job that is not glamorous or high-paying.
The writer expresses vulnerability when he shares that he has struggled with social anxiety and that he has trouble understanding people. Yet, you see that he cares about people and connecting to them.
You, the reader, feel sympathetic towards him. He is complex, just like he describes other people as being complex. He is human.
How to Identify Creative Problem-Solving Essay Topics
If you would like to explore the possibility of writing a personal statement showing that you are creative, make things, and are a problem-solver, spend some time considering what your own creative problem-solving story may be; What do you make, fix, or build?
For more inspiration, my online course, “How to Write a Standout Computer Science College Application” includes a comprehensive worksheet with ten interactive exercises that CS and engineering students may find helpful in identifying creative problem-solving essay topics. The course also includes additional example personal statements and guidance for writing responses for other common essay prompts as an engineering and CS applicant.
Other College Essay Topics to Explore
Remember, a personal statement does not have to showcase creative problem-solving skills. Students may write about any topic for their personal statement as long as it is effective in sharing important characteristics about them - their ‘adjectives’ - and there are many adjectives that they can show; there are no right or wrong attributes to highlight.
If, after brainstorming for creative problem-solving ideas, either on your own or through “How to Write a Standout Computer Science College Application,” you are not sure what to write about, perhaps a topic that is not specifically about creative problem-solving will be a better direction for you. In this case, a number of more general (not specific to creative problem-solving) free online brainstorming exercises are available online, which you could use, such as The College Essay Guy Ethan Sawyer's. At that site, you’ll also find significant guidance for writing the essay once you’ve identified a topic.
Can I use AI to help write my college application?
Lastly, you may be wondering about using AI to help you write your personal statement. There are some positive ways to use AI when applying to college. However, writing the essays is not one of them. I strongly discourage students from using AI to write their essay.
Beyond the risk of running afoul of expectations, there are also many benefits to a student’s writing their own essay, including the opportunity to reflect and grow personally and as a writer, making their strongest authentic application (which is not possible from AI, as described in my article “What ChatGPT Can Teach Us About How to Write a Strong College Application”) – remember, a student’s strongest chances of admission will always be through an authentic application – and feeling pride in having done so. AI is a powerful new tool that students should learn to use responsibly. This does NOT include using it to write a college essay.
An interesting example of college’s response to students using AI to write their essays comes from the University of California. In January 2023, the UC sent applicants the following statement:
All personal insight question responses were reviewed by an anti-plagiarism software program in early January. Notifications were sent out earlier this month via email to students whose responses require verification of their authenticity. Notified applicants have the opportunity to demonstrate that their PIQ responses are their own work and were provided further instructions on how to do so. Applicants who are unable to provide evidence that the PIQs are their own work or who do not respond in the designated timeframe will have their UC application withdrawn. If an applicant has submitted an appeal, they will receive a final decision regarding their cancellation in early February. Make sure you check your email (the one associated with your UC Application) and look in your spam folder (and “Promotions” tab for Gmail) in case you received a notification.
Additional Resources
This article is not a general nor comprehensive “How to Write a Personal Statement” piece. Rather, it provides expertise specific to writing the personal statement as a CS or engineering major. It addresses selecting a powerful essay topic for the personal statement but not a comprehensive treatment of the mechanics of writing the essay.
Students looking for more general guidance about writing a strong personal statement may find it helpful to use additional resources. For instance, The College Essay Guy, Ethan Sawyer, has extensive free online materials to help write college application essays and activity descriptions. Additionally, Susan Knoppow and Kim Lifton at WOW Writing Workshop have excellent and reasonably priced essay and activity writing programs.
If you’re seeking hands-on support and guidance to develop standout computer science or engineering college essays, please get in touch via jennifer@lanterncollegecounseling.com to see if Lantern’s Comprehensive College Counseling services would be the right fit for your college admissions journey.
