Ideation: Wrapping Up
Here’s a quick of review what you’ve learned and a discussion of next steps as you move the Planning & Organizing stage of the writing process
Key Context
Modules 1-4 provide important context that you’ll need to understand prior to beginning the brainstorming process.
Knowing the role the essay plays in admissions decisions, the stages of the writing process, the ways that time factors into the ultimate quality of your draft, and who will be reading your personal statements enables you to make informed decisions regarding the ways you want to present yourself in your personal statement.
Core Concepts
Modules 5-7 teach core concepts that you can use to understand where to start your brainstorming.
Being able to place the Common App prompts into categories makes the brainstorming process far more efficient. Rather than trying to generate six (or seven) sets of ideas, you can think in terms of two broad categories.
The Valley of Despair and the Joy / Flow State modules provide fertile ground and (when you combine them with the “I Remember” exercise) will equip you with the tools to explore your identity and growth, ensuring your essay topic represents you in the most advantageous light.
Brainstorming Exercises
Modules 8-10 provide easy exercises designed to help you take the core concepts you explored in modules 5-7 and start generating a list of possible essay topics.
The "I Remember" exercise helps unlock powerful memories and experiences from both the Valley of Despair or joyful/flow meditations. As a side note, the “I Remember” exercise should be practiced for a week or more to unearth the maximum amount of content (which you will later choose
Finally, by matching your memories with your core values, you can begin to analyze the content you have collected. You will see which memories are thematically connected, and you can then proceed into the next phase of the writing process, where you begin to give your personal statement an outline and structure.
Need a hand?
If you would like to discuss your brainstorm or run some ideas by Will (your teacher), sign up for a FREE 30 minute session below
Key Takeaways:
You should now have a list of memories that are tagged with the values they represent.
You can now move into the Organizing and Planning stage of writing.
Congratulations on completing this course!