• Business School
    • Admissions Help
    • School-Specific MBA Essay Tips
    • Executive MBA Essay Tips
    • MBA Admissions Calendar
    • Free Guides
    • Video Tips
    • Podcast
    • Selectivity Index
    • EMBA: The Ultimate Guide for Applicants
  • Medical School
    • Admissions Help
    • Med School Admissions 101
    • Secondary Essay Tips (by School)
    • Student Interviews
    • Free Guides
    • Video Tips
    • Podcast
    • Selectivity Index
  • Law School
    • Admissions Help
    • Law School Admissions 101
    • Selectivity Index
    • Free Guides
    • Podcast
    • Video Tips
  • Graduate School
    • Admissions Help
    • Grad School Admissions 101
    • Free Guides
    • Video Tips
    • Podcast
  • College
    • Admissions Help
    • Free Guides
    • Supplemental Essay Tips
    • Video Tips
    • Podcast
Accepted

1 (310) 815-9553

Blog HomePodcastContact Us

Accepted Admissions Blog

Everything you need to know to get Accepted

October 28, 2018

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Writing About Your Experiences Abroad

Writing about your experiences abroad

You studied, worked, or volunteered abroad and now you want to include part of this in your personal statement. Maybe you want to show that you’ve experienced a different culture or that you’ve managed to go outside of your comfort zone. Maybe you’ve had interesting experiences – met people, climbed mountains, or lived without air-conditioning. Or maybe you had the opportunity to help people who genuinely needed it.

How to Make Your Experience Stand Out

But, at this point, you’ve also realized that many other applicants have had similar experiences. While the experience may have been transformative for you, requiring you to learn how to operate without your usual safety net in a foreign environment, you need to ensure that your study abroad experience serves a role in your essay as something other than window-dressing.

There’s an old Onion article which jokes that someone’s short work experience in Africa allowed her to post a better Facebook photo, and, without the proper analysis, descriptions of abroad experiences can feel the same way in an admissions essay. Often, I read essays with lush descriptions of exotic scenery and people who speak different languages, yet you the writer – the most important person – stays the same. Without showing admissions committees why a study abroad experience was transformative, these types of stories simply blend together and give the impression that you were there simply to add another notch to your resume.

Don’t Forget the Most Important Question: WHY?

Studying abroad can be a pivotal moment in your personal journey, but a personal statement needs to explain exactly why. If, indeed, gaining experience with other cultures was important to you at that stage, what exactly did you learn? It can’t be enough to just give a story about someone you met while traveling, you have to explain why that person changed you. An admissions committee member once told me that it mattered less what an applicant’s experience was, what mattered was how they talked about it. Even the most seemingly dull experience can be transformative to someone who is really paying attention.

Do you need help taking your experiences and using them to create a unique, compelling – even exciting – personal statement? Explore our Admissions Consulting & Editing Services and work one-on-one with an expert advisor who will guide you through the admissions process to acceptance.

From Example to Exemplary - Download your guide today!

Jessica Pishko graduated with a J.D. from Harvard Law School and received an M.F.A. from Columbia University. She spent two years guiding students through the medical school application process at Columbia’s Postbac Program and is a former Accepted admissions consultant. Want an admissions expert help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!

 

Related Resources:

• Leadership in Admissions, a free guide
• How to Add Detail to Your Social Enterprise/Community Service Goals
• 5 Elements to Telling an Attention-Grabbing Story

Article by Accepted / Admissions Consulting, College Admissions, Grad School Admissions, Law School Admissions, MBA Admissions, Medical School Admissions / college application essays, grad application essays, law application essays, mba application essays, med application essays

Get Accepted!

Choose your desired degree and then the service that best meets your needs.

Which program are you applying to?

What do you need help with?

Join the informed applicants who read Accepted's blog!

8 Popular Posts

1. Your Guide to Getting off the Waitlist in 2022

2. How to Write About Your Research Interests

3. 4 Ways to Show How You’ll Contribute in the Future

4. 7 Simple Steps to Writing an Excellent Diversity Essay

5. Top STEM MBA Programs: A Comprehensive List and Overview of STEM-OPT Eligible B-Schools

6. Sample Essays from Admitted HBS Students

7. The 9 Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make on a Med School Waitlist

8. M7 MBA Programs: Everything You Need to Know in 2022

Recent Posts

  • 5 Summer Experiences That Could Enhance Your Law School Profile
  • Here’s How to Match Your Values to the Medical School Mission Statement
  • 4 Quality Control Tasks to Complete Before Submitting Your AMCAS Application
  • Everything You Need to Know to Start Your Med School Personal Statement
  • Transitioning from the Military to an MBA at Stanford GSB [Episode 471]

Sample Essays

MBA Personal Statement Examples

Medical School Personal Statement Examples

Graduate School Personal Statement Examples

Law School Personal Statement Examples

College Application Essay Examples

 

This Site is Featured on GMATClub

Home Page Services and Prices MBA Med School Law School Grad School College

About Us Press Room Contact Us Podcast Accepted Blog
Privacy Policy Website Terms of Use Disclaimer Client Terms of Service

Accepted 1171 S. Robertson Blvd. #140 Los Angeles CA 90035 +1 (310) 815-9553
© 2022 Accepted

BBB A+ RatingStamp of AIGAC Excellence

Copyright © 2022 · Education Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in