{"id":56308,"date":"2022-10-28T09:33:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-28T16:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=56308"},"modified":"2022-10-28T09:33:00","modified_gmt":"2022-10-28T16:33:00","slug":"how-to-make-your-personal-statement-substantive-and-compelling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/how-to-make-your-personal-statement-substantive-and-compelling\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Your Personal Statement Substantive AND Compelling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"b493\">In sales, there\u2019s an old saying that, \u201cit\u2019s the sizzle, not the steak.\u201d When it comes to your Personal Statement, there\u2019s\u00a0<em>some\u00a0<\/em>truth to this, but the fact is that you need to make sure that your personal statement has BOTH genuine substantive and a compelling story. Steak without sizzle makes you seem uninteresting; sizzle without steak makes you seem insubstantial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"2938\">The best personal statements care about style but begin by trying to identify the core things that a personal statement needs to get across. In a recent presentation to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">GMATClub<\/a>, Brian from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/gurufi.com\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Gurufi<\/a>\u00a0explained how to make sure that you personal statement both engages the reader and answers the core questions that they\u2019ll have about you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"MBA Application Essays - Talking About Your Past and Making Your Reader Excited About Your Future\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rd0bDUDub70?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more help with your personal statement, check us out at <a href=\"https:\/\/gurufi.com\/\">Gurufi.com<\/a>. Our personal statement editors and consultants have decades of experience helping clients get into top MBA programs. In the 2021 cycle, our clients earned admission into all the top programs: Stanford GSB, Wharton, Harvard, INSEAD, Oxford Said... etc., etc. Our specialty is helping you craft compelling personal statements that move the needle in your admissions process! For questions, shoot us an email at <a href=\"mailto:service@gurufi.com\">service@gurufi.com<\/a>. Check us out on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gurufi\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gurufinder\">Twitter<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/guruficonsulting\">LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In sales, there\u2019s an old saying that, \u201cit\u2019s the sizzle, not the steak.\u201d When it comes to your Personal Statement, there\u2019s\u00a0some\u00a0truth to this, but the fact is that you need&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 4.9.10 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In sales, there\u2019s an old saying that, \u201cit\u2019s the sizzle, not the steak.\u201d When it comes to your Personal Statement, there\u2019s some truth to this, but the fact is that you need to make sure that your personal statement has BOTH genuine substantive and a compelling story. 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A dull personal statement will bore your reader, but one without substance undercuts your credibility.","keywords":[],"keyphrases":{"focus":[],"additional":[]},"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":"","og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":[],"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":{"id":"aioseo-article-637aa7246b07d","slug":"article","graphName":"Article","label":"Article","properties":{"type":"BlogPosting","name":"#post_title","headline":"#post_title","description":"#post_excerpt","image":"","keywords":"","author":{"name":"#author_name","url":"#author_url"},"dates":{"include":true,"datePublished":"","dateModified":""}}},"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"Article","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":"{\"article\":{\"articleType\":\"BlogPosting\"},\"course\":{\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"provider\":\"\"},\"faq\":{\"pages\":[]},\"product\":{\"reviews\":[]},\"recipe\":{\"ingredients\":[],\"instructions\":[],\"keywords\":[]},\"software\":{\"reviews\":[],\"operatingSystems\":[]},\"webPage\":{\"webPageType\":\"WebPage\"}}","pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":"-1","robots_max_videopreview":"-1","robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":"default","local_seo":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"ai":null,"created":"2022-10-28 16:28:54","updated":"2026-01-02 23:13:44","seo_analyzer_scan_date":null},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/category\/blog\/\" title=\"Blog\">Blog<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/category\/blog\/uncategorized\/\" title=\"Other\">Other<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\tHow to Make Your Personal Statement Substantive AND Compelling\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog"},{"label":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},{"label":"Other","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/category\/blog\/uncategorized\/"},{"label":"How to Make Your Personal Statement Substantive AND Compelling","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/how-to-make-your-personal-statement-substantive-and-compelling\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56308"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56309,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56308\/revisions\/56309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}