: Re: Can I use idioms in my personal statement? I was wondering if I can use expressions such as "I was flooded with ideas", "It would get me closer towards my desired career" or "it worked like

The number one rule of writing is know your audience.

In this case, you have a very specific audience - perhaps one or two people initially. So why not put on your "investigator's hat" and call them up and find out exactly what they want? First get some practice calling some other universities, and get a little more experience in the kinds of questions you want answered and how to get information - learn the landscape. Then call your target university. Universities usually have all kinds of student services that are happy to help. If a person says "I don't know" you can ask, "is there someone who would know or who could point me in the right direction?"

Also, find some students that were recently accepted to your university of choice and ask if they could "help you" with your personal statement. They might even share their own personal statement with you and you'll get a better idea of the kinds of things that pass the admission process mustard (cheesy idiom intended). Other than getting some general ideas, I would take their advice "with a grain of salt". Ultimately, you'll want to use your own voice.

BTW - "It worked like a charm" sounds cheesy to me. Some idioms are so trite or cliche you'll want to "avoid them like the plague".

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: Re: Can I use idioms in my personal statement? I was wondering if I can use expressions such as "I was flooded with ideas", "It would get me closer towards my desired career" or "it worked like

More posts by @Turnbaugh521

: How do I avoid tech/social errors in near-future fiction? Not long ago I read a novel set in the near future (mid-21st century). My suspension of disbelief was totally fine with time travel,

: Is this stylized writing successful or gimmicky? This is a ~3000-word piece, with deliberately stylized writing. Is the style of this piece successful or gimmicky? Does it read smooth or choppy?

: A good approach to show dialogues over radio communication? The novel's in first person. I'm working on a scene where there are five people dispersed on different floors of a building, all talking

: If you are one of those rare people who can write, straight through, without any major refactorings or changes of direction along the way, more power to you. But for many people, and IMO

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