what should you not say in a personal statement

13 Mistakes to Avoid in Your Personal Statement

Without question, your grades and test scores are the most important part of your grad school application. But stellar grades and a high GRE score are not enough to make you stand out from the thousands of other applicants with similar scores.

So how can you distinguish yourself? The answer: A unique and thoughtfully crafted personal statement.

Think about all the study sessions, missed parties and hard work you’ve put into maintaining good grades and achieving a score that made your mother cry tears of joy. Don’t throw all that away by writing a weak personal statement. This is a valuable opportunity for you to show the admissions department why they would be remiss not to accept you.

On the other hand, it’s important to not get too creative. I’m sorry, but you should probably save your Quentin Tarantino-style statement for another time. Trust me on that one.

Instead, it’s time to channel your inner Goldilocks and express who you are in a way that’s not too much and not too little, but is “just right” to catch the admission department’s attention.

To help you navigate through the writing process, we’ve compiled a list of 13 mistakes you should avoid when writing your personal statement.

Cliches can be hard to avoid. They’ve been lodged in our memory since the dawn of time. (See what I did there?) But they’re uninspiring, tired, and show a lack of creativity. Instead, come up with your own metaphors and similes to say in your unique way that you “have a thirst for knowledge,” and avoid clichés like they’re going out of style.

2. Redundancy

Don’t include your GPA in your personal statement. Let me say that again. Don’t include your GPA in your personal statement. In fact, avoid including any information – such as awards you’ve received, etc. – that can be found elsewhere in your application. It’s redundant. Think of your personal statement as valuable real estate and there’s only enough space for the best, most unique information.

3. Spelling or Grammatical Errors

This cannot be overstated. Admissions directors won’t be able to fully appreciate your powerful personal statement if they have to keep stumbling over spelling and grammar errors. Avoid errors by asking a friend or family member to help you proofread your statement. Another pair of eyes is more likely to catch if you misspelled “conscientious,” for example.

4. Profanity or Slang

This should go without saying, but some students forget to leave out certain inappropriate four-letter words. Just. Don’t. Do. It.

Quotes can be very inspirational, especially when they come from great writers and charismatic people like Martin Luther King, Jr. or E.E. Cummings. But they’re not YOUR words, and they don’t tell the admissions director who you are. Leave them out of your personal statement and post them on your Instagram instead.

6. Hyperboles

You want to show enthusiasm in your statement, but it’s not necessary to say that if you don’t get into grad school your “mother will kill you.” The admissions director will also likely not be impressed if you tell them you have studied no less than a million hours to get into their school. In fact, avoid any and all exaggerations.

7. Plagiarism

These days, it’s easy to find examples of great personal statements online. However, keep in mind that universities will be able to identify if you have copied any material from another source. It’s not worth the risk and, again, it doesn’t let the school see your uniqueness.

8. Other People

Remember, keep the focus of your statement on you and what makes you stand out. Avoid too much mention of mentors, family members, or other people who may have inspired your academic goals. Keep it all about you.

9. Negativity

Keep your personal statement upbeat and positive. Avoid talking about any past educational experiences. You should also avoid mentioning any personal circumstances that have caused you difficulty – unless you are able to highlight how you overcame the circumstances and what you learned from them.

Although you may be trying to secure a financial award from the school, you should leave out any mention of money in your essay. Period.

11. Arrogance

Of course you want to highlight what differentiates you from other students, but be sure to do so in a humbling way. Boasting about how awesome or great you are may be off-putting to those reviewing your application. Also, you should show , rather than tell how wonderful you are by describing certain unique experiences rather than listing superficial adjectives to describe yourself.

Often times, we immediately try to use humor to showcase what makes us unique. Being quirky, though, can be risky in an admissions essay. So proceed with caution. Keep in mind that those in the admissions department may not share your sense of humor, so it’s best to keep your weird jokes between you and your friends.

13. Confessions

This is an opportunity to describe your educational and professional goals in an intentional way. It is not an opportunity to reveal the deepest, darkest corners of your mind, so stay on point and avoid any irrelevant information.

  About the Author:

Jennifer is here to help you navigate college and grad school while still maintaining your sanity. She is a graduate of the University of Florida (Go Gators!), with a major in Journalism and Communications and a minor in Psychology. She’s also a certified Montessori instructor and once witnessed a four-year-old correctly label all 54 countries on a map of Africa. She prefers to sing when not in the shower, and she’s not afraid of heights as long as she’s standing on something that is less than 15-feet tall.

Image Sources:

• https://tessatypt.wordpress.com/author/tessaotten/
• http://thumbpress.com/10-funny-spelling-and-grammar-mistakes/
• https://www.pinterest.com/pin/533113674616215339/
• http://tnova.fr/notes/refonder-l-aide-aux-eleves-en-grande-difficulte-scolaire

Jennifer is here to help you navigate college and grad school while still maintaining your sanity. She is a graduate of the University of Florida (Go Gators!), with a major in Journalism and Communications and a minor in Psychology. She’s also a certified Montessori instructor and once witnessed a four-year-old correctly label all 54 countries on a map of Africa. She prefers to sing when not in the shower, and she’s not afraid of heights as long as she’s standing on something that is less than 15-feet tall.

View all posts

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Features for Creative Writers
• Features for Work
• Features for Higher Education
• Features for Teachers
• Features for Non-Native Speakers
• Learn Blog Grammar Guide Community Events FAQ
• Grammar Guide

How to Write a Personal Statement (with Tips and Examples)

Hannah Yang

Table of Contents

What is a personal statement, 6 tips on how to write a personal statement, personal statement examples (for college and university), faqs about writing personal statements, conclusion on how to write a personal statement.

How do you tell someone who you are in just a few hundred words?

It’s certainly no easy task, but it’s one almost every college applicant must do. The personal statement is a crucial part of any college or university application.

So, how do you write a compelling personal statement?

In this article, we’ll give you all the tools, tips, and examples you need to write an effective personal statement.

A personal statement is a short essay that reveals something important about who you are. It can talk about your background, your interests, your values, your goals in life, or all of the above.

Personal statements are required by many college admission offices and scholarship selection committees. They’re a key part of your application, alongside your academic transcript, standardized test scores, and extracurricular activities.

The reason application committees ask you to write a personal statement is so they can get to know who you are. 

Some personal statements have specific prompts, such as “Discuss a period of personal growth in your life” or “Tell us about a challenge or failure you’ve faced.” Others are more open-ended with prompts that essentially boil down to “Tell us about yourself.”

No matter what the prompt is, your goal is the same: to make yourself stand out to the selection committee as a strong candidate for their program.

Here are some things a personal statement can be:

It can be funny. If you have a great sense of humor, your personal statement is a great place to let that shine.  

It can be vulnerable. Don’t be afraid to open up about hardships in your life or failures you’ve experienced. Showing vulnerability can make you sound more like a real person rather than just a collection of application materials.  

It can be creative. Candidates have got into top schools with personal statements that take the form of “a day in the life” descriptions, third-person short stories, and even cooking recipes.

Now we’ve talked about what a personal statement is, let’s quickly look at what a personal statement isn’t:

It isn’t a formal academic paper. You should write the personal statement in your natural voice, using first-person pronouns like “I” and “me,” not in the formal, objective language you would use to write an academic paper.

It isn’t a five-paragraph essay. You should use as many paragraphs as you need to tell your story instead of sticking to the essay structure you learned in school.

It isn’t a resumé. You should try to describe yourself by telling a clear and cohesive story rather than providing a jumbled list of all of your accomplishments and ambitions.

Here are our top six tips for writing a strong personal statement.

Tip 1: Do Some Serious Self-Reflection

The hardest part of writing a personal statement isn’t the actual process of writing it.

Before you start typing, you have to figure out what to write about. And that means taking some time to reflect on who you are and what’s important in your life.

Here are some useful questions you can use to start your self-reflection. You can either answer these on your own by writing down your answers, or you can ask a trusted friend to listen as you talk about them together.

What were the key moments that shaped your life? (e.g. an important friendship, a travel experience, an illness or injury)

What are you proud of? (e.g. you’re a good listener, you always keep your promises, you’re a talented musician)

How do you choose to spend your time? (e.g. reading, practicing soccer, spending time with your friends)

What inspires you? (e.g. your grandmother, a celebrity, your favorite song)

Doing this self-reflection is crucial for figuring out the perfect topics and anecdotes you can use to describe who you are.

Tip 2: Try to Avoid Cliché Topics

College application committees read thousands of personal statements a year. That means there are some personal statement topics they see over and over again.

Here are a few examples of common personal statement topics that have become cliché:

Winning a tournament or sports game

Volunteering in a foreign country

Moving to a new home

Becoming an older sibling

Being an immigrant or having immigrant parents

If you want to make a strong impression in the application process, you need to make your personal statement stand out from the crowd.

But if your chosen personal statement topic falls into one of these categories, that doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t use it. Just make sure to put a unique spin on it so it still delivers something the committee hasn’t seen before.

Good writing = better grades

ProWritingAid will help you improve the style, strength, and clarity of all your assignments.

Tip 3: Show, Don’t Tell

One common mistake you might make in your personal statement is to simply tell the reader what you want them to know about you, such as by stating “I have a fear of public speaking” or “I love to cook.”

Instead of simply stating these facts, you should show the committee what you’re talking about through a story or scene, which will make your essay much more immersive and memorable.

For example, let’s say you want the committee to know you overcame your fear of public speaking. Instead of writing “I overcame my fear of public speaking,” show them what it was like to be onstage in front of a microphone. Did your palms get clammy? Did you feel light-headed? Did you forget your words?

Or let’s say you want the committee to know you love to cook. Instead of writing “I love to cook,” show them why you love to cook. What’s your favorite dish to cook? What does the air smell like when you’re cooking it? What kitchen appliances do you use to make it?

Tip 4: Connect the Story to Why You’re Applying

Don’t forget that the purpose of your personal statement isn’t simply to tell the admissions committee who you are. That’s an important part of it, of course, but your ultimate goal is to convince them to choose you as a candidate.

That means it’s important to tie your personal story to your reasons for applying to this specific school or scholarship. Finish your essay with a strong thesis.

For example, if your story is about overcoming your fear of public speaking, you might connect that story to your ambition of becoming a politician. You can then tie that to your application by saying, “I want to apply to this school because of its fantastic politics program, which will give me a perfect opportunity to use my voice.”

Tip 5: Write in Your Own Voice

The personal statement isn’t supposed to be written in a formal tone. That’s why they’re called “personal” statements because you have to shape it to fit your own voice and style.

Don’t use complicated or overwrought language. You don’t need to fill your essay with semicolons and big words, unless that’s how you sound in real life.

One way to write in your own voice is by speaking your personal statement out loud. If it doesn’t feel natural, it may need changing. 

Tip 6: Edit, Edit, Edit!

It’s important to revise your personal statement multiple times in order to make sure it’s as close to perfect as possible.

A single typo won’t kill your application, but if your personal statement contains multiple spelling errors or egregious grammar mistakes, you won’t be putting your best foot forward.

ProWritingAid can help you make sure your personal statement is as clean as possible. In addition to catching your grammar errors, typos, and punctuation mistakes, it will also help you improve weaknesses in your writing, such as passive voice, unnecessary repetition, and more.

Let’s look at some of the best personal statements that have worked for successful candidates in the real world. 

Harvard Personal Statement Example

Love. For a word describing such a powerful emotion, it is always in the air. The word “love” has become so pervasive in everyday conversation that it hardly retains its roots in blazing passion and deep adoration. In fact, the word is thrown about so much that it becomes difficult to believe society isn’t just one huge, smitten party, with everyone holding hands and singing “Kumbaya.” In films, it’s the teenage boy’s grudging response to a doting mother. At school, it’s a habitual farewell between friends. But in my Chinese home, it’s never uttered. Watching my grandmother lie unconscious on the hospital bed, waiting for her body to shut down, was excruciatingly painful. Her final quavering breaths formed a discordant rhythm with the steady beep of hospital equipment and the unsympathetic tapping hands of the clock. That evening, I whispered—into unhearing ears—the first, and only, “I love you” I ever said to her, my rankling guilt haunting me relentlessly for weeks after her passing. My warm confession seemed anticlimactic, met with only the coldness of my surroundings—the blank room, impassive doctors, and empty silence. I struggled to understand why the “love” that so easily rolled off my tongue when bantering with friends dissipated from my vocabulary when I spoke to my family. Do Chinese people simply love less than Americans do?

This is an excerpt from a personal statement that got the applicant admitted to Harvard University. The applicant discusses her background as a Chinese-American by musing on the word “love” and what that means within her family.

The writer uses vulnerable details about her relationship with her grandmother to give the reader an understanding of where she comes from and how her family has shaped her.  

You can read the full personal statement on the Harvard Crimson website.

Tufts Personal Statement Example

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver. I saw it in my favorite book, Richard Scarry’s “Cars and Trucks and Things That Go,” and for some reason, I was absolutely obsessed with the idea of driving a giant pickle. Much to the discontent of my younger sister, I insisted that my parents read us that book as many nights as possible so we could find goldbug, a small little golden bug, on every page. I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon. Then I discovered a real goldbug: gold nanoparticles that can reprogram macrophages to assist in killing tumors, produce clear images of them without sacrificing the subject, and heat them to obliteration. Suddenly the destination of my pickle was clear. I quickly became enveloped by the world of nanomedicine; I scoured articles about liposomes, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, targeting ligands, and self-assembling nanoparticles, all conquering cancer in some exotic way. Completely absorbed, I set out to find a mentor to dive even deeper into these topics. After several rejections, I was immensely grateful to receive an invitation to work alongside Dr. Sangeeta Ray at Johns Hopkins.

This is the beginning of a personal statement by Renner Kwittken, who was admitted into Tufts University as a pre-medical student.

Renner uses a humorous anecdote about being a pickle truck driver to describe his love for nanomedicine and how he got involved in his field. You can feel his passion for medicine throughout his personal statement.

You can find Renner’s full essay on the Tufts Admissions page.

Law School Personal Statement Essay Example

For most people, the slap on the face that turns their life around is figurative. Mine was literal. Actually, it was a punch delivered by a drill sergeant at Fort Dix, New Jersey, while I was in basic training. That day’s activity, just a few weeks into the program, included instruction in “low-crawling,” a sensible method of moving from one place to another on a battlefield. I felt rather clever for having discovered that, by looking right rather than down, I eliminated my helmet’s unfortunate tendency to dig into the ground and slow my progress. I could thus advance more easily, but I also exposed my unprotected face to hostile fire. Drill sergeants are typically very good at detecting this type of laziness, and mine was an excellent drill sergeant. So, after his repeated suggestions that I correct my performance went unheeded, he drove home his point with a fist to my face. We were both stunned. This was, after all, the New Army, and striking a trainee was a career-ending move for a drill sergeant, as we were both aware. I could have reported him; arguably, I should have. I didn’t. It didn’t seem right for this good sergeant, who had not slept for almost four days, to lose his career for losing his temper with my laziness. Choosing not to report him was the first decision I remember making that made me proud.

These are the first three paragraphs of an anonymous personal statement by a Wheaton College graduate, who used this personal statement to get into a top-25 law school.

This statement describes a time the applicant faced a challenging decision while in the army. He ended up making a decision he was proud of, and as a result, the personal statement gives us a sense of his character.

You can find the full essay on the Wheaton Academics website.

Here are some common questions about how to write a personal statement.

How Long Should a Personal Statement Be?

The length of your personal statement depends on the specific program you’re applying to. The application guidelines usually specify a maximum word count or an ideal word count.  

Most personal statements are between 500–800 words. That’s a good general range to aim for if you don’t have more specific guidelines.  

Should Personal Statements Be Different for Scholarships?

Many scholarship applications will ask for personal statements with similar prompts to those of college applications.

However, the purpose of a personal statement you’d write for a scholarship application is different from the purpose of one you’d write for a college application.

For a scholarship application, your goal is to showcase why you deserve the scholarship. To do that, you need to understand the mission of the organization offering that scholarship.

For example, some scholarships are meant to help first-generation college students get their degree, while others are meant to help women break into STEM.

Consider the following questions:

Why is this organization offering scholarships?

What would their ideal scholarship candidate look like?

How do your experiences and goals overlap with those of their ideal scholarship candidate?

You can use the same personal anecdotes you’d use for any other personal statement, but you’ll have a better chance of winning the scholarship if you tailor your essay to match their specific mission.

How to Start a Personal Statement

You should start your personal statement with a “hook” that pulls the reader in. The sooner you catch the reader’s attention, the more likely they’ll want to read the entire essay.

Here are some examples of hooks you can use:

A story (e.g. When the spotlight hit my face, I tried to remind myself to breathe. )

A setting description (e.g. My bedroom floor is covered with dirty laundry, candy wrappers, and crumpled sheet music. )

A funny anecdote (e.g. When I was a little kid, my friends nicknamed me Mowgli because of my haircut. )

A surprising fact (e.g. I've lived in 37 countries .)

There you have it—our complete guide to writing a personal statement that will make you stand out to the application committee.

Here’s a quick recap: 

A personal statement is a short essay that shows an application committee who you are

Start with a strong hook that pulls the reader in

Tell a story to engage the reader 

Write in your own voice, not in a formal tone

Good luck, and happy writing!

Hannah is a speculative fiction writer who loves all things strange and surreal. She holds a BA from Yale University and lives in Colorado. When she’s not busy writing, you can find her painting watercolors, playing her ukulele, or hiking in the Rockies. Follow her work on hannahyang.com or on Twitter at @hannahxyang.

Get started with ProWritingAid

Drop us a line or let's stay in touch via :

What Not To Put In A Personal Statement

• Published October 19, 2021

Table of Contents

Are you wondering what not to put in a personal statement ? If you are then this is the guide for you!

A personal statement can be thought of as an essay that you write to describe who you are. The content of a personal statement is one of the most critical factors in determining if you have a chance to be accepted to your chosen university.

It’s no secret that there are wordings and styles of writing you should avoid putting in your personal statement . A single sentence written out of context can potentially ruin your personal statement!

So if you want to avoid that from happening, you need to go over this list, discussing what not to put in your personal statement.

Let’s crack on!

Claims With No Evidence

You might be thinking, “What could possibly go wrong with listing down what I’m good at?” Well, for one, listing down your strengths without evidence is a fatal mistake.

Related Read : How To Write A Personal Statement?

If you say you have good leadership skills, why not write down the awards you received to back up your claim? Mentioning prominent positions you’ve had in your organisations is also an excellent way to prove your skills.

Listing down your strengths without evidence shows poor credibility on your part. Remember this when you’re thinking of what not to put in a personal statement!

Skills Or Extracurricular Activities Irrelevant For Your Course

You’ve listed down your strengths with sufficient evidence to back up your claim. Now ask yourself the question: how do your strengths relate to your course?

Sure, you have outstanding leadership skills, but how will you use that in the field of chemistry? Say you’re an excellent debater; will that give you an edge when applying for engineering?

Make sure you tie your strengths back to the course you’re applying for. If you don’t, you might as well not put them in. You only have 4,000 characters to convince the panel that you are worth accepting. 

Make each word count!

Poor Grammar And Spelling

Poor grammar and spelling are essential criteria when talking about what not to put in a personal statement. Spelling and grammatical errors can ruin decent content for a personal statement. 

They show that you didn’t care enough to go over your personal statement and improve the quality.

Are you a budding medic? Here’s how to write a medical personal statement .

If you want to prove that you are a worthy applicant for your course, demonstrate your careful attention to detail by eliminating spelling and grammatical errors. Make it easy and pleasant for the admissions committee to read.

Doing so increases your chances of admittance by a hundredfold!

Failures And Regrets

Failures and regrets are some of the biggest things to remember on what not to put in a personal statement.

Why? Because your personal statement is a personal essay that sells you to universities for acceptance. Not an autobiography for you to inspire somebody like self-help books often do.

Mentioning how you failed Statistics or regret not trying out for the football team doesn’t accomplish very much when convincing the admissions committee that you’re potential student material.

But there is an exception to this rule. If your failure contributed significantly to developing your relevant skill, you may go ahead and write it down. As long as you make the connection explicit, you’re good to go!

Keep this progression in your mind: failure, skill development, then tie it back to your course. This narration structure demonstrates your grit and determination to try harder.

Sentences That Lead Nowhere

Avoid one-liners or sentences that don’t fit the context of your personal statement. If you’re writing about what inspired you to study engineering, don’t just mention inspirations and leave them hanging. Did a particular invention spark your interest?

Discuss why it sparked your interest. Could it be that the invention helped lift thousands of people from energy shortage? Perhaps it has helped alleviate global warming?

If so, how is that invention relevant in the 21st century? Then, if given the opportunity, what improvements would you make to enhance its usefulness in society? Perhaps this is the perfect opportunity for you to discuss technology ideas you have in mind. You may want to pursue it if the universities accept you.

From the universities’ point of view, they’ll be thrilled to accept a student who plans to invent a potentially groundbreaking tech. Do you see where this is going?

Each sentence in your personal statement has to build upon one another to come across as coherent. One sentence that leads nowhere will leave your reader hanging and perplexed. You can quickly lose the momentum you’ve worked so hard to gain.

So “sentences that lead nowhere” should be in your “what not to put in a personal statement” list!

Quotes That Don’t Fit

Quotes are powerful, authoritative, and timeless. They can easily lift your personal statement to a higher level. But you need to know how to use them to their fullest potential. Or they may end up ruining your personal statement!

So if you want to use quotes, make sure they fit the context of your personal statement. You cannot drop in a random quote by Theodore Roosevelt with no connection to your story and how your experience relates to your determination to study the course.

One of the best ways to make quotes work is to interweave them throughout your personal statement. Explain how the quote inspired you to be a volunteer in the local kitchen soup. Then explain how your experience in the kitchen soup motivated you to apply for the course.

For a full-blast ending, mention your quote again in your conclusion.

Related Read: How To Conclude Your Personal Statement?

Facts With No Context

By now, you have substantial know-how on what not to put in a personal statement. But there’s more – facts with no context.

You don’t have to demonstrate your knowledge by discussing facts or histories. Chances are, the admissions already know what you’re talking about. They probably know more than you do!

So steer clear of textbook-type explanations. Your personal statement is not a research paper! It’s a personal essay aimed at showing the reader why you should be admitted as their student. That’s why you need to nail your facts or histories in context by explaining how these helped you in your personal development. What realisations did you have that urged you to hone your skills? 

Don’t forget to tie your skills in with your course, writing why they’re essential for you to succeed in the field. 

Made Up Stories

Making up stories is an absolute red line you must never cross. But it’s not easy to resist when you feel the pressure to impress and stand out. When you do feel the pressure, think of the effects down the road.

How would you prepare for a university interview if they were to ask you a question about the made-up story? Slight exaggerations, no matter how believable, can still knock you out cold when caught off-guard!

Say you mentioned that you read a particular journal article. Here comes an up-to-date professor who knows the latest research papers like the back of their hand. They ask you a question about it, but your poor answers reveal the truth that you made the story up.

Do you feel the chills crawling down your spine at the very thought? Good! Please don’t do it! It’s not worth it.

Not only can it ruin your chances of being admitted. But it can also potentially damage your career options years later!

Childhood Aspirations

Childhood aspirations carry little weight in personal statements. Why? Because you didn’t have the knowledge, experience, or skills yet to make an informed choice of your course.

The admissions committee is not looking to know your whole life story. What they want to know is if you’re a great fit as a student of your course.

Do you have the necessary experience and skills to succeed in your chosen field of study? What’s your purpose? What are your long-term plans?

Mentioning your childhood aspirations will only waste much-needed space in your personal statement. Replace what’s not needed with what’s necessary. Choose only the best and most relevant of your experience and strengths and put them on your personal statement.

If you want to avoid writing what not to put in your personal statement, this list should be a great starting point.

The main idea is to nail down each sentence in context. Every line should support the whole point of your personal statement. That is, to convince the admissions committee that you are qualified to be their student.

So keep your personal statement clear of these common errors, and you’ll have greater chances of succeeding!

Related Content

What are ucas points – an introduction.

Real Alumni Stories

Learn more about our alumni through their success stories.

• Real stories about our Alumni
• Students share their programme experiences
• Case studies from Alumni heading to Oxbridge
• Alumni insights and stats

Empower Your Child's Future: Book Your Complimentary Consultation Now

• Receive tailored advice to match your child's interests and goals.
• Gain insights from our experienced programme consultants.
• Get answers in real-time, making your decision-making process smoother and more informed.

* Terms and Conditions may apply

Secure priority enrolment for our new summer school location with a small refundable deposit.

" * " indicates required fields

Receive priority enrolment for new summer school locations by registering your interest below.

Our programme consultant will contact you to talk about your options.

• Family Name *
• Phone Number
• I'm a Parent
• I'm a Student
• Yes. See Privacy Policy.
• First Name *
• School SF ID

Would you like to receive anything else?

• Prospectuses
• Residential Syllabus Overviews (ages 13-15)
• Residential Syllabus Overviews (ages 15-18)
• Residential Syllabus Overviews (ages 16-18)
• Online Syllabus Overviews (ages 13-18)
• Immerse Education Prospectus 2024
• Career Insights - London Course Guide
• Career Insights New York
• Career Insights San Francisco
• Online Insights Prospectus
• Online Research Programme Prospectus
• Academic Insights - Cambridge & Oxford Prospectus
• Academic Insights Sydney
• Academic Insights Toronto
• Female Future Leaders
• Dates & Fees
• Architecture
• Artificial Intelligence
• Business Management
• Business Management (Sydney)
• Business Management (Career Insights)
• Computer Science
• Creative Writing
• Creative Writing (Sydney)
• Creative Writing & Film (Career Insights)
• Earth Sciences
• Engineering
• Engineering (Career Insights)
• Engineering (Sydney)
• Film Studies
• International Relations
• International Relations (Sydney)
• Medicine (Career Insights)
• Medicine (Sydney)
• Natural Sciences
• Psychology (Sydney)
• Veterinary Studies (Sydney)
• Banking & Finance (New York)
• Business Management (London)
• Data Science & Analytics (San Francisco)
• Creative Writing & Film (London)
• Entrepreneurship (San Francisco)
• Engineering (London)
• Fashion & Design (New York)
• Health Tech & Biotechnology (San Francisco)
• Marketing & Entertainment (New York)
• Medicine (London)
• Law (New York)
• Software Development & AI (San Francisco)
• Architecture & Design (Career Insights)
• Biotechnology
• Business Management (Toronto)
• Computer Science & AI (Toronto)
• Criminology
• Engineering (Toronto)
• English Literature
• Fine Art (Career Insights)
• Game Design (Career Insights)
• Law (Career Insights)
• Mathematics
• Medicine (Toronto)
• Nanotechnology
• Computer Science & AI
• Sustainability

Complete Your Request

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

How to Write a Personal Statement That Wows Colleges

← What Is an Application Theme and Why Is It Important?

10 Personal Statement Examples That Work →

  Most of the college applications process is fairly cut and dry. You’ll submit information about your classes and grades, standardized test scores, and various other accomplishments and honors. On much of the application, your accomplishments must speak for themselves. 

The personal statement is different though, and it’s your chance to let your voice be heard. To learn more about the personal statement, how to choose a topic, and how to write one that wows colleges, don’t miss this post.

What is the Personal Statement?

Personal statements are used in both undergraduate and graduate admissions. For undergrad admissions, personal statements are any essays students must write to submit their main application. For example, the Common App Essay and Coalition Application Essay are examples of personal statements. Similarly, the ApplyTexas Essays and University of California Essays are also good examples .

Personal statements in college admissions are generally not school-specific (those are called “supplemental essays”). Instead, they’re sent to a wide range of schools, usually every school you apply to. 

What is the Purpose of the Personal Statement?

The personal statement is generally your opportunity to speak to your unique experiences, qualities, or beliefs that aren’t elsewhere represented on the application. It is a chance to break away from the data that defines you on paper, and provide a glimpse into who you really are. In short, it’s the admissions committee’s chance to get to know the real you.

So, what are colleges looking for in your personal statement? They are looking for something that sets you apart. They are asking themselves: do you write about something truly unique? Do you write about something common, in a new and interesting way? Do you write about an aspect of your application that needed further explanation? All of these are great ways to impress with your personal statement.

Beyond getting to know you, admissions committees are also evaluating your writing skills. Are you able to write clearly and succinctly? Can you tell an engaging story? Writing effectively is an important skill in both college and life, so be sure to also fine-tune your actual writing (grammar and syntax), not just the content of your essay.

Is your personal statement strong enough? Get a free review of your personal statement with CollegeVine’s Peer Essay Review.

How To a Choose A Topic For Your Personal Statement

Most of the time, you’re given a handful of prompts to choose from. Common personal statement prompts include:

• Central aspect of your identity (activity, interest, talent, background)
• Overcoming a failure
• Time you rose to a challenge or showed leadership
• Experience that changed your beliefs
• Problem you’d like to solve
• Subject or idea that captivates you

One of the questions that we hear most often about the personal statement is, “How do I choose what to write about?” For some students, the personal statement prompt triggers an immediate and strong idea. For many more, there is at least initially some uncertainty.

We often encourage students to think less about the exact prompt and more about what aspects of themselves they think are most worthy of highlighting. This is especially helpful if you’re offered a “topic of your choice” prompt, as the best essay topic for you might actually be one you make up!

For students with an interesting story or a defining background, these can serve as the perfect catalyst to shape your approach. For students with a unique voice or different perspective, simple topics written in a new way can be engaging and insightful.

Finally, you need to consider the rest of your application when you choose a topic for your personal statement. If you are returning from a gap year, failed a single class during sophomore year, or participated extensively in something you’re passionate about that isn’t elsewhere on your application, you might attempt to address one of these topics in your statement. After all, the admissions committee wants to get to know you and understand who you really are, and these are all things that will give them a deeper understanding of that.

Still, tons of students have a decent amount of writer’s block when it comes to choosing a topic. This is understandable since the personal statement tends to be considered rather high stakes. To help you get the ball rolling, we recommend the post What If I Don’t Have Anything Interesting To Write About In My College Essay?

Tips for Writing a Personal Statement for College

1. approach this as a creative writing assignment..

Personal statements are difficult for many students because they’ve never had to do this type of writing. High schoolers are used to writing academic reports or analytical papers, but not creative storytelling pieces.

The point of creative writing is to have fun with it, and to share a meaningful story. Choose a topic that inspires you so that you’ll enjoy writing your essay. It doesn’t have to be intellectual or impressive at all. You have your transcript and test scores to prove your academic skills, so the point of the personal statement is to give you free rein to showcase your personality. This will result in a more engaging essay and reading experience for admissions officers. 

As you’re writing, there’s no need to follow the traditional five-paragraph format with an explicit thesis. Your story should have an overarching message, but it doesn’t need to be explicitly stated—it should shine through organically. 

Your writing should also feel natural. While it will be more refined than a conversation with your best friend, it shouldn’t feel stuffy or contrived when it comes off your tongue. This balance can be difficult to strike, but a tone that would feel natural when talking with an admired teacher or a longtime mentor is usually a good fit.

2. Show, don’t tell.

One of the biggest mistakes students make is to simply state everything that happened, instead of actually bringing the reader to the moment it happened, and telling a story. It’s boring to read: “I was overjoyed and felt empowered when I finished my first half marathon.” It’s much more interesting when the writing actually shows you what happened and what the writer felt in that moment: “As I rounded the final bend before the finish line, my heart fluttered in excitement. The adrenaline drowned out my burning legs and gasping lungs. I was going to finish my first half marathon! This was almost incomprehensible to me, as someone who could barely run a mile just a year ago.”

If you find yourself starting to write your essay like a report, and are having trouble going beyond “telling,” envision yourself in the moment you want to write about. What did you feel, emotionally and physically? Why was this moment meaningful? What did you see or hear? What were your thoughts?

For inspiration, read some memoirs or personal essays, like The New York Times Modern Love Column . You could also listen to podcasts of personal stories, like The Moth . What do these writers and storytellers do that make their stories engaging? If you didn’t enjoy a particular story, what was it that you didn’t like? Analyzing real stories can help you identify techniques that you personally resonate with.

3. Use dialogue.

A great way to keep your writing engaging is to include some dialogue. Instead of writing: “My brothers taunted me,” consider sharing what they actually said. It’s more powerful to read something like:

“Where’s the fire, Princess Clara?” they taunted. “Having some trouble?” They prodded me with the ends of the chewed branches and, with a few effortless scrapes of wood on rock, sparked a red and roaring flame. My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame. 

Having dialogue can break up longer paragraphs of text, and bring some action and immediacy to your story. That being said, don’t overdo it. It’s important to strike a balance between relying too much on dialogue, and using it occasionally as an effective writing tool. You don’t want your essay to read like a script for a movie (unless, of course, that’s intentional and you want to showcase your screenwriting skills!).

Want free essay feedback? Submit your essay to CollegeVine’s Peer Essay Review and get fast, actionable edits on your essay. 

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Personal Statements

1. giving a recap or report of all the events..

Your essay isn’t a play-by-play of everything that happened in that time frame. Only include relevant details that enrich the story, instead of making your personal statement a report of the events. Remember that the goal is to share your voice, what’s important to you, and who you are. 

2. Writing about too many events or experiences. 

Similarly, another common mistake is to make your personal statement a resume or recap of all your high school accomplishments. The Activities Section of the Common App is the place for listing out your achievements, not your personal statement. Focus on one specific experience or a few related experiences, and go into detail on those. 

3. Using cliche language.

Try to avoid overdone quotes from famous people like Gandhi or Thoreau. Better yet, try to avoid quotes from other people in general, unless it’s a message from someone you personally know. Adding these famous quotes won’t make your essay unique, and it takes up valuable space for you to share your voice.

You should also steer away from broad language or lavish claims like “It was the best day of my life.” Since they’re so cliche, these statements also obscure your message, and it’s hard to understand what you actually mean. If it was actually the best day of your life, show us why, rather than just telling us.

If you want to learn more about personal statements, see our post of 11 Common App Essay Examples .

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

How to Write a Strong Personal Statement

• Ruth Gotian
• Ushma S. Neill

A few adjustments can get your application noticed.

Whether applying for a summer internship, a professional development opportunity, such as a Fulbright, an executive MBA program, or a senior leadership development course, a personal statement threads the ideas of your CV, and is longer and has a different tone and purpose than a traditional cover letter. A few adjustments to your personal statement can get your application noticed by the reviewer.

• Make sure you’re writing what they want to hear. Most organizations that offer a fellowship or internship are using the experience as a pipeline: It’s smart to spend 10 weeks and $15,000 on someone before committing five years and $300,000. Rarely are the organizations being charitable or altruistic, so align your stated goals with theirs
• Know when to bury the lead, and when to get to the point. It’s hard to paint a picture and explain your motivations in 200 words, but if you have two pages, give the reader a story arc or ease into your point by setting the scene.
• Recognize that the reviewer will be reading your statement subjectively, meaning you’re being assessed on unknowable criteria. Most people on evaluation committees are reading for whether or not you’re interesting. Stated differently, do they want to go out to dinner with you to hear more? Write it so that the person reading it wants to hear more.
• Address the elephant in the room (if there is one). Maybe your grades weren’t great in core courses, or perhaps you’ve never worked in the field you’re applying to. Make sure to address the deficiency rather than hoping the reader ignores it because they won’t. A few sentences suffice. Deficiencies do not need to be the cornerstone of the application.

At multiple points in your life, you will need to take action to transition from where you are to where you want to be. This process is layered and time-consuming, and getting yourself to stand out among the masses is an arduous but not impossible task. Having a polished resume that explains what you’ve done is the common first step. But, when an application asks for it, a personal statement can add color and depth to your list of accomplishments. It moves you from a one-dimensional indistinguishable candidate to someone with drive, interest, and nuance.

• Ruth Gotian is the chief learning officer and associate professor of education in anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, and the author of The Success Factor and Financial Times Guide to Mentoring . She was named the #1 emerging management thinker by Thinkers50. You can access her free list of conversation starters and test your mentoring impact . RuthGotian
• Ushma S. Neill is the Vice President, Scientific Education & Training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. She runs several summer internships and is involved with the NYC Marshall Scholar Selection Committee. ushmaneill

Partner Center

DOs and DON’Ts When Writing a Personal Statement

(1) Pay Attention to Each School’s Prompt Hopefully, for most applicants, this is a no-brainer. The prompt for each school is first available in August/September when law schools release that year’s application. The prompts typically don’t change much year to year, so you can get a head start by looking at the previous year’s application. For many/most applicants, the prompts are similar enough that the same personal statement template can be used with minor adjustments for each school (see Tip #2 on personalization). For some applicants, however, the prompts are different enough that you should write multiple personal statements. Be sure that the personal statement you use for a school does in fact respond to the prompt for that school. The ability to follow directions is a necessity for law school applicants.

(2) Personalize Your Statement Most law schools want to see that you have put time and effort into researching why that school is a good fit for you. One of the ways you can demonstrate your due diligence is to include a paragraph (typically at the close of your personal statement) outlining several specific factors that have drawn you to that law school. Be specific. Important considerations to note: (a) Vague statements asserting that a law school is a good fit for you without any supporting evidence or information are useless, so do your research and work on articulating the reasons for your interest in each school. (b) You can review a school’s website to determine what you like about that school, but don’t just regurgitate information from the website. They want to know why that information is relevant to your interests and/or goals. (c) Top-ranked schools (typically, top 5 or so) pretty much know why you would like to attend, so personalization is less important unless there is something that truly differentiates that school from others to you. (d) Some schools have a separate “optional” essay allowing you to discuss why you want to attend that school. If that is the case for one of your schools, write the separate essay, and omit the personalized paragraph from your personal statement. (e) Be sure to submit the correct versions to each school. Save the school’s name in the title to help minimize any potential for error.

(3) Be Personable As you now know, one of your goals as an applicant is to let admissions committees get to know you. It is just as important that they like you. Admissions committees are in no rush to admit applicants who are arrogant, pretentious, elitist, or rude. So the tone you use in your personal statement is important. Don’t assume that you need to use a formal tone just because you think lawyers write very formally. By using a formal tone, you are actually building a wall between yourself and the admissions committee—the opposite of what you should be doing. Aim for a more conversational (but not casual) tone so that the statement flows easily for the reader. Further, forget the big words that you think make you sound smart. They actually risk making you sound arrogant, pretentious, or even unintelligent (if used improperly). Strong writing conveys intelligence without the need for big words.

(4) Tell a Story Another easy way to be both personal and personable in your personal statement is to start off with an anecdote about yourself that sets up the framework for the rest of the statement. For example, if you are highlighting certain characteristics in your statement, tell an anecdote that demonstrates those characteristics. If you are discussing a defining moment in your life, describe a scene from that experience. A well-told anecdote can immediately capture readers’ attention and draw them into your world. Even if you don’t include an anecdote in the statement, the topic that you choose should, in a sense, “tell a story” about you in a way that captures and keeps the reader’s attention.

(5) Be Concise Some schools set no limit for personal statements, but most suggest either 2–3 or 2–4 pages. Aim for two pages, double-spaced. Do not make the error of thinking that more is better. Law schools value the ability to persuasively convey information in a relatively short space. Also, keep in mind that admissions committees are reviewing thousands of applications. Don’t waste their time.

10 DON’Ts 1. DON’T just restate your résumé in narrative form. That shows no critical thinking ability. If you are going to talk about more than one achievement or experience mentioned on your résumé, then connect the dots. Find a common theme that ties those items together. 2. DON’T address your weaknesses in the personal statement. Use an addendum.The personal statement should highlight the positives about you. 3. DON’T focus on your high school activities or accomplishments. Focusing on achievements in high school can draw attention to a lack of similar achievements in college. 4. DON’T be overly dramatic. Understatement is better. 5. DON’T spend too much time talking about someone or something else. Always bring the focus back to you. 6. DON’T start your statement with a famous quotation, no matter how well you think it might fit with the theme of your personal statement. Admissions committees want to hear your words, not those of someone else. 7. DON’T use legalese or Latin phrases. 8. DON’T be careless. Be sure not to accidentally mention the wrong school in your statement. 9. DON’T use big words in an effort to impress the admissions committees. It sets the wrong tone for the statement. 10. DON’T write a position paper or opinion piece. Even written well, those types of writings are not particularly useful to admissions committees because they miss the point of the personal statement.

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, what is a personal statement everything you need to know about the college essay.

College Admissions , College Essays

In addition to standardized test scores and transcripts, a personal statement or essay is a required part of many college applications. The personal statement can be one of the most stressful parts of the application process because it's the most open ended.

In this guide, I'll answer the question, "What is a personal statement?" I'll talk through common college essay topics and what makes for an effective personal statement.

College Essay Glossary

Even the terminology can be confusing if you aren't familiar with it, so let's start by defining some terms:

Personal statement —an essay you write to show a college admissions committee who you are and why you deserve to be admitted to their school. It's worth noting that, unlike "college essay," this term is used for application essays for graduate school as well.

College essay —basically the same as a personal statement (I'll be using the terms interchangeably).

Essay prompt —a question or statement that your college essay is meant to respond to.

Supplemental essay —an extra school or program-specific essay beyond the basic personal statement.

Many colleges ask for only one essay. However, some schools do ask you to respond to multiple prompts or to provide supplemental essays in addition to a primary personal statement.

Either way, don't let it stress you out! This guide will cover everything you need to know about the different types of college essays and get you started thinking about how to write a great one:

• Why colleges ask for an essay
• What kinds of essay questions you'll see
• What sets great essays apart
• Tips for writing your own essay

Why Do Colleges Ask For an Essay?

There are a couple of reasons that colleges ask applicants to submit an essay, but the basic idea is that it gives them more information about you, especially who you are beyond grades and test scores.

#1: Insight Into Your Personality

The most important role of the essay is to give admissions committees a sense of your personality and what kind of addition you'd be to their school's community . Are you inquisitive? Ambitious? Caring? These kinds of qualities will have a profound impact on your college experience, but they're hard to determine based on a high school transcript.

Basically, the essay contextualizes your application and shows what kind of person you are outside of your grades and test scores . Imagine two students, Jane and Tim: they both have 3.5 GPAs and 1200s on the SAT. Jane lives in Colorado and is the captain of her track team; Tim lives in Vermont and regularly contributes to the school paper. They both want to be doctors, and they both volunteer at the local hospital.

As similar as Jane and Tim seem on paper, in reality, they're actually quite different, and their unique perspectives come through in their essays. Jane writes about how looking into her family history for a school project made her realize how the discovery of modern medical treatments like antibiotics and vaccines had changed the world and drove her to pursue a career as a medical researcher. Tim, meanwhile, recounts a story about how a kind doctor helped him overcome his fear of needles, an interaction that reminded him of the value of empathy and inspired him to become a family practitioner. These two students may seem outwardly similar but their motivations and personalities are very different.

Without an essay, your application is essentially a series of numbers: a GPA, SAT scores, the number of hours spent preparing for quiz bowl competitions. The personal statement is your chance to stand out as an individual.

#2: Evidence of Writing Skills

A secondary purpose of the essay is to serve as a writing sample and help colleges see that you have the skills needed to succeed in college classes. The personal statement is your best chance to show off your writing , so take the time to craft a piece you're really proud of.

That said, don't panic if you aren't a strong writer. Admissions officers aren't expecting you to write like Joan Didion; they just want to see that you can express your ideas clearly.

No matter what, your essay should absolutely not include any errors or typos .

#3: Explanation of Extenuating Circumstances

For some students, the essay is also a chance to explain factors affecting their high school record. Did your grades drop sophomore year because you were dealing with a family emergency? Did you miss out on extracurriculars junior year because of an extended medical absence? Colleges want to know if you struggled with a serious issue that affected your high school record , so make sure to indicate any relevant circumstances on your application.

Keep in mind that in some cases there will be a separate section for you to address these types of issues, as well as any black marks on your record like expulsions or criminal charges.

#4: Your Reasons for Applying to the School

Many colleges ask you to write an essay or paragraph about why you're applying to their school specifically . In asking these questions, admissions officers are trying to determine if you're genuinely excited about the school and whether you're likely to attend if accepted .

I'll talk more about this type of essay below.

What Kind of Questions Do Colleges Ask?

Thankfully, applications don't simply say, "Please include an essay about yourself"; they include a question or prompt that you're asked to respond to . These prompts are generally pretty open-ended and can be approached in a lot of different ways .

Nonetheless, most questions fall into a few main categories. Let's go through each common type of prompt, with examples from the Common Application, the University of California application, and a few individual schools.

Prompt Type 1: Your Personal History

This sort of question asks you to write about a formative experience, important event, or key relationship from your life . Admissions officers want to understand what is important to you and how your background has shaped you as a person.

These questions are both common and tricky. The most common pit students fall into is trying to tell their entire life stories. It's better to focus in on a very specific point in time and explain why it was meaningful to you.

Common App 1

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

Common App 5

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

University of California 2

Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.

University of California 6

Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.

Prompt Type 2: Facing a Problem

A lot of prompts deal with how you solve problems, how you cope with failure, and how you respond to conflict. College can be difficult, both personally and academically, and admissions committees want to see that you're equipped to face those challenges .

The key to these types of questions is to identify a real problem, failure, or conflict ( not a success in disguise) and show how you adapted and grew from addressing the issue.

Common App 2

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Harvard University 7

The Harvard College Honor Code declares that we “hold honesty as the foundation of our community.” As you consider entering this community that is committed to honesty, please reflect on a time when you or someone you observed had to make a choice about whether to act with integrity and honesty.

Prompt Type 3: Diversity

Most colleges are pretty diverse, with students from a wide range of backgrounds. Essay questions about diversity are designed to help admissions committees understand how you interact with people who are different from you .

In addressing these prompts, you want to show that you're capable of engaging with new ideas and relating to people who may have different beliefs than you.

Common App 3

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Johns Hopkins University

Tell us about an aspect of your identity (e.g., race, gender, sexuality, religion, community) or a life experience that has shaped you as an individual and how that influenced what you’d like to pursue in college at Hopkins.  This can be a future goal or experience that is either [sic] academic, extracurricular, or social.

Duke University Optional 1

We believe a wide range of personal perspectives, beliefs, and lived experiences are essential to making Duke a vibrant and meaningful living and learning community. Feel free to share with us anything in this context that might help us better understand you and what you might bring to our community. 

Prompt Type 4: Your Future Goals

This type of prompt asks about what you want to do in the future: sometimes simply what you'd like to study, sometimes longer-term career goals. Colleges want to understand what you're interested in and how you plan to work towards your goals.

You'll mostly see these prompts if you're applying for a specialized program (like pre-med or engineering) or applying as a transfer student. Some schools also ask for supplementary essays along these lines. 

University of Southern California (Architecture)

Princeton Supplement 1

Prompt Type 5: Why This School

The most common style of supplemental essay is the "why us?" essay, although a few schools with their own application use this type of question as their main prompt. In these essays, you're meant to address the specific reasons you want to go to the school you're applying to .

Whatever you do, don't ever recycle these essays for more than one school.

Chapman University

There are thousands of universities and colleges. Why are you interested in attending Chapman?

Columbia University

Why are you interested in attending Columbia University? We encourage you to consider the aspect(s) that you find unique and compelling about Columbia.

Rice University

Based upon your exploration of Rice University, what elements of the Rice experience appeal to you?

Princeton University

Princeton has a longstanding commitment to understanding our responsibility to society through service and civic engagement. How does your own story intersect with these ideals?

Prompt Type 6: Creative Prompts

More selective schools often have supplemental essays with stranger or more unique questions. University of Chicago is notorious for its weird prompts, but it's not the only school that will ask you to think outside the box in addressing its questions.

University of Chicago

“Vlog,” “Labradoodle,” and “Fauxmage.” Language is filled with portmanteaus. Create a new portmanteau and explain why those two things are a “patch” (perfect match).

University of Vermont

Established in Burlington, VT, Ben & Jerry’s is synonymous with both ice cream and social change. The “Save Our Swirled” flavor raises awareness of climate change, and “I Dough, I Dough” celebrates marriage equality. If you worked alongside Ben & Jerry, what charitable flavor would you develop and why?

What Makes a Strong Personal Statement?

OK , so you're clear on what a college essay is, but you're still not sure how to write a good one . To help you get started, I'm going to explain the main things admissions officers look for in students' essays: an engaging perspective, genuine moments, and lively writing .

I've touched on these ideas already, but here, I'll go into more depth about how the best essays stand out from the pack.

Showing Who You Are

A lot of students panic about finding a unique topic, and certainly writing about something unusual like a successful dating app you developed with your friends or your time working as a mall Santa can't hurt you. But what's really important isn't so much what you write about as how you write about it . You need to use your subject to show something deeper about yourself.

Look at the prompts above: you'll notice that they almost all ask you what you learned or how the experience affected you. Whatever topic you pick, you must be able to specifically address how or why it matters to you .

Say a student, Will, was writing about the mall Santa in response to Common App prompt number 2 (the one about failure): Will was a terrible mall Santa. He was way too skinny to be convincing and the kids would always step on his feet. He could easily write 600 very entertaining words describing this experience, but they wouldn't necessarily add up to an effective college essay.

To do that, he'll need to talk about his motivations and his feelings: why he took such a job in the first place and what he did (and didn't) get out of it. Maybe Will took the job because he needed to make some money to go on a school trip and it was the only one he could find. Despite his lack of enthusiasm for screaming children, he kept doing it because he knew if he persevered through the whole holiday season he would have enough money for his trip. Would you rather read "I failed at being a mall Santa" or "Failing as a mall Santa taught me how to persevere no matter what"? Admissions officers definitely prefer the latter.

Ultimately, the best topics are ones that allow you to explain something surprising about yourself .

Since the main point of the essay is to give schools a sense of who you are, you have to open up enough to let them see your personality . Writing a good college essay means being honest about your feelings and experiences even when they aren't entirely positive.

In this context, honesty doesn't mean going on at length about the time you broke into the local pool at night and nearly got arrested, but it does mean acknowledging when something was difficult or upsetting for you. Think about the mall Santa example above. The essay won't work unless the writer genuinely acknowledges that he was a bad Santa and explains why.

Eloquent Writing

As I mentioned above, colleges want to know that you are a strong enough writer to survive in college classes . Can you express your ideas clearly and concisely? Can you employ specific details appropriately and avoid clichés and generalizations? These kinds of skills will serve you well in college (and in life!).

Nonetheless, admissions officers recognize that different students have different strengths. They aren't looking for a poetic magnum opus from someone who wants to be a math major. (Honestly, they aren't expecting a masterwork from anyone , but the basic point stands.) Focus on making sure that your thoughts and personality come through, and don't worry about using fancy vocabulary or complex rhetorical devices.

Above all, make sure that you have zero grammar or spelling errors . Typos indicate carelessness, which will hurt your cause with admissions officers.

Top Five Essay-Writing Tips

Now that you have a sense of what colleges are looking for, let's talk about how you can put this new knowledge into practice as you approach your own essay. Below, I've collected my five best tips from years as a college essay counselor.

#1: Start Early!

No matter how much you want to avoid writing your essay, don't leave it until the last minute . One of the most important parts of the essay writing process is editing, and editing takes a lot of time. You want to be able to put your draft in a drawer for a week and come back to it with fresh eyes. You don't want to be stuck with an essay you don't really like because you have to submit your application tomorrow.

You need plenty of time to experiment and rewrite, so I would recommend starting your essays at least two months before the application deadline . For most students, that means starting around Halloween, but if you're applying early, you'll need to get going closer to Labor Day.

Of course, it's even better to get a head start and begin your planning earlier. Many students like to work on their essays over the summer, when they have more free time, but you should keep in mind that each year's application isn't usually released until August or September. Essay questions often stay the same from year to year, however. If you are looking to get a jump on writing, you can try to confirm with the school (or the Common App) whether the essay questions will be the same as the previous year's.

#2: Pick a Topic You're Genuinely Excited About

One of the biggest mistakes students make is trying to write what they think the committee wants to hear. The truth is that there's no "right answer" when it comes to college essays . T he best topics aren't limited to specific categories like volunteer experiences or winning a tournament. Instead, they're topics that actually matter to the writer .

"OK," you're thinking, "but what does she mean by 'a topic that matters to you'? Because to be perfectly honest, right now, what really matters to me is that fall TV starts up this week, and I have a feeling I shouldn't write about that."

You're not wrong (although some great essays have been written about television ). A great topic isn't just something that you're excited about or that you talk to your friends about; it's something that has had a real, describable effect on your perspective .

This doesn't mean that you should overemphasize how something absolutely changed your life , especially if it really didn't. Instead, try to be as specific and honest as you can about how the experience affected you, what it taught you, or what you got out of it.

Let's go back to the TV idea. Sure, writing an essay about how excited you are for the new season of Stranger Things  probably isn't the quickest way to get yourself into college, but you could write a solid essay (in response to the first type of prompt) about how SpongeBob SquarePants was an integral part of your childhood. However, it's not enough to just explain how much you loved SpongeBob—you must also explain why and how watching the show every day after school affected your life. For example, maybe it was a ritual you shared with your brother, which showed you how even seemingly silly pieces of pop culture can bring people together. Dig beneath the surface to show who you are and how you see the world.

When you write about something you don't really care about, your writing will come out clichéd and uninteresting, and you'll likely struggle to motivate yourself. When you instead write about something that is genuinely important to you, you can make even the most ordinary experiences—learning to swim, eating a meal, or watching TV—engaging .

#3: Focus on Specifics

But how do you write an interesting essay? Focus.

Don't try to tell your entire life story or even the story of an entire weekend; 500–650 words may seem like a lot, but you'll reach that limit quickly if you try to pack every single thing that has happened to you into your essay. If, however, you just touch on a wide range of topics, you'll end up with an essay that reads more like a résumé.

Instead, narrow in on one specific event or idea, and talk about it in more depth . The narrower your topic, the better. For example, writing about your role as Mercutio in your school's production of Romeo and Juliet is too general, but writing about opening night, when everything went wrong, could be a great topic.

Whatever your topic, use details to help draw the reader in and express your unique perspective. But keep in mind that you don't have to include every detail of what you did or thought; stick to the important and illustrative ones.

#4: Use Your Own Voice

College essays aren't academic assignments; you don't need to be super formal. Instead, try to be yourself. The best writing sounds like a more eloquent version of the way you talk .

Focus on using clear, simple language that effectively explains a point or evokes a feeling. To do so, avoid the urge to use fancy-sounding synonyms when you don't really know what they mean. Contractions are fine; slang, generally, is not. Don't hesitate to write in the first person.

A final note: you don't need to be relentlessly positive. It's OK to acknowledge that sometimes things don't go how you want—just show how you grew from that.

#5: Be Ruthless

Many students want to call it a day after writing a first draft, but editing is a key part of writing a truly great essay. To be clear, editing doesn't mean just making a few minor wording tweaks and cleaning up typos; it means reading your essay carefully and objectively and thinking about how you could improve it .

Ask yourself questions as you read: is the progression of the essay clear? Do you make a lot of vague, sweeping statements that could be replaced with more interesting specifics? Do your sentences flow together nicely? Do you show something about yourself beyond the surface level?

You will have to delete and rewrite (potentially large) parts of your essay, and no matter how attached you feel to something you wrote, you might have to let it go . If you've ever heard the phrase "kill your darlings," know that it is 100% applicable to college essay writing.

At some point, you might even need to rewrite the whole essay. Even though it's annoying, starting over is sometimes the best way to get an essay that you're really proud of.

What's Next?

Make sure to check out our other posts on college essays , including our step-by-step guide to how to write your college essay , our analysis of the Common App Prompts , and our collection of example essays .

If you're in need of guidance on other parts of the application process , take a look at our guides to choosing the right college for you , writing about extracurriculars , deciding to double major , and requesting teacher recommendations .

Last but not least, if you're planning on taking the SAT one last time , check out our ultimate guide to studying for the SAT and make sure you're as prepared as possible.

Alex is an experienced tutor and writer. Over the past five years, she has worked with almost a hundred students and written about pop culture for a wide range of publications. She graduated with honors from University of Chicago, receiving a BA in English and Anthropology, and then went on to earn an MA at NYU in Cultural Reporting and Criticism. In high school, she was a National Merit Scholar, took 12 AP tests and scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and ACT.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Improve With Our Famous Guides

• For All Students

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points

How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading

Score 800 on SAT Writing

Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading

Score 600 on SAT Writing

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?

15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points

How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:

36 on ACT English

36 on ACT Math

36 on ACT Reading

36 on ACT Science

Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:

24 on ACT English

24 on ACT Math

24 on ACT Reading

24 on ACT Science

What ACT target score should you be aiming for?

ACT Vocabulary You Must Know

ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide

Should you retake your SAT or ACT?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?

Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:

GRE Online Prep Blog

GMAT Online Prep Blog

TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

How NOT to write your personal statement

An important part of the uni and job application process, writing a personal statement doesn't have to be as difficult as it seems.

This is a tough time of year for school and college students. The UCAS deadline marks the beginning of university applications (If your application is up to scratch, that is…) and there is one task that is dreaded most: writing a Personal Statement. Faced with the task of essentially compiling an award-winning advert of oneself, students up and down the country are in a frenzy of desperate googling and countless hours spent on online thesauruses. The struggle is real.

As the deadline for completing your application approaches and the pressure mounts, we've gathered some examples of what not to include in your personal statement.

You only have 4,000 characters to persuade the University of your dreams why you deserve a place there, and we’re here to help make sure you represent yourself in the best way possible. We’ve trawled the internet to find personal statement blunders that are bound to make you feel better about your attempt. Here’s Student Hut’s guide to what NOT to put in your personal statement.

Pointless lists

“I like running, netball and hockey, so want to study sports science”.

Avoid listing things for the sake of it. Make sure each point is relevant and backed up by evidence. Expand on statements in order to explain why you’re an ideal candidate. For example, what did you learn from your work experience and what were your opinions on a book you’ve read?

“I’m not the best with numbers, and failed GCSE Art, but I have a lot of other skills”.

Focus on the positives. There’s no need to make excuses for things you haven’t done. Avoid underselling yourself by confidently writing about your achievements which demonstrate you meet the course requirements.

Not mentioning your skills & achievements

Highlight your strengths. It’s not enough to just state your interest in a subject: failing to include important skills could be costly. Draw attention to the experiences you have, and how they will help your academic endeavours.

Exaggeration/lies

“I said I was "captain of both the football and rugby team" when I was in fact captain of the football team and the second rugby team.”

Online forums have been a great source for this next point and from what we’ve seen, A LOT of you have been tempted to make false claims. Even if there is some truth in what you're saying, play it safe. You don’t want to be caught out. One helpful soul offered this advice “if you’re going to lie don’t make it about D of E”. We would advise sticking to the facts. Being really awesome at guitar hero does not mean you play the guitar.

Poor spelling and grammar

“ luckly this past summer i went to this program in oxford called the oxford tradition that truely changed my life”

Spell-check yourself before you wreck yourself. Your ability to proofread as well as the time and effort you’ve put into your application will be questioned. Incorrect spelling and grammar is something that can be easily avoided by getting someone to proofread your personal statement.

Not getting feedback

Get a friend, family member, or teacher to proofread your statement. After re-reading something a couple of times it can be difficult to notice mistakes. Constructive feedback is really helpful, so try not to take any criticism too personally…

Stating the obvious

Avoid using up valuable words with obvious statements. Write succinctly and explain points without repeating yourself. Don’t tell the admissions tutor what they already know – instead, expand on how you’ve acquired certain skills and why they’re important. Ask yourself if your love of the Great British Bake Off is really that relevant to your application.

Talking about your childhood

“I have always dreamed of coming to LSE since I was young. It has been a dream of mine to study at this institution”.

I don’t know about you but I certainly didn’t know what LSE was as a kid (I’m still not sure actually). Don’t include the phrase “when I was younger…” What motivates you now is more important, and the more recent the better. Admissions tutors are unlikely to be convinced by the aspirations of your 8-year-old self.

The word passion

“My passion for Geography stems from my passion for colouring”.

Passion is a word so overused in personal statements that it actually conveys the opposite. Be careful in your choice of vocabulary. While it’s important to show interest in studying a particular course, stay away from clichéd language that doesn’t sound sincere.

Trying to be funny

“What is Neuroscience? I don’t know – and that’s why I want to study it at University”.

Whilst this in fact is quite funny, it’s a risky strategy. University admissions tutors are unlikely to take you seriously, so reign in the humour and take a more serious approach.

“If I could liken myself to anyone in history it would be Martin Luther King”

Bigging yourself up apprentice candidate style will get you nowhere. It's possible to sell yourself without coming across as arrogant.

What skills do you wish schools and universities taught more of? Join our student panel and let us know. You'll get 1000 reward points for signing up.

Recommended Articles

• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to content

• Testimonials

PA STATEMENTS  RESOURCES

PERSONAL STATEMENT DO’S AND DON’TS

The personal statement requirement for PA school is one of the most important parts of your application. Your personal statement gives the admissions committee an inside look at your personality, aspirations, and experiences. This is an opportunity to show PA programs why you chose to pursue the PA field and why they should choose you to be a part of their next cohort of student. Use your personal statement to your advantage as an applicant! Expand on yourself and the experiences that ultimately led you to pursue the PA profession.

Here are some “Do’s and Don’ts” for the PA school personal statement:

Introduction:

Do: Grab the admission committee’s attention in the introduction paragraph right off the bat.

Tell a story, explain an experience, or make a strong statement. Imagine how many essay introductions admissions committees will read… how will yours stand out? Use your unique journey to capture the reader’s attention.

Don’t: Start your personal statement off with a cheesy quote, a cliché, addressing the reader directly, or with a joke.

Although it is important to stand out, do not start your essay in an unprofessional way. This personal statement is supposed to encompass your passion for the profession and prove to admissions committees why you are a mature applicant who is ready for PA school. Keep it formal and do not address the reader directly anywhere in your essay.

Do: Use formal language and correct sentence structure.

Since this a professional essay, it should be written like one. Use full, complete sentences, proper punctuation, and always spell check. You may get creative with your writing style, but do not include anything that could take away from the overall message of the essay.

Don’t: Use informal language, unnecessary adverbs and contractions.

Avoid using informal language, such as slang words and contractions. Unnecessary adverbs, such as “very,” “really,” and “truly” should be cut out because they take up more space and lack authenticity. “I am dedicated to the PA profession” reads much better than “I am really dedicated to the PA profession.” Also, do not use abbreviations or acronyms without writing out the whole word first. For example, write out physician assistant (PA) once, then use PA throughout the rest of the essay. Since every character counts, you do not want to waste them by repeatedly writing out physician assistant.

PROFESSIONAL PERSONAL STATEMENT REVISION

Do: Emphasize why the PA profession is the only profession for you.

Show admissions departments your commitment to the PA profession through your personal statement. Demonstrate your knowledge about this profession and the specific aspects that draw you to it. Use firsthand examples of how you know this specific career is the right path for you.

Don’t: Mention other healthcare professions and go on a tangent about why being a PA is better.

Do not bash other professions or say that the PA profession is better. As a PA, you will work in a team of healthcare providers to care for patients, including physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physical therapists, speech language pathologists, etc. Do not say anything offensive about these professions. Instead, focus your essay on “WHY PA,” and not “why not every other profession.”

Show, don’t tell:

Do: Include the most impactful moments in your life that solidified your aspiration to become a PA.

No two people have the exact same experiences, so use your unique encounters to stand out from other applicants. This could be from when you were a child, completing your patient care experience hours, shadowing, participating in a mission trip, etc. Always relate your stories back to the main point of the whole personal statement— why you are interested in being a PA student!

Don’t: State a list of adjectives to describe yourself.

It is great and important that you are a kind, caring, hard-working, dedicated individual… but use the space in your personal statement to show this to programs. Use specific examples of times you demonstrated perseverance, were impacted by a patient, inspired by a fellow healthcare worker, learned something significant from a shadowing experience, etc. Avoid making statements that could better be understood through a short anecdote.

You are applying to be a PA student, not a PA:

Do: Reinforce why you are qualified for PA school and will be a successful PA student.

Being a successful PA student means staying dedicated to the long years of furthering your education. Express your desire to learn and willingness to put in the work to complete the rigorous coursework required in PA school!

Don’t: Focus on being a practicing PA-C and what specialty you are interested in.

Although it is exciting to think about your potential future as a PA-C, do not create made-up scenarios of you as a practicing PA. Also, avoid stating the specific specialty fields you are interested in. As a PA student, you are trained as a generalist. Picking one specific “dream” specialty may deter admissions committees, especially from programs that have a focus on primary care.

PERSONAL STATEMENT EDITS

Conclusion:

Do: Summarize your passion for becoming a PA and leave the reader wanting to invite you for an interview.

This is the last paragraph of your essay that admissions committees will read, make it a good one! The conclusion should wrap up all key points of your essay in a new way. Tell these schools why they need you as a PA student and how you can contribute to their next cohort.

Don’t: Repeat sentences already stated in the essay.

You only have 5,000 characters for this essay, so do not repeat any sentences or phrases already stated. It is okay to repeat main ideas, but do not use the exact same phrasing.

You may also like

The Crucial Role of the Personal Statement

How Should I Start My PA School Personal Statement?

Adding {{itemName}} to cart

Added {{itemName}} to cart

• Career Exploration
• Arts, Communications, & Media
• Education, Nonprofit, & Social Impact
• Business, Consulting, Finance, & Marketing
• Government, International Affairs, Law, & Public Policy
• Health Professions Advising
• Career Essentials Resources
• Graduate School
• Signature Internships
• Grants Program
• Internship Credit
• Short Internship Projects (SHIPs)
• Fellowships for Undergraduates
• Fellowships for Graduates
• Class of 2025 Fellowship Planning
• Fellowships for International Students
• Civic Engagement

Writing a Personal Statement

Preparing to Write

Brainstorming, don't forget, sample prompts.

A personal statement is a narrative essay that connects your background, experiences, and goals to the mission, requirements, and desired outcomes of the specific opportunity you are seeking. It is a critical component in the selection process, whether the essay is for a competitive internship, a graduate fellowship, or admittance to a graduate school program. It gives the selection committee the best opportunity to get to know you, how you think and make decisions, ways in which past experiences have been significant or formative, and how you envision your future. Personal statements can be varied in form; some are given a specific prompt, while others are less structured. However, in general a personal statement should answer the following questions:

• Who are you?
• What are your goals?
• How does this specific program/opportunity help you achieve your goals?
• What is in the future?

A personal statement is not:

• A variation of your college admissions essay
• An academic/research paper
• A narrative version of your resume
• A creative writing piece (it can be creative, though)
• An essay about somebody else

Keep in mind that your statement is only a portion of the application and should be written with this in mind. Your entire application package will include some, possibly all, of the materials listed below. You will want to consider what these pieces of the application communicate about you. Your personal statement should aim to tie everything together and fill in or address any gaps. There will likely be some overlap but be sure not to be too repetitive.

• Personal Statement(s)
• Transcripts
• Letters of recommendations
• Sample of written work
• Research proposal

Preparing to Write A large portion of your work towards completing a personal statement begins well before your first draft or even an outline. It is incredibly important to be sure you understand all of the rules and regulations around the statement. Things to consider before you begin writing:

• How many prompts? And what are they? It is important to know the basics so you can get your ideas in order. Some programs will require a general statement of interest and a focused supplementary or secondary statement closely aligned with the institution's goals.
• Are there formatting guidelines? Single or double spaced, margins, fonts, text sizes, etc. Our general guideline is to keep it simple.
• How do I submit my statement(s)? If uploading a document we highly suggest using a PDF as it will minimize the chances of accidental changes to formatting. Some programs may event ask you to copy and paste into a text box.
• When do I have to submit my statement(s)? Most are due at the time of application but some programs, especially medical schools, will ask for secondary statements a few months after you apply. In these instances be sure to complete them within two weeks, any longer is an indication that you aren't that interested in the institution.

Before you start writing, take some time to reflect on your experiences and motivations as they relate to the programs to which you are applying. This will offer you a chance to organize your thoughts which will make the writing process much easier. Below are a list of questions to help you get started:

• What individuals, experiences or events have shaped your interest in this particular field?
• What has influenced your decision to apply to graduate school?
• How does this field align with your interests, strengths, and values?
• What distinguishes you from other applicants?
• What would you bring to this program/profession?
• What has prepared you for graduate study in this field? Consider your classes at Wellesley, research and work experience, including internships, summer jobs and volunteer work.
• Why are you interested in this particular institution or degree program?
• How is this program distinct from others?
• What do you hope to gain?
• What is motivating you to seek an advanced degree now?
• Where do you see yourself headed and how will this degree program help you get there?

For those applying to Medical School, if you need a committee letter for your application and are using the Medical Professions Advisory Committee you have already done a lot of heavy lifting through the 2017-2018 Applicant Information Form . Even if you aren't using MPAC the applicant information form is a great place to start.

Another great place to start is through talking out your ideas. You have a number of options both on and off campus, such as: Career Education advisors and mentors ( you can set up an appointment here ), major advisor, family, friends. If you are applying to a graduate program it is especially important to talk with a faculty member in the field. Remember to take good notes so you can refer to them later.

When you begin writing keep in mind that your essay is one of many in the application pool. This is not to say you should exaggerate your experiences to “stand out” but that you should focus on clear, concise writing. Also keep in mind that the readers are considering you not just as a potential student but a future colleague. Be sure to show them examples and experiences which demonstrate you are ready to begin their program.

It is important to remember that your personal statement will take time and energy to complete, so plan accordingly. Every application and statement should be seen as different from one another, even if they are all the same type of program. Each institution may teach you the same material but their delivery or focus will be slightly different.

In addition, remember:

• Be yourself: You aren’t good at being someone else
• Tragedy is not a requirement, reflection and depth are
• Research the institution or organization
• Proofread, proofread, proofread
• How to have your personal statement reviewed

The prompts below are from actual applications to a several types of programs. As you will notice many of them are VERY general in nature. This is why it is so important to do your research and reflect on your motivations. Although the prompts are similar in nature the resulting statements would be very different depending on the discipline and type of program, as well as your particular background and reasons for wanting to pursue this graduate degree.

• This statement should illustrate your academic background and experiences and explain why you would excel in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (UMass Amherst - M.S. in Civil Engineering).
• Describe your academic and career objectives and how the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies can help you achieve them. Include other considerations that explain why you seek admissions to the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and your interests in the environmental field (Yale - Master of Environmental Management).  
• Please discuss your academic interests and goals. Include your current professional and research interests, as well as your long-range professional objectives. Please be as specific as possible about how your objectives can be met at Clark and do not exceed 800 words (Clark University - M.A. in International Development and Social Change).
• Write a 500- to 700-word statement that describes your work or research. Discuss how you came to focus on the medium, body of work, or academic area you wish to pursue at the graduate level. Also discuss future directions or goals for your work, and describe how the Master of Fine Arts in Studio (Printmedia) is particularly suited to your professional goals (School of the Art Institute of Chicago - MFA in Studio, Printmaking).
• Your statement should explain why you want to study economics at the graduate level. The statement is particularly important if there is something unusual about your background and preparation that you would like us to know about you (University of Texas at Austin - Ph.D in Economics).
• Your personal goal statement is an important part of the review process for our faculty members as they consider your application. They want to know about your background, work experience, plans for graduate study and professional career, qualifications that make you a strong candidate for the program, and any other relevant information (Indiana University Bloomington - M.S.Ed. in Secondary Education).
• Your autobiographical essay/personal statement is a narrative that outlines significant experiences in your life, including childhood experiences, study and work, your strengths and aspirations in the field of architecture, and why you want to come to the University of Oregon (University of Oregon - Master of Architecture).
• Personal history and diversity statement, in which you describe how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. You may refer to any educational, familial, cultural, economic or social experiences, challenges, community service, outreach activities, residency and citizenship, first-generation college status, or opportunities relevant to your academic journey; how your life experiences contribute to the social, intellectual or cultural diversity within a campus community and your chosen field; or how you might serve educationally underrepresented and underserved segments of society with your graduate education (U.C. Davis - M.A. in Linguistics).
• A Personal Statement specifying your past experiences, reasons for applying, and your areas of interest. It should explain your intellectual and personal goals, why you are interested in pursuing an interdisciplinary degree rather than a more traditional disciplinary one, and how this degree fits into your intellectual and personal future (Rutgers University - Ph.D in Women’s and Gender Studies).
• Your application requires a written statement to uploaded into your application and is a critical component of your application for admission. This is your opportunity to tell us what excites you about the field of library and information science, and what problems you want to help solve in this field. Please also tell us how your prior experiences have prepared you for this next step toward your career goals and how this program will help you achieve them (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill - Master of Science in Library Science).
• After watching the video, please describe what strengths and preferences as a learner you have that will facilitate your success in this innovative curriculum. What challenges in our curriculum do you anticipate and what strategies might you use to address these challenges? (MGH Institute of Health Professions PT - They recently redesigned their curriculum)
• Your personal goal statement should briefly describe how you view the future of the field, what your goals are to be part of that future, and what brought you to pursue an advanced education degree in your chosen field. You may include any other information that you feel might be useful. (Northeastern PT)
• Personal Statement: In 500 words or less, describe a meaningful educational experience that affected your professional goals and growth and explain how it impacted you. The educational experience does not need to be related to this degree. Focus on the educational experience and not why you think you would be a good professional in this field. (Simmons PT)
• Personal Statement (500 word minimum): State your reasons for seeking admission to this program at this institution. Include your professional goals, why you want to pursue a career in this field and how admission to this program will assist you in accomplishing those goals. (Regis College Nursing)
• “Use the space provided to explain why you want to go to this type of program.” (AMCAS)
• Address the following three questions(Though there is no set limit, most statements are 1–2 pages, single-spaced.): What are your reasons for pursuing this degree? Why do you wish to pursue your degree at this institution? How do you intend to leverage your degree in a career of this field? (Boston University MPH)
• Please submit a personal statement/statement of purpose of no more than 500 words for the department/degree of choice. Professional degree essays require a clear understanding of the _______ field and how you hope to work within the field. Be sure to proofread your personal statement carefully for spelling and grammar. In your statement, be sure to address the following: what interests you in the field of _____ what interests you in a specific degree program and department at this institution and what interests you in a particular certificate (if applicable). Please also describe how you hope to use your ________ training to help you achieve your career goals. (Columbia PhD in Public Health - Epidemiology)
• Because each Home Program requires significant original research activities in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, we are interested in obtaining as much information as possible about your previous research experiences. Those who already have such experience are in a better position to know whether they are truly interested in performing ______ research as part of a graduate program. Please include specific information about your research experience in your Statement of Purpose. You may also use the Statement to amplify your comments about your choice of Home Program(s), and how your past experiences and current interests are related to your choice. Personal Statements should not exceed two pages in length (single spaced). Make sure to set your computer to Western European or other English-language setting. We cannot guarantee the ability to access your statement if it is submitted in other fonts. (Stanford Biosciences PhD)
• Your statement of purpose should describe succinctly your reasons for applying to the Department of ____ at ___ University. It would be helpful to include what you have done to prepare for this degree program. Please describe your research interests, past research experience, future career plans and other details of your background and interests that will allow us to evaluate your ability to thrive in our program. If you have interests that align with a specific faculty member, you may state this in your application. Your statement of purpose should not exceed two pages in length (single spaced). (Stanford Bioengineering PhD)
• Statement of purpose (Up to one page or 1,000 words): Rather than a research proposal, you should provide a statement of purpose. Your statement should be written in English and explain your motivation for applying for the course at this institution and your relevant experience and education. Please provide an indication of the area of your proposed research and supervisor(s) in your statement. This will be assessed for the coherence of the statement; evidence of motivation for and understanding of the proposed area of study; the ability to present a reasoned case in English; and commitment to the subject. (Oxford Inorganic Chemistry - DPhil)

Related resources

• International

Israel-Hamas war

Trump's hush money trial

Closing arguments wrap in Trump hush money trial

By CNN's Kara Scannell, Lauren Del Valle, Jeremy Herb in the courthouse

Blanche tells jury: You cannot convict Trump "on the words of Michael Cohen"

Trump attorney Todd Blanche says the jury is here to determine if Trump "had anything to do with how payment to Michael Cohen" were "booked on his personal ledger for his personal account at Trump Tower."

At the time, Trump was living in the White House and Cohen was serving as his personal attorney, Blanche says.

"The invoices were all submitted by Michael Cohen," Blanche says. "You’re going to hear me talk a lot about Michael Cohen today, and that should not surprise you. You cannot convict President Trump of any crime beyond a reasonable doubt on the words of Michael Cohen," Blanche says.

Blanche argues the case is about documents, not an encounter with Stormy Daniels

Defense attorney Todd Blanche argues the case is about documents, not Stormy Daniels.

"This case is about documents. It’s a paper case. This case is not about an encounter with Stormy Daniels 18 years ago," Blanche says.

"An encounter that President Trump has unequivocally and repeatedly denied occurred," he adds.

"You should want and expect more than the testimony of Michael Cohen," Trump attorney tells jury

Trump attorney Todd Blanche is slamming the testimony of the prosecution's key witness, Michael Cohen, during closing arguments.

"The evidence should leave you wanting more. You should want and expect more than the testimony of Michael Cohen," Blanche says.

"You should demand more than the testimony of Keith Davidson, an attorney who really was just trying to extort money from President Trump in the lead up to the 2016 election," Blanche continues.

Blanche: "President Trump is innocent"

Trump attorney Todd Blanche is arguing that Trump is innocent, recalling his argument from the start of the trial.

"I started out by saying something that I’m going to repeat to you right now. It's as true right now as it was on April 22. And that is President Trump is innocent. He did not commit any crimes, and the district attorney has not met their burden of proof — period. The evidence is all in," Blanche says.

Blanche begins closing argument by thanking jury

Trump attorney Todd Blanche begins his closing argument by thanking the jury for their service.

"Every one of you have been on time," he says.

"We see you paying close attention to the evidence all day every day, and we really appreciate that," Blanche adds.

The defense is delivering closing arguments

Donald Trump's attorney Todd Blanche is delivering closing arguments as the defense tries to appeal to the 12-person jury.

He is speaking from a podium, which is turned to face the jury.

Trump’s team is expected to revisit many of the arguments they made during the trial — that allegedly falsified documents were not falsified because Michael Cohen was working as a lawyer to President Trump in 2017, according to a source.

They will revisit documents to support this argument and how the $420,000 Cohen made in 2017 was similar to what he made on 2016 from working for Trump.

CNN's Paula Reid contributed reporting to this post.

Merchan tells jury: "You and you alone are the judges of the facts in this case"

Judge Juan Merchan tells the jury if they find the lawyers' arguments accurate and "conclusions are reasonable, logical and consistent with the evidence than you may adopt those inferences and conclusions."

He reminds them "nothing the lawyers say at any time is evidence so nothing the lawyers say in summations is evidence."

"It is your own recollection, understanding and evaluation of the evidence that controls," he tells the jury. "Again, you and you alone are the judges of the facts in this case."

Judge explains that the defense will present closing argument before prosecutors

Judge Juan Merchan is laying out for the jury how closing arguments will go today.

"Under our law, defense counsel must sum up first, and the prosecutor must follow. The lawyers may not speak to you after that," Merchan tells the jury.

Jury enters courtroom

"Members of the jury, you will now hear the summations of the lawyers," Judge Juan Merchan tells the jury.

Please enable JavaScript for a better experience.

Our wellness advice is expert-vetted . Our top picks are based on our editors’ independent research, analysis, and hands-on testing. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement

• Personal Care

Don't Rinse Your Teeth as Soon as You're Done Brushing. Here's Why

You should instead leave the extra toothpaste on your teeth.

If you're still rinsing your mouth out with water after brushing your teeth, I'm here to tell you why it's beneficial to actually leave the extra bit of toothpaste on your teeth. I used to rinse after brushing my teeth -- even going back over them with a wet toothbrush -- to remove any remnants of toothpaste left in my mouth. Then I found out from a dentist's TikTok video that rinsing off excess paste isn't the most effective method of keeping your chompers in good shape.

Instead, I now spit out as much toothpaste as I can without swishing with water, so I can allow the toothpaste to do its job just a little longer. I wasn't sure why I was doing this or what the benefits were until I spoke with an expert.

I talked to Dr. Edmond Hewlett , consumer adviser for the American Dental Association and a professor at UCLA School of Dentistry, to find out why you shouldn't rinse your mouth with water after brushing your teeth. Here's the answer. For more tips, here's why you should floss before brushing your teeth .

Why you should skip rinsing with water after brushing your teeth

Fluoride is an important ingredient in toothpaste that helps make the enamel harder and more resistant to acids that cause cavities. Hewlett says it's the most well-established effective ingredient in toothpaste, so make sure yours has fluoride in it. 

When you brush your teeth, you're cleaning any film and bacteria from food and sugary drinks. When you go a step further and skip rinsing, you're leaving the fluoride from the toothpaste in your mouth for a longer time, giving you a better effect from the fluoride.

Wait at least 15 minutes after brushing to drink water. After brushing your teeth, Hewlett explains, your saliva will clear the toothpaste out so you won't taste it all day. 

What if you've been rinsing all your life? 

If you're just finding out about this tip, you may be thinking you've been undoing all your hard work of brushing every day. That's not true. Hewlett says as long as you brush the standard twice a day for 2 minutes each time, the fluoride will remain in your mouth to help protect your teeth. 

You're still doing what you need to do to have good oral health to protect your teeth. The idea of not rinsing is just an extra step to help the fluoride be even more effective.

"When you measure a person's fluoride levels in saliva, if they don't rinse, there's more fluoride," Hewlett said. It's not going to be a waste of your time if you do rinse. He said research is still being done to determine the difference it makes in the long term to prevent cavities. 

Check that your toothpaste contains fluoride.

Your dental health also plays a role

There are different risk levels for getting cavities per person, Hewlett said. 

"If you typically don't get cavities, then you should continue using fluoride toothpaste. The decision to rinse or not to rinse after brushing probably won't make a difference."

On the other hand, for those who struggle with cavities, not rinsing is probably a better decision. Additionally, you should get help from your dentist to find out why you're getting cavities regularly -- for instance, it could be your eating habits, snacking on sugary foods or not brushing your teeth regularly. If you're at higher risk for cavities, you should do everything you can to help prevent them. 

Is it OK to use mouthwash to rinse your teeth after brushing?

Most mouthwashes contain less fluoride than toothpaste, so rinsing with mouthwash right after brushing can wash away the concentrated fluoride from your teeth. Instead, opt for using mouthwash at another time, like after lunch or coffee.

More tooth-brushing tips

Here are some additional tips for keeping your oral health up to par.

• Always use a soft bristle toothbrush and never medium or hard. Hewlett says anything but soft can increase the risk of gum recession. 
• It doesn't matter if you floss before or after you brush your teeth, as long as you floss once a day to remove plaque and stuck food. 
• You don't have to aggressively brush your teeth to get them clean. While scrubbing your dishes with extra force may make them extra clean, it's not necessary for your teeth and can also lead to gum recession.
• Gently brush along the gum line with a soft bristle brush to help prevent gum disease.
• Always consult with your dentist for personalized advice. They understand what your oral health profile looks like. 

For more, here's the best time to brush your teeth in the morning .

Personal Care Guides

• Best Places to Buy Glasses Online
• Best Places to Buy Replacement Prescription Lenses
• Best Eye Drops
• Best Places to Buy Contacts Online
• Best Prescription Sunglasses
• Best Blue Light Blocking Glasses
• Best Electric Toothbrush
• Quip Toothbrush Review
• Best Invisible Braces
• Best Teeth Whitening Strips and Toothpaste
• Best Teeth Whitening Kits
• Best Mental Health Apps
• Best Teas for Stress and Anxiety
• Best Fidget Toys for Anxiety
• Best Online Therapy
• Best Online Couples Therapy
• Best Online Psychiatric Services
• Betterhelp Online Therapy Review
• Cerebral Review
• Talkspace Online Therapy Review
• Talkspace vs. Betterhelp
• Best Sunscreen
• Best Shower Filter
• Best Hand Soap
• Best Period Underwear

• Shop to Support Independent Journalism
• We Have Issues
• Investigations
• Ethics Policy
• Ad-Free Login

What would you say to someone on the fence about Trump?

John Stoehr

It’s time to remind readers and subscribers of the Editorial Board that you are, by dint of being readers and subscribers of the Editorial Board , kinda sorta not normal. You spend time thinking about politics. Most people don’t do that. The most time most people think about politics is whatever the last person they talked to said about politics.

To put this another way, we tend to assume, because we spend time thinking about politics, that most people know what we know about politics, including all the dangers of second term for Donald Trump , including all the era-defining achievements of Joe Biden’s first term.

They almost certainly don’t.

READ: There's something important about Trump’s trial in NY that’s not being openly talked about

When I say “most people,” I’m not talking about people who believe propaganda and lies. I’m not talking about people who are so deep in the tank for Donald Trump they’re unreachable. Those people actually spend lots of time thinking about politics. The difference is it’s bullshit.

I’m talking about people who know so little about politics that Donald Trump can come off as a reasonable person. Think about that. If you know something about politics, that’s not possible. But if you lowered your political knowledge to the average person’s level of political knowledge, Trump can seem like the reasonable flip side of Joe Biden.

And I don’t mean to insult anyone who doesn’t know much about politics. I once knew very little myself. I knew so little I voted, to my shame, for Ralph Nader in 2000. Politics, like anything else, takes time to learn. Everyone needs a reason. I had reasons. Most people never find one. The result is that lots of people think Trump is just another politician, though perhaps better, because he doesn’t act like one.

So … knowing that most people don’t know much about politics, what would you say to someone who might be on the fence about voting for Donald Trump. By “on the fence,” I mean genuinely on the fence. I mean someone who might want to vote for him but has doubts. (I also mean someone who might want to vote for Biden but has doubts.) What would be your most serious effort to persuade that person?

Last week, I put that question to my Twitter followers. Here are the results. (I have edited for length, context and clarity.) If you’d like to join the conversation, click the reply button (or email me at [email protected] ). If I get quality responses, I’ll make this an ongoing thing – a set of tools we can use to defend our democracy.

David Akadjian : If the person truly is on the fence, I talk about how every first-world country is a democracy. The common thread in third-world countries is they're run for the benefit of a few at the top.

John Panzer : I'd ask what their top values are. Then I'd point out how Trump is directly opposed to those values, giving examples.

Elizabeth Gardner : If they're on the fence, because they aren't paying attention, you might point out how many people worked in his administration aren't coming back, are warning people not to vote for him, or are testifying against him. Contrast that with Biden’s team.

@YesQuake : First thing, I would do is listen to their concerns and life situation. Example: Recently, I was talking with a Trump supporter who was upset to learn taxes are taken out of her Social Security. I could tell her that was a GOP bill passed under Ronald Reagan.

Catherine Hagman : Honestly? The warming planet. I know it's not the top Republican issue, but then that's precisely the point. Biden acts on the environment. Trump will exacerbate the crisis. Oil profits and tax cuts won't rescue anyone from the only Earth we have.

Roger A. Reynolds : Would you do business with that guy? Would you do a professional service for that guy without being paid up front, in full? Would you want you wife sat next to that guy at dinner? Do you trust anyone with no art in their life? Do you cheat at golf?

Jon vanHorne : Your savings and any wealth you have are only protected by the rule of law, which Trump has promised (see Project 2025 ) to end. Russia oligarchs have learned this rule.

Steve Dowling : My question would be, "Why do you think he's going to do anything he promises?" Couldn't repeal Obamacare, Hillary is still at large, the wall won't ever be built, infrastructure week was a joke …

@IvoGatzinski : Demonstrate concretely how Trump already has cost her/him real dollars, and how another Trump term will be worse for her/his personal finances. A selfish opportunity-cost argument.

@kmgunder : Look, we disagree about economic policy and probably some social issues. But we almost certainly agree that soldiers who’ve sacrificed for their country deserve our utmost respect. Look at just how horrifically he’s treated them. Oh, and once Trump is dictator …

@fxshea62 : Maga isn’t conservative. They take their foreign policy cues from Putin. They proclaim family values with an adulterer as their leader. Jeez, the man can’t even pay his own bills. The dictator answer should’ve been, “No, I would not be a dictator, even for an hour.”

@Lukethomas101 : Trump isn’t a Republican. Ask them to mention any issue that a traditional Republican cares about (respect for law and the military, fiscal responsibility, the US Constitution, small government) and show how Trump opposes what someone like Reagan believed.

Fran Auerbach : He tried to overthrow the government of the United States in order to stay in power. He wanted to destroy our democracy which had been America’s backbone from the beginning. I cannot image any American being OK with this.

@Soaps_Hope : Forget policies for one election. Listen to Trump at a rally in full sounding like a lunatic. Listen to Biden sound like a compassionate, intelligent and decent man who can talk for over an hour straight. Then tell me which of these two you want in charge.

@beatthebrain : Your daughter, granddaughters, nieces and their female friends, and their teachers and coaches etc – all of them need you to be a good dad, grandfather, uncle, and vote against Trump. They will probably face extreme death-dread horribleness otherwise.

Robert Thweatt : You may assume the trains will run on time. They won't. They'll derail. Things that never occurred to you to question will become insecure. There will be nothing you can do. Not go to court, not vote. You'll have to hit the streets with BLM and maybe get shot.

NOW READ: When it comes to 'rage' of white rural voters, liberals may not be asking the right questions

Stories Chosen For You

Should trump be allowed to run for office, 'i've had enough': alina habba complains about her own 'angry soundbites' at trial.

Alina Habba, Donald Trump's attorney, complained Wednesday that she had repeated too many "angry soundbites" throughout the former president's hush money trial.

As jury deliberations continued, Habba spoke to Fox News host Shannon Bream.

"And it's not right. It's un-American," she griped. "And frankly, at this point, you know, I've had enough angry soundbites in these courthouses now, I could say, almost an entire block."

ALSO READ: Political polls are way better than you think. Here's how to improve them more .

"I was down there for 11 weeks," Habba added. "I was at another courthouse behind me for three weeks, and now I'm here."

Trump's attorney has done daily interviews on Fox News as the trial was underway.

Watch the video below from Fox News or click here.

Jury's latest request is 'something good' for prosecutors: ex-GOP lawmaker Trey Gowdy

Fox News host Trey Gowdy reluctantly acknowledged that a message from the jury in Donald Trump's hush money trial was good news for the prosecution.

Anchor Shannon Bream turned to Gowdy on Wednesday as news broke that the jury requested the testimony of former attorney Michael Cohen and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.

"You don't know why they want to re-hear that testimony," Gowdy said. "I would imagine if I were the prosecutor, I would think if I had to pick something for them to hear, that might be something good."

ALSO READ: 19 fabulously worthless things Trump will give you for your money

Gowdy was quick to add: "But I would be lying to you if I said any lawyer, maybe the one sitting to the right of me, but if I were a prosecutor or defense attorney, I have no idea what is on a jury's mind based on a note, whether it's 11 or 1."

Watch the video below from Fox News or click the link.

'No moral compass': Legal experts call for intervention after Alito refuses to recuse

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has formally refused to recuse from any and all cases involving indicted ex-president Donald Trump or the January 6, 2021 attack on the seat of the American government and American democracy itself. Legal experts and elected Democrats, including the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has oversight responsibility of the nation’s highest court, have demanded the George W. Bush-appointed jurist’s recusal. Now, some legal experts sat either the Chief Justice or the Senate Judiciary Committee must intervene.

Justice Alito is standing by his now thoroughly debunked story about why a flag associated with the insurrection and the “Stop the Steal” conspiracy was flying at his home just three days before Joe Biden was inaugurated president, and a different, Christian nationalist flag also associated with those efforts to overthrow the government and disenfranchise 81 million Americans was flying at another of his homes.

Responding to a letter sent to Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Alito in his own letter wrote he was “required” to reject Democrats’ request and not recuse himself, despite numerous legal experts citing both law and precedent, declaring he at least should, or must, recuse himself.

Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern, who writes about the courts and the law, pushed back on Justice Alito’s claim.

READ MORE: ‘Biggest Felony in American History’: Prosecutor’s Closing Argument Against Trump Praised

“Alito reads the Supreme Court’s totally voluntary, non-binding ethics guidelines to impose a seemingly mandatory ‘obligation’ that he sit on any case he’s not recused from.”

Professor of law Steve Vladeck, a CNN contributor, appeared to take that one strep further: “Justice Alito’s insistence in his letters to Congress that he has an ‘obligation to sit’ in the January 6 cases *because* the Code of Conduct says so is an interesting data point for those who have insisted that the Code doesn’t impose *any* requirements on the justices.”

Journalist, author, and foreign policy, national security and political affairs analyst and commentator David Rothkopf observed , “Alito, by saying he should not recuse, demonstrates clearly why he should not be on the court in the first place.”

The New York Times’ Michael Barbaro notes , “As with his statement to the NYT, Alito in his response to Congress never disavows the meaning of the upside down flag that flew over his house for days or its link to the Jan 6th riot/Stop The Steal movement that was at its height during this period. Notably, Alito does deny that link with the Appeal To Heaven flag, but not the upside down flag.”

Saying Alito is “really is a piece of work,” attorney and former FBI special agent Asha Rangappa suggested the justice is flipping the script: “Alito does a Reverse Uno, suggesting that people calling for his recusal are trying to influence the outcome of cases before the Court.”

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a government watchdog, noted : “That Justice Alito responded *at all* to the demand that he recuse from these cases shows the gravity of his misconduct. But this response changes nothing about the ethical issue here. Since he will not recuse on his own, Chief Justice Roberts should intervene.”

READ MORE: Supreme Court ‘Puppetmaster’ Slammed Over Report He’s Flying Alito’s ‘Theocratic’ Flag Again

Constitutional law scholar and professor of law Eric Segall served up a scathing assessment : “To be clear, if we found a love letter written to Donald Trump from Sam Alito saying, ‘Can’t wait till you’re back in office,’ Alito still would not recuse. He has no moral compass at all.”

The Atlantic’s Ronald Brownstein suggests Democrats will need to take further action: “Alito’s dismissive response, which [Chief Justice John] Roberts is unlikely to challenge in any way, has placed the ball squarely in the court of @SenatorDurbin, @SenSchumer and Senate Democrats.”

CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere, posting a screenshot of Donald Trump’s response to the justice’s decision to not recuse, writes: “Trump thanks Alito for not recusing himself from cases pending about Trump after Alito’s being criticized for a flag flying at his house that has been interpreted as a sign of support for Trump.”

See the social media post above or at this link .

READ MORE: ‘Wildly Lawless’: Judge Cannon’s Removal Predicted by Top Legal Scholar

Cleared: CNN and Donald Trump dodge alleged election law violations

Trump just endorsed this virginia congressional candidate whose social media isn’t so maga, revealed: lawmaker who gave j6ers a capitol tour targets ex-capitol police intel head.

Copyright © 2024 Raw Story Media, Inc. PO Box 21050, Washington, D.C. 20009 | Masthead | Privacy Policy | Manage Preferences | Debug Logs For corrections contact [email protected] , for support contact [email protected] .

Refusing mandatory National Service won't lead to prison, home secretary says after Tory policy launch

Teenagers would have the option of military service or volunteering for a year under the Conservatives' first policy pledge of the election campaign.

Political reporter @alixculbertson

Sunday 26 May 2024 18:29, UK

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Nobody would go to jail for refusing to comply with National Service under a Conservative government, the home secretary has said.

In the Conservatives' first policy announcement of the general election campaign, Rishi Sunak said on Saturday he would introduce a new form of mandatory National Service for 18-year-olds if his party wins the vote in July.

They would be given the choice of a full-time military placement for 12 months or a scheme to volunteer for one weekend a month for a year.

The announcement came two days after defence minister Dr Andrew Murrison told the Commons the government has "no plans" to reintroduce National Service and doing so would "damage morale, recruitment and retention and would consume professional military and naval resources".

General election latest: Tories attack Starmer's 'stamina'

The military option would be selective but questions have arisen over whether any teenager who refuses to do either option would be punished.

Talking to Sky News's Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips , Home Secretary James Cleverly said: "There's going to be no criminal sanctions, nobody's going to jail over this."

He added that "nobody will be compelled to do the military element" but said those who do will be paid - while those who choose to volunteer will not be paid.

Read more: Which countries have already implemented National Service? National Service policy pledge derided as 'deeply cynical' Analysis: Defence is seldom a factor which determines UK elections

Mr Cleverly said the main point of the policy is to make sure "people mix with people outside their bubble" for "community cohesion".

He said those who choose the military option "will be motivated to join the military" after spending a year with the Armed Forces.

Mr Sunak released a video on TikTok on Sunday explaining the new policy to young adults.

Mr Cleverly said: "We want to build a society where people mix with people outside their own communities, mix with people from different backgrounds, different religions, different income levels.

"The bulk of this is about helping build a cohesive society where people mix outside their bubble."

The Conservatives said the National Service programme would cost £2.5bn a year and would be funded by cash previously used for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion.

What does national service mean from a military perspective?

Military analyst

The prime minister's policy has captured headlines, but from a military perspective what has actually been announced?

For the vast majority of 18-year-olds, this initiative would mean completing their National Service in support of society initiatives, involving a weekend's commitment each month. But around 30,000 would be offered full placements in the armed forces, with concerns raised this might involve conscription.

Rishi Sunak cited Sweden as an example of where the proposed initiative had worked. However, it is always dangerous to compare the military requirements and capabilities of different nations. Sweden has historically favoured neutrality as a defence policy, so conscription allows it to maintain a relatively small military while also creating a wider body of experience in the form of reservists.

However, the UK has a number of overseas territories to protect - such as the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and Cyprus - and historically the UK government has used its military overseas, with conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and more recently the Red Sea. As a result, the UK needs professional, well-motivated and effective military forces, 24/7.

National Service does have some attractions. It increases the proportion of the civilian population with military experience - who can then serve as reservists - and military training also provides new entrants with life skills such as respect, self-discipline and leadership. It is also a way of providing rapid quantity - albeit at reduced quality.

With the UK facing a growing global threat, most defence experts believe that the UK needs to increase its operational capability - "sharpen its sword" - rather than re-focusing its military efforts to training 18-year-olds on behalf of wider society.

Despite the potential benefits, the UK military has not previously favoured the conscript model as experience suggests it risks compromising morale, undermines professionalism, lowers quality and thus risks compromising lives.

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

Labour's shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall accused the policy of being "yet another unfunded spending commitment".

She told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: "That UK Prosperity Fund is supposed to be used to tackle economic inactivity and helping people get back into work so that really undermines another one of their arguments.

"This is an unfunded commitment, a headline-grabbing gimmick."

She added that it does not deal with the big challenges facing young people, and said Labour has a "fully costed, fully funded plan to give young people those real opportunities that they need to build up".

Related Topics

• James Cleverly

Historic Trump trial comes to a dramatic close, jury deliberations begin Wednesday: recap

Both sides completed their final arguments Tuesday in the historic first criminal case against a former president capping a dramatic six-week trial in which a parade of often high-profile witnesses laid out the evidence that Donald Trump allegedly covered up hush money payments to a porn star to hide another crime.

Jury deliberations will begin Wednesday after instructions from Judge Juan Merchan . The forthcoming verdict – a conviction on all or some of 34 counts of falsifying business records, an acquittal, or a deadlocked jury – could have a major impact on Trump’s campaign against President Joe Biden.

The six-week trial featured 22 witnesses from Trump’s company, campaign, a national tabloid and a porn star. The testimony featured tense moments such as defense lawyer Todd Blanche accusing Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen , of lying on the standand former Trump spokesperson Hope Hicks breaking into tears.

Meanwhile, Merchan threatened to jail Trump if he continued to violate a gag order against talking about witnesses participating in the case. A flock of Republican surrogates showed up to support Trump, and one conspiracy theorist set himself on fire outside the courthouse.

Prosecution cites 'jaw-dropping' evidence against Trump that defense says 'cannot be trusted'

The courtroom drama featured dramatic clashes between lawyers and witnesses, the judge and Trump.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

Cohen was a key witness testifying that he submitted invoices for “legal expenses” that Trump knew were to reimburse him for paying $130,000 to silence porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. But Trump lawyer Todd Blanche accused Cohen of lying on the stand when he testified he notified Trump about the payment to Daniels. In closing arguments, Blanche called Cohen the “MVP of liars” and “the embodiment of reasonable doubt.”

Merchan scolded Blanche for an “outrageous” statement in closing arguments that the jury shouldn’t “send someone to prison” based on Cohen’s testimony.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, described the alleged sexual encounter in enough detail that Merchan questioned why defense lawyers didn’t object more to block her testimony. She testified that she noticed gold nail clippers in Trump’s hotel room and he didn’t wear a condom during the encounter. Trump has repeatedly denied he had sex with Daniels and Blanche argued the payment “started out as an extortion” whether the allegation was true or not.

David Pecker, the former CEO of American Media Inc., which owned the National Enquirer, said he agreed in a meeting with Trump and Cohen in August 2015 to be the “eyes and ears” of Trump’s presidential campaign to buy negative stories about the candidate and never publish them.

Pecker acknowledged paying former Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 for her story and then refusing to pay for Daniels because Trump hadn’t reimbursed him. Cohen provided a recording , which prosecutor Joshua Steinglass called “jaw-dropping,” of Trump mentioning the $150,000 figure.

But Blanche raised questions about the credibility of the recording because it cuts off suddenly – Cohen said he got another call – and argued that a meeting to influence the campaign “made no sense.”

Trump paid Cohen for a retainer through invoices marked "legal expenses," so he committed no crime of falsifying business records, according to Blanche. "This is not a referendum on your views of President Trump," Blanche told jurors.

The jury will return Wednesday to receive instructions from Merchan and begin deliberations.

− Bart Jansen

Tuesday proceedings end

Judge Juan Merchan declared an end to the day's proceedings at about 8 p.m. EDT.

– Aysha Bagchi

Judge to give jury instructions in morning, proceedings to start slightly later

Judge Juan Merchan said he will give jurors their instructions on the law to apply in the case tomorrow morning. In light of today's proceedings running late, tomorrow's proceedings will start at 10 a.m. EDT, not the normal 9:30 a.m. EDT start time, Merchan said.

'In the name of justice': Prosecutor finishes closing argument

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass has ended his closing argument. He thanked the jurors for their service and for consistently arriving to trial on time.

"I apologize for trading brevity for thoroughness," he said, in reference to his lengthy time summing up the case.

Steinglass argued former President Donald Trump shouldn't get special treatment in this case. "He's had his day in court," Steinglass said. "The law is the law, and it applies to everyone equally. There is no special standard for this defendant."

Steinglass added that Donald Trump can't shoot somebody "during rush hour and get away with it." The defense objected to that comment, and Judge Merchan sustained their objection. The prosecutor appeared to be referring to a boast Trump made early in the 2016 presidential campaign: "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?"

"In the name of justice," Steinglass urged jurors, "I ask you to find the defendant guilty."

'Beating a dead horse' draws laughs as prosecutor's long closing continues

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass used the phrase "beating a dead horse here" to describe his team's argument that Trump conspired to unlawfully interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

That drew some giggling from the courtroom. I saw at least one juror smiling.

'The false business records benefited one person and one person only'

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass encouraged jurors to consider who stood to benefit from falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels .

The answer, Steinglass said, is Donald Trump .

"He was the one who stood to gain the most," Steinglass said. "He's the only one who'd care about creating the false business records to conceal the Daniels payoff."

"The false business records benefited one person and one person only – and that's the defendant," Steinglass added.

A fixer like Cohen would want credit for hush money deal: Steinglass

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said another reason to credit Michael Cohen's testimony of Trump's involvement comes down to the common-sense question of how a fixer acts.

A person playing that role for Trump might cover their tracks and avoid a paper trail, but that person also wants credit, Steinglass suggested. "They sure as heck want the principal to know."

Trump's alleged knowledge of prior hush money deals part of a pattern , Steinglass says

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass reminded jurors of testimony from former tabloid publisher David Pecker that he updated Trump on two hush money agreements that took place before the Stormy Daniels deal was sealed. Pecker's company paid out money to a Trump Tower doorman and to former Playboy model Karen McDougal in the two deals. Michael Cohen was in communication with Pecker, but Cohen himself paid Daniels.

If you credit Pecker's testimony, Trump knew about those two earlier deals, Steinglass told the jury.

"So why would the defendant be kept in the dark about the Daniels NDA?" Steinglass asked, using an abbreviation for "non-disclosure agreement." 

"That defies common sense," he added.

Hope Hicks cried over her damning testimony: Steinglass

Former Trump aide Hope Hicks made headlines earlier in the trial when she broke down crying on the witness stand. On Tuesday, Steinglass argued Hicks lost her composure after realizing the impact of the damning testimony she'd given against her former boss.

Hicks was testifying about Trump's reaction to a post-2016 election story on the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Hicks said Trump asked for her thoughts on how a story before the election would have compared.

"I think Mr. Trump's opinion was it was better to be dealing with it now, and that it would have been bad to have that story come out before the election," Hicks testified .

More: Donald Trump trial Friday recap: Former Trump spokesperson Hope Hicks emotional on stand

That was at the end the prosecution's questions for Hicks, and she broke down slightly later, as Trump defense lawyer Emil Bove began asking her questions.

"She realized how much this testimony puts the nail in" the case, Steinglass said.

The prosecution has argued that Trump authorized a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels in order to better his 2016 election chances. That forms part of the prosecution's argument for charging Trump with felonies.

Trump, a frugal and meticulous boss, would know what his checks were for: Steinglass

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass pointed to testimony that Trump is frugal and meticulous in his work and business life. For instance, former tabloid publisher and long-time Trump friend David Pecker testified that Trump was " very cautious" and "very frugal."

This, Steinglass suggested, is evidence Trump wouldn't have paid Cohen $420,000 – largely in checks he himself signed – without knowing the purpose.

Steinglass also pointed to Trump book excerpts in which the celebrity real estate developer characterized himself as careful about his finances. In one excerpt from "Trump: Think Like a Billionaire," he said: "I always sign my checks, so I know where my money's going."

Prosecutor challenges Trump team's claim that 2017 payments were for legal services

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass ridiculed the argument from defense lawyer Todd Blanche earlier today that Donald Trump's 2017 monthly payments to Michael Cohen were for legal services, not to reimburse hush money. Blanche said Trump Organization records accurately represented the payments.

Why wasn't Cohen "paid a dime in 2018?" Steinglass asked jurors. Because Cohen wasn't being paid for legal work in either 2017 or 2018, Steinglass said.

Steinglass added that Cohen had spent more time being cross-examined at Trump's hush money trial than doing legal work for Trump in 2017, and said Cohen would have been making an hourly rate of $42,000 if the payments were for legal services.

"That'd be a pretty good hourly rate," Steinglass said with sarcasm.

Steinglass also said Cohen was making more money than any government job would ever pay. 

"And don't I know that," the Manhattan line prosecutor added, drawing at least a few chuckles from the courtroom .

More: Would cameras in the courtroom change Donald Trump's New York hush money trial?

Jurors see handwritten notes that allegedly point to a planned tax crime

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass showed jurors a document dealing with Cohen's tranfer of $130,000 to Stormy Daniels' lawyer, Keith Davidson, in 2016.

The document has handwritten notes that ex-Trump Organization executive Jeffrey McConney testified belonged to Allen Weisselberg . Weisselberg was the long-time chief financial officer at the Trump Organization. He is currently in jail for committing perjury in Trump's New York civil fraud case.

The notes refer to "grossing" up $180,000 to $360,000. Prosecutors say two reimbursements to Cohen – one for the $130,000 hush money to Daniels and a second for $50,000 related to polling services – were doubled to account for taxes Cohen would have to pay. That, according to prosecutors, reflected a plan to commit tax fraud under New York law .

This seems aimed at showing Trump falsified business records in order to hide a plan to violate New York tax law. That's one of three crimes or potential crimes prosecutors say Trump was trying to cover up by falsifying records. To win a conviction, prosecutors have to show not just that Trump falsified records, but also that he was trying to conceal or commit another crime.

Here are the handwritten notes jurors just saw:

Trump executive's testimony used against former president

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is pointing to the testimony of former Trump Organization financial controller Jeffrey McConney as evidence Trump was reimbursing Michael Cohen with a series of 2017 payments that are at the heart of this business records case. Prosecutors say Trump falsified records to conceal that the payments were reimbursements to Cohen for hush money he paid to Stormy Daniels .

McConney testified he was told by former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg that the payments were reimbursing Cohen.

Steinglass told jurors to think about who McConney is as they consider that testimony.

"He has no axe to grind," Steinglass said of McConney. "He has every incentive to help his former boss."

McConney nonetheless said he was told this was a reimbursement, Steinglass noted.

Prosecutor's argument shifts from hush money to alleged cover-up

After a short break in proceedings, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass has resumed his closing argument. He explained to the jury that he'd gone over Trump's alleged conspiracy to influence the election. But after the election, he continued, Trump also needed to keep people from knowing about the conspiracy.

Plus, Michael Cohen wanted his money back .

Steinglass is now showing jurors a transcript of Cohen's testimony that Trump approved a scheme to reimburse Cohen over 12 months while misrepresenting the payments as ongoing legal expenses.

Jurors paying attention as long day continues

Judge Juan Merchan excused jurors for a short break at 4:54 p.m. EDT. He then commented that jurors continued to appear attentive, even as proceedings have extended beyond the normal 4:30 p.m. EDT end time.

What the judge said is true. I haven't seen any jurors dozing off or appearing distracted, even as they have heard several hours of arguments from just two lawyers today.

Merchan indicated the jurors have made arrangements to stay late today, and that proceedings could go past 7 p.m. EDT.

'What have we done?': Prosecutor points to election reaction as evidence of Trump's guilt

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass showed jurors a text exchange between Stormy Daniels' former lawyer, Keith Davidson, and former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard . Davidson texted Howard after the 2016 presidential election results started to come in: "What have we done?"

Steinglass suggested Davidson's reaction to news of Trump's victory shows how players involved in the Trump-related hush money deals fully understood their importance to the election.

More: National Enquirer editor said Stormy Daniels' affair story was true: Texts shown to jury

'This is damning': Prosecutor says evidence shows Trump OK'd hush money

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is displaying text messages and call records that he says support Michael Cohen's testimony that Trump authorized the $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels.

Keith Davidson , the former lawyer for Daniels, testified that he believed Cohen didn't have the authority to spend money on his own, Steinglass noted. Even after Cohen told Davidson "I'll just do it myself," Davidson testified, he understood the money would be coming from Donald Trump or a related corporation.

Steinglass also showed a call record indicating Cohen called Trump 10 minutes after hearing that Daniels might be about to share her story with the Daily Mail. Cohen didn't reach him, but Melania Trump texted the next morning asking Cohen to call Trump on his cell phone.

Steinglass also showed jurors a record of a call that he said was half an hour before Cohen filled out the paperwork for the hush money wire transfer.

"This is damning," Steinglass said.

'Pandemonium': Prosecutor says Access Hollywood tape is key context for hush money

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is talking to jurors about the infamous Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump discussed kissing women without waiting and grabbing their genitals. The tape was published by The Washington Post on Oct. 7 of 2016 – about a month before the 2016 election.

Steinglass played a response video Trump posted in which he characterized his words on the tape as simply that – words. Steinglass also referred to Trump characterizing his words as "locker-room talk," reminding jurors that Cohen testified that phrase was a suggestion from Melania Trump .

"You gotta remember this race could not have been closer," Steinglass said. The tape and events that followed were capable of costing Trump the whole election, and he knew it, Steinglass said.

Steinglass then played jurors a video recording of Trump at a campaign event on Oct. 14, 2016. Trump talked about lies at the rally, saying if 5% or 10% of people think they're true, "we don't win."

"It caused pandemonium in the Trump campaign," Steinglass said of the tape.

At the same time that Trump was desperately trying to sell the distinction between words and actions, he was trying to muzzle a porn star who had a story to tell about a sexual encounter while Trump was married, Steinglass said.

"Stormy Daniels was a walking, talking reminder that the defendant was not only words," Steinglass said. "She would have totally undermined his strategy for spinning away the Access Hollywood tape."

The trial goes on, but Tuesday’s protesters are mostly done

Nearly all the demonstrators outside of the courthouse − both pro-Trump and anti-Trump − packed up shortly after 4 p.m. EDT.

They did not stick around for the end of final arguments.

“We’re going to Trump Tower − you coming?” yelled one member of the ex-president’s contingent.Throughout the day, maybe 150 demonstrators of all stripes drifted into and out of the one-block park across the street from the courthouse.

Things occasionally got tense, as adherents of Trump and Biden dropped F bombs on each other; there was also, reportedly, at least one punch thrown.

With each confrontation, however, two or more New York police officers quickly moved in to stop things from getting out of hand.

−David Jackson

Steinglass pushes back on evidence manipulation argument

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is pushing back on a suggestion from Trump lawyer Todd Blanche that evidence has been manipulated. Blanche targeted, in particular, an audio recording that Michael Cohen said he secretly made of a conversation he had with Trump where the two discussed hush money payments to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Blanche said there is "a lot of dispute" when it comes to the recording, and that the government hasn't shown it's reliable. The recording cuts off abruptly after Trump and Cohen discuss financing.

"Don't accept this invitation to muddy the waters," Steinglass said to jurors of Blanche's comments. Cohen would have no incentive to manipulate evidence because he had already pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, Steinglass said.

Steinglass also said the recording "is nothing short of jaw-dropping," adding Trump talks about not paying with cash.

Here's a transcript of the recording prepared by the prosecution and shown earlier in the trial:

Trump slams Rep. Bob Good, a gag-order-get-around trial attendee, and endorses opponent

House Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Bob Good , R-Va., attended the hush money trial on May 16 and, along with several other Republican lawmakers, defended Trump against the judge's gag order .

But on Tuesday morning, Trump endorsed Good's opponent, State Sen.  John McGuire , who also made a quiet appearance at the Manhattan courthouse the same day.

"Bob Good is BAD FOR VIRGINIA, AND BAD FOR THE USA," Trump posted on Truth Social.

Good had initially endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 primary, but eventually backed Trump when DeSantis dropped out of the race in January.

– Kinsey Crowley

Prosecutor defends public's right to know Stormy Daniels' story

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told jurors they might wonder why they should care if Trump had a sexual encounter with porn star Stormy Daniels in 2006.

Steinglass said that thought is understandable, but it's harder to say that the American people "don't have the right to decide for themselves whether they care or not."

Trump's alleged scheme to prevent negative stories from getting out ahead of the 2016 election "could very well be what got President Trump elected," Steinglass said.

This may be more of a moral argument from Steinglass than a legal one. Ultimately, Judge Juan Merchan will instruct jurors on the law around campaign finance violations. Then jurors will be tasked with deciding if Trump falsified records and, if so, whether he was trying to cover up unlawfully interfering in the 2016 election through the hush money to Daniels.

'We didn't pick him up at the witness store': Prosecutor on Michael Cohen

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass blamed former President Donald Trump for the prosecution's use of Michael Cohen in the criminal hush money case.

"We didn't pick him up at the witness store," Steinglass said of Cohen. "The defendant chose Michael Cohen to be his fixer because he was willing to lie and cheat on Mr. Trump's behalf."

Trump chose Cohen "for the same qualities" that Trump's lawyers now say should cause the jurors to reject Cohen's testimony, Steinglass added.

Steinglass then showed jurors an excerpt from one of Trump's books in which Trump said: "I value loyalty above everything else."

When will the Trump trial end?

The Trump trial could end this week , depending on how long the jury takes to deliberate.

Closing arguments are scheduled to wrap up Tuesday. Judge Juan Merchan has asked the jury to come in Wednesday, even though the court is typically off that day, so he can hand the case over to them.

While there is technically no limit on how long the jury deliberations can take, experts say three days would be considered a long time.

– Kinsey Crowley 

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass defends Michael Cohen's testimony

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is spending a lot of time defending the same witness Trump lawyer Todd Blanche spent a lot of time attacking today: Michael Cohen .

Steinglass spoke of an Oct. 24, 2016 phone call Blanche has said Cohen got caught lying about on the stand. Cohen said the call to Trump's bodyguard was to get Trump on the phone about the Stormy Daniels hush money deal. After Blanche showed text messages to the bodyguard indicated Cohen wanted to talk about harassing phone calls he was getting from a 14-year-old, Cohen said he believes he also spoke to Trump about the deal.

"Even if you're not convinced" that both things happened in that call, Steinglass told jurors, "a far less sinister explanation" is Cohen got the time of the call wrong.

"This was not the final go-ahead. That would come two days later on October 26th," Steinglass added.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass begins prosecution's closing argument

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass has begun his closing argument. Steinglass indicated earlier today that this is likely to be lengthy: he estimated he needs 4-4.5 hours.

Judge instructs jurors to disregard Trump lawyer's 'prison' comment

Following the lunch break, Judge Juan Merchan instructed jurors to disregard the comment from Trump lawyer Todd Blanche about sending Trump "to prison" if they convict him. Merchan told the jurors they may not consider sentencing at all when they are deliberating in the case.

'Outrageous': Judge rebukes Trump defense lawyer for prison comment

After Trump lawyer Todd Blanche finished his closing and jurors were excused for lunch, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked Judge Merchan to give jurors a special instruction about the "ridiculous comment" Blanche made about sending Trump to prison. Merchan already sustained an objection from Steinglass when Blanche told jurors they "cannot send someone to prison" based on Michael Cohen's testimony.

Steinglass noted the charges in the case carry no minimum sentence, so jail or prison time might not happen even if Trump is convicted. It was a "blatant and wholly inappropriate effort" to create sympathy for Trump, Steinglass said.

Blanche said the judge is already slated to give a regular instruction on this point to jurors after the closing arguments are over.

"I'm gonna give a curative instruction," Merchan said. "Saying that was outrageous, Mr. Blanche," Merchan added.

"You know that making a comment like that is highly inappropriate," Merchan told Blanche. "It's hard for me to imagine how that was accidental in any way."

'Not a referendum on your views of President Trump': defense finishes closing

"This is not a referendum on your views of President Trump," defense lawyer Todd Blanche told jurors at the end of his closing argument.

Blanche said the trial is not about whom jurors voted for or plan to vote for. Instead, it's only about the evidence they heard in the courtroom, he said.

If jurors stick to that evidence, they will return an "easy" and "quick" not guilty verdict, he said.

'He's the human embodiment of reasonable doubt, literally': Trump lawyer on Cohen

In his tenth and final argument for reasonable doubt in the case, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche again attacked Michael Cohen as a liar.

"He's the human embodiment of reasonable doubt, literally," Blanche said. Cohen's financial wellbeing will depend on this case, Blanche added. "He is biased and motivated to tell you a story that's not true."

Cohen is the G.O.A.T. of liars, Blanche said, referencing an abbreviation for "greatest of all time."

"He has lied to every single branch of Congress. Both houses. The House and the Senate," Blanche said of Cohen. Cohen has lied to the Department of Justice, to federal judges, to state judges, and to his family, he added. "His words cannot be trusted."

After all those lies, Cohen came to the trial, "raised his right hand, and he lied to each of you," Blanche said.

"You cannot send someone to prison" based on Cohen's testimony, Blanche added. Judge Juan Merchan sustained an objection to that comment.

10 reasons why there is reasonable doubt: Trump lawyer

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche ended his closing argument by offering ten reasons for reasonable doubt in the case.

Blanche argued the evidence didn't show Trump was aware or responsible for invoices, vouchers, and checks that make up the 34 allegedly falsified records in the case.

Blanche also targeted allegations he expects the prosecution to make in its closing about Trump's intent. He said Trump had no intention to defraud, and no intention to commit or conceal another crime. Prosecutors have to prove both those elements of Trump's intent.

Blanche also said there was no illegal agreement to influence the 2016 election through a "catch-and-kill" scheme .

Blanche argued that Stormy Daniels' allegation of an affair with Trump was already public by 2016. Testimony at trial discussed the publication of a rumor about it as far back as 2011.

Blanche also said evidence in the case had been manipulated. He noted, for example, testimony of an Oct. 15, 2016 factory reset of Cohen's phone.

The tenth and final reason for reasonable doubt, Blanche said, is that Cohen – who testified to various aspects of the prosecution's case – is a liar.

'He's literally like an MVP of liars': Trump lawyer on Michael Cohen

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche accused the prosecution of being "perfectly willing" to have a witness commit perjury and lie to the jurors. Judge Juan Merchan sustained an objection to that accusation.

"He's literally like an MVP of liars," Blanche said as he continued to target Cohen.

"He lies to reporters, he lies to federal judges. In fact, he's also a thief. He literally stole," Blanche said, referencing Cohen's own admission to stealing from the Trump Organization by claiming a larger reimbursement than he was owed for a payment unrelated to the Daniels hush money deal.

Blanche then played an audio recording for jurors showing Cohen's animus toward Trump. Cohen described picturing Trump getting booked and finger printed on criminal charges, and having a mug shot taken. It "fills me with delight," Cohen said. Cohen also thanked the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, including its "fearless leader," Alvin Bragg.

'That was a lie, and he got caught red-handed': Trump lawyer on Cohen

Near the end of his closing argument, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche focused on the prosecution's star witness: Michael Cohen . Blanche told jurors they "only know from one source" what Trump knew in 2016 – Cohen. Prosecutors have alleged Trump knew about and authorized a October 2016 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Blanche elevated his voice as he attacked the former Trump lawyer and fixer, noting text messages indicating that a call from Cohen to Trump's bodyguard on Oct. 24, 2016 was to discuss harassing phone calls Cohen was getting. Cohen had earlier testified the call was to get Trump on the phone to provide an update on the Stormy Daniels hush money deal. After Blanche showed Cohen the text messages on cross-examination, Cohen said he believed the call was also about the deal.

"It was a lie!" Blanche exclaimed to jurors on Tuesday. "This was a lie about the charged conduct involving Ms. Daniels," he said.

"That was a lie, and he got caught red-handed," Blanche continued.

"That is per-jur-y," Blanche said, putting emphasis on each syllable in the last word.

Blanche distances Trump from Daniels hush money and election concerns

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche questioned prosecutors' suggestion that Trump would have paid hush money to Stormy Daniels because of the 2016 election, as well as their claim that Trump actually authorized the payment.

Blanche said no one wants their family to hear these sort of allegations.

Blanche also said the release of the Access Hollywood tape – in which Trump crudely described groping women's genitals – wasn't the "doomsday event" the prosecution made it out to be. "He never thought it was gonna cause him to lose the campaign. And indeed, it didn't," Blanche said. 

"Michael Cohen, however, had a different view," Blanche argued to jurors. He noted Cohen said the tape "was catastrophic."

These arguments from Blanche may have two aims:

• Encouraging jurors to believe Cohen acted alone, and
• Encouraging jurors to believe that, if they conclude Trump authorized the payment, it wasn't for the election, and therefore wasn't an unlawful campaign contribution.

Prosecutors have suggested the tape's release put pressure on the Trump campaign to not let any more stories get out that could hurt Trump's standing with women voters. That, according to prosecutors, was added incentive to quiet Stormy Daniels with a hush money payment.

'No evidence' but Cohen's words that Trump knew about 2016 hush money deal: defense lawyer

There is "no evidence," Trump lawyer Todd Blanche said, "except for Mr. Cohen's words that President Trump knew about that agreement in 2016."

Blanche was referencing the $130,000 hush money deal involving porn star Stormy Daniels.

Blanche pointed to a text exchange between Daniels' then-manager Gina Rodriguez and former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard , in which Rodriguez asked if Howard was working "in favor" of Trump and Howard said he was not. Howard acknowledged in the text exchange that his CEO endorsed Trump.

'Nothing sinister': Blanche defends hush money practice

"There's nothing wrong with a non-disclosure agreement," Blanche told jurors. "There's nothing illegal, there's nothing sinister about it," he added.

Prosecutors in this case don't dispute that claim generally, but they say the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels is different because it allegedly violated federal campaign finance laws .

Judge rejects gag request in Trump’s classified documents case

The federal judge in former President Donald Trump's  classified documents case  rejected an urgent request from prosecutors to prohibit him from  commenting on FBI agents  who seized the records at Mar-a-Lago.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon found  Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith's request Friday lacked “professional courtesy" for not meeting with Trump’s team first to discuss the defense’s concerns.

Smith's team  had asked  Cannon  on Friday  to prohibit Trump from commenting  about law enforcement agents after Trump claimed the FBI “was authorized to shoot me” and agents were “locked &loaded ready to take me out” when they went to Mar-a-Lago.

Trump’s lawyers, who were preparing for final arguments in his New York hush money case, asked to meet Monday before prosecutors filed their motion. After being rejected, defense lawyers on Monday asked Cannon to hold prosecutors in contempt for the request. She rejected that request.

“This is bad-faith behavior, plain and simple,” Trump’s lawyers Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and Christopher Kise wrote.

– Bart Jansen

'This started out as an extortion': Blanche on Stormy Daniels

Blanche played for jurors a recording of a conversation between Michael Cohen and Keith Davidson , the lawyer who negotiated the hush money deal for Stormy Daniels. Davidson says during the recording that Daniels told him he "better settle this God damn story" because if Trump loses the election, "we lose all (expletive) leverage."

Daniels testified at trial that she never yelled at Davidson and, on the recording, it sounded to her like he is making a threat.

You can listen to the recording here:

Blanche suggested to jurors that Daniels has been cashing in on her allegations about Trump, noting she has a book.

"This started out as an extortion. There's no doubt about that. And it ended very well for Ms. Daniels, financially speaking," Blanche said.

'He was shocked': Defense's take on secret recording by Cohen of Trump

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche reminded jurors of a recording they heard during the trial, which Michael Cohen testified involved a discussion between him and Trump about a hush money deal with former Playboy model Karen McDougal .

Cohen testified that he secretly recorded Trump in order to reassure David Pecker, whose media company paid McDougal $150,000, that he would get his money back.

"There is a lot of dispute about that recording. A lot," Blanche told jurors Tuesday. He added that the government hasn't shown the recording is reliable.

Blanche played a portion of the recording that he said featured the voice of Rhona Graff , Trump's former executive assistant. He then told jurors the government didn't ask her a single question about the recording, even though she testified.

"The recording cuts off, as you know," Blanche said. He said there is "no doubt" the recording features discussion of David Pecker and his media company, but said there is "a lot of doubt" about whether it discussed McDougal.

When Trump asks about financing in the recording, "he has no idea" what Cohen is talking about, Blanche said. Cohen and Trump are "literally talking past each other about what is going on," he said.

"He was shocked," Blanche added, speaking about his client.

Biden and Trump campaigns conduct dueling news conferences

Another political first for the Trump hush money trial: Dueling news conferences by the presidential campaigns.First, the Biden team produced surrogates who denounced Trump to reporters stationed across the street from the courthouse.

“He wants to sow total chaos,” said Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro. The Biden campaign said their news conference wasn’t about the hush money trial per se, but about Trump himself, particularly his role in the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021 .

Other speakers included two Capitol police officers who were injured in the Jan. 6 riot, Michael Fanone and Harry Dunn.

“Those supporters were fueled by Trump’s lies,” Fanone said.

After watching the Biden proceedings from a distance, a trio of Trump aides took to the microphones to accuse the Biden people of political desperation over the trial.

“Why is Joe Biden now making this a campaign event?” said Trump senior adviser Jason Miller .

This was the first time that top Trump and Biden officials faced off in the same place at the same time, but it won’t be the last; there’s a June 27 debate coming up in Atlanta.

– David Jackson

'Makes no sense': Blanche attacks election conspiracy claim

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche told jurors he doesn't think they need to address whether Trump participated in a conspiracy to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election. That allegation from prosecutors has to do with why Trump has been charged with felony counts of falsifying records – but it's irrelevant to the charges if jurors conclude Trump never falsified records to begin with.

Still, Blanche challenged the suggestion that Trump engaged in an election-related conspiracy. He said "sophisticated people" like Trump and David Pecker – the former head of the National Enquirer's parent company – couldn't have believed they were able to influence the election through the publication's limited circulation when "millions and millions of people voted in the 2016 election."

The idea that an August 2015 meeting was going to influence the election "makes no sense," Blanche added. Pecker and Cohen both testified to having a meeting with Trump at Trump Tower that month to discuss how they could snap up potentially damaging stories to Trump's campaign and also publish negative stories about Trump's political opponents.

Actor Robert DeNiro calls Trump a ‘clown’ and ‘buffoon’ outside courthouse

Actor Robert DeNiro , flanked by former Capitol Police officers who defended the building on Jan. 6, 2021, called former President Donald Trump a “clown,” a “buffoon” and a “joke” outside the courthouse where Trump is on trial.

“He wants to sow total chaos,” said DeNiro, a surrogate for President Joe Biden who grew up in New York City. “He’ll use violence against anyone who stands in the way of his megalomania and greed. But it’s a coward’s violence.”

DeNiro noted Trump was found liable for sexual abuse and for misstating the value of his real estate. But DeNiro said over the shouts of hecklers and the honking of a car on the street outside the courthouse that Trump must be defeated or he would never leave the White House again.

“When Trump ran in 2016, it was like a joke, this buffoon running for president,” DeNiro said. “With Trump, we have a second chance and no one is laughing now. This is the time to stop him by voting him out once and for all.”

DeNiro was joined by Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone , two of the Capitol police officers who were injured defending the building when a mob of Trump supporters rioted and interrupted Congress certifying Biden’s 2020 win against Trump.

“These guys are the true heroes,” DeNiro said. “They stood and put their lives on the line for these lowlifes, for Trump.”

Blanche says Trump didn't have an intent to defraud

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche said he expects Judge Merchan to instruct jurors that, to find Trump guilty, they must conclude he falsified records and that he had an intent to defraud when he did so.

Blanche pointed to a 2018 tweet by Trump, in which Trump mentioned a retainer agreement with Cohen. A legal retainer is a compensation agreement that reserves a lawyer or pays for future services. Cohen submitted several invoices in 2017 – which form part of the allegedly falsified records in the case – referencing a retainer. Cohen testified no retainer actually existed.

Blanche said Trump wouldn't have posted that tweet if he had any intent to defraud.

Blanche says almost no evidence of planned tax crime

To find Trump guilty of the 34 felony counts in the case, the jurors must find not only that Trump falsified the 34 records, but also that he did so in order to commit or conceal another crime.

One of the theories the prosecution advanced about that purpose before trial was that the falsified records were covering up a plan to violate New York tax laws . The prosecution has also said there was a plan to violate New York election laws, and that the allegedly falsified records were hiding the violation of federal campaign finance laws through the hush money to Stormy Daniels.

The only evidence of a tax purpose for how payments to Cohen were recorded, according to Blanche, was former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg saying the payments were grossed up. "Is there any other proof of that? Any other evidence? No, there's none," Blanche asked and answered.

'Case Turns On Cohen': Trump lawyer attacks Michael Cohen's credibility

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche displayed a portion of the transcript of Michael Cohen's testimony with a header above it titled: "Case Turns On Cohen."

The transcript excerpt featured Cohen saying he was in a meeting with Trump and former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg , when Weisselberg allegedly said they would pay Cohen for the Stormy Daniels hush money, as well as for another expense and a bonus, over 12 months.

Cohen didn't even pretend to be part of that conversation, Blanche said – seeming to attack the lack of testimony from Cohen about what he himself said in the meeting. Blanche characterized it as weak evidence from the government about Trump's role in the alleged repayment scheme.

Blanche says lack of testimony from Trump sons Eric and Don Jr. is reason to acquit

Blanche argued that the lack of testimony from Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump – who are seated in the audience today – is a reason to acquit Trump. The two Trump sons were running Trump business operations during their father's presidency, and allegedly signed two checks that make up two of the 34 records that their father is allegedly responsible for falsifying.

"That is reasonable doubt," Blanche said.

The Trump defense team, like the prosecution, didn't call the two Trump sons to the stand, although it did call two other witnesses.

"We have no burden to do anything," Blanche said, emphasizing the prosecution chose to call Michael Cohen but not the sons.

Supreme Court rejects appeal from Stormy Daniels' former lawyer Michael Avenatti

Outside of the Manhattan courtroom today, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Stormy Daniels ' former lawyer Michael Avenatti .

The disgraced California lawyer represented Daniels in her 2018 lawsuits against Trump .

The Supreme Court denied the appeal of his 2020 conviction for an extortion scheme in which he tried to get up to $25 million from shoemaker Nike .

Avenatti is also serving sentences on two other convictions tied to stealing profits from Daniels' book, cheating clients out of millions of dollars, and failing to pay taxes.

– Kinsey Crowley &  Maureen Groppe

'That's a red flag': Blanche argues lack of evidence on vouchers

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche told jurors there is "no evidence" Trump knew anything about the Trump Organization's voucher system. "No evidence - not a single word," Blanche added.

This is a reference to a portion of the 34 records that Trump is allegedly responsible for falsifying. The vouchers were the digital entries in general ledgers at the Trump Organization that labeled payments to Michael Cohen as legal expenses.

Blanche said he doesn't know how the government is going to address the alleged lack of evidence, but told jurors to be skeptical if prosecutor Joshua Steinglass reads quotes from a decades-old Trump book. During the trial, the prosecution brought in two book publishers who read excerpts from Trump's books.

"You should be suspicious. That's a red flag," Blanche said.

'The bookings were accurate': Trump lawyer defends records

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche noted his client was in the White House at the time of the alleged records falsifications, arguing there wasn't evidence that Trump "had anything to do" with how payments to Michael Cohen were recorded on a ledger.

Cohen testified that Trump was in a meeting with him and former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg about how to reimburse Cohen for the $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. "He approved it," Cohen told jurors about Trump. According to prosecutors, the reimbursement payments were falsely recorded as 2017 legal expenses.

Blanche defended the accuracy of the records on Tuesday.

"The bookings were accurate and there was absolutely no intent to defraud," Blanche said.

'This case is about documents': Trump lawyer to jurors

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche noted to jurors that Trump doesn't face any charges for allegedly having a sexual encounter with porn star Stormy Daniels in 2006 – an allegation Trump denies.

"This case is about documents. It's a paper case," Blanche said. "This case is not about an encounter with Stormy Daniels 18 years ago," he added.

Still, Blanche took the time to dispute Daniels' story, saying Trump has "unequivocally and repeatedly" denied the alleged encounter happened.

Biden campaign to hold courthouse news conference

Another interested party is visiting the scene outside the Trump trial courthouse: The Joe Biden presidential campaign.

“The Biden-Harris campaign will hold a press conference with special guests outside of the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse,” said an e-mailed announcement.

Among the spectators awaiting the Biden campaign news conference: Officials with the Trump campaign, who said they will be responding afterward.

'President Trump is innocent': Trump lawyer attacks prosecution's case

"President Trump is innocent," defense lawyer Todd Blanche said early into his closing argument. "He did not commit any crimes," Blanche added. "The district attorney has not met their burden of proof – period."

Blanche told the jurors they "should want and expect more than the testimony of Michael Cohen," referring to Trump's former lawyer, who was the prosecution's star witness. Blanche also said the jurors should want more than the testimony of Deborah Tarasoff , a Trump Organization employee who testified about invoices and checks that are at the core of the 34 felony counts Trump faces.

Blanche also referenced Stormy Daniels without using her name – telling jurors they should want more than a woman saying something happened in 2006. Daniels said she and Trump had a sexual encounter that year, after meeting at a celebrity golf tournament.

Blanche also told jurors they should want more than the testimony of former Daniels lawyers Keith Davidson, who testified about her $130,000 hush money deal. Davidson was "just trying to extort money" from Trump ahead of the 2016 election, Blanche said.

The consequence of those defects in the prosecution's case, Blanche said, "is a not guilty verdict, period."

Trump proclaims innocence before attending closing arguments

Former President Donald Trump continued to profess his innocence before closing arguments in his New York hush money trial, arguing “there is no crime” and “hopefully it doesn’t work out for them.”

Trump is charged with falsifying business records to hide his reimbursement to former lawyer Michael Cohen for his $130,000 payment to silence porn actress Stormy Daniels, to prevent another salacious story before the 2016 election.

Trump, who didn’t testify in his own defense, argued to reporters outside the courtroom that there is nothing wrong with securing a nondisclosure agreement. Trump also argued any personal payment couldn’t have violated campaign finance law.

“It’s a very sad day,” Trump said. “This is a dark day for America.”

Low-key demonstrations outside the NYC courthouse

About 50-60 people shuttled into and out of the small park across from the courthouse as lawyers inside prepared their final arguments.

Most of the early witnesses were anti-Trump, but a contingent of more than 20 supporters showed up to support the former president as he traveled to the courthouse.

“We wanted to let him know that people in New York support him,” said a Trump flag-carrying man with a white beard and a red suit who identified himself as “Hungry Santa” (he produced a business card with that name).Other demonstrators made clear they did not support Trump.

Brad McCormick, 38, an educational consultant from Brigantine, N.J., hawked copies of a game book called “Trump Madness.” Readers are presented with outrageous quotes on a variety of topics, and asked if Trump really said those things (in many cases, the answer is yes).

McCormick also said he came to the courthouse out of a “sense of duty.”

“You’ve got to do something,” he said.

Tiffany Trump, Don Jr., Eric attend closing arguments

Three of former President Donald Trump’s children – Donald Jr., Eric and Tiffany – accompanied him to the closing arguments Tuesday in his New York hush money trial.

Trump’s daughter in law, Lara Trump, who is co-chair of the Republican National Committee, also attended.

A parade of SUVs delivered Trump’s entourage to the local courthouse on the sunny, 70-degree morning, a day after the Memorial Day holiday.

Trump lawyer begins by thanking jurors

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche began his closing argument by thanking the jurors, noting that they have consistently arrived on time for the trial.

Prosecution plans lengthy closing argument

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche estimated his side's closing argument will last about 2.5 hours. Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said the length of his argument may change based on what comes up in the defense's argument, but gave an estimate of 4-4.5 hours.

Judge Merchan said those estimates mean arguments and instructions may not conclude by the normal end time of 4:30 p.m. EDT and he will check whether jurors are able to stay later.

Judge Merchan arrives in courtroom

Judge Juan Merchan entered the courtroom at 9:31 a.m. EDT. Merchan said he sent his proposed jury instructions to both trial teams on Thursday.

Trump arrives in courtroom

Former President Donald Trump arrived in the courtroom at 9:25 a.m. EDT. We are still waiting for the judge and jury.

Alvin Bragg in attendance for closing arguments

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg entered the courtroom at 9:24 a.m. EDT. Bragg has attended some previous days of trial. He is seated in the second row of benches behind the prosecution team.

Prosecution arrives for closing arguments

The prosecution team entered the courtroom at about 9:14 a.m. EDT. We are still waiting on Trump's trial team as well as the judge and the jury.

What time does the Trump trial start today?

Proceedings are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. EDT.

What to expect in closing arguments

Closing arguments offer each side a chance to go over evidence from the trial and make arguments about the inferences and conclusions that may fairly be drawn from that evidence.

Prosecutors may point to checks with Trump's signatures, excerpts from Trump's books, and recordings introduced at trial in order to bolster the testimony of star witness Michael Cohen, who testified that Trump authorized him to pay Stormy Daniels hush money in 2016 and approved a plan to cover it up in 2017.

The defense is likely to attack the credibility of Cohen, including by highlighting that he previously pleaded guilty to lying to Congress. Trump's team may also point to the high burden of proof prosecutors face: prosecutors must prove each element of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

Who goes first in closing arguments?

Under New York law , the defense team gives its closing argument first, followed by the prosecution. After both sides have spoken to the jurors, Judge Juan Merchan will instruct them on the law to apply in the case.

Trump rails against trial, quotes scripture

Former President Donald Trump posted a series of messages Monday, on the eve of closing arguments in his New York hush money trial, railing against the case as election interference and quoting scripture.

Besides criticizing Judge Juan Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Trump questioned why the prosecution gets the final word before jury deliberations. Typically in summing up the evidence in a case, prosecutors make their statements, defense lawyers speak and prosecutors get a final rebuttal because they have the burden of proving their case.

“Big advantage, very unfair,” Trump said in an all-caps post on Truth Social.

Trump also quoted a passage from the book of John in the Bible about personal sacrifice. Trump and his supporters have described his four criminal cases as political persecution.

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” the post said.

Could Trump go to prison?

Each count against Trump carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison and no minimum amount of jail or prison time. If Trump is convicted on all counts, Merchan will be tasked with deciding on a sentence for each count, and also deciding whether the sentences will coincide with each other or be run one after the other. However, New York law caps sentences for Class E felonies such as those Trump is charged with  at 20 years .

Legal experts told USA TODAY it's possible Trump could get just probation, even if he were convicted on every count. Most predicted any incarceration sentence on each count would run simultaneously with the others, so Trump wouldn't be ordered to serve more than four years behind bars. Experts also said Trump would likely be free while his expected appeal ran its course.

What is Trump on trial for?

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in order to conceal or commit another crime. The records – including checks, vouchers, and invoices – all relate to payments to former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen in 2017. Prosecutors say the payments were reimbursing Cohen for $130,000 in hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, but the records were falsified to make the payments look like 2017 legal expenses.

Prosecutors say Trump was covering up the violation of federal campaign finance laws through the hush money, which was handed over less than two weeks before the 2016 presidential election. They also say Trump was trying to hide a plan to violate New York tax and election laws.

Trump has pleaded not guilty, and Trump defense lawyer Todd Blanche has denied the payments were reimbursing the hush money.

Why does Trump's team say the case should be dismissed?

Judge Juan Merchan may issue a ruling today on Trump's request to toss out the entire case ahead of jury deliberations.

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche told Merchan that prosecutors haven't put on enough evidence for the case to go to the jury because the business records at issue weren't false. He said documents show Trump was paying Michael Cohen for ongoing legal services in 2017. Blanche also said the prosecution's case shouldn't be able to stand given Cohen's history of lying, including – according to the Trump defense lawyer – during this trial.