6 Tips for Talking About Your Weaknesses

Personal

Statement

$150

Are you prepared to discuss your weaknesses?

What do you do when you read/hear the weakness question? Schools are assessing how well you self evaluate. Like a business problem, they want to hear your plan of action, your implementation, and your success rate.

Here are some tips to help you a) think about and evaluate your weaknesses, and b) be prepared to write about them in an essay or discuss them in an interview.

1. Prepare answers in advance. When an interviewer asks, “So Natalie, tell me about your weaknesses and what you did to overcome them?” you don’t want to be left silent drawing or blank, or worse – caught off guard and say something crazy like “Gosh, there are so many, I don’t even know where to begin.” Ding!

2. Be honest. If you have been failed a class, you need to discuss the lessons learned from this negative situation and how you overcame the situation. If you have a procrastination problem, you need to talk about ways in which you’re working on boosting your time management skills.

3. Remain professionally focused. Don’t discuss your addiction to video games or your weakness for chocolate. It’s also certainly not the time to talk about anything inappropriate. We’re talking about student and work-related, professional weaknesses.

4. Focus on your own weaknesses. Don’t talk about your cousin’s attraction to arson or your mother-in-law’s conspiratorial behavior. Don’t discuss how your teacher is a jerk or how you can’t stand your coworker’s habit of nail-biting or how your desk is unorganized because the guy you share your cubicle with always throws his garbage your way. This question is about YOU and your weaknesses – don’t shift the attention of the blame onto someone else.

5. Proactively address the issues. If you have a quantitative weakness, take courses that address the weakness (accounting, statistics). Don’t wait for the admissions committee to ask you to take a course. If you are uncomfortably shy, getting involved with an organization like Toastmasters can help you, and show the committee that you’re taking steps to overcome that challenge.

6. Avoid clichés. “Gee, I guess I just work too hard sometimes” is a copout – the admissions committee/ interviewer will know that deep down you’re proud of your intense work ethic. It is the life of a student to work hard – don’t use that as your “weakness.”


Sometimes it just takes resilience to bounce back 

If you need help drafting your essay or framing your answer for your interview, Soar is here to help you. Please contact us for assistance.

Need Help With Your Personal Statement

Personal Statement Package - Special Offer $150

We know that many students feel stuck when it comes to writing their Personal Statement, and while not to add additional pressure to this task, we also know that this essay is a big deal. It is the essay that (almost) EVERY college on your list will be able to read. If you want to get this monumental item checked off your college To-Do list over the summer, take advantage of our $ 150 Personal Statement Package!  Soar counselor will help you brainstorm topics, create an outline, and edit the essay to perfection. 

This package will help you kickstart your Personal Statement. Here’s what's included:

Two Zoom calls for brainstorming and editing your story (approx 60 mins each)

Two rounds of edits. 

First Draft - Students send the counselor their draft, and they will receive an edited version with tracked changes and comments.

Final Draft - Your counselor will do a final edit and help you polish up your essay so it is ready to submit.