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Holistic Review

Your application is under review because your GPA and/or standardized test score(s) do not qualify you for automatic acceptance.

Our holistic review considers your academic record, leadership and service involvement, resilience, extenuating circumstances and your ability to provide a personal statement that demonstrates college readiness.

Personal Statement

Your personal statement is an important tool used to determine your academic motivation, your likely success in the university community and ensure that SHSU offers the best environment for you to thrive.

Your personal statement will need to demonstrate college readiness and clarity of thought, so please format your statement into paragraphs and proofread for grammatical errors. Your personal statement MUST address these items:

  • Career Goals
    • What are your short and long-term career goals and how can a degree from SHSU help you achieve those goals?
  • Self-Awareness
    • Clearly identify what your strengths and weaknesses are academically and how you are working to overcome those weaknesses currently in your courses.
  • Awards, Leadership, Service and Employment
    • Describe any extracurricular involvement, service in the community, leadership positions, awards, and/or work experience.
  • Contextual Experience
    • Clearly communicate any extenuating circumstances or obstacles that you have faced during high school that affected your academic performance.
    • Include how you have recovered from or are currently working to overcome those life challenges and what academic support have you used to help you through the circumstances (ex. Parents, friends, teachers, resources offered).

Your personal statement should contain 350-800 words and MUST be submitted in a PDF or Word Document format.

If submitted in any other format, this will cause a delay in receiving a decision for your application.

Next Steps

  1. Create your SHSU Self-Service Account
    Use the email address associated with your SHSU application
  2. Upload your personal statement

Tips

  • Have a parent/guardian, teacher, counselor, or mentor proofread your personal statement before you submit.
  • Submit official college transcripts for any dual credit work you have completed prior to uploading your personal statement.
  • If you've uploaded the wrong document, please contact our office by phone (936.294.1828) or by email (admissions@shsu.edu) to have this corrected.

Additional Resources

Allow 10 business days from receipt of your personal statement to hear back from SHSU with your admission decision. Expect delays during peak application review times.

Students admitted through this process must enroll in UNIV 1101 in the first semester in college. UNIV 1101 is a seminar course designed to enhance the first-year experience for beginning college students and to increase student success in college.