Personal Essay Questions (Portland)

The personal essays are perhaps the most important part of your Act Six application. Therefore you should allow time to carefully consider, thoughtfully compose and thoroughly edit each essay. You will be evaluated on content, mechanics and style.

It is critical that you compose your essays in a separate word processor so you can use spell check and edit carefully. When you have a final product, copy and paste your essays into the online form.

Use plain text only, as no formatting or special characters will be preserved. Insert a blank line between each paragraph. Responses to each question must be no longer than 2,500 characters (typically about one page, double-spaced). Use the character count feature of your word processor to check the length before pasting.

The following four personal essay questions are required for all Portland applicants:

1. Act Six seeks to identify service-minded leaders who will become agents of positive transformation on the college campus and in their communities at home. Describe something that you appreciate and something you would like to change about your current community. Also describe what leadership skills you will need to improve during college to serve your community and bring about the transformation you hope for.
2. Describe a concrete way that your ethnic or cultural background has shaped your life. Reflecting on that background, what unique perspectives and strengths would you bring to the college campus and how would you hope to grow personally as a part of a multicultural Act Six cadre?
3. Describe any personal hardships, unusual circumstances you have had to overcome, or other aspects of your life story that you think we should consider in reviewing your application. How have these experiences shaped you as a person and how can they help you in the future?
4. George Fox University, Warner Pacific College, and Act Six do not expect or require any faith commitment from students. But we are committed to providing top tier instruction in the context of Christ-centered faith. What role has faith played in your life up to this point, how do you see it influencing your decision about college and career, and how do you feel about studying at a Christian institution?