How should you describe your academic strengths and weaknesses?

Students should focus only on strengths and weaknesses that apply specifically to their fields of study, naming specific strengths they have that apply to the field and naming weaknesses that have minimal importance in the field. For example, someone applying for an English program would highlight their reading and writing skills as strengths and could use an unrelated skill such as math as a weakness.

In addition to naming strengths related to a specific subject, students can list general strengths such as project management, communication, organization, critical-thinking and goal setting skills, as these are important in all fields of academic studies. Naming specific projects where students utilized these skills and linking them to the desired field of study can be beneficial. In the end, students should stay positive to show that their strengths will help them succeed in the field and that their weaknesses won't be a hindrance.