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Graduate School Personal Statement Guide
The personal statements
or essays required of graduate school applicants fall into two major
categories. First, there is the general, comprehensive personal
statement, which allows the applicant more latitude in what he or she
writes. The second category encompasses essays that are responses to
specific questions. Here you might have less latitude in terms of your
topic, but it is still possible and prudent to compose a thoughtful and
compelling response that holds the reader’s interest.
No matter what type of application form
you are dealing with, it is extremely important that you read each
question carefully and respond fully to it. Some applications are
more vague or general in their instructions than others; for these, it
is often possible to compose almost any sort of essay you wish. You have
virtually total control, and you also have a remarkable opportunity that
you can either maximize or squander—the choice is yours.
The best way to
approach your personal statement is to imagine that you have five
minutes with someone from the admissions committee. How would you go
about making the best case for yourself while holding the listener's
interest? What would you include and omit in your story? Figuring out
the answer to these questions is critical to successfully preparing an
effective statement.
To
arrive at these answers, you should begin by asking yourself some more
specific questions:
-
Why have I chosen to attend graduate
school this specific field, and why did I choose to apply to this
particular school's program?
-
What are my qualifications for
admission?
-
What is special, unique, or impressive
about my life story?
The
answers will not necessarily come easily to you, but this exercise will
have great practical benefit in readying you to write an outstanding
personal statement. After answering each question thoroughly, you will
have given much thought to yourself, your experiences, and your goals,
thereby laying the groundwork for formulating an interesting and
persuasive presentation of your own personal story. We have divided our
strategies in this section of the course into categories that follow
those questions.
The Future Over the Past
"First, they should tell me where they're coming from--what it is in
their background that leads them to apply to a program like ours.
Second, they should tell me what it is they want to get out of our
program. Third, I want to know where they hope our program will
eventually take them in their career."
-- The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs,
Princeton University
"Usually a straight autobiography should be avoided, although
interesting and pertinent autobiographical facts should be included. But
the statement should be more future-oriented than past-oriented. I don't
really want the story of a student's life (although there are
exceptions), but rather plans for and a vision of the future."
-- Graduate English Department, UCLA
"Mistakes? Dwelling on past accomplishments as opposed to describing
future interests. The recitation of past accomplishments, prizes won and
scores gotten-all that kind of stuff-is helpful but at the stage when
we're reading the statement, we know all the applicants are highly
qualified; that is almost beside the point. What we're looking for at
that stage is, again, some insight into how the student thinks, what
sort of clarity of purpose he has into one or more research areas."
-- Graduate Admissions Committee
Applied Mechanics, Civil Engineering & Mechanical Engineering,
California Institute of Technology
Whereas some professional programs, particularly law schools, give
applicants more freedom to discuss any past experiences that may help
them to stand out, graduate schools are chiefly interested in your past
only as it relates to your future. That said, if there are aspects of
your background that would make you stand out, you should still try to
incorporate them into your discussion. Just be prepared to put in a
little more thought and analysis.
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