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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:
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Why have I chosen to
attend graduate school this specific field, and why
did I choose to apply to this particular school's
program?
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What are my
qualifications for admission?
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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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