Graduate school applicants can express their unique credentials in the admissions essays, including a statement of purpose, personal and other types of essays. Although most questions are broad and open-ended, you are usually asked to provide a statement of your objectives and related experiences that underline your preparation to do well in the program, as well as your maturity, independence and ability to see projects to their end. The tone should be professional, and the writing concise. Tailor the essay to each program to show that you have researched their program and are sincerely interested.
Start early and anticipate writing many drafts, with input from faculty, advisors and relevant staff. The Writing Center offers workshops and individual appointments during the academic year. For law or health profession schools, seek specific advice about essays from the respective advisors in the Center for Career Advancement (CCA). Below are questions and suggestions to help make your essay more distinctive and effective.
Anatomy of a Personal Statement*
Intro — Why are you interested in grad school? What problem(s) or achievements do you want to gain skills to solve? What knowledge do you want to acquire and why? What do you want to do with your graduate education (e.g., become a professor researching X to learn Y, work in a think tank, serve in government or industry)? (Ideally mention the particular school in this paragraph too.)
What has prepared you to excel in grad school —
- Pertinent research/internships
- Explain who, what, where, when, why and how. What is the overarching research question? Why is it important to you and to the world? Mention your supervisor’s name and location of the work. Methodology and results? Explain carefully what YOU did on the research project. What skills or knowledge or capabilities do you have that will assist you in graduate school and/or your career?
- Course work
- Discuss the relevant work you did in class(es) that has prepared you for grad school, not just a list of classes. What did you DO and learn in them? Did you read an inspirational book or article? Did you work on a long-term research project? How does having completed this coursework help you to be an excellent graduate student?
- Relevant extracurricular work
- What have you done outside the classroom, besides research and internships, that demonstrates you will be an excellent graduate student? Discuss only relevant activities and emphasize the relevance, e.g., if applying to history grad school, that you served as a docent could be relevant, but playing the trumpet in the orchestra is not (though this will be included on your CV). For those in STEM, scientific outreach is relevant, e.g., doing demonstrations at the children’s museum.
Why you want to attend this particular graduate school, naming particular professors and their work that is of particular interest to you and why.
Close — bookend with opening. How attending this school working with those professors will assist you in achieving your aim set out in the opening.
*from a handout created by Margaret Marr when she was in the Office of Undergraduate Research & Fellowships
