Going to graduate school is a massive step in the direction of your academic goals and career aspirations. It’s a great event, of course, but it can also add a lot of pressure and anxiety to the admissions process and make it feel more daunting for young students hoping to further their schooling careers. Potential grad students must often compose statements to submit with their school applications and obtain letters of reference, complete examinations, and submit transcripts.
The statement for grad school, often called a Personal Statement, is usually a misunderstood element of graduate school applications, yet, it serves a distinct and essential purpose to the ever-important and influential admissions committee. Therefore, applicants should strive to create exceptional personal essays by studying the purpose and essence of the personal statement, understanding the essay’s essential parts, and absorbing loads of advice from an admissions coach.
Personal statements are essential in graduate school applications. Admissions committees can learn more about the candidate when they read the grad school personal statement. This intimate and honest statement is a brief essay that presents a graduate student and their motivations for applying to a certain program of study, along with a life story, future goals, and academic expectations. While GPA and exam results can provide the admissions committee with an indication of a student‘s academic background, they are neutral and do not suggest if an applicant is a suitable match for a particular graduate program.
Yes, a lot is riding on the personal statement. But don’t let drafting your own overwhelm or scare you. Instead, you can properly share your narrative and demonstrate why you’re a good fit for the specific graduate school by following simple ideas and suggestions that have worked for millions of prospective graduate students in the past.
1. Create An Outline
Make a plan for your graduate school personal statement. Create an orderly list of the arguments you want to make to establish yourself as a worthwhile applicant. That will enable you to write a personal statement that flows well and engages and connects ideas logically.
Although an outline may sound superfluous, it is a wonderful tool to structure and reorganize your thoughts, and the best way to get you started.
You will respond to several questions and write about your goals and dreams in a personal statement. Adhere and commit to whatever task is assigned to you. Factors like word count and formats could be part of the requirements as well.
Your personal essay is a fantastic opportunity to highlight that you can be the best candidate for the program.
2. Give Yourself Plenty Of Time
No matter how talented or accomplished you are, writing takes time. Sometimes it takes a lot of time. Even if your personal statement is merely a few thousand words long, you will need the opportunity to write and revise and perfect your writing.
Allow several months to think, produce a draft, revise the document paragraph by paragraph, and solicit input from teachers, family and friends, and anyone you trust, especially if writing is not exactly one of your most praised academic skills.
3. Use Real Examples
Keeping with the notion of authenticity, utilizing actual and concrete examples from your life will let the reader get a sense of who you are. The admission officer will be able to interact with you on an intimate and more profound level improving your possibilities of admission. Your examples will demonstrate to the admissions officers your characteristics, personality, and strengths and illustrate that you are the candidate they are looking for. You may demonstrate that you have the abilities and attributes required to succeed in grad school by using examples of your personal life and experiences.
Grad school was always supposed to be complicated. You may use anecdotes of life experiences in your statement to demonstrate that you can manage, work with and overcome hardship and adversity with ease and an eagerness to push forward and try hard. Rather than merely expressing your career goals, you can show the admissions committee you take them very seriously by giving instances from your own life. For example, you may explain that you were on the dean’s list every year in your previous school. Or how you needed extra help from a tutor and formed a dedicated group with your peers because you didn’t comprehend a complex mathematic subject.
In your personal essay, you want to be a real person, and choosing real examples will do just that.
4. Get Feedback
While proofreading ensures that you’ve incorporated all of the essential aspects of a graduate school personal statement, you should have a few individuals edit it and provide input. Their input may help you identify grammatical errors, specify confusing sentences or references, verify that your work is interesting, and offer a clear image of how others see your statement.
Review the adjustments and suggestions, commit to the required alterations, and have it proofread by other people you trust.
5. Don’t Procrastinate
When writing your personal essay for graduate school, maybe the best advice you can get is never to delay writing it. Procrastination will rob you of the necessary time to pen a draft, proofread it multiple times, let others read, revise, and do it again a few times. With all of that work being downright necessary, you need to ensure that you are not hurried. This can help you prevent thoughtless mistakes and give you time to think about what you’re expressing in your statement, allowing you to compose your most appealing writing.
Do not forget that getting started is one of the most challenging aspects of the entire grad school personal essay process. As a result, you must outline and list the main issues you wish to address in your work. This plan will help you speed up the entire process and deliver work you are proud of.
Don’t be alarmed or afraid if you’re not sure how to get started or feel overwhelmed. Remember that Morzep college coaches are here and ready to help you with your application, personal essay, and every step in this special and important part of your life.
