1、Chapter 4: Sample Personal Statements and Application Essays IntroductionEasy writing makes hard reading.Ernest HemingwayAs a graduate student taking fiction writing workshops many moons ago, I recall what was most motivating to me as a creative writer. It wasnt the reading of published or award-win
2、ning work, and it wasnt the classroom critique given on high from the professor nor the scribble from my classmates on my manuscripts. All these things were helpful and valuable, but nothing motivated me more than comparing my fiction to the work of my peers. As I read their work carefully, both obj
3、ectively and subjectively, I found myself thinking at times that I was sure I could write better than the others around me at the seminar tablethen Id read an artful, poignant story that made me wonder whether I could ever even compete.Perhaps somewhere between these two attitudes is the most profit
4、able approach when studying the work of your peers. In critiquing the work of others who essentially represent your competition, you should take a respectful stance both critical and kind, just as selection committee members are likely to do. The sample essays in this chapter represent personal stor
5、ies that are intriguing, diverse, complex, honest, and humanizing. These samples present opportunities for you to study, admire, question, emulate, reject, andmost importantlyconsider how to present the best, truest, most effective picture of yourself, carefully refined for the eyes of others.Self-S
6、tudyWebsites with sample personal statements abound. Here are two:Sample personal statements categorized by major at Sample personal statements including reader comments from Short Essay SamplesBelow is a pdf link to personal statements and application essays representing strong efforts by student
7、s applying for both undergraduate and graduate opportunities. These ten essays have one thing in common: They were all written by students under the constraint of the essay being 1-2 pages due to the target programs explicit instructions. In such circumstances, writers must attend carefully to the e
8、ssay prompt (sometimes as simple as “Write a one-page summary of your reasons for wanting to pursue graduate study”) and recognize that evaluators tend to judge these essays on the same fundamental principles, as follows: First, you are typically expected to provide a window into your personal motiv
9、ations, offer a summary of your field, your research, or your background, set some long-term goals, and note specific interest in the program to which you are applying. Second, you are expected to provide some personal detail and to communicate effectively and efficiently. Failure to do so can great
10、ly limit your chances of acceptance.Good writers accomplish these tasks by immediately establishing each paragraphs topic and maintaining paragraph unity, by using concrete, personal examples to demonstrate their points, and by not prolonging the ending of the essay needlessly. Also, good writers st
11、udy the target opportunity as carefully as they can, seeking to become an “insider,” perhaps even communicating with a professor they would like to work with at the target program, and tailoring the material accordingly so that evaluators can gauge the sincerity of their interestOverview of Short Es
12、say SamplesGeological Sciences SamplesIn the pdf link below, the first two one-page statements written by students in the geological sciences are interesting to compare to each other. Despite their different areas of research specialization within the same field, both writers demonstrate a good deal
13、 of scientific fluency and kinship with their target programs.Geography Student SampleThe short essay by a geography student applying to an internship program opens with the writer admitting that she previously had a limited view of geography, then describing how a course changed her way of thinking
14、 so that she came to understand geography as a “balance of physical, social, and cultural studies.” Despite her limited experience, she shows that she has aspirations of joining the Peace Corps or obtaining a law degree, and her final paragraph links her interests directly to the internship program
15、to which she is applying.Materials Sciences Student SampleFor the sample from materials sciences, directed at an internal fellowship, the one-page essay has an especially difficult task: The writer must persuade those who already know him (and thus know both his strengths and limitations) that he is
16、 worthy of internal funds to help him continue his graduate education. He attempts this by first citing the specific goal of his research group, followed by a brief summary of the literature related to this topic, then ending with a summary of his own research and lab experience.Teach for America St
17、udent SampleThe student applying for the Teach for America program, which recruits recent college graduates to teach for two years in underprivileged urban and rural public schools, knows that she must convince readers of her suitability to such a demanding commitment, and she has just two short ess
18、ays with which to do so. She successfully achieves this through examples related to service mission work that she completed in Ecuador before entering college.Neuroscience Student SampleThe sample essay by a neuroscience student opens with narrative technique, telling an affecting story about workin
19、g in a lab at the University of Pittsburgh. Thus we are introduced to one of the motivating forces behind her interest in neuroscience. Later paragraphs cite three undergraduate research experiences and her interest in the linked sciences of disease: immunology, biochemistry, genetics, and pathology
20、.Medieval Literature Student SampleThis sample essay immerses us in detail about medieval literature throughout, eventually citing several Irish medieval manuscripts. With these examples and others, we are convinced that this student truly does see medieval literature as a “passion,” as she claims i
21、n her first sentence. Later, the writer repeatedly cites two professors and “mentors” whom she has already met, noting how they have shaped her highly specific academic goals, and tying her almost headlong approach directly to the National University of Ireland at Maynooth, where she will have flexi
22、bility in designing her own program.Beinecke Scholarship Student SampleThe Beinecke Scholarship essay is written by a junior faced with stiff competition from a program that awards $34,000 towards senior year and graduate school. This student takes an interesting theme-based approach and projects fo
23、rward toward graduate school with confidence. This writers sense of self-definition is particularly strong, and her personal story compelling. Having witnessed repeated instances of injustice in her own life, the writer describes in her final paragraphs how these experiences have led to her proposed
24、 senior thesis research and her goal of becoming a policy analyst for the governments Department of Education.Online Education Student SampleWritten during a height of US involvement in Iraq, this essay manages the intriguing challenge of how a member of the military can make an effective case for o
25、n-line graduate study. The obvious need here, especially for an Air Force pilot of seven years, is to keep the focus on academic interests rather than, say, battle successes and the number of missions flown. An additional challenge is to use military experience and vocabulary in a way that is not ob
26、scure nor off-putting to academic selection committee members. To address these challenges, this writer intertwines his literacy in matters both military and academic, keeping focus on applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), his chosen field of graduate study.Engineer Applying to a Mas
27、ters Program SampleThis example shows that even for an engineer with years of experience in the field, the fundamentals of personal essay writing remain the same. This statement opens with the engineer describing a formative experiencevisiting a meat packaging plant as a teenagerthat influenced the
28、writer to work in the health and safety field. Now, as the writer prepares to advance his education while remaining a full-time safety engineer, he proves that he is capable by detailing examples that show his record of personal and professional success. Especially noteworthy is his partnering with
29、a government agency to help protect workers from dust exposures, and he ties his extensive work experience directly to his goal of becoming a Certified Industrial Hygienist.Sample ResumesFrequently, graduate school or scholarship applications provide an option or requirement for you to submit a resu
30、me to complement your other written material. The two sample resumes provided in the link below offer good examples of what graduate schools and scholarship committees look for in a resume (or “curriculum vitae,” which is typically a lengthier resume with an academic and research focus).Overview of
31、Short Sample ResumeThe writer of the short sample resume in the pdf below wisely excludes the usual “Objective” section (needless for a graduate application) and focuses instead on his education. Note how he briefly discusses his thesis research and lists his key coursesinformation he hopes will be
32、of special interest to the selection committee. With little meaningful work experience in the field, the writer simply summarizes his experience briefly and lists activities, some of which relate to his field of study. Standing alone, this resume will not help the student rise above other applicants
33、, some of whom are bound to have paid work experience in the field. However, it will be helpful to the application, particularly when joined with the students corresponding personal statement.Overview of Lengthy Sample Resume (Curriculum Vitae)With curriculum vitae tailored to graduate school or sch
34、olarships, the category headings can be determined both by the writers strengths and by the selectors needs. Thus, the sample three-page curriculum vitae in the pdf below focuses on languages, international experience, and leadership positions. Note how the writer effectively uses subcategories to u
35、nderscore a diversity of experience, ranging from political involvement to research. She describes volunteer positions as thoroughly as one would describe a job. Also, she uses various formatting strategies, including ample white space, selective indentation, and boldface of parallel headings to all
36、ow for easy visual scanning of her credentials. Clearly, this student has a lot of offer in her chosen field of political science.Lengthy Essay SamplesThe lengthy sample essays in the pdf link below showcase writers who, to varying degrees, took chances or simply reached higher. Not only did these w
37、riters compose lengthy essays (still within prescribed word-count limits), but in many cases they did something bold with content, form, or personality.In these samples, length can readily be justified by the fact that these are writers who dont necessarily fall into “typical” student categories but
38、 nevertheless are applying to graduate programs or for scholarships. To be competitive, these writers decided to stand out by telling their stories in a way that they hoped would set them apart from, and above, the crowd. A common thread linking these diverse writers is their obvious confidence that
39、:(1) their essays matter to the selection committee, and(2) their essays will be both noticeable and noticed.温馨提示：专业的事情，交给专业的机构来完成。10 年来，监审留学一直致力于留学文书和留学论文的写作服务，已经帮助过无数留学生申请到理想的大学，留学过程中如果时间不够的都找我们监审留学写作课堂作业，不敢保证高分，但最低保及格。如果您有写作方面的需求可以 联系QQ：970865017，按时交稿，绝不拖延，再也不用发愁。Overview of Lengthy Essay Samples
40、Mechanical Engineering Student SampleIn the first sample essay from mechanical engineering, what stands out immediately are the length and the photographs. In this case, the student was applying for an engineering scholarship, so he was given room to flesh out technical material as well as address issues such as personal motivations one would expect to read in a personal statement. Much of the essay is given to a discussion of his thesis work, which involves the examination of “the propagation of a flame in a small
