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Personal Statements for

Graduate Programs in the Humanities

Definition of Genre

The Personal Statement, or Statement of Purpose, is one of the most important components of an

application for graduate study in the humanities. With interviews rare and campus visits

expensive, this statement is your one chance to tell an admissions committee, in your own words,

how and why you have decided to pursue a graduate degree in a particular field and at a particular

school.

Personal statements for humanities graduate programs differ from other types of admissions

essays in some very significant ways. An applicant to medical school with a high GPA, strong

test scores, and extensive research experience might try to present herself in her personal

statement as more than just a “science nerd”—as someone with important community ties, for

example, or strong leadership potential—in order to round out her application. For the

humanities, however, the content of your statement should primarily inform your readers about

your academic background, interests, and aspirations, rather than extracurricular and professional

experiences. This essay may be the first occasion where you’ve been asked to write seriously

about your own research. Your challenge is to do so in a way that sounds unique and professional

at the same time. You can’t simply turn your resume or CV into a prose narrative and call it a

day.

The committee wants to know if you are interested in and able to conceive of and complete a long

yet incredibly in-depth and focused research project. Extracurricular activities don’t carry any

weight unless they directly speak to your ability to do research and teach in your field.

Humanities departments tend to be interested in seeing evidence of how you think and write,

rather than reading through a litany of papers you’ve written and courses you’ve taken. (All this

information should be available somewhere else on the application, after all.) Suffice it to say that

a personal statement for a humanities program is a sensitive and tricky genre to master. So, be

sure to take your time with it.

Questions to ask

You need to have rough answers to the following questions in your head before you begin

applying to any graduate program in the humanities, let alone start writing your personal

statement.

You may love literature/music/cultural theory/art history, etc., but—given the limited

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number of academic jobs in this field and the amount of money and time further study

will require—why do you want to devote at least the next two, five, or eight years of your

life to this subject?

Your phone rings; it’s your dream graduate program. They’re offering you a full ride on

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the spot; all you have to do is tell them—right now—what your research agenda looks

Personal Statements For Graduate Programs