Personal Statements For Graduate Programs (Page 2 of 4) in pdf

like. (You aren’t signing anything in blood here, and certainly your interests and goals

will change as you continue your studies, but you do want to demonstrate that you’ll

enter the program with a strong sense of direction and purpose, or at least an idea of what

this kind of work entails.)

You don’t have two heads, twelve fingers, or—unless J.K. Rowling created you—a

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distinctive scar on your forehead that binds your destiny with that of the Dark Lord. So

what makes you different from other majors in your department and from other potential

applicants to a graduate program in your field? More specifically, what about your work

and ways of approaching your subject sets you apart from the masses?

Actions to take

Read the prompt and make sure you respond to it. Different departments may ask you to

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respond to different questions in your personal statement.

“Why do you want to go to graduate school for that?” Turn this pesky and oft-repeated

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question to your advantage. Answer the question, out loud, as often and in as many

different ways as possible. Explain in detail how your research interests fit into the

discipline at large; why you think you’d be a particularly good match for the department

to which you are applying; what issues and questions you believe are most pressing to

your field at present and why; etc.

Do your research. Find out as much as you can about the accomplishments of professors

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in the departments you plan to apply to. Look at books and articles they’ve written, and

think carefully about how their work fits in with the kinds of questions you want to ask.

You’ll want to tailor your personal statement accordingly to each department; this does

take some time and thought, but it’s worth it. Admissions committees want to make sure

they choose applicants who are “good fits” for the program. All-around rock stars whose

interests don’t match those of the faculty may be less likely to accept an offer of

admission or to get as much out of the resources at hand if they do.

Reading up on what schools have to offer also allows you to invest your efforts where

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they will count most. If you want to study a particular topic, author, or time period, and

the department does not have professors willing to work with graduate students in that

area, you are better off choosing a different school. It is also important to remember that,

as opposed to applying to college, the audience for your essay is the department, or even

a set of professors in your field, instead of the school.

Think about the differences among these four sentences:

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1. “I am particularly interested in studying the history of the Victorian novel at

Hotshot University.”

2. “I am particularly interested in studying the history of the Victorian novel with

Professor Fascinating at Hotshot University.”

3. “Professor Fascinating’s work on Dickens and Eliot is of particular interest to me.”

4. “I am particularly interested in the ways in which Professor Fascinating’s study of

Dickens and Eliot challenges prevailing assumptions about the relationship between

Personal Statements For Graduate Programs Page 2

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