Writing a graduate school personal statement can be quite nerve-racking and downright difficult, which is why you’ll probably end up making numerous rewrites. Still, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to write an amazing essay that will get you admitted into the graduate school of your dreams. This article will give you some great tips on how to rewrite your essay into a powerful and compelling admission slip to graduate school.
Focus on depth instead of stuffing your essay with too many details
One mistake that graduate school applicants often make is writing about too many ideas or too many details. Stuffing your essay with loads of information is not very helpful toward your cause and it will probably do nothing to keep the interest of the reader. Instead of writing about every single detail of your experience, try to write about the deep, thought-provoking, and meaningful aspects of your experience and who you are. This will help to capture your readers’ interest and it may even inspire them to think of their own deep revelations.
Make the ideas flow smoothly without bumps
Making your ideas flow in coherence is difficult, but it is essential for an effective admission essay. The trick to making your ideas flow is to make transitions that help the reader’s understanding of your progress along a clear, smooth, and continuous path. Making an outline is probably the best way of ensuring that your ideas flow instead of just jumping around from one idea to the next.
Address the main concerns of the school
Another way of writing a great personal statement is to address the concerns and interests of the school you are applying to. Do some research about the school to find out what the school specializes in, what their educational beliefs are, and what their educational model is like as a whole. This research will help you make connections between your own beliefs and the beliefs of the school you are applying to. In effect, you can write a cohesive essay that shows your interest in the school, your intent on studying there, and why you deserve to be admitted to the school.
Related links:
Writing Rubrics – Using the rules to help check your admission essay
Weird Topics – About awkward topics on your essay
Scholarship in Essay – About scholarships and your admission essay
Topnotch Essays – Why it’s important to have a topnotch essay
Citing Sources – On citations in your essay
MIT Essay Tips – Tips for your admission essay to MIT Sloan
Overused Expressions – Avoiding overused words and expressions in your essay
Essay structure – All about the importance of essay structure
Essay Editing – About essay editing for beginners
Guidance Office – Advice from Harvard’s Dean
When writing your graduate admission essay, one of the most important steps is the revision. Even if you have great ideas, interesting topics, and exciting themes, all of that would go to waste if the essay you submit is full of spelling and syntax errors. Read on for some great tips on drafting, revising, and editing your graduate school admission essay.
First draft? Look for grammatical flaws and content issues
After you have written your first draft, the first step is to read through your essay for basic editing. On your first read, you will be looking for spelling and grammar errors, as well as any content issues. While spelling and grammar errors may be easy to catch, content issues may need a little more attention to detail. Make sure that all of the content in your essay are accurate or true. Make sure there is no false information in your essay, because admissions committees can easily double-check this information and they could probably smell a liar or an exaggerator from a mile away. Make your revisions and continue to the next step.
Revised draft? Read your essays aloud to make sure it’s catchy and persuasive
Now that you have your revised draft, your next task is to read through your essay and find out how you can make it more interesting, catchy, and persuasive. This will entail more thought on your part, because you will really have to analyze your essay and see what improvements you can make. A good tip is to actually read your essay aloud, to hear how it sounds and what it reads like. You will be better able to catch certain parts in your essay that are dull or need some reworking. Again, make your revisions and it will be time for your final editing.
Final editing: Have another pair of eyes look at your essay
The best thing to do once you are content with your essay is to have someone else read it. When you keep reading your essay, you may easily overlook errors or you may be personally biased. To avoid this, have a friend, relative, or colleague read the essay and ask for their opinions, insights, and reactions to your essay. Ask if they have any suggestions on how to improve your essay. Take these thoughts into consideration and make your final copy for submission with your application package.
Related links:
Writing Rubrics – Using the rules to help check your admission essay
Weird Topics – About awkward topics on your essay
Grad school scholarships – About scholarships and your admission essay
Topnotch Essays – Why it’s important to have a topnotch essay
Citing Sources – On citations in your essay
Essay Editing – About essay editing for beginners
Guidance Office – Advice from Harvard’s Dean
Admission Essay Mistakes – Some mistakes to avoid on your essay
Scholarship Essay Editing – About scholarship essay editing
Top-notch Essays – Some tips and advice for essay writing
Top 5 Reasons for Not Discussing Weird Topics in Your Graduate Admission Essay
Knowing the top five reasons for not discussing weird topics in your graduate admission essay is very important. There is really no strict requirement about what kind of topic you use, as long as you can discuss it effectively. However, choosing weird topics may not really work for you, especially if it’s a very controversial or sensitive one. The following are the top five reasons why you should avoid discussing weird topics in your essay.
Reason #1: Weird topics are weird.
First off, weird topics are exactly that, weird. The last thing you want to do is weird out your graduate school admission panel, which is almost a sure way of getting yourself that polite rejection letter that every applicant dreads of receiving.
One of the main important points to remember is to think of your audience when writing your graduate admission essay. This audience will be composed of tenured professors, and probably younger teachers closer to your own age. Although it is a good idea not to tailor your essay according to what you think they want to hear, it’s best to stick to a topic that will make the panel want to get to know you more. You can do this by putting yourself in the admission officer’s shoes and trying to feel what your reaction would be with a particular topic you have in mind. Being creative is good, but to any audience, weird is weird, and most audiences will not know how to react to a weird admission essay.
Reason #2: Weird topics may reflect your personality in a bad way.
Weird topics make you look weird, or worse. You may think that a weird topic is the same as a creative topic, something that most experts on admissions officers urge applicants to use. With a weird topic, you can easily make the jump from being creative to just plain strange or worse, someone with an emotional or personality problem. Weird topics, when discussed ineffectively, are bad topics, and can be anything from the death of a pet, recent religious epiphanies, and even parent bashing. These topics are the last topics that can paint you in a good light so avoid these and other similar topics.
Reason #3: Weird topics may not represent the real you.
Weird topics will not paint the real you, unless you are naturally weird. If you really think that being a little bit off will pay off, then by all means do so. But if you want to appear as normal and as emotionally healthy as possible, save the strange stories for Halloween night.
Reason #4: Weird topics may seem too informal.
Weird topics can get too informal. You can be informal but you need to look normal as well in order to avoid appearing irreverent. Some may disagree with this, but often the only way to get on your admission panel’s good side is to tread on the middle ground arefully, and not be too stiff and prudish but not be too loose either.
Reason #5: Weird topics may confuse the readers.
While most schools allow their applicants free reign when it comes to writing an admissions essay, you can do your self a lot of good by treading on the middle ground. Avoid weird or strange topics if you can. A weird topic will put your readers in a place where they may not understand you. And in a process where getting to know you as a person is the main objective, this move will definitely have an effect on whether you get accepted or not.
Knowing what to write in a graduate school admission essay is fairly easy, especially if the school provides you with a set of questions, known as prompts as your guide. As long as you already have the other requirements such as the right grade point average, recommendation letters, program of study and the like, you can start working on your essay.
Photo Credit : stevecadman
