English Language and Literature
University of Northern Iowa
January
2006
The Statement of Purpose required by
grad schools is probably the hardest thing you will ever write. (Incidentally,
the statement of purpose may also be called an Application Essay, Objectives
for Graduate Study, Personal Background, Cover Letter, some comparable
title, or Letter of motivation)
I
would guess virtually all grad-school applicants, when they write their first
draft of the statement of purpose, will get it wrong. Much of what you have
learned about writing and also about how to present yourself will lead you
astray. For example, here's an opening to a typical first draft:
I am applying to the Master of
Fine Arts program in creative writing at the University of Okoboji because I
believe my writing will blossom at your program since it is a place where I
will be challenged and I can hone my writing skills.
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How's that? It's clear, it's direct,
and it "strokes" the MFA program, right? Wrong. All of it is obvious
and extraneous.
The
admissions committee knows you are applying to their MFA program because
everyone in the stacks of applications they are reading is applying for the
same thing. The admissions committee will also know that your writing will
"blossom" there since they feel they have a strong program. Of course
you will be challenged — all undergrads going on to a grad program will be
challenged, no matter how well-prepared they think they are. And of course the
new grad student will "hone [her] writing skills" — isn't that the
main purpose of the MFA program?
Let's
assume the required length of this particular program's statement of purpose is
300 words. Well, with this opening you will have used up 15% of your space
saying virtually nothing. 15%!
In
fact, not only is this opening paragraph obvious, extraneous, and
space-stealing, it's boring! Imagine who's reading this and where:
five professors "locked" in a room with 500 applications. Do you think this opening paragraph will
command their attention? Will they read the rest of this statement of purpose
with an open mind that this applicant is the kind of student they want? Will
they remember this application later? You be the judge.
Remember
what you learned in first-year composition? You need a "hook."
A
former student of mine applying to enter a master's program in library science
had a great hook. I don't remember Susan's exact words, but the opening
paragraph of her statement of purpose went something like this:
When I was eleven, my great-aunt
Gretchen passed away and left me something that changed my life: a library of
about five thousand books. Some of my best days were spent arranging and
reading her books. Since then, I have wanted to be a librarian.
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Okay
... it's clear, it's direct, it's 45 words, and, most important, it tells the
admissions committee about Susan's almost life-long passion not just for books
but for taking care of books. When the committee starts to
discuss their "best picks," don't you think they'll remember her as
"the young woman who had her own library"? Of course they will,
because having had their own library when they were eleven would probably be a
cherished fantasy for each of them!
Suppose
Susan had written this opening paragraph instead:
I am honored to apply for the
Master of Library Science program at the University of Okoboji because as
long as I can remember I have had a love affair with books. Since I was
eleven I have known I wanted to be a librarian.
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That's
45 words too. Do you think the admissions committee will remember this
application among the 500 applications they are wading through? Probably more
than half of the applications, maybe alot more than half, will open
with something very similar. Many will say they "have had a love affair
with books" — that phrase may sound passionate until you've read it a
couple of hundred times.
All of us have had some event, some experience, like my
student's personal library at eleven, which drives us toward the discipline(s)
we inhabit. I was speaking to a group of students recently about this. One
student — let's call her Jennifer — said she wanted to get a master's degree in
speech therapy. When I asked her why, Jennifer said she had taken a class in it
for fun and really loved it. But then I pressed her: was there some personal
reason she found that field significant enough to spend her whole life doing
it? At first Jennifer said no, but after more questioning she revealed that her
brother had speech problems. This was a discovery to her; she had not entered
the field with that connection in mind — at least not consciously. But there it
was; Jennifer now had her hook.
You
have to really dig. Be introspective. Don't settle for "I love this
field." Why do you love this field? Why do you want to
work in this field for the rest of your life? Why does
it complete you? Cut through the bull you tell your parents
and relatives and friends. What is your truth? Find it and
then find a memorable way to say it. Grad schools require the statement of
purpose not only because they want to find about you as an applicant, they want
you to really think about why you are taking such a life-changing step — truly
and profoundly why.
Okay,
back to the scene of the five professors surrounded by stacks of applications,
maybe more than 500. Do you know who they are? What they want? What they like
to eat? Obviously, no. Conversely, do they know you? Well, no. But ... the
statement of purpose is your chance to help them get to know you! Your
statement of purpose should portray you as a person, not just an application
among hundreds of others. Not just paper and ink.
Here's one way to do it. When I was
an undergrad senior first applying for grad schools, I knew a grad student —
I'll call him Nigel — who told me he had written a three-sentence statement of
purpose to get into Stanford:
I want to teach English at the
university level. To do this, I need a PhD. That is why I am applying.
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That
was the whole thing. That's only half of 45 words. It certainly portrays Nigel
as brash, risk-taking, no-nonsense, even arrogant. If this is how you want to
portray yourself, then by all means do this. But you should also know that
Nigel's statement of purpose is an all-or-nothing proposition. You can bet there
will be members of probably any admissions committee who will find Nigel's
statement of purpose offensive, even disrespectful. And they might not want
such a student at their school. But then I suppose Nigel wouldn't want to be a
student at that school, either.
Try
to make your paper-and-ink self come alive. Don't just say, "I used to
work on an assembly line in a television factory, and one day I decided that I
had to get out of there, so I went to college to save my own life." How
about this: "One Thursday, I had soldered the 112th green wire on the same
place on the 112th TV remote, and I realized the solder fumes were rotting my
brain. I decided college would be my salvation." Both 35 words. Which
narrative do you think will keep the admissions committee reading?
Tell
stories (briefly). Use vivid language. Be specific. Be dynamic. Liven up
a moment in the lives of those five professors trapped with those 500
applications. Maybe 600. Maybe more.
At
the same time, be careful not to be glib. Don't be slick. Don't
write your application in a sequence of haiku. Don't put in photos. Just
be yourself, but a more heightened version of yourself in words (since
face-to-face nuance and gestures won't be there to help).
Remember
your statement of purpose should portray you as (1)
passionately interested in the field;(2) intelligent; (3)
well-prepared academically and personally; (4) able to take on
the challenges of grad school; (5) able to have rapport with
professors and fellow grad students — in other words, collegial; (6)
able to finish the graduate degree in a timely fashion; and (7)
a potentially outstanding representative of that grad school in your
future career.
That's
a lot to cover in a few hundred words (the length of a statement purpose, as
required by different schools, tends to be around 300 to 1000 words).
"Passionate interest in the field" will be covered by the kind of
hook I have described above. "Intelligence" will be conveyed by the
overall writing, organization, expression, etc. of your statement. Being
"well-prepared" can be demonstrated by using the lingo of the field
(theory, craft, etc.), describing the specific kinds of coursework and other
accomplishments you have in the field. Ability "to take on the challenges
of grad school" can be shown by describing the rigor of the work you have
done. "Collegiality" is not particularly important but is
nevertheless a factor — if you can show yourself as a generally nice and
cooperative person, that will do — just be true to your own style. Ability
"to finish the graduate program" can be conveyed implicitly by your
success thus far and more explicitly if you can tell some (brief) story about
adverse obstacles you have overcome. Being a "future outstanding
representative" can be implied by your being an outstanding representative
of your undergraduate school — for example, don't "bad-mouth" your
current college or professors.
Often,
grad schools will ask you to address other or similar qualities as I've listed
above. Just use common sense in focusing on each. Don't address them in the
same order as the grad school has listed. Combine them; rearrange them; do
whatever you need to do to show yourself as an imaginative person, not a parrot
following a line of Brazil nuts to crack.
If
you have some problematic academic background, address that as well to reassure
the admissions committee. For example, let's say that you got all C's one
semester. Take a (brief) paragraph to explain that you had some emotional
setback that semester but then demonstrate how your grades have been sterling
since then, and that you now have a 3.83 grade-point average in the discipline.
If you spin this well, your story will enhance the admissions committee's image
of you as someone with the abilities to "take on challenges" and
"to finish on time."
Here's
an organization I would recommend: (1) passionate hook; (2) segué to your
background in the field; (3) specific classes by title and professors you have
had (especially if well-known in the field); (4) related extracurricular
activities (especially if they hint at some personal quality you want to
convey); (5) any publications or other professional accomplishments in the
field (perhaps conference presentations or public readings); (6) explanations
about problems in your background (if needed); and (7) why you have chosen this
grad school (name one or two professors and what you know of their specific
areas or some feature of the program which specifically attracts you).
I
should probably expand on item 7. This is a practical issue as well. If you are
applying to ten grad schools, it's a mismanagement of time to write ten
separate, tailored statements of purpose. Items 1 through 6 above can be
exactly the same for all the statements. Then when you get to item 7, put in a
different paragraph for each school. Remember this means the ten statements
will all be as long, in terms of word count, as the shortest required length
among the ten schools. If the shortest length is 300 words, probably that
length will be okay for the 500-word school (in fact the admissions committee
at the 500-word place may see you as savvy for not going on and on). But those
300 words will clearly not work for the 1200-word school, so you'll need to
expand that one. Don't pad. Find other engaging material in your background.
About
mentioning professors at each grad school: doing this will portray you as
someone "who has done her homework," as someone who is genuinely
interested in the field, enough to have done some prefatory work in that area.
Don't just mention their names (anyone who can browse a web site can do that).
Say something of substance about each professor by name, something that reveals
you know and appreciate that person's work. Don't necessarily pick the most
famous professor at the grad school; chances are many other applicants will do
the same, and the admissions committee members will soon be unconsciously
filtering those mentions out. (Besides, the most famous professor doesn't
always work with all graduate students or may be out of town half the year, and
you may come off as naive if you say you're looking forward to working with
her.) Find a lesser-known professor whose work truly intrigues you (and truly is
the operational word here). Then say something about what you know of that
professor's work — remember that person may be on the admissions committee.
Don't suck up — don't be a sycophant. Be fair and honest.
Be
sure to show your statement of purpose to several professors. Remember they
will have different ideas about what constitutes an appropriate and effective
statement of purpose. If one of your professors has a connection with a
specific grad school, she may have some inside knowledge about what kind of
statement of purpose will work best at that school. Make your final editing
decisions based on what will convey you most accurately as you see it. Again,
be specific, be dynamic, come alive on paper. Continue to get advice from your
professors on later drafts.
Proofread
your statement of purpose. Copyedit for consistency, accuracy, and style. Ask your
friends to copyedit and proofread your statement; perhaps you can do the same
for them if they are also applying for grad school.
Remember
that style in writing can be parallel to style in dress: the second affects
your image in person while the first affects your image when you may not be
present. Leaving in typos and misplaced commas is like dressing in your
grubbies for a coat-and-tie / cocktail dress event. Being too wordy
is comparable to dressing in an evening gown or a tuxedo for a casual get-together.
Being too glib, too mannered, may be like wearing a furry rabbit costume to a
party which turns outnot to be a Halloween bash. Be careful. Be a
perfectionist.
Keep
working on your statement of purpose even after you have sent it to the
school(s) with the earlier deadline(s). You might have a later epiphany about
your personal and academic background, your motives for applying for grad
school, your long-term plans, and this epiphany may be just the thing that gets
you into the school(s) with the later deadline(s).
To
close, the statement of purpose, in the eyes of Department Heads, Program
Chairs, and Admissions Committee members, can be the most important document in
the application. Other parts of your graduate-school application — test scores,
transcripts, letters of recommendation, writing samples — do not say as much
about you as a person as the statement of purpose can: your proudest
accomplishments alongside your fondest hopes and dreams.
Checklist for Writing a Statement of
Purpose
Vince Gotera | University of Northern Iowa
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A "hook" that
demonstrates your passion for the field
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Segué to your background in the
field
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Description of your academic
background in the field
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Specific classes you have taken,
given by name
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Specific professors you have had,
especially if well-known in that field
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Extracurricular activities in the
field
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Publications or other professional
accomplishments in the field (perhaps conference presentations or public
readings)
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Explanations about problems in
background (if needed)
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Explanation of why you have chosen
the specific grad school
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Mention one or two professors in
that school and what you know of and appreciate about their work
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Specific features of the grad
program which attract you
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Get advice from several of your
professors — philosophical advice as well as specific writing advice
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Proofread and copyedit; ask
friends to proofread and copyedit as well
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Keep working on the statement of
purpose, even after you have already sent it to school(s) with earlier
deadline(s)
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