Thai Official News For Asean Community : November 2013

Strengthening Your Application for Graduate Admission to University

Thai Technology Thursday, November 28, 2013 6:52 PM 0 comments

Strengthening Your Application for Graduate Admission to University

The following is a list of suggestions that, if followed closely, will strengthen your application in the competitive field of graduate admissions to UC Berkeley.

1. Plan ahead and be organized

Research the colleges and universities where you would like to apply. Find out if any of the faculty are doing research in an area that interests you. Call or write the University for application and information materials. Check the deadlines. Some schools have two deadlines; a fellowship deadline, which is earlier, and a general application deadline, which is

often later. Make sure you apply before the deadlines. Most programs will not accept late applications.

2. Letter of Recommendation

For graduate study, letters of recommendation are of extreme importance. Letters from faculty are usually preferred by admission committees since they believe only faculty can truly ascertain your true intellectual and graduate student potential. You need three letters of recommendation. Try to get all three from faculty with whom you’ve had a class, or

have done research with. Professors invariably give your class grade in the letter, so use caution in choosing your evaluators. Approach the faculty member and ask her/him if they are able to write a positive letter of recommendation for you. If they say they cannot, or

can only write a neutral letter, approach someone else. Provide the evaluators with additional material such as copies of your transcript, resume, your statement of purpose, and a few notes (if necessary) about any pertinent personal history. This can strengthen the letter they write for you. Make sure to give them all the proper letter of recommendation forms, addresses, and deadlines.

3. GRE

The test required for entrance into graduate school is the general aptitude (Quantitative, Analytical, and Verbal) component of the GRE. The general GRE exam is offered throughout the year on computer. It is recommended that you take this test by November (at the latest) in order to get test scores to the admissions committee on time. (It takes 10 days for test results to be scored and sent to the department.) The test may be taken more than once. All scores will be reported to admissions committees. Try not to take the test more than two times. It is recommended that you study for the test and take timed practice exams ahead of time. You can buy GRE study guides and actual old exams in book form at any bookstore. Your GRE score will improve if you take the practice examinations in a timed format that mimics real testing conditions. You should definitely order the FREE software and practice tests from ETS to prepare for the computer administered test. Go to www.GRE.com to download the free resources <www.gre.com/pracmats.html>. Many students contend that taking the practice exam first on the computer makes a tremendous difference in preparing for the test.

Please note that the Analytical portion of the GRE has changed to an essay format. You will be asked to write two essays on certain topics. Be as analytical in responding to these, and try to back up what you’re “arguing” with logic, analysis and if possible, quotes from references, if you know of any. The Quantitative section of the GRE is considered of greatest importance to admission committees in engineering. The math in this section is primarily at the 10th or 11th grade level. It is expected that as an engineer, you should do well on this section. There is no calculus on this test. Of secondary importance is the Analytical section. (Go to the GRE web site for details.) Less weight is usually given to the Verbal section (for engineers). For students in the humanities, the verbal section is very important. For students in the social sciences, all three sections are important. For Economics students, the math section is also important.

The GRE subject test is not required for the majority of those applying to Berkeley, but it is required for some departments, such as Math, English, Biology and Psychology. Make sure you check with the department you’re applying to regarding whether it’s required. Do NOT take the general and subject tests on the same day—it can be too much test taking in one day. It is STRONGLY recommended that you prepare far ahead for the GRE. Most graduate programs take the exam results very seriously. Those departments requiring the subject tests will weigh them far more heavily than the general exam.

4. Your College GPA

The college GPA is a crucial component of the admissions process. A satisfactory scholastic average, usually a minimum GPA of 3.0 is required by UC Berkeley for admission, although some exceptions can possibly occur depending on circumstances. Many admissions committees will consider upward trends in grades for admissions purposes. However, the better your GPA, the better your chances of getting admitted. The department of Civil Engineering looks at the GPA for all courses after the second year. Pay careful attention should be made to any courses taken at the undergraduate level which are pertinent to the area considered for graduate study. If you are admitted to the MS program you may be able to continue toward the Ph.D. pending you pass the preliminary examination and have at least a 3.5 graduate GPA. 5. Research/Work Experience

If you have the time, either during the academic year or summer vacation, try to gain research experience with professors, summer research programs, or national laboratories (e.g., Lawrence Berkeley Lab). This will give you an added edge in the admission process, provide you with some insight about your own future research interests, and augment your laboratory skills. Professors in all disciplines often regard students as highly motivated when they partake in research as undergraduates.

6. Statement of Purpose

The statement of purpose is one of the most important parts of the application process. It is from this essay that the admissions committee will discern the seriousness of your intentions, your experience, and your motivation for graduate school. Think of the statement of purpose as a composition with three different parts. The first part is a brief summary of the program you want to study and what particular area of research you want to focus on. The second part should be a summary of your college experiences. Describe what brought about your interest in graduate study (perhaps a bit of pertinent background information), any work experience you might have had, if you put yourself through school, co-op or summer job experiences and research experiences. Here you can clarify the job responsibilities you had. You may be as specific as possible, as it is professors in your discipline who are reading this statement. The third part discusses why you want to go to graduate school, what you would like to study (research), and ideally. with whom you would like to study. Write the department or consult the web for information concerning the professor’s research interests, then consult your library for recent publications. When you can mention what you would like to study, and whom you would like to study with, it often indicates to department that you’ve done your homework and have serious intentions about the pursuit of graduate study. At all times, be sincere and honest.

7. Financial Support

Also make sure you apply for graduate admission by the university’s fellowship (early) deadline. This insures that you will be considered for various university fellowships. Make sure you apply for financial aid (you have to fill out the FAFSA financial aid form by your university’s due date for consideration), and any other private, national, or corporate based

fellowships for which you may qualify. Underrepresented students in engineering who do not have departmental support should apply to the GEM fellowship program <http://was.nd.edu/gem/gemwebapp/gem_00_000.htm>. This program provides tuition, a stipend, and a summer job in industry. The NSF fellowship is awarded to students pursuing a Doctoral degree. If you are pursuing a Ph.D. and wish to apply to this fellowship, you must apply before you complete 30 semester or 45 quarter graduate units. Go to your graduate fellowship offices to find other fellowships for which you might qualify. Students in the social sciences and humanities should check out the Javits and Ford fellowships (among many others).

8. Suggestions

Make sure you indicate any hardships or obstacles you may have overcome in the application. We look at this as a sign of perseverance. Let us know if you’ve worked to support yourself through school. Apply to more than one school to insure your acceptance to a graduate program (some programs are more competitive than others).

If time permits, try to visit the campus before you apply in order to allow some of the faculty at that institution an opportunity to get to know you, while also enabling you to get to know the university. Once you are admitted, make sure you visit the campus if possible. Be on time, be organized, prepared, and thorough. No application to any university will be processed unless all materials are in. All application materials are usually available in August. You can apply on-line (the preferred method) in October.

Following these guidelines will help strengthen your application to UC Berkeley and any other graduate school you wish to attend.

You may consult Dr. Carla Trujillo, Director, Graduate Opportunity Program, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720- 5900 regarding any application questions. She can also be reached at (510) 643-6010 or gop@uclink.berkeley.edu, web:

www.grad.berkeley.edu/gop. This information as well as other tips for applying to graduate school, is available on the web at www.berkeley.edu/cues/grad.html. Good Luck!

How to Write a Great Statement of Purpose

Thai Technology 6:26 PM 0 comments

Vince Gotera

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

[ ]	Organization ...

	[ ]	A "hook" that demonstrates your passion for the field
	[ ]	Segué to your background in the field
	[ ]	Description of your academic background in the field

		[ ]	Specific classes you have taken, given by name
		[ ]	Specific professors you have had, especially if well-known in that field

	[ ]	Extracurricular activities in the field
	[ ]	Publications or other professional accomplishments in the field (perhaps conference presentations or public readings)
	[ ]	Explanations about problems in background (if needed)
	[ ]	Explanation of why you have chosen the specific grad school

		[ ]	Mention one or two professors in that school and what you know of and appreciate about their work
		[ ]	Specific features of the grad program which attract you

[ ]	Get advice from several of your professors — philosophical advice as well as specific writing advice

[ ]	Proofread and copyedit; ask friends to proofread and copyedit as well

[ ]	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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