Dr. Russel Hirst
Assignment #1: Personal statement

Before writing your personal statement, do the following very important pre-writing exercises. These are taken directly from Donald Asher's excellent book Graduate Admission Essays (Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, 2000). I highly recommend this text. I also recommend that you browse around the Ten Speed Press web site; you'll find a number of valuable items.

Ok. Answer/address in some way every question/topic listed below. "Shorthand" is fine; no one is going to see your pre-writing notes. Use the headings provided and just jot down answers in a notebook. Once you've addressed all these questions, you'll have a great stash of "essay fodder" that you can draw upon when you launch into the first draft of your essay. This essay should be about 750 words long.

Preface the draft of your essay by telling me what grad school you're applying to and by giving me the wording of the essay question (either as you have found it in the applications materials from your target school or as you can reasonably assume it to read).

Intellectual influences
• What writers and which particular articles in your field of study have had the greatest influence on the development of your thought?

• Who were (are) your favorite professors in college, and why? How has each influenced you?

• What is the best paper of exam you ever wrote in your major, and what makes it so good?

• What do your consider the most important book, play, article, or film you have ever read/seen, and how has it influenced you?

• What is the single most important concept you have learned in college?

• What are some of the encouraging words others have said to or about you over the years?

• Where were you and what were you doing when you first thought of pursuing this particular direction of graduate study?

How your career choice evolved
• How has your interest evolved, and what specific turning points can you identify?

• What work experiences have led you to believe you would like to pursue graduate education?

• What experiences as a volunteer of traveler have influenced your career direction?

• What experiences from your family life have contributed to this choice?

Academic background
• How have your prepared yourself to succeed in graduate school?

• What body of relevant knowledge will you take with you?

• What study or laboratory skills have you honed to date? What personal attributes of physical characteristics make you particularly likely to succeed in your new career?

Accomplishments:
• What is your biggest accomplishment to date?

• What other things are you proud of?

Research
• What research have you completed to date? (List major research projects you've participated in; describe your role in them.)

Names you may want to work into your essay
• Influential undergrad professors.

• Specific professors at the targeted institution who interest you.

• Major writers/thinkers in the field who have influenced you.

• Professors with whom you have visited or corresponded or spoken.

• Any other people you may have in common with the targeted institution.

"Personal stuff"
• Can you describe an experience that demonstrates remarkable drive or perseverance?

• Are you involved in sports?

• What do you do with your leisure time? (Hobbies, pastimes.)

• What can you tell someone that would lead them to believe theyÕd enjoy your company?

Links to location
• What do you know about the city, geographic region, or state where you will be applying?

• Have you visited the place? Did you like it?

• Do you have close friends or relatives living near there now?

• Did your family live there in prior generations?

• How can you establish any kind of geographical connection with the location of the graduate schools you have targeted?

Your immediate future
• What classes are you going to take between now and your arrival at your targeted grad school?

• What research projects will you complete between now and when you begin grad school?

• Will you complete a thesis or capstone project?

• Will you be going to summer school before grad school starts? What classes might you take?

• If you are working, what will you try to get accomplished before you depart for grad school?

Your long-term future
• What are your specific post-graduate career plans?

• How will this graduate education facilitate those plans?

• What is your five-year goal?

• Ten-year goal?

• Will you be pursuing additional education or professional training beyond the program you are applying to now?

Cautions to bear in mind:

Addressing problems
If you must address a problem you have had, it must meet these criteria:

• It must be in the past.

• It has to be resolved.

• It has to be sympathetic.

• It should be unlikely to recur in grad school.

More cautions (things that members of admissions committees have said about bad essays):

The Essay Hall of Shame
• "Errors and sloppiness, misspellings, poor English."

• "Anything that starts out, 'I've always wanted to be a ___________.'"

• "Sometimes they don't really answer the question. We ask each question for a reason."

• "When they seem to be saying what they think we want to hear. We can pick up on that right away."

• "Our application is a little different. We want original work. I hate it when I can tell they're recycling material they wrote for other schools."

• "The essay sound like they want to be the next Mother Teresa, but there's nothing in the rest of the application to back up any claims of altruism."

• "We ask for dates on activities. It's a red flag if all the activities are brand new."

• "A whole essay on deep personal problems or excuses for past performance. It's amazing how common that is. The essay should be upbeat, convincing, persuasive."

• "Every year there is always at least one essay from someone who tells us how proud he would be to be admitted to _______, but that isn't our school."

• "Students are so afraid to take a risk that they don't really tell us anything. That throws us right back on the numbers."

• "Don't tell me what _______ is. I know what my own discipline is! What can they be thinking? Tell me what _______ means to you."

• "Some students think they can use the essay to manufacture a person who doesn't exist. It doesn't work."