According to Kaplan Test Prep’s 2012 survey of graduate school admissions officers, 20% said an applicant’s personal essays are the most important admissions factor, placing it third in importance. How does that stack against other factors? Well, 29% of admissions officers said an applicant’s GPA was the top factor; 27% said an applicant’s GRE score was the top factor. Not exactly a three way tie, but relatively close. But compared to other graduate level admissions processes like business school, law school, and medical schools, where test scores and GPA overwhelmingly reign supreme, an applicant’s personal essays in the graduate school admissions play a much more critical role. Why?
As you probably know through your years of experience, first, personal essays show whether applicants can write a clear, coherent essay that’s logically and grammatically correct. These days, students’ writing ability is often presumed deficient unless proven otherwise. And in graduate school, we all know there will be a lot of writing assignments to go around – think 100 page thesis. Second, essays give applicants the opportunity to present the admissions committee with more of a “three-dimensional” portrait of themselves beyond what a GPA and GRE score can show. What they choose to write sends clear signals about what’s important to them and what their values are. It also allows applicants to fill in any missing puzzle pieces that may not be found in other parts of the application.
Below are some key strategies for your students to consider when writing their personal essays:
1. Avoid the Rehashed Resume: The personal statement is not the time to recount all their activities and honors in list-like fashion. There are more appropriate places to boast that they won the best research paper two years in a row. Impressive, yes, but, leave for the CV.
2. Make It Personal: This is their opportunity to put a little panache into the application and show the admissions committee why they decided to go into this field of study. Was it an experience they had in school? Was there a particular extracurricular activity that changed their way of thinking? Did they find an internship so exhilarating that it created their love for this career path? Illustrate specific events. Be compelling.
3. Avoid Controversial Topics: Definitely avoid being dogmatic or preachy. The students you advise definitely don’t want to take the risk of alienating a reader who may not share their views on politics or the economy, for example. Brainstorm for a less risky idea..
4. Don’t Get Too Creative: Every school differs in the tone and content that they want to see. However, now is not the time to write a haiku. Keep your creativity focused on how accomplishments and lessons learned impact your larger goals and vision. On the other hand, don’t be trite and don’t be boring – avoid writing the “I want to rock the psychology, engineering, or political science world because…” essay.
5. No Apologies: For instance, if one of your students received a C in logic, he or she may feel compelled to justify it somehow. Unless they believe that the circumstances truly do merit some sort of mention, don’t make excuses for relatively minor things – they don’t need to provide admissions officers with a road map to their weaknesses. That being said, some students do mention a weakness in their background in order to explain how they have overcome a setback.
6. Write Multiple Drafts: Have an advisor (you, hopefully!) and perhaps an English TA read and edit it. Proofread, proofread…and proofread some more. Also, try reading it out loud – this is always a good test of clarity, flow and grammar. They’ll catch mistakes better this way. Finally, they should it run it by a family member or friend who knows them well to make sure that it captures their personality.
7. Think Ahead to Interviews: Interviewers often use personal essays as fodder for questions. Of course, if they’ve included experiences and ideas that are dear to them, that they feel strongly about, they will have no problem speaking with passion and confidence. Nothing is more appealing to admissions folks than a vibrant, intelligent, and articulate candidate. If they wrote extensively about a research paper or internship that took place several years ago, they’d better brush up before the interviews. They shouldn’t engage in hyperbole; they risk running up against an interviewer who will see through these exaggerations.
