Grad Admissions essay help

tmhyd720
Sat, 19 Feb 2011 18:46:45 +0000

Thanks for the responses. It may be boring, but I’m sure you have read academic literature like journals and such - so in my opinion its pretty much par for the course. On a side note, I look back at my writing from high school and the only conclusion that I can make is that 4 years of college beat the creative writing style right out of me.

I have since submitted my application, but I really appreciate the input. I made a number of edits to the essay before i submitted it, just for the record.

On the personal history statement (the poster above gave some input I want to respond to):

What I ended up doing was drawing from some experiences in my life and linking them to my goals (with graduate school and beyond). I suppose that is more or less what the personal history statement prompt asks for. The prompt wants you to talk about experiences, opportunities, and challenges relating to your academic journey. I didn’t address the challenges so much as the opportunities and experiences. In most cases I think talking about social challenges, for example, would really weaken an essay like this - Think you made that point as well.