So, you’ve decided to apply to a graduate school and get a master’s or doctoral degree. Congrats! Get ready to prepare a solid graduate school application to demonstrate your qualifications and academic achievements to prove you’re a perfect fit for your desired university.
Graduate school applications include many components, one of which is an essay outlining your goals and explaining your motivations to join the specific program.
The catch?
This essay is tricky to write because it’s more like your pitch to department faculty members. Your purpose is to persuade them that you’re an ideal candidate among the hundreds of other essays they read through. Some applicants address an essay writer for hire to help them craft this paper. Professional assistance is an option as experts understand all the specifics and know how to structure personal statements for positive results.
Below is a handy guide from them on writing a graduate school application essay that stands out.
Personal Statement vs. Statement of Purpose
Before you start writing an application essay, analyze the prompt and ensure you understand what the admission committee is asking. Typically, it’s the request to discuss your previous experience, your future professional goals, and how the specific program you’re applying for can help you achieve them.
The catch?
Pay attention to the type of essay they request. It can be a personal statement or a statement of purpose (SOP, also known as a “research statement”). While the purpose of both is the same — to convince the committee that you’re a good fit — there’s a tiny difference between them:
- A personal statement is a story about your past experiences (not academic or professional, but who you are) and how they shaped your interest in the field. It’s autobiographical, written in an anecdotal (narrative) form to engage the readers.
- A statement of purpose is more future-oriented, direct, and to-the-point about your academic work. It shows how your current work shapes your research interests and professional goals, for the admission committee to see whether your research is relevant to their department.
Personal statements are more common for graduate school applications than SOP.
So, read the prompt carefully to see what’s required so that you know how to structure your essay and what to mention there. Also, note word count and other formatting requirements.
Brainstorm and Outline
Your application essay is the committee’s chance to evaluate your written communication skills, get to know you, and evaluate your candidacy for their program. With that in mind, brainstorm and list your interests, passions, experiences, successes, etc., to decide on what you’ll mention in your essay.
What values, skills, and qualities do you want to communicate? Think about the theme you want to have for your essay that involves all these.
Themes can be anything: an experience from your past, a hobby, a story of growth, a lesson that you learned through an experience, overcoming an obstacle, etc.
Some questions that might help with brainstorming:
- What is distinct about me and my story?
- When did I become interested in this field?
- Any obstacles on my way to becoming the person I am today?
- What traits, skills, or values do I have that might help me stand out from other applicants?
- What are my goals, and how can I show my fit with the program?
Once ready, create an outline for your essay.
You need a strong thesis and examples to support it throughout your story. So, narrow down your thoughts from the brainstorming session accordingly and organize your points to meet the readers’ needs.
Write a Story
Follow your outline and structure your text for clarity and flow. Build a story around one experience (it’s your theme!), using expressive details to set the scene and connect it to your motivation for graduate study.
The first paragraph of your essay:
- Open with a hook (an anecdote, a surprising fact, or an intriguing question).
- Introduce your theme.
- State a thesis (make it clear how this story relates to your long-term goals and decision to apply for their program).
Middle paragraphs of your essay:
- Support your thesis, linking the paragraphs together to tell the story (think of a narrative).
- Write in chronological order (from the past to the present).
- Keep readers engaged from the first sentence to the last (transition smoothly between ideas and sections).
- Explain why your story matters for admission into their program.
That’s how to organize each paragraph:
The beginning part of your paragraph includes the description and storytelling part; the second part of that paragraph is the analysis.
Answer a “So what?” question the admission committee might have: Why are you telling this particular story?
The final paragraph of your essay:
- End strong.
- Refer back to your intro and restate your thesis, thus unifying your essay as a whole: Why this school and program? Why you? Why now?
- Connect your described experience back to the reason you’re writing this essay.
Revise
So, your essay draft is complete. Don’t hurry up to send it to the committee; now, it’s time to revise and edit it if necessary: refine the thesis, eliminate errors, polish the language, etc.
Tip: Set your draft aside for 24–48 hours, then re‑read with fresh eyes.
- Is your thesis clear?
- Is the essay’s structure logical?
- What about the tone?
You can share the draft with your mentors or peers and ask for suggestions. They may notice some drawbacks, weak points, or grammar- and style issues you missed when revising.
When editing your essay, ensure you didn’t make these common mistakes:
- Don’t write based on what you think the admission officers want to hear, especially in the early stages of the writing process! It could make your essay sound inauthentic. When brainstorming, let your ideas flow. When revising, edit and tailor to each school to make it more program-specific.
- Don’t focus your story on other people. When writing, you might want to talk about someone who has influenced you. It’s okay, but make sure that you always bring the focus back to yourself each time you mention them: Admission officers want to get to know you, not others.
- Don’t use a negative tone when speaking about yourself. While it’s okay to mention weaknesses as a turning point to growth, ensure that your tone is still positive. Speaking negatively, you can leave a bad impression or make the committee doubt your skills and candidacy for the program.
- Don’t exaggerate.
- Don’t include everything you’ve ever done. An essay is just one piece of your graduate school application, so there’s no need to turn your statement into a resume.
- Don’t write generic statements a la “I’ve always loved science.” Be specific.
- Don’t ignore word limits or any other submission guidelines.
In a Word
A personal statement (essay) is the heart of your application, as it allows the committee to understand your motivations, experiences, and ambitions. So, do your best to analyze the prompt before writing, and craft an authentic narrative that demonstrates your goals and proves you’re the best fit for their program.
Follow the tips from this article, think of the traits that make you stand out, and refine your writing voice to communicate them to the target audience.
Your outline is a step-by-step writing plan with notes of what you’ll include in every paragraph of your essay. It will help you stay on track and not miss anything while writing.
