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by Karin Ash
Graduate school applicants quickly become familiar with the request to provide a statement of purpose (SOP). The SOP for graduate school programs, especially for STEM applicants, usually asks you to provide information on your motivation and preparation for the graduate program. The SOP prompt may vary from school to school, but essentially you are asked …
“What should I include?” “How do I start?” “What will impress the admissions committee?” These are common questions PsyD applicants ask about their application essays. What makes this task even more confusing is that different programs refer to this same essay as a “personal statement,” a “statement of purpose,” a “graduate essay,” a “statement of goals,” a …
When crafting application essays – whether for graduate school, business school, or any other competitive program – candidates often focus on highlighting their accomplishments. And it’s easy to understand why. Most applicants want to showcase their significant achievements, such as leading a groundbreaking project, making a meaningful impact through research, or spearheading a successful community …
by Sundas Ali
Your statement of purpose is one of the best ways to showcase yourself to the adcom as an original, well-qualified, and purposeful candidate. A strong statement of purpose will demonstrate your knowledge of and fit for your chosen field, as well as your intellectual growth, maturity, and ability to communicate clearly. Additionally, it will show …
by Sundas Ali
The personal statement is your opportunity to stand out and make a lasting impression on your target school’s adcom. How can you make your essay original? How much should you tell? And at what point are you crossing the line into TMI? When I applied to college, I wrote a personal statement describing some challenging …
by Sundas Ali
Teamwork – and its close cousin, leadership – are highly prized by graduate programs and universities. But if you haven’t worked in a team on any regular basis, don’t worry! You’ve probably got a number of examples of teamwork in your back pocket that you didn’t even realize were there. Consider the following four ideas when you …
by Sundas Ali
One of the most important pieces of advice you’ll ever get regarding your personal statements and application essays is this: Show, don’t tell. It’s a classic writing lesson, and you’ve probably heard it before, but how do you actually “show, not tell,” in your essays? Simply “telling” is ineffective, because it usually involves boastful claims such …
by Kelly Wilson
As admissions consultants, we often hear college and graduate school applicants ask, “I’m applying to multiple schools, and each one requires essays/personal statements. Can I use the same essay for different schools?” Understandably, applicants want to maintain the quality of their essays and avoid burnout when having to write so many drafts. We can sympathize. Even …
In today’s world, where everything moves at lightning speed, we’re constantly making fast decisions. This applies to admissions committees, too. The pressure of their job forces them to make very quick decisions about whose applications they will invest more time in and whose will merit only an obligatory but cursory review before being set aside. …
The most common challenge that my master’s and PhD applicant clients face when writing a statement of research interests or a statement of purpose (SOP) is how to describe in concrete terms what their research interests and goals are. This is understandable. Their ideas are still evolving, and some worry that they’ll later be held …
Applying to graduate school can be a stressful process. As an applicant’s parent, you naturally want to help them, but how can you do so? Maybe you never went to graduate school, or it has been decades since you applied. The process is not the same as it was years ago. Furthermore, your child is …
by Sundas Ali
A speaker recently told a story about traveling in Asia, where he saw a stunning emerald. Enchanted by the stone’s beauty, he decided to buy it on the spot. He returned home and took the emerald to a jeweler for appraisal. The jeweler began examining the stone through his magnifier, and as he did so, …
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