WRITING
A WINNING STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Before
you start, check out the tips below on "Getting Started"
I.
Determine your purpose in writing the statement
Usually the purpose is to persuade the admissions
committee that you are an applicant they should choose. You may want to show
that you have the ability and motivation to succeed in your field, or you may
want to show the committee that, on the basis of your experience, you are the
kind of candidate who will do well in the field. Whatever the purpose, it must
be explicit to give coherence to the whole statement.
1. Pay attention to the purpose throughout the
statement so that extraneous material is left out.
2. Pay attention to the audience (committee)
throughout the statement. Remember, your audience is made up of faculty members
who are experts in their field. They want to know that you can think as much as what you think.
II.
Determine the content of your statement
1. Be sure to answer any direct questions fully.
Analyze the questions or guidance statements for the essay completely and
answer all parts.
2. For example: "What are the strengths and
weaknesses in setting and achieving goals and working through people?" In
this question there are actually six parts to be answered 1) strengths in
setting goals, 2) strengths in achieving goals, 3) strengths in working through
people, 4) weaknesses in setting goals, 5) weaknesses in achieving goals and 6)
weaknesses in working through people. Pay attention to small words. Notice: This
example question says through people not with people, if it sayswith people, answer that way.
3. Usually graduate and professional schools are
interested in the following:
1. Your purpose in graduate study. This means you must have thought this through
before you try to answer the question.
2. The area of study in which you wish to
specialize. This requires that you know the field
well enough to make such decision.
3. Your future use of your graduate study. This will include your career goals and plans for
your future.
4. Your special preparation and fitness
for study in the field. This is the
opportunity to relate your academic background with your extracurricular
experience to show how they unite to make you a special candidate.
5. Any problems or inconsistencies in your
records or scores such as a bad semester. Be sure
to explain in a positive manner and justify the explanation. Since this is a
rebuttal argument, it should be followed by a positive statement of your
abilities.
6. Any special conditions that are not
revealed elsewhere in the application such as a
large (35 hour a week) work load outside of school. This too should be followed
with a positive statement about yourself and your future.
7. You may be asked, "Why do you wish to
attend this school?" This requires that you have done your research about
the school and know what its special appeal is to you.
8. Above all this, the statement is to contain
information about you as a person. They know nothing about you that you don’t
tell them. You are the subject of the
statement.
III. Determine your approach and the style of the
statement
There is no such thing as "the perfect way to
write a statement." There is only the one that is best for you and fits
your circumstances.
1. There are some things the statement should not
be:
Avoid the "what I did with my life"
approach. This was fine for grade school essays on "what I did last
summer." It is not good for a personal statement.
Equally elementary is the approach "I’ve
always wanted to be a __________." This is only appropriate if it also
reflects your current career goals.
Also avoid a statement that indicates your interest
in psychology is because of your own personal psychotherapy or a family
member’s psychological disturbance. While this may have motivated many of us to
go on to graduate study in psychology, this is not what your audience is
necessarily looking for in your statement.
These are some things the statement should do:
It should be objective yet self-revelatory. Write
directly and in a straightforward manner that tells about your experience and
what it means to you. Do not use "academese" or jargon.
It should form conclusions that explain the value
and meaning of your experiences such as: (1) what you learned about yourself;
(2) about your field; (3) about your future goals; and (4) about your career
concerns.
It should be specific. Document your conclusions
with specific instances or draw your conclusions as the result of individual
experience. See the list of general Words to Avoid Using without Explanation
listed below.
It should be an example of careful persuasive
writing.
CONSIDERTIONS ABOUT FORM:
Keep to the Page Limit Number!!! Reviewers have to
read hundreds of these applications, don’t overburden them with extra pages.
Do not leave in typographical errors. You don’t
want to be taken less seriously due to a typo, rite? (laugh)
WORDS
TO AVOID USING WITHOUT EXPLANATION
Significant
Invaluable
appealing to me
interesting
exciting, excited
appealing aspect
challenging
enjoyable, enjoy
I like it
satisfying,
satisfaction
I can
contribute
it’s important
rewarding
valuable
fascinating
gratifying
helpful
appreciate
meaningful
useful
helping people
meant a lot to
me
feel
good
I like to help
stimulating
remarkable
people
incredible
GETTING
STARTED
EXERCISES:
A. Recalling and analyzing experience - write short paragraphs on the
following:
1. Pick a memorable accomplishment in your life.
What did you do? How did you accomplish it?
2. What sort of important activities have you
engaged in? With whom? what role did you play?
3. What work experiences have you had? What was
your job? responsibility? How did you carry it out?
a. Now look over your paragraphs. What skills and
qualities do you see that you possess? For example, consider working with
others. Were you a leader? important "team" player?
b. Looking at what you have found, you can now look
for skills and qualities that will help you in graduate school. What factors
stand out?
c. NOTE: You will undoubtedly have more material
than you can use. This is good, but you need to make strategic choices.
B. Your career goals - write two short paragraphs:
1. What career have you chosen? What factors formed
this decision?
2. What evidence shows that this is a correct
choice? That is, how can you show that this choice is realistic? (Personal
experience in the field is a good place to begin.)