Writing Your Statement of Purpose for Grad School

The graduate school statement of purpose is your chance to demonstrate your unique qualifications for and commitment to your chosen field by discussing those experiences, people, and events that compelled you to pursue it.

That's a lot to accomplish--especially in the typical two-to-three pages allowed for your statement. You can find the key to success by focusing on a few illustrative incidents as opposed to giving a superficial overview. Remember: Detail, specificity, and concrete examples will make your essay distinctive and interesting. Generalities and platitudes that could apply to every other grad school applicant will bore. If you use them, you'll just blur into one of the crowd.

Following "Ten Do's and Don'ts for Your Statement of Purpose" will help you write a compelling, focused essay -- one that will transform you from a collection of numbers and classes into an interesting human being.

Ten Do's and Don'ts for Your Statement of Purpose

The Do's

1. Unite your essay and give it direction with a theme or thesis. The thesis is the main point you want to communicate.
2. Before you begin writing, choose what you want to discuss and the order in which you want to discuss it.
3. Use concrete examples from your life experience to support your thesis and distinguish yourself from other applicants.
4. Write about what interests you, excites you. That's what the admissions staff wants to read.
5. Start your essay with an attention-grabbing lead -- an anecdote, quote, question, or engaging description of a scene.
6. End your essay with a conclusion that refers back to the lead and restates your thesis.
7. Revise your essay at least three times.
8. In addition to your editing, ask someone else to critique your statement of purpose for you.
9. Proofread your personal statement by reading it out loud or reading it into a tape recorder and playing back the tape.
10. Write clearly, succinctly.

The Don'ts

1. Don't include information that doesn't support your thesis.
2. Don't start your essay with "I was born in...," or "My parents came from..."
3. Don't write an autobiography, itinerary, or resume in prose.
4. Don't try to be a clown (but gentle humor is OK).
5. Don't be afraid to start over if the essay just isn't working or doesn't answer the essay question.
6. Don't try to impress your reader with your vocabulary.
7. Don't rely exclusively on your computer to check your spelling.
8. Don't provide a collection of generic statements and platitudes.
9. Don't give mealy-mouthed, weak excuses for your GPA or test scores.
10. Don't make things up.

So far we've emphasized content, but of course, persuasive writing requires good style, grammar, vocabulary, usage, etc. You know, those nit-picky details that most people prefer not to think about. Well if you prefer to continue not thinking about them or if you don't think you know enough about them to ensure good writing, check out Accepted.com's review and editing service. If you just want a quick brush-up on writing fundamentals, visit Ten Tips for Better Writing.

But wait. Before putting the pieces together, what if you are still not sure how to develop a unifying theme? Or perhaps you don't know which experiences to focus on, or simply lack confidence in your writing skills, or have suddenly developed an acute case of blank-screen-itis!?!

Remember, you can have one-on-one, personalized assistance every step of the way. Accepted.com's complete package is designed to give you the guidance and direction necessary to draft a compelling story and the comprehensive editing needed to perfect it.

By Linda Abraham, Founder and President of Accepted.com