Professional Documents
Culture Documents
University of Wyoming
Include a one to two page statement describing your plans for graduate study and
professional career in psychology.
A letter describing your career goals in psychology, as well as any other information
you think would be helpful to determine your ability to succeed in our program.
The statement of purpose should be 500-600 words (clinical: 900 words) in length and
should contain a description of relevant work/research/volunteer activities, outline
future professional goals, and state your expectations of the graduate school
experience.
A Letter of Intent describing your clinical and research interests, educational and
professional goals, faculty whom you might be interested in working with, factors that
you would want the admissions committee to consider in evaluating your application
that are not evident from other materials, and some background information describing
how you became interested in these areas.
On this or a separate page(s), please provide a clear, concise 1-2 page essay
summarizing your background in psychology (or related field), career objectives,
research experience, research interests, and why you are applying to Montana State
Universitys M.S. program in Applied Psychology. Please be sure to read and sign the
signature page at the end of this document.
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A statement of your research interests which highlight areas of research that you
would like to pursue during your graduate training, specific faculty members with
whom you would like to work, and your previous or current research experience
A sample of your scientific writing ability such as a senior honors thesis, term paper
from a psychology course, laboratory report from an experimental course, or some
similar material
Please answer the following questions in a 2-3 page essay. Your responses will
provide the MA Selection Committee with a more clear impression of your
professional goals and interests.
A. If accepted, what are your professional goals upon completion of this program? Explain
how these goals developed.
To conduct your thesis research you will need to request supervision from a
faculty member with relevant expertise. It may be necessary for you to
modify, or deviate from, you first choice interest area in order to conduct a
project that fits within a faculty members ongoing research program. With
this in mind, please review the area of specialization and titles of recent
publications or presentations of individual psychology faculty, which can be
linked to at http://www.unco.edu/psychology/index.html before answering the
following questions.
B. What special interest area in psychology would you want to investigate in depth during
your M.A. program? What experiences have you had that have given rise to these special
interests? How are your specialized interests related to your professional goals described
above? Which faculty members(s) have research interests closest to your own?
C. Describe any relevant professional accomplishments/awards (e.g., publications,
professional presentations, research projects, volunteer experiences, etc.).
University of Denver
indicate which facultys research interests represent a match with your own training
goals. What are your career plans? What would you ultimately like to do?
University of Colorado
All other programs: Your autobiographical sketch should address the following items,
numbering your answers as listed below:
o Describe your previous research experience.
o Why do you wish to pursue graduate studies in your chosen area of
specialization?
o Why are you applying to the University of Colorado?
o Which two (2) research mentors have you selected at the University of Colorado
and why?
A statement of your research interests which highlight areas of research that you
would like to pursue during your graduate training, specific faculty members with
whom you would like to work, and your previous or current research experience.
Cognitive Applicants
Counseling Applicants
Industrial/Organizational Applicants
A statement of how you became interested in I/O psychology , what you want to gain
from our graduate program, and why you are interested in pursuing a career in I/O
psychology.
University of Utah
Personal statement summarizing your specific research and career goals, the reasons
for your interest in our program (including discussion of faculty members with whom
you hope to work and the fit between their research interests and your own), your prior
educational and work experience, and any other appropriate information. This letter is
your chance to demonstrate that (1) you have the prior experience necessary to begin
graduate training in Psychology; (2) you have well-defined research interests and
know how to communicate them clearly; (3) there is an excellent fit between your
specific goals and interests and those of Utah's program and faculty.
Supplemental Instructions for Writing Your Personal Statement: Applicants to the Clinical
Program Only
DO YOUR HOMEWORK
Get the schools catalogue
Confirm that the degree program offered matches your career goals
Review the courses offered by the school that pertain to your goals
Get the names of specific faculty members with whom you want to study
Ask your current teachers if they know any of the faculty members in the proposed
graduate program.
How is it organized?
OPENING PARAGRAPH
State the program to which you are making application, whether you are seeking a
master's or doctorate, and in a general sense, why you are applying to the program.
Begin in a direct manner
Avoid talking about personal, extracurricular or family background.
SUBSEQUENT PARAGRAPHS:
Your Qualifications and Background
Describe
Experiences that have served as a foundation for your future graduate work, how your
interest in the field developed, and how you planned academically for your goal.
Discuss
Discuss in detail:
Indicates ability to explore or master certain skills or particular knowledge about your
academic field
Illustrates to the committee that you have
o the initiative and ability to develop ideas
o the capacity to work through problems independently
o the determination to achieve your goals.
Laboratory techniques
Computer skills
Foreign language proficiency
Advanced quantitative and statistical expertise.
CONCLUDING STATEMENT
Tell the Graduate Committee
Summarize briefly
Why you believe you possess the experience and skills to be admitted to their program
STYLE OF LETTER:
EDIT RUTHLESSLY
A statement of your interests in psychology and how you came to have those interests
What your goals and ambitions in the field of psychology are
How the program to which you are applying can help you to achieve those goals.
Osborne (1996) offered some valuable tips and feedback for those preparing personal
statements. As you write and rewrite your personal statement, try to keep these tips in mind:
Do the personal details I have included in the statement seem relevant to my ability to
be a successful graduate student? [If no, then you may want to edit those details.]
Do the personal details I reveal demonstrate characteristics of my self that reflect
maturity, adaptability, and motivation?
Do the personal details convey a convincing portrayal of my abilities to succeed in this
schools graduate program?
Try to focus on particular educational and occupational experiences that could account
for your interests, rather than personal experiences. Why? Add some detachment, add emotional
distance. With goals and ambitions, try to be as specific as possible. You need to be more
specific that "I just want to learn--I'm open minded" but not too specific, or you won't be a match
at very many schools. The "trick" is to lob your volleyyou have some general areas of interest,
but are open to the types of topics that your graduate professors are studying. Don't limit yourself
to only one faculty memberfaculty leave, have too many students, etc.
"Fit with faculty" is more important than most students think. You have to do your
homework and find out what the faculty are studying (literature from university web sites,
PsycInfo, etc.). Personalize each letter to the graduate program to show that you have done your
homework.
Keith-Spiegel and Wiederman (2000) found that in the personal statement instructions
that they examined, 13 themes emerged. One point to be stresseddo not write a single onesize-fits-all letter for all schools. Do your homework, and give the committee the answers it
wants, not a generic statement that vaguely addresses the schools information needs. To help
personalize your responses, you may wish to closely examine the 13 themes listed below. Also,
addressing these issues should help you focus on why you want to go to graduate school, what
you want to accomplish with your degree, and how best to get from here to there.
Career plans (Tell us about your plans; What do you see yourself doing five to
ten years from now?)
Research experiences (Have you had any research experiences? What did you
do as a research assistant?)
Academic objectives (Why are you interested in graduate study? What can our
graduate program do for you?)
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What do you see in us (Why did you choose us? What can you do for our
graduate program?)
Motivation (Why did you choose graduate study? What events shaped your
current career aspirations?)
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Personal material (Tell us about yourself. What do you think we should know
about you? Everyone has weaknesses; we ask that you discuss yours as
candidly as possible.)
Specific graduate faculty of interest (Cite two faculty members who most
closely represent your own interests in psychology. Whom would you like to
work with in our graduate program?)
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