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W R I T I N G

Use the following five topics


to assist you in writing an effective
statement of purpose:
# How did you become interested in this field? It is important
the to establish that you have had a long term interest in the field

Statement of Purpose
and that you have taken positive steps in pursuing this
interest. You may choose to open your essay with an example
of how a teacher/professor first sparked your interest, or you
for Graduate School may draw from other educational, occupational, or personal
experiences.

The statement of purpose is one of several factors considered # What kind of activities or experiences have you had that have
by admission committees when you are applying to graduate contributed toward your preparation for or under-standing of
school. Other factors considered are grade point average (GPA), this field? This section will probably be the longest portion
the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), letters of recommendation and of your essay. You could order your experiences
any relevant experience. The statement of purpose not only gives chronologically or you could group experiences into
the admissions committee a solid idea of what you are interested categories. For instance, you can demonstrate your interest
in studying, but also serves as a writing sample and interview. A in a field by providing examples of internships, work experience,
poorly written statement can keep you out of the program of your research experience, community service, publications, or life
choice, while a well-written statement may prove to be the experiences. However, don’t just list what you did “resume-
deciding factor that gets you admitted. style.” Instead, outline what you did as well as what you have
learned about the field or yourself that stimulated your
The central theme of a statement of purpose should be the interest in graduate study.
reasons that you are interested in attending a specific program
# What type of graduate study are you interested in? What is
at the institution. The statement should be well organized,
your career objective? State whether you are interested in a
concise, and completely free of grammar, punctuation and spelling
master’s or a Ph.D. degree. Don’t leave the committee
errors. Try to be original and interesting without sounding
guessing as to what your degree objective is! If you are
conceited. Typically, statements are two to three pages, typed
applying to a broad discipline, then specify what subdisci-
and double spaced.
pline you are interested in. For example, if you are applying
in the field of psychology, the committee needs to know
Before you begin a draft,
whether you are pursuing clinical, counseling, cognitive, or
keep the following suggestions in mind:
developmental psychology. Let the reader know whether you
# Remember your audience. You can assume that the admission are planning a career in teaching, research, consulting, public
committee consists of professors in your area of study. You service or private practice (or whatever your goal happens to
do not need to define basic terminology. Do not “talk down” be).
to your audience. Stick to what you are an expert in—your life
and experiences. # What are your research interests? Within your field, you
should be aware of several topics that are of interest to you.
# Establish your voice. Choose a voice/tone that is confident You do not need to state a particular thesis or dissertation
without sounding arrogant. Usually a straightforward tone topic. You might address one or two questions or problems
will serve you best. If you need to explain poor GPA or GRE in your chosen field, or indicate an interest in a particular time
scores, do so without making excuses. Just state what period or author. Remember that you will be working under
affected your performance and follow-up with what you did or along with professors in research; therefore, your research
to improve the situation. Your tone in the essay should reflect interests should parallel, or be able to benefit from, those of
what is special, unique, distinctive, or impressive about you. the faculty.

# Answer the question. Most graduate school applications do # What attracts you most about the institution you are applying
not give you much instruction on how to format the statement to and why are you a match for their program? You should
of purpose. In that case, use the suggestions outlined below. have solid reasons for why you are applying to an institution.
However, if an application specifically asks you to answer a Align your research interests to those of one or more
question, make sure that you address every aspect of the professors. The better the “match” with the institution, the
question in your essay. better the chance that you will be admitted.

# Turn weaknesses into strengths. There are always two ways In summary, the reader should be able to:
to look at everything. For instance, you can write, “I nearly
flunked out of school in my freshman year and I am just now # Ascertain the origin of your interest in a field of study.
regaining focus,” or you can equally (and honestly) say,
# See the growth of that interest over a period of time
“Lacking focus my freshman year caused my grades to suffer.
(as illustrated by experience).
As you can see from the last 60 units on my transcript, I have
improved my grade point average to a level demonstrating # Clearly see that, for the applicant, attending graduate school
readiness for graduate level work.” is the next logical step in the sequence toward a specific goal.

Published by Advising Services, 111 South Hall, University of California, Davis http://advisingservices.ucdavis.edu
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