Admission to graduate school is not easy. In fact, it is highly competitive, especially if you want to get into a prestigious university and graduate program. Ivy League universities often have very selective admissions criteria in which only a small percentage of hopeful candidates get a thumbs-up.
The graduate admission essay and other admission requirements
Source: petersons.com
Obviously, you cannot get into a graduate program without a bachelor’s degree. Admission requirements vary from one university or program to another, but generally, you need to have an impressive GPA, pass a battery of tests and interviews, great recommendations from your college professors and other mentors, and an excellent graduate admission essay.
How to write an impressive graduate admission essay
Source: idealist.org
Your essay is your statement of purpose, and it can make or break your application. A good essay should be able to present your suitability for the graduate degree that you wish to pursue. Although the question, “Why do you want to pursue graduate studies from this university?” seems very basic, it is not easy to answer. After all, you need to keep in mind that the answer should present you at your best, particularly focusing on your values, interests, and accomplishments.
The admissions board’s purpose for requiring you to write your essay is to determine why you are worthy of being accepted into graduate school. To meet their expectations, you need to go through four fundamental stages: pre-writing, drafting, editing, and proofreading. As with any type of writing, a good admissions essay requires organization of ideas, so you need to brainstorm, narrow down your ideas, and come up with a comprehensive outline in the pre-writing stage. Brainstorming simply means that you draw ideas from your unconscious mind and bring them to the surface. Think about your personal experiences; answer questions, like “What do you consider as major accomplishments?” and “Why do you think of them as such?” Don’t attempt to write off ideas at this stage. Just let the ideas flow, and record them as they come through listing or “free writing.”
Source: northeastern.edu
Once you feel satisfied with your list, narrow your list down by matching the items to the specifications of the program tha 1000 t you want. For instance, if you are applying for a program in political science, your winning a trophy at a singing competition would have far less value than being a member of your college’s debate society. Afterward, organize your outline. Do you want to present a chronological review of your accomplishments or would you rather present ideas grouped according to your interests, philosophies, and influences? During the drafting or writing stage, make sure that you highlight your best qualities. If you are resilient and determined, for instance, write about an experience at work or in college wherein you pulled through a major disappointment. Don’t makeup stories, though. When you write, think about how your degree would help you give back to the community and not just how it can help you fulfill your dreams.
Edit your work for grammatical slips, and tweak it around so the content creates a stronger impact. You want the board to see you as a well-versed, logical individual and not as a scatterbrain. Proofread for any typographical errors and misplaced punctuation. Get someone to edit your essay beforehand, as they will find mistakes that you miss, suggests top20writingservices.com. Your essay should make you feel proud of yourself before you send it in.
Structure of graduate admission essays
Source: insidehighered.com
Making an application despite what it may be is always important as it determines whether you will be accepted into the institution or the company that you long to join. In matters of academics, one important application or part of it is the graduate admission essay. Believe it or not, this said essay can determine your entry into a school. The aim of writing one is for you to be known at a more personal level. It gets a person into your thoughts. Given the function, it is important to make it as honest and as interesting as possible. But besides that, you also need to know how to structure the essay.
Correct structuring of the essay will help the reader understand where you are coming from and what your thoughts are exactly. Unpleasant structuring most definitely means that you are going to be rejected. You don´t want that so take your time to understand how the layout should be. It will show organization above everything else and that just adds to your credits. There are several different structures when it comes to writing a graduation admission essay, but the general idea is just one. There is the introduction, the body and the conclusion.
The introduction is very important as it is what introduces the reader to your essay. If you don´t do it well, the reader is likely to loose interest and you are likely to miss out on the opportunity. Therefore, take your time and make the introduction as interesting and as logically challenging in a catchy way as possible. You want the reader to want to continue reading. You can start off your introduction by discussion the long lived passion that you have for taking a certain subject and what you hope to achieve at the end of it all. Talk about the motivation that the subject gives you. You have to be careful to maintain interest in your work and you can´t be carried away by your excitement.
Source: gradschool.cornell.edu.
The body should have no more than three or four paragraphs to support and make proof of the statements that you laid out in your introduction. Start out each paragraph with a topic statement. This statement gives a general idea about what you are talking about and prepares the reader subconsciously. Finish off each paragraph with an informative sentence that prepares the reader for the next paragraph. Include a resolution in each paragraph as that will earn you points. If you have goals you would like to achieve after undertaking the course, now would be a good time to talk about them.
The final thing is the conclusion. Summarize your interest in the subject using key points that you may have highlighted in your initial texts. Be conclusive as that is a general idea. Finish everything off with a sentence that is likely to linger in the mind of the reader. Throughout your writing, remember to be precise and personal. Being personal will make you stand out and increase your chances of being chosen.
