Self-examination or self-assessment can actually help you formulate a creative essay that will help you gain an edge over other applicants. To assess yourself better, you would have to first identify your own strengths and weaknesses. You can then check if the chosen program pairs well with your strengths or is aligned to your goals and ambitions in life. Only then can you know for sure if you’re on the right track.
Purpose of a self-examination or self-assessment process
The purpose of self-examination is to see whether or not you are fit to the chosen program or graduate course. Another reason is for you to be able to introduce yourself better through the admission essay. Through self-examination, you’ll have a better idea what characters traits to highlight and what skills to improve on. You can also set goals for your career and life as a whole.
What to ask yourself during this process
There are basic questions you must ask yourself before you start writing a personal statement for grad school. These questions will help you create the main ideas for your essay before sending it to the admissions panel who will hand down the decision. First, ask yourself about your real objectives, why you wish to pursue schooling in your target school. After having checked the background of the school as well as its programs and academic principles, ask yourself if these are aligned or at least compatible with your goals and personality. Answering these self-raised questions will help you overcome the challenge of writing a personal statement. You’ll at least have an idea what to write about.
Recording your answers and ideas as preparation for writing your essay draft
After raising these questions, you can start creating an outline. Record your answers and ideas, and then make an initial draft. You can also create some writing prompts that will guide you in crafting an effective personal statement.
Related links:
Essay writing no-nos – Tips on writing your grad school essay
Grad school profiles – All about U.Va, Duke Universisty, and Northeastern University
Top grad schools – About top US grad schools
Connecting to readers – About how to connect to your readers
Personal statements – All about writing personal statements
Careernews provides news, tips, and advise about career and employment. Directed toward the labor force and those who are about to enter it, this website is a fine collection of articles and blog entries that are easy to understand and are very helpful to job hunters and working people alike.
What to like about this site
One of the first things you would notice about the website is its professional stance and simplicity. Its professional look gives it an air of credibility, allowing browsers to have considerable confidence in the contents of the website. The simplicity of the website?s layout, on the other hand, allows for easy search and navigation. With this kind of layout, it is not so difficult for the website to communicate to the reader what it is about and what it offers to its visitors. Visitors would hardly find it difficult to find the things, news, and advice that they need. On the left hand side bar, there are links to the latest and most popular entries, while on the right hand side bar are links to websites on job openings.
Entries range from news articles to tips and advice about various issues concerning career and employment. There are tips on getting MBAs, successfully and gracefully getting past interviews, making effective resumes, and many other things relevant to job hunters and the working population. There are also articles on issues such as career diversification, career warfare, and keys to success, among others. One article that took my interest was the one on changing jobs, which provides five tips and notes to remember when changing jobs. It includes comprehensive tips on how to go about the career change and on the things that should be considered when thinking of career change.
What to improve on this site
With the use of more pictures and videos, the website would be more effective as a tool for communication. With such interesting topics and well-written articles, the website could do better with a visual level-up.
Researching about your target school can be fun and, at the same time, challenging. You might be glad to find out that you qualify with some of the standards, but feel threatened because of the immense competition going on. To get ahead, you need to secure every process of application. Aside from passing the entrance exam and meeting the GPA requirements, it is important for you to research about the criteria for admission, standards, and programs of the school you want to go to so you may tailor-fit them to the kind of essay you will have to write. A well-written admission essay can spell a big difference in the success of your application.
Benefits of doing a research on your dream school
One great benefit of doing research on your dream or target school is that you get to give your essay the right treatment, tailored to the standards and principles of the school you are aspiring to go to. The admissions officers will see you as a candidate who knows what he or she wants. That in itself will make your essay stand out. You can choose experiences and topics that will be most appealing to your readers and ones that can strengthen your qualification.
Discussing your dream school’s strengths in relation to your goals
When you write your personal statement, make it a point to relate the strengths of your dream school with your personal goals and ambitions. When you do this successfully, you are sure to connect with your admissions panel because you are talking about what they cherish most.
Discussing what you can offer to your dream school
Write about what you can contribute as a student who qualifies for the school program. Highlight your well-planned objectives and future career moves that will manifest your leadership qualities if ever admitted to your target school. Tackle how you would contribute as a member of their community and succeed in the industry.
Related links:
Essay writing no-nos – Tips on writing your grad school essay
Essay help – How grad school essay samples can help you in writing your own
Career goals – Discussing career goals in your essay
Business schools – Discussions about business schools
MBA admissions – All about the MBA school admission
Your graduate school essay is an integral part of your graduate school application. The essay can make or break your admission success. This is why you must come up with a very good essay, and in order to do so, you shouldn?t miss out an important stage in the entire essay writing process, which is getting feedback.
Importance of getting feedback for your essay
You have struggled writing up to the very last word of your essay. You have spent hours, perhaps even days, just to finish your masterpiece. Because of the effort you put into completing your essay, it?s normal for you to love your work and think that it?s already good enough, ready for submission. The truth is, there can still be room for improvement. Other people might see some flaws you might have overlooked. All writers, even professionals, need feedback.
Reliable sources of feedback
Some people are afraid of getting feedback, thinking that they are all negative. Some are also troubled about criticisms as these might hurt their ego. But if you get past this stage, you will realize how getting feedback would be very helpful for your essay, and you getting into graduate school for that matter.
For your graduate school essay, you can get helpful feedback regarding the content, organization, flow of ideas, grammar, and even small errors like misspelled words and typo errors. You don?t need to consider every word of suggestion and comment though. Take note of the trend in their comments or look for a pattern. For example, if most of the comments pertain to your style, then that might be the area you need to work on.
Possible sources of feedback would include your classmates, professors, friends, family members, and even the writing centers and assistance centers of the graduate school you are applying for. They can identify problems in your essay and give out pointers and constructive criticisms.
Using the services of a professional essay editing company
Some resort to professional editing services offered by some companies. While this is also a good option, especially if you are willing to spend a few dollars, research first about the different companies and choose which could deliver the best results.
Related links:
Graduate Essay Samples – Using graduate essay samples as guides
Readers of Essays – What readers don?t want to hear in your essay
Graduate Schooling – All about importance of graduate school
Winning Essays – About good essays and writing guidelines
Graduate School Essay – About qualities of excellent essays
Graduate Admission Essays – All about admission essays and tips
Professional Essay Help – About getting professional help for your essay
Personal Essays – Do?s and don?ts in graduate essays
Great College Essay – Steps to help someone write good essays
College Admission Essay – More on essay writing tips
