Stanford Admissions Essay

As regular readers of our college admissions blog know all too well, applicants should always use all of the real estate available to them in order to most effectively make their case.Here are the 2018-2019 admissions essays for Stanford. It should come as no surprise that most applicants do not enjoy drafting their graduate admissions essay.

Many applicants find it challenging to write a personal statement because there is no clear prompt to guide their writing.

An effective personal statement conveys how your background and experiences have shaped your career goals, how you are well matched to your chosen career and provides insight into your character and maturity. If you are asked to write a generic personal statement, pretend that the prompt instead requires you to discuss how your experiences, interests, and abilities have lead you to your chosen career.

You likely will not (and should not) use all of the information that you gather. As you consider your essay, plan to discuss the information that supports your goals and what is most important to you. Discuss the ways in which your background and competencies overlap with the graduate program's requirements and training opportunities. Pay attention to whether faculty take on students or appear to have openings in their labs.

Evaluate all of the information you gather and determine your priorities. Writing an effective graduate admissions essay requires knowing your audience. If you're applying to a doctoral program, take a close look at the faculty. Peruse the department page, faculty pages, and lab pages.

Take a different perspective, however, and you will find that your admissions essay is not as daunting as it seems.

Your graduate school application provides the admissions committee with a great deal of information about you that cannot be found elsewhere in your graduate application.

Before you write your admissions essay you must have an understanding of your goals and how your experiences to date prepare you for pursuing your goals.

A self-assessment is critical to gathering the information you need to write a comprehensive essay. How well do your interests and goals match the program?

Granted, the argument concerns your capacities for graduate study and the outcome can determine the fate of your application. I believe this holds true for all types of writing, but especially for drafting graduate admissions essays.

Many writers stare at a blank screen and wonder how to begin.