Archive for the 'howto' Tag
How to Write a Personal Statement for Grad School
This post is based on an answer I recently contributed to Quora. I’ve been wanting to write a comprehensive guide to computer science grad school admissions (like the ones by Mor Harchol-Balter or Justine Sherry) for a while now — rather than letting such a large task intimidate me any longer, perhaps it’ll actually happen if I post it in pieces.
By the time you begin applying to grad school, the single piece of your application that you have full control over is your statement of purpose. You can’t change the grades that are already on your transcript, and moreover, those only tell an admissions committee whether you’ve proven yourself to be a good student in the classroom. Similarly, your recommendation letters are another critical part of your application, but you probably won’t have much control over exactly what’s written in them.
Given this opportunity, don’t blow off the personal statement. Instead, use it to your advantage by covering important points that don’t surface elsewhere in your application. Here are the things I would include when applying to a research-oriented graduate program:
- A research statement.
This should comprise the majority of your essay. The reader is likely concerned with your ability or potential to conduct research, so hopefully you already have a successful track record of research and related coursework. Discuss what research you’ve done and things that you might be interested in working on as a graduate student. - Explain what motivates you to pursue graduate study.
Are you looking for a career in academia or research? Did your previous research experience convince you to pursue a career in research? Do you want to teach as a professor? This is the place to say so. - Convince the admissions committee that you’re qualified.
You should have already done this while covering the above points, and your recommendation letters and CV serve this purpose as well. Even so, address any remaining red flags that might be on your application. For example, if you are switching fields, you might want to explain why, and if your background doesn’t have an obvious alignment with your new interest, discuss what makes you qualified to enter the program (eg. a non-technical person entering computer science would likely require remedial courses to make up for the lack of technical undergrad training). - Explain why you’re applying to this particular school.
You should explain why the school and program are a good match for you. What does this school offer you that others do not? How might the program help you fulfill your career goals? If there are individual professors whom you’re interested with working with, you might want to mention them and which projects of theirs interest you – this is a good way to nudge your application to their inbox even if they’re not on the admissions committee. Are there research papers from this school that have interested you? (If you put school-specific things in your essays, be careful to submit the right copy with each application!)
Another reminder that was mentioned on Quora is that this is very different from the essay you probably wrote for undergraduate admissions. A PhD admissions committee cares about your research abilities far more than it does about your quirky hobbies or childhood defining moments (unless they’re related to your research!). That said, it’s still used to evaluate your written communication skills, which are very important considering that your deliverables as a researcher will be in the form of publications, so take the time to exterminate any typos or grammatical errors from your essay.
Beyond this general advice, I highly recommend that you ask fellow students and friends in your discipline for their personal statements. If you’re working with students who are currently applying, volunteer to review each others’ drafts. In addition, get advice from people who are already graduate students — they were clearly successful at navigating the process you’re going through.
Good luck!
September 25, 2010 | 1 comment | tags: admissions, gradschool, howto, writing
So You Think You Can Start A Non-Profit?
Over the past few years, I’ve worked with many non-profit organizations as a volunteer or board member. Most recently, I joined with some friends to found Ujaala, an organization that aims to support other organizations in India through projects that are locally actionable by volunteers in the US. (We didn’t want to focus our efforts on simply sending money overseas. Instead, we want to engage the local community in order to build awareness of the needs and issues affecting people in India.)
Since then, we’ve collected, sorted, and packaged over 1000 articles of clothing in a campaign that we ran this summer — they’ll soon be shipped to an NGO in India. While our first project has been quite successful, I’ve learned many lessons about what’s required to start and run a non-profit organization, and thought I’d share:
- Write a Mission Statement
Before you can even start, it’s important that you identify a need that your organization will strive to address. It can be something as specific as supporting a particular team at your local high school, or a bit more broad, like Ujaala’s: Bringing opportunity to those in need by collaborating with non-profit organizations in India. Not only will a mission statement give your organization a defined purpose, it will give you a standard upon which to measure every action and project that your organization undertakes.
- Assemble a Diverse and Committed Team
If you’ve read this far with interest, you’re probably committed to your cause enough to help get an organization off the ground. Find more people like yourself and get them excited about your idea. You will need a dedicated team in order to fill your organization’s board of directors and also to spread out the administrative and substantive workload involved with running any organization. Additionally, as with any group of people, a diverse set of individuals will bring many different ideas and opinions to the table, which will prove to be extremely useful as you brainstorm fundraising and project plans.
- Understand the Legal Stuff
While not nearly as fun as the actual work your organization will be doing, it’s important that you understand and navigate through the legal process required to set up a non-profit organization. In most cases, you will need to set up a non-profit corporation in your home state, and then apply for 501(c)(3) federal tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service. While a tedious process, filling out the intimidating 28-page application, IRS Form 1023, will help you to solidify and understand your organization’s activities along with its long-term financial plans. This process may not be applicable for every non-profit organization — please remember that I’m not a expert, and do contact an accountant or lawyer if you have any questions.
If you can successfully complete those three tasks, there is no stopping what your organization is capable of. Keep your team motivated, and go help the world!