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Graduate School Statement of Purpose: The Ultimate Guide
Timeless strategies to conquer your essay, stand out, and get into your dream doctorate or master's program.
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: what is a statement of purpose, part 3: preparing to write, part 4: writing your statement of purpose, special section: how to transform your statement of purpose into a personal statement, special section: letters of recommendation, special section: the graduate school interview, frequently asked questions.
You know you’re cut out for grad school. You’ve likely spent countless hours in lab trying to get your experiments to work or given up weekends and fun with friends to dig through archives for your thesis project. You may have even presented your work at conferences and left feeling more excited than ever about your work.
Your graduate education will serve as the next step toward your dream career, regardless of whether your goal is to become a professor, get a fancy position in industry, or work for the government.
Unfortunately, applying to graduate school can be a daunting task. Whether you’re still in school, working, or both, it’s hard to muster the time and focus to sit down and get started on your applications. And even when you do get around to it, you might not know where to start. How do you actually translate years of education and hard work in a field into a standout application? What accomplishments do you choose to highlight in your graduate school statement of purpose? How do you write the kind of statement of purpose that will get you into your dream school?
A statement of purpose is an essay that summarizes your past work and preparation for graduate studies. It lays out your most important experiences (e.g., jobs, internships, apprenticeships, teaching) and accomplishments (e.g., publications, presentations, grants, exhibitions, speaking engagements) with the goal of getting you into your first-choice graduate program.
Whereas strong grades and test scores are the foundation of your application and are necessary to be considered at top programs, your experiences are what set you apart. Therefore, the goal with your statement of purpose is to organize and present your academic journey in a way that convinces the top institutions’ admissions committees that you are perfect for their program.
Regardless of the specific statement of purpose prompts you encounter, the central question is the same: Why you for our graduate program in this field?
To expand, your statement of purpose should argue the following:
Why you want to go to graduate school
How you’ve prepared for graduate studies
What field and specific area you intend to study and why (e.g., Ph.D. in History with a focus on the American Revolution)
Why you’ve chosen University of X for your studies (e.g., specific offerings, resources, faculty)
How is a personal statement different from a statement of purpose?
Although most graduate programs require a statement of purpose, a few will ask for a personal statement instead, yet some schools will request both.
A statement of purpose places a narrative to your achievements to demonstrate that you have prepared for success in your graduate studies. On the other hand, a personal statement draws from your personal and professional experiences to explain how you have come to the decision to pursue a graduate education in your field of interest. In addition, your personal statement can be used to give admissions committees a sense of who you are as a person, including any obstacles you’ve had to overcome, explanations of your less-than-ideal academic record, and contributions you’ve made to your community.
If you are asked for a statement of purpose and personal statement, you should reserve information about your personal journey and hardships for your personal statement and discuss career-related experiences and academic accomplishments in your statement of purpose.
(Note: If you’ve written a statement of purpose, you can easily modify it into a personal statement for programs and fellowships that ask for one and not the other. This modification process is covered in a special section, below.)
What is the admissions committee looking for in a potential graduate student?
Before we get into our step-by-step approach to writing a standout graduate school statement of purpose, let’s discuss what admissions committees are looking for so that you’ll have an easier time writing a compelling essay.
Graduate schools want to admit students who have exhibited a history of determination, self-motivation and passion for their intended field of study. Sound like you? Thought so.
The key word here is exhibited . In other words, you’ll want to draw from your experiences and accomplishments to highlight the aforementioned attributes through your essay.
Here’s a quick cheat-sheet on how to demonstrate the qualities graduate programs are looking for:
History of determination: Experiences in your field that have lasted 1+ year(s)
Self-motivation: Internships, funding, and presentations that you independently and successfully pursued
Passion: A discussion of how you decided on your field of interest (in your intro) and the specific area you’d like to study during your graduate career (in the conclusion)
In addition, below is a summary of what you’ll be critiqued for:
How clearly you present your experiences and accomplishments to display your fitness for their program
Whether your statement of purpose makes a coherent and concise argument that you are the kind of graduate student they are looking for
Your writing skills (i.e., formal and respectful in tone, proper grammar and punctuation, and easy-to-follow argument presented through your experiences on how you arrived at the decision to pursue graduate studies in your field of interest)
The role of your statement of purpose in your overall application
Your statement of purpose offers a unique opportunity to develop a narrative to your experiences and make a compelling case for your admission to various programs. Therefore, make sure to highlight only your most important achievements, insights, and mentors to present yourself as a cohesive package to admissions committees.
What do we mean by a cohesive package? If you’ve had a standout experience (e.g., you’ve worked in a great scientist’s laboratory, you’ve worked for the Gates Foundation, or you’ve taught in an inner-city school), then aside from mentioning it in your statement of purpose, you should have a letter of recommendation for that experience and it should be mentioned in your CV. By making connections across the various components of your application, you’ll reinforce the meaningfulness and importance of your experiences. Moreover, overtly repeating your qualities and achievements throughout your application will influence how your admissions reviewer will think about and remember you.
Therefore, the unique role of your statement of purpose is to draw from the experiences you mention in other parts of your application (e.g., your CV) and use these experiences to provide key insights about you. For example, say you were a botany major who spent 3 years conducting research in the same laboratory, 4 years volunteering at the local botanical garden, and consulting for the Sierra Club on and off since obtaining your undergraduate degree 2 years ago . On paper, you seem like a dedicated applicant with all those years of hard work at the same three places. How do you humbly reinforce your dedication in your statement of purpose using all three of these experiences?
First, be sure to mention the number of years you devoted to each experience and mention any accomplishments within the experience (e.g., presentations you gave, funding goals you reached, events you organized). Next, obtain a letter of recommendation from your supervisor or mentor for each experience, and be sure they explicitly highlight your dedication and the accomplishments you mention in your statement of purpose. Lastly, be sure to quantify your accomplishments whenever possible within your statement of purpose and on your CV (e.g., Botanical garden volunteer: Fundraised over $3,000 for garden outreach program; Organized K-12 field-trip event).
Your goal in developing a cohesive application is simple: Make it easy for the admissions committee reviewer to notice important achievements across your statement of purpose, CV and recommendation letters. By reinforcing your dedication through your experiences and accomplishments, you’ll give the admissions committee reviewer confidence that you will thrive in their graduate program.
(Note: We strongly encourage you to update your CV before you begin writing to ensure that the dates and details you discuss in your statement of purpose are sorted out.)
A little bit of preparation before you write will make the drafting process a lot easier. Recall that the statement of purpose should put a narrative to the accomplishments on your CV that supports your decision to pursue graduate studies.
To best prepare, first jot down dates and details of each activity (e.g., research apprenticeship, job) along with associated accomplishments (e.g., publication, presentation), and figure out which qualities of the ideal graduate student are exhibited through your various experiences.
Here are some qualities to consider demonstrating:
Perseverant
Collaborative
Good mentor
Independent
Self-motivated
Strong interpersonal skills
Clearly communicates complex material
Often, not all experiences or details will make it into your statement of purpose (more on which experiences to include in a moment), but having it all in one place can really help you get your brain juices flowing.
Alternatively, you can simply take a red pen to your CV and write down some comments next to each accomplishment by answering the following questions:
What did you learn from this experience?
Did you get to apply yourself in this opportunity to go above and beyond? If so, how?
Did you get to make a presentation, publish, or obtain funding through this experience?
Did this experience contribute to your decision to go to graduate school? If so, how?
What does this experience say about who you are? Is this something you want to share with the admissions committee?
What should you use from your CV in your statement of purpose?
Simply put, you want to choose experiences and accomplishments that display you are a determined, self-motivated individual with a passion for their field of interest.
Experiences to consider including:
Research assistantships
Volunteering
Internships
(Note: The earliest experiences should be from when you were an undergraduate and onward to the present day. You can include pivotal experiences from before college on your CV, but unless they have been incredibly influential (e.g., high school internship at a university laboratory), save the space for more recent experiences.)
Accomplishments to consider including:
Publications
Presentations
Funding (fellowship, grants, travel grants, scholarships)
Exhibitions
Fundraising
Invited speaker or panelist
Ideally, your listed experiences should be multi-year and within your field of interest. Still, you can boost the importance of shorter experiences like a summer internship by discussing achievements you made during that short period of time, such as particularly strong results, a resulting presentation, or pitching a novel idea that was used by the institution/company.
For each experience you include in your statement of purpose, you’ll have to discuss the following:
A short description of what you did
How long you did it
Why you did it (not always necessary but can be used as a transition in between experiences)
What you learned from it
Any accomplishments that came out of it, such as results, publications, exhibitions, grants, presentations, fundraising, etc.
The accomplishments you present within each experience will not only validate your experience and make it seem more impressive, but can also be used to display your fit for graduate studies. For instance, let’s say you’re applying to a graduate program in Environmental Ecology and you’ve spent the majority of your undergraduate years working on a thesis project investigating the effects of DTT contamination on bird populations in California’s Sierra Mountains. During this time you presented your work at two local conferences and one national conference. You also co-authored a study, mentored a student over the summer, and received the Dean’s award for your thesis project. You definitely want to mention all of that! (We’ll be reviewing examples of strong experience descriptions in Part 4: Writing Your Statement of Purpose, below.)
What shouldn’t you include in your statement of purpose?
1. Unnecessary personal details
What do we mean by personal? Don’t share that you’ve been interested in history since your parents took you to see some Greek ruins as a child and now you want to study European History. Moreover, you should probably exclude sharing an overwhelming hardship that led you to want to pursue graduate studies in, for example, Chemical Biology. These details would be more appropriate for a personal statement, and are neither professional enough nor necessary for a statement of purpose.
There is, however, one exception: If you have changed careers to pursue your field of interest, you should discuss this. For example, let’s say your first undergraduate degree is in Education, and you discovered your interest in science while working as a teacher. Hence, you went back to school for a second undergraduate degree in Physics. This is a personal detail you’ll want to include because the admissions committee will wonder why you have two undergraduate degrees. You can do so subtly by explaining what you learned from your previous degree and how you’ve applied it to your current work.
(Note: some schools will offer an additional section to explain personal circumstances. If you’re given the opportunity to discuss personal details elsewhere, use it, making sure to focus your statement of purpose on why you want to go to graduate school.)
2. Hobbies and inapplicable extracurricular activities
Your hobbies (e.g., art, cooking, skiing, biking) should most certainly not be included in your statement of purpose. A few schools ask additional questions regarding your hobbies on the application. Feel free to include them there.
On the other hand, extracurricular activities such as volunteering or mentoring can be included if they are associated with your field of interest. For example, if you’re applying to a Ph.D. program in Education and you’ve volunteered in a classroom or served as a mentor for a high school student, then definitely include that, especially if you’ve been doing it for a while and it has contributed to your decision to pursue graduate studies. If a school is asking for both a personal statement and a statement of purpose, then such an experience can be included in either.
The ultimate outline for your statement of purpose
Once you’ve gone over your CV and picked out the experiences and accomplishments to highlight, the most tedious part is done. The one final step to complete before you begin writing is putting together an outline.
The skeleton of a strong statement of purpose is straightforward, as follows:
Introduction: State intention to pursue graduate education
The undergraduate experience that initially sparked your interest in the field and how you got into conducting research, creating, etc.
Experience 1: Include description, mention accomplishments A, B, and C, and any insights or lessons learned
Experience 2: Include description, mention accomplishments D and E, and any insights or lessons learned
Experience 3: Include description, mention accomplishments F, G, H, and I, and any insights or lessons learned
Mention area within field of interest you will focus on during graduate school. Why University of X? What programs and which faculty’s mentorship interests you?
What will you do with your graduate degree?
Once you build more detail into this skeleton, your outline should resemble something like this example:
Introduction: I want to study basic biology with an emphasis on pharmacology because understanding the mechanisms of interaction between small molecules/chemicals and proteins fascinates me.
Mention the class that introduced me to pharmacology and microbiology, what about it interested me, and how I approached the graduate student teaching the lab section for a research opportunity.
Undergraduate research opportunity 1 (3 years)
Describe the research question, technique, and any findings
Mention presentation at annual meeting
Mention publication
Any insights or lessons learned (e.g., Enjoyed independence in designing my own experiments)
Transition: curiosity in experiencing a different research environment
Summer Internship at (Amgen)
Description of the project I contributed to
Got me interested in application of basic biology to drug development
Transition: wanted to further explore research environment and interest in pharmacology, but this time apply it to a new organism
Research Position at Harvard after college (2 years)
Mention that I worked on multiple projects along with my own independent project
Mention I presented my work at multiple meetings (local and national)
Mention publications
Transition: Work proved my passion for pharmacology and microbiology
What will my Ph.D. be in?
Begin with: “After working on therapeutic applications of microbial biology, I have decided to pursue the field from a basic science standpoint.”
Ph.D. program in basic biology and pharmacology
Customized bit on professors I’m interested in working with at specific school
Conclude with the future!
I’d like to attend graduate school so I can become a great scientist and continue conducting excellent scientific research in academia
Once you have an outline containing all the details you want to include in your statement of purpose, it’s time to write everything out.
The introduction
Your statement of purpose should initially introduce a theme or reason that will tie your separate accomplishments together and present a logical argument for why you have decided to attend graduate school. A theme could be an academic interest that ties your experiences together (e.g., Russian history, particle physics, microbiology), or a general concept you’re interested in (e.g., size scales, human interaction, efficiency). It is best to keep this short and to the point. Simply state what you’re interested in and what made you want to go to graduate school. To reiterate, you want to keep this discussion formal and not get overly personal.
Example (Continued from outline):
I am fascinated with understanding the molecular mechanisms of disease and with exploring interactions between chemicals and proteins in the cell. My past experiences exploring basic biology in microorganisms have helped me gain an appreciation for applying basic science to disease research. My ambition to continue learning new skills, exploring the scientific method, and learning more about the molecular world has resulted in my decision to pursue a doctorate in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program with an emphasis in Pharmacology at Harvard University.
Backing up your introduction with your experiences and accomplishments
Now for the meat of your statement of purpose: the experiences that led you to graduate studies. This section needs to make a logical argument as to why you are a good fit for the graduate program, as well as apply a clear and seamless narrative to your accomplishments.
How do you make a logical argument for graduate studies? Let’s say that you mention wanting to study X in your introduction. When presenting each experience, you note how it has prepared you to study X by helping you experience one of the attributes of an exemplary graduate student: determination, competence, self-motivation, passion, independence, etc.
But rather than simply stating your independence, for example, you should note any accomplishments that display your independence. For instance, if you funded your own research through a grant or fellowship, make sure to weave that detail into your experience discussion.
In order to support the expenses associated with my research, I applied for and was awarded a small grant from the California History Museum.
This one short sentence shows the reader that you are independent enough to seek your own funding and that you have experience writing grants and securing funding (very useful in graduate school and beyond). Who wouldn’t want to admit a student like that?
To demonstrate passion for your field, be sure to note how your interest developed and how you will use each university’s unique opportunities to pursue it. For example:
After working on therapeutic applications of microbial biology, I have decided to pursue the field from a basic science standpoint. As a Ph.D. student, I aim to study the molecular mechanisms that are involved in disease states of microorganisms. I am particularly excited by Dr. Dale Heart’s work on the mechanism of the switch made by Histoplasma capsulatum from the filamentous soil form to the pathogenic yeast form.
Although there are multiple ways to demonstrate passion throughout your statement of purpose, it helps to always take an enthusiastic tone when writing about your experiences. Don’t mention anything negative in your statement of purpose, such as a poor mentor, a graduate student who mistreated you, or a nasty grant application reviewer. In addition, don’t badmouth any collaborators, as it reflects poorly on you and the collaborator may even have a relationship with the individuals reviewing your application. You also shouldn’t complain about applying a faulty method to your experiments or creations. And of course, you don’t want to complain about difficulties with your work that might show you are not committed and easily give up. Just stay positive and share your excitement for the journey that led you to graduate school.
How do you apply a narrative to your statement of purpose?
This is a slightly more difficult task for a statement of purpose vs. a personal statement.
Narrative in a statement of purpose is achieved by incorporating reflections on your accomplishments and using clear transitions to logically string together the various experiences listed on your CV.
For example, if you apply a narrative structure to paragraph 4 from the outline above—“Summer internship at Amgen”—you could end up with the following paragraph:
In order to experience applied research, I held a summer internship at Amgen, where I worked on a protein involved in cancer metastasis. Through this experience, I learned the process by which basic science is used to understand the molecular biology of cancer and, along with chemistry and pharmacology, how this knowledge can be applied to create a drug. At the end of my internship, I presented my findings to the Amgen scientists. I enjoyed studying the basic biology involved in early-phase drug discovery and the application of chemistry and pharmacology to translating basic science into a pharmaceutical application. Thus, I decided to further explore this strategy after college and learn more about infectious diseases in an academic setting, which led to my current position in Dr. Anna Smith’s Lab at Harvard University as a Research Associate.
In this example, the student was able to support their passion for their field of interest and display independence by noting a presentation at the end of the internship. Moreover, by explaining her reasoning for moving from one experience to the next, the applicant developed a narrative that connected her summer internship at Amgen with her research associate position at Harvard, which she’ll transition to discussing in the following paragraph.
(A quick note on industry experience: Most of the time, you are bound by contract to not disclose detailed information about your project. If this is the case, still provide a description of the project without mentioning important details. Most industry mentors will help you come up with a general description of your work that doesn’t give away any secrets. Note how blanket terms were used in the previous example to ensure that no actual drug names or molecular targets were mentioned. Yet, the reader can understand the work’s general goal.)
The ending: What are your academic interests? What will you do in the future with a Ph.D.?
By the time you get to the end of your statement of purpose, you will have reasoned that you are a capable and driven person who is ready to pursue graduate studies. Now it’s time to convince the admissions committee to accept you into their specific program.
The conclusion of your statement of purpose should contain two paragraphs:
A discussion of your academic interests and specific professors and programs that draw you to a particular institution
A discussion of what you intend to do beyond graduate school
The second-to-last paragraph should specifically state what you are interested in working on during your graduate studies. You’ll need to do some research about departmental or program-associated professors at a given university with whom you’d like to work, as well as mention some areas the program excels in and how those fit with your educational goals.
To make things easier when applying to multiple schools, you can keep the general field of interest (e.g., Colonial History, Microbiology, American Literature, etc.) the same across all of your statements and customize the professors and the specific topics (e.g., Colonial History of Haiti during a certain period, Microbiology of Histoplasma , American Literature during the Gilded Age) for each school.
The second-to-last paragraph should answer the following questions:
What are your academic interests?
This should be more specific than what you stated in your introduction. For example, instead of merely stating that you have an interest in history, explicitly mention which era of history in which specific country or region.
How will you explore your interests at the school you are applying to?
For example, the school may offer the best education in an important technique in your field (e.g., leading experts in CRISPR, on-site cyclotron, etc.).
Are there any specific professors whose work you are interested in? What about their work interests you/applies to your academic interest?
Name names and keep it short. For example: I am intrigued by the work of Dr. Mark Zane on excited state dynamics of biological molecules.
In the very last paragraph, you can get a bit cheesy. You’ll want to state what you intend do beyond graduate school, make a broad statement about your reasons for attending, and reiterate your passion for your field of interest. If you chose a theme in your intro, end with that. It doesn’t have to be long, but it should leave the reader with a personal connection to you regarding your shared field of interest.
(A note on mentioning future endeavors: Unfortunately, there exists a general bias within academia when it comes to the future endeavors of graduate students. Most of the time, the people reviewing your application are academics and want to train future academics. If you want to apply your Ph.D. to a career in academia, then state so. If you want to apply your degree to industry and you’re applying to a school that reveres academia (you can usually tell by just asking around), then keep your career aspirations more general. For example, if you’re applying to a science-based graduate program, say you’ll apply your degree toward becoming a better scientist, and be sure to go along with this during your interview.)
In either of these two paragraphs, you should mention the name of the school you are applying to. And remember to change the institution’s name for each application! Moreover, you want to “show” the school that you’ve put some thought into why you are applying to spend 4-7+ years at their institution. Here’s an example of personalization in the second-to-last paragraph:
As a graduate student in Berkeley’s History Department, I would be interested in working with Dr. Dana Sil to explore peace and conflict in the Middle East.
And here’s an example of personalization in the very last paragraph:
A well-rounded program such as the Molecular Cell Biology Program at Harvard University would be the ideal place for me to train and continue my exploration into the molecular world.
A full-length sample statement of purpose
Below is an example of a full-length statement of purpose based on the outline presented earlier.
While at the University of California, San Diego, I completed a double major in Molecular Cellular Biology (MCB) and Pharmacology. With Pharmacology, I sought a molecular explanation for the chemical and disease interface, while with MCB I delved deeper into understanding the basic biology that supports life. I first considered academic research after taking a class with Dr. Ray Goodman on Microbiology because I enjoyed the laboratory portion of the class and working with various organisms. After the class ended, I asked Dr. Goodman’s graduate student, Lana Garcia, for an opportunity to work with her on the molecular mechanism of biofilm formation in Streptococcus pneumoniae .
S. pneumonia is a Gram positive, facultative anaerobic bacterium that grows in biofilms and can lead to deadly infections in children and the elderly. For three years, I worked with Lana to uncover the key molecular players that regulate S. pneumonia biofilm formation using genetic knockouts and a novel biofilm formation assay that I helped design. Our work resulted in the identification of Hdp1, a protein found in the cell wall, as a key component of biofilm formation. The work was published in the September 2014 issue of Cell . I had the opportunity to present findings at the American Society for Microbiology’s (ASM) Annual Meeting in 2014 and at a few local conferences. In order to support the expenses associated with my research, I applied for and was awarded ASM’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship along with several travel grants. I enjoyed the independence I was given to conduct research and design experiments, but I was curious about the application of basic science findings to drug design in a corporate setting.
For the past two years, I have been working on an independent research project in Dr. Smith’s lab where I am applying high-throughput drug screens to identify new drugs for Coccidioides immitis , the fungus that causes Valley fever. My efforts have resulted in the identification of a new drug, and with the application of genetic and biochemical methods, I have identified the biofilm-inducing gene Xdt3 as the drug target. I am currently preparing a manuscript for publication. I have also contributed to multiple other projects in the lab involving the basic biology behind C. immitis growth and spore formation. These works have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and mBio . Throughout my time at the Smith lab, I have had opportunities to present my work at several local and national meetings, including ASM’s Annual Meeting in 2017. This experience solidified my passion for pharmacology and microbiology and helped me gain insight into academic life.
After working on therapeutic applications of microbiology for years, I have decided to pursue the field from a basic science standpoint. As a Ph.D. student, I aim to study the molecular mechanisms that are involved in disease states of microorganisms. I am excited by Dr. Dale Heart’s work on the mechanism of the switch made by Histoplasma capsulatum from the filamentous soil form to the pathogenic yeast form. I am also interested in Dr. Pablo Ruiz’s work on the gut microbiome as well as Dr. Tina Johnson’s work on host-pathogen interactions. Working in these three professors’ laboratories and others in your program would be an ideal next step for me to apply my background in microbiology and drug discovery to basic science projects.
Beyond graduate school, I hope to pursue a career in academia studying the molecular mechanism behind disease-causing microorganisms. I highly regard basic science and its application to improve human health. A well-rounded program such as the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program at Harvard University would be an excellent place for me to train and continue my exploration into the molecular world.
Final thoughts
Our final tip is that once you’ve written your statement of purpose, be sure that things you mention in it come up in your CV, your Letters of Recommendation, and any other part of your application. Remember, you want to submit a cohesive application where each component reinforces the other and important experiences or accomplishments are repeated across multiple components of your application. Doing so will not only help your reviewers walk away remembering key pieces about you, but it will also validate your accomplishments.
(Note: If a program requests both documents, you should not follow the advice in this question. Instead, you must write two separate essays for that program.).
Let’s start with the introduction. Whereas you wrote your statement of purpose concisely and to the point, your personal statement should have an introduction that will hook the reader while introducing an important aspect of your background or personality.
The most effective and creative way to engage your reader right away is by starting your introduction in media res , which is Latin for “in the middle of things.” You can tell a story about an obstacle you’ve overcome or a moment that highlights why you want to study X. Either of these personal stories can be turned into a theme that ties together experiences you shared in your statement of purpose, as well as extracurricular experiences you’ll be sharing in your personal statement.
Once you have a theme, simply go through your statement of purpose and insert commentary that ties back to the theme or uses it as a transition from one experience or paragraph to the next.
Perhaps you have not had to overcome any major obstacles in your life that have influenced your decision to pursue a graduate degree in your chosen field. In that case, you may highlight other personal experiences, such as something interesting about your family background or efforts to support individuals who are less fortunate than you to develop a theme.
For example, let’s say that during college you were a volunteer psychology tutor for local high school students. Now, you’re applying to a Ph.D. program in Psychology. Draw from your volunteer experience to connect with the reader and introduce your intentions for graduate studies in Psychology. It can be something as simple as the moment when you explained a difficult concept to a student. Here, your theme will be teaching and/or mentorship. Throughout your personal statement, you can talk about opportunities you’ve had to teach and mentor, as well as the great mentors who have guided you throughout your academic journey.
Alternatively, you can get “personal” by discussing experiences that highlight your reasons for pursuing your field of interest in more depth. However, it’s more difficult to achieve uniqueness with this approach because most graduate students in your field will share similar experiences, rendering your story cliché. Set your story apart from others by being more descriptive, starting in media res , and connecting with the reader through creative writing in your introduction. However, if you’ve had an extraordinary experience like discovering your love for architecture through a relative who took you on tours of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings or a curiosity in environmental biology from a visit to a disaster site caused by Hurricane Katrina, that could serve as the foundation for an engaging personal statement introduction. From there, identify a lesson or theme from your experience that has resonated throughout all of your other experiences, such as triumph, curiosity, determination, etc.
Whether it’s an obstacle you’ve overcome, a volunteer experience, or a unique circumstance that sparked your passion, the end goal of your personal statement is to tug at the heartstrings of your reader and convince them that you are a great candidate for their graduate program.
A full-length sample personal statement
We’ve taken the statement of purpose example from above and modified it into a personal statement. The theme is a scientific interest in microbiology and biofilms (a phenomenon in microbiology where single-celled organisms work together to create an impenetrable multicellular complex) sparked by a family tragedy (modified text in bold).
Crouched over in the only chair in my father’s room at the Intensive Care Unit of St. Mary’s Hospital, all I could think about was how a common fungus could cause so much harm. My father had recently undergone a simple procedure that required the use of a central venous catheter to deliver medication. Without our knowledge, this catheter was the perfect site for the common yeast Candida albicans to transform and build a biofilm, which in turn caused my father to have a systemic fungal infection. How could a single cellular organism switch and create a multicellular complex? How is it that modern medicine does not have apt tools and techniques for detecting and treating such infections? After watching my father survive this ordeal, I went back to college with my view of single-celled organisms, microbiology, and medicine forever changed.
I am fascinated with understanding the molecular mechanisms of biofilm formation, its role in disease, and the translation of such science to drug development. While at the University of California, San Diego, I completed a double major in Molecular Cellular Biology (MCB) and Pharmacology. With Pharmacology, I sought a molecular explanation for the chemical and disease interface, while with MCB I delved deeper into understanding the basic biology that supports life. I first considered academic research after taking a class with Dr. Ray Goodman on Microbiology because I enjoyed the laboratory portion of the class and working with various organisms. After the class ended, I asked Dr. Goodman’s graduate student, Lana Garcia, for an opportunity to work with her on the molecular mechanism of biofilm formation in Streptococcus pneumoniae .
S. pneumonia is a Gram positive, facultative anaerobic bacterium that grows in biofilms and can lead to deadly infections in children and the elderly. For three years, I worked with Lana to uncover the key molecular players that regulate S. pneumonia biofilm formation using genetic knockouts and a novel biofilm formation assay that I helped design. Our work resulted in the identification of Hdp1, a protein found in the cell wall, as a key component of biofilm formation. The work was published in the September 2014 issue of Cell . I had the opportunity to present findings at the American Society for Microbiology’s (ASM) Annual Meeting in 2014 and at a few local conferences. In order to support the expenses associated with my research, I applied for and was awarded ASM’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship along with several travel grants. I enjoyed the independence I was given to conduct research and design experiments.
Aside from my work in the laboratory, I spent two years of my undergraduate career starting the Bench to Bedside Education Initiative (BBEI). BBEI brings together nurses and doctors from our local hospital as well as scientists of all levels to an annual symposium to exchange information on procedures and scientific findings with the goal of helping each party walk away having learned something they can take back to their daily work. I started BBEI because I felt there was knowledge about biofilm formation that I was learning in the laboratory that could be translated to procedural changes at local hospitals in an effort to prevent systemic fungal infections. I have fundraised over $20,000 for BBEI and launched a website with resources and example lessons that BBEI symposium attendees have learned from each other. My work with BBEI sparked my interest in human biology and the pharmaceutical industry, which prompted me to explore cancer biology and drug development in a corporate setting.
In order to experience applied research, I held a summer internship at Amgen, where I worked on a protein involved in cancer metastasis. Through this experience, I learned the process by which basic science is used to understand the molecular biology of cancer and, along with chemistry and pharmacology, how this knowledge can be applied to create a drug. At the end of my internship, I presented my findings to the Amgen scientists. I enjoyed studying the basic biology involved in early-phase drug discovery and the application of chemistry and pharmacology to translating basic science into a pharmaceutical application. However, I wanted to continue pursuing my passion for biofilm-based diseases . Thus, I decided to further explore this strategy after college and learn more about infectious diseases in an academic setting, which led to my current position in Dr. Anna Smith’s Lab at Harvard University as a Research Associate.
For the past two years, I have been working on an independent research project in Dr. Smith’s lab where I am applying high-throughput drug screens to identify new drugs for Coccidioides immitis , a biofilm-forming fungus that causes Valley fever. My efforts have resulted in the identification of a new drug, and with the application of genetic and biochemical methods, I have identified the biofilm-inducing gene Xdt3 as the drug target. I am currently preparing a manuscript for publication. I have also contributed to multiple other projects in the lab involving the basic biology behind C. immitis growth and spore formation. These works have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and mBio . Throughout my time at the Smith lab, I have had opportunities to present my work at several local and national meetings, including ASM’s Annual Meeting in 2017. This experience solidified my passion for pharmacology and microbiology and helped me gain insight into academic life.
The ordeal my family overcame with my father’s two-month battle to survive a systemic fungal infection started by a biofilm sparked my passion for science, and ultimately, it has fueled my academic interest in the basic biology of this mysterious phenomenon in microbiology. Beyond graduate school, I hope to pursue a career in academia studying the molecular mechanism behind disease-causing microorganisms. I highly regard basic science and its application to improve human health. A well-rounded program such as the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program at Harvard University would be an excellent place for me to train and continue my exploration into the molecular world.
Whom to ask for a letter of recommendation
Here’s a simple rule: If you’ve mentioned a certain individual in your statement of purpose, then it’s best to have a letter from them. However, if you can’t get a letter from them directly, then mention the person you are getting a letter from somewhere in your statement of purpose. For instance, if the professor you worked with is too busy and the graduate student you worked with is writing your rec letter, then be sure to mention the graduate student’s name in your statement of purpose. Doing so will serve the following two purposes:
Help the admissions committee connect the letter to your story
Validate the experience you mention in the statement of purpose by having someone back it up with a letter. This repetition of the experience outside of your CV and statement of purpose will help the experience stick with the admissions committee and leave them with a third form of validation to highlight its importance. As mentioned previously, this kind of repetition makes for a cohesive application.
Some professors might ask you to write your own letter of recommendation. If at all possible, avoid this situation. Applicant-written letters can be spotted a mile away and look bad for the applicant. If possible, ask a postdoctoral fellow or a graduate student working with the professor to write the letter for you and ask that the professor co-sign the letter.
How to ask for a letter of recommendation
Be sure to provide letter writers with a copy of your statement of purpose. If that’s not possible, give your recommenders a quick description of what you’ll be mentioning about them—and your work with them—so they know what to address in their letter. If you want your letter writer to mention something specific, like a publication that is still in the works or an outstanding personal quality, then make sure you explicitly ask them to do so. Most importantly, provide your recommenders with an updated CV. This can serve as a gentle reminder of your accomplishments and gives your recommendation letter writer something to work with.
Request letters of recommendation at least two months in advance in order to give writers plenty of time to produce a great letter. Your initial request should be somewhat formal and include a question to improve your odds of receiving a response.
Here’s an example of an email you could send to request a letter of recommendation:
Dear Dr. Goodman,
I hope all is well with you. On my end, I’ve been keeping busy with senior year courses and my work in the Smith Lab.
After years of research and the experience I gained in your laboratory, I’m confident in my decision to pursue a Ph.D. In fact, I’ll be applying to graduate programs this upcoming December.
As part of my application, I’d like to include a recommendation letter from you because my experience conducting research in your laboratory under your mentorship has thoroughly prepared me for this next step. Would you write a letter of reference highlighting my work in your lab? Letters are due by December 15th.
If so, I’d appreciate it if you would focus on my work with Lana on discovering Hdp1, the resulting publications (published and unpublished), fellowship grant, and talks at conferences.
Of course, I can provide you with my CV, statement of purpose, and more information regarding the schools, programs, etc. upon your agreement.
Thanks for considering to help.
Dan Nakamura
Note that the student does not give all the information in the initial email. This provides an opportunity for a follow-up email with dates, schools, CV, and a statement of purpose, which buys the student time to get those in order and, more importantly, serves as a reminder for the faculty to write the letter. Also, note the student asks specifically for what he would like mentioned in the letter.
You should send each recommender a reminder one month before the due date as well as two weeks before the due date. If your writers have not submitted their recommendation letter a week before the due date, another reminder should be sent out.
Recommendation letter reminders should be sent via email as a reply to the original email because folks are more likely to read an email if there is a “Re:” in the subject line. For example:
Hi Dr. Goodman
I’m checking in to see whether you’ve had a chance to write my letter of recommendation for graduate school. It’s due in two weeks (December 15) and the application website notes that you have not yet submitted it.
Please let me know if I can provide any additional information.
Thanks again,
You can also send your recommendation letter writers ultra-gentle reminders by sending them an attachment they didn’t have before (e.g., your updated statement of purpose). For example:
I hope you’re doing well. Just wanted to send along the final version of my statement of purpose so you’re aware of exactly what I mention about my experience in your lab.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Whether applying to a program or a specific laboratory, you will most likely have to interview as part of your graduate school admissions process.
You should aim to achieve the following two goals during your interviews:
Getting your interviewers to like you (see our articles on medical school admissions interviews for more information on how to accomplish this: Article 1 & Article 2 )
Continue reinforcing the main points from the rest of your application, especially your statement of purpose, to ensure you leave your interviewers with your intended impression (see The Cohesive Application section, above, for more information).
You will receive a call, email, or both inviting you to an interview. Regardless of the medium, be pleasant, convey enthusiasm, and express appreciation. And regardless of how or by whom you’re contacted, accept the interview offer as soon as possible to demonstrate your excitement. This advice applies for your dream schools and backup schools. You want to keep all of your options open.
Preparing for your interview
Before your interview date, practice talking about your past and current work with friends and mentors, and come up with a well-rehearsed sound bite for each experience. The sound bite will come in handy when you’re meeting other interviewees and current graduate students at mixers, as well as when you draw a blank during an interview. Most importantly, when practicing discussing your past and current work, ask your friends and mentors to follow up with questions. This way, you will get an idea of the areas of your work that require further explanation and, more importantly, you’ll get used to answering questions on the fly.
When it comes time for the real interview, how well you explain your past work will be a key factor in whether admissions committees see you as a strong fit at their graduate programs. To do this effectively, you’ll want to set up your experience discussions with background, the problem, the method, your findings, and associated accomplishments. Sound familiar? All of this information is contained in your statement of purpose, so just practice “talking” about what you wrote with another human being who can ask you to elaborate when needed.
For example, if we were to turn the very last experience from the example statement of purpose above into an interview answer, it would go something like this:
“After graduating from undergrad, I spent two years in Dr. Smith’s lab at Harvard applying my expertise in microbiology to Coccidioides immitis . C. immitis is the fungus that causes Valley fever in folks across the United States; however, there are no specific drugs for this fungus. Instead, patients are given general antifungals. In order to create a C. immitis -specific drug, we took advantage of the fungus’s ability to form multicellular biofilms and used genetic knockout libraries of the fungus assayed in our novel assay to identify Xdt3 as a drug target. We then applied high-throughput drug screens to discovery a new drug that targets the C. immitis gene Xdt3 and nothing else. Although I am currently preparing a manuscript for the bulk of this work, I did contribute to multiple other projects involving C. immitis basc biology that have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and mBio .”
Ahead of each school’s interview, review your application and prepare to discuss your research. Don’t waste time skimming over the latest publications so you have something interesting to talk about. Your work is plenty interesting and, as the expert on it, you should have much to discuss about it. Moreover, some schools will hand you a packet containing your interview schedule the night before the big day. Don’t waste your evening reading through every recent article the professor who is interviewing you has published. Instead, quickly skim their lab website so you’re aware enough of their work to ask intelligent questions when they talk about it. This effort should take no more than 30 minutes for each faculty interviewer. Spend the rest of your evening relaxing and resting for the busy day ahead.
Acing your actual interview
During each interview, be polite, open-minded, and–most importantly—be yourself. You are interviewing the program as much as they are interviewing you. Therefore, you want to make sure the graduate students you meet have the types of personalities you like to see in individuals you’re working with and are on similar career trajectories to the ones you’re interested in. In addition, note which professors you get along with naturally during your interview and why. Moreover, be open to learning about areas of work that you aren’t necessarily interested in.
Although schools do their best to match students with interviewers based on shared interests, they may also include interviewers outside of your field of interest. Don’t be intimidated by such “outside interviewers” and feel free to ask them about their research. By doing so, you’ll demonstrate your curiosity and openness to learning about new fields.
Remember also that you are being interviewed throughout the interview day, from the morning breakfast to the evening party with current graduate students. In addition to being polite, make sure to manage your drinking and behavior. This is not the time to share your wild side.
Lastly, you want to come across as a determined, self-motivated, passionate, and interesting potential graduate student who is also easy to talk to. Therefore, feel free to express enthusiasm about your past work when discussing a particular experience. Moreover, when asking your interviewer questions, look and sound interested while listening to their answers (most likely you will be, and fake it if you’re not). You can demonstrate interest in the following ways:
Nod as they talk about their work
Ask questions about their work. A great starting question to ask, especially if you don’t know what that professor studies, is the following: Would you tell me about an active project or two that you are pursuing?
Ask questions about the methods they use in their work. This is a great way to ask questions about a field you’re unfamiliar with but a method you know
Ask questions about the field to learn something from your interview experience. However, be sure to mention to the interviewer that you are unfamiliar with the specific field so they can explain it at the appropriate level.
For example, if your interest is in physical chemistry and the professor you’re interviewing with focuses on developing battery technology, ask them to explain the challenges with current battery technology and how their work addresses those challenges.
Feel free to ask a question at the end of your interview that aims to solicit advice from interviewers with whom you’ve built good rapport.
For example, a non-academic question that’s often well-received is, “What have you observed to be a common struggle among first-year graduate students, and how would you advise someone in my position to avoid such issues?”
Save more general, program-level questions (e.g., “What do you think are the biggest strengths and weaknesses of this program?”) for current graduate students you speak with during interview day.
It’s easy to notice how well you can demonstrate your enthusiasm, passion, and curiosity with questions. And although you may have never thought about how to ask excellent questions, doing so simply requires practice, like any other skill.
Because you may be rusty for your first interview, do your best to schedule one of your backup schools before heading into your dream school’s interview. That way, you can get some official practice under your belt and boost your odds of getting into your top-choice programs.
How to follow up after your interview
The day after your interview, you should email the professors and graduate students who interviewed you and thank them for their time. If any great academic or program-level questions that you forgot to ask come to mind, ask them at this point. Be sure not to come off like you assume you’re in the program. Exhibit humility and courtesy in your email.
Question: How long should my statement of purpose be?
Answer: Many schools will provide a specific character or word limit. However, when a program does not specify length, aim to write somewhere between 500 to 1000 words.
It’s generally better to write concisely than in a long-winded way. Moreover, there’s no need to worry if you don’t use the entire allotted space. As long as you have clearly explained your past work and why you want to graduate school, you’re all set.
Question: How should I discuss a challenge I have had to overcome during my undergraduate years that affected my grades or work?
Answer: Some applications extend the opportunity to discuss circumstances that have impacted your academic work. These opportunities typically come in the form of a short write-in answer that is separate from your statement of purpose.
However, if there’s no such “Additional Comments” section in some of your applications, be prepared to concisely mention in your statement of purpose what the obstacle was. More specifically, you can include this information in your second paragraph when you mention how you got started in your field as an undergraduate student.
(Note: Simply achieving lower-than-expected grades at some point in college does not justify you discussing your challenges. Most students in this position want to “explain” away poor grades and/or GRE scores due to poor adjustment to college, inadequate study time, or something else. These types of explanations won’t work in your favor, so you should only discuss your challenges if they were largely outside your control.)
Question: What should I bring with me during my graduate school interviews?
Here’s a short list of must-have items for all of your interviews:
Comfortable shoes: You’ll be doing a lot of walking!
Notebook and pen: You never know when you’ll need to jot down a note or explain a complex theory or formula by writing it out for your interviewer.
Three copies of your CV: Only offer these if your interviewer explicitly asks for it or if they mention that they have not seen your application.
Water and snack: Most programs offer coffee and snacks throughout interview day. However, you’ll need to stay hydrated and, if you’re the type of person who gets “hangry,” it helps to have a small snack to get you through your interviews. This final bullet underscores a larger important point: Interview days can be mentally and physically taxing, so make sure to listen to your body and take care of yourself.
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Sample 1st Paragraph PHD Application in Biology
My Writing Service: Biology Personal Statements of Purpose for Admission to Graduate School. Biology, as the Queen of the Physical Sciences, provides special opportunity for creative statements that are carefully tailored to your long term career plans. The Master’s Degree in Biology is a preferred strategy of prospective dentists and doctors alike, as a way to beef up their credentials for entry into Dental or Medical School. Oh, the struggles that I have had with cancer on paper, helping people gain admission to dedicate their lives in this battle. It is a privilege and I would be honored to help you as well.
It is a special honor for me to help you, to empower you to help clarify and eloquently express your goals, the contribution that you will be capable of making if accepted to the program to which you are applying in Biology. Together, we are building a tomorrow that will slowly be freed from disease and suffering. My contribution will be helping you to get accepted, on the basis of an especially eloquent explanation of your long term plans concerning your contribution to the study of biology. After you fill out my Online Interview Form, I will ask you some specific questions by email if I need any further information. Please also send your resume/CV and or rough draft if you have one.
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Biology and Ethics
As someone with a PHD in Religion and Ethics, I am especially concerned with the way in which Ethical judgments may heavily influence the success of applications that develop from many avenues of biological research. Sequencing the human genome, gene localization and identity, gene therapy, the creation and release of genetically engineered organisms, bioengineered pharmaceuticals, and ecosystem management of marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments, are all current and lively areas of applied research that call for cooperation and partnerships between biologists and many other professional and cultural groups in the community.
I take particular delight in the way in which the study of biology has an immediate relevance to our daily lives. It is important for everyone to develop an informed sense of how we may individually and collectively continue to fit into the complex ecology of our planet without rendering horrendous destruction. Some of the greatest engineering feats of the future are likely to involve bioengineering projects, particularly concerning the disposal of municipal and industrial wastes and the development of renewable resources.
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Humanitarian side of biology.
Biology is the study of living organisms and is divided into specialized fields such as morphology, physiology, anatomy, behavior, origin and distribution, but are there opportunities for biologists to work in the humanitarian sector?
The answer is yes. However, like many students who’ve completed their Bachelor’s degree and specialized in something that isn’t directly related to conflict management, development, international politics or human rights, further study and voluntary work is recommended if you want to make getting into this field easier for yourself.
Luckily, there are many ways you can do this. Even if you haven’t finished your degree! For example, if you were to minor in ecology or focus on human biology during your Bachelor’s, there will be more doors open in the humanitarian field once you’ve completed your first degree.
Other options available to students that are either studying or trying to decide what to do after their Bachelor’s, include work placements abroad and internships at nonprofit organizations. Perhaps you’d like to work with frogs in Bolivia, or pandas in China – opportunities like these can often expand into paid roles, or allow for more flexibility in your role at an organization, so you can use your knowledge of biology to humanitarian ends.
These types of opportunities provide you with some great ammunition when it comes to demonstrating your voluntary work experience to organizations and courses you apply for later; give you a real feel for what this kind of work is like and help you decide where in the world you’d like to focus your attention on.
An additional benefit of doing voluntary work is that if you prove yourself capable and useful around the office and out in the field or community, you are often given more responsibility than you might if you were working in a role in the private sector with the same amount of experience behind you. This is extremely beneficial to your career in general, and will often lead you into higher paying roles when you eventually take a paid position.
If you want to take part in a mission or humanitarian work related to biology and ecology, look at forestry organizations, environmental management NGOs, renewable energy or agricultural projects, ecological or environmental community development concerns, or environmental research ventures.
Some great examples include the Pachamama Alliance (pachamama.org), a project that works in the Amazon rainforest; Mumbai Forest Initiative (wrm.org.uy), WWF Forests (wwf.panda.org); Survival International; the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP, unep.org); the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS, wcs.org), which aims to conserve the world’s largest wild place in 15 priority regions; African Bamboo (African-bamboo.com); One Acre Fund (oneacrefund.org). However, there are thousands of small NGOs that operate around the world that would be happy to receive a volunteer with some specialized knowledge in biology and some new energy to work for their cause.
It’s true to say that if you’re really serious about taking your career in a humanitarian direction, a Master’s degree cannot do you any harm. Not only will it give you heaps of specialized and practical knowledge to apply when you go out into the world of work, it will help you deeply focus on making a difference and prepare you for an effective, inspiring career down the road.
If you’d like help writing your personal statement that will help you fly through the Master’s degree admission process, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. That’s what we’re all about.
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Biology Personal Statement Examples
Our biology personal statement examples will inspire you to write your own unique statement, and help you understand why previous biology students were successful in applying for a place.
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What is a biology personal statement?
Your biology personal statement should tell the university all about your strengths, skills, experience and career plans.
It should also convey your enthusiasm for the subject, and what aspects of it you enjoy and why.
How do I write a biology personal statement?
It’s a good idea to start your statement with why you want to study biology at university.
Try to talk about what drew you to biology initially - was it a childhood experience, or were you inspired by a family member or a television documentary? Pin this down if you can, as admissions tutors always want to know about your motivations for wanting to study their subject.
Make sure you back up everything with examples, as you need to convince the university that you they should offer you a place on their biology degree over anyone else.
A great biology personal statement should be written clearly and concisely, with a good introduction, middle, and a conclusion. After all, your statement has to stand out from the crowd if your UCAS application is going to be successful.
For inspiration on how to write your own unique statement, take a look at some of our engineering personal statement examples above, as well as our collection of top rated personal statement examples .
What should I include in my biology personal statement?
It’s important to include skills and experience from all areas of your life and try to relate them to hobbies or extracurricular activities if they helped you to build on certain strengths.
Think about how any work experience you have completed might be useful in your degree, e.g. what skills did you learn? were there any parts of it you particularly enjoyed? if so, why?
Make sure you include everything that is relevant to your course, which means you may want to leave off your Grade 6 in piano, or your swimming certificates.
University admissions tutors want to know what you can bring to their department and what value you can add, so every sentence of your personal statement needs to earn its place.
You need to sell yourself as a well-rounded individual in terms of academic knowledge, work experience and extracurricular activities in order to have a chance of being successful with your biology UCAS application (although this doesn't mean lying or embellishing the truth!).
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Sample SOP for MS in Biology
Sample SOP for Biology
Ever since I was born and started to understand this world, I became fascinated with how organisms and living things function to survive in a favourable and unfavourable environment. Not just this, but there are a lot of things that has kept me wondering about. This curiosity helped me build a deep interest in biology because this was the only field where I could have got my all answers. As I grew older, this interest also grew deeper and deeper. In my leisure time, I would watch videos and documentaries related to the growth and living of wildlife and plants. Spending time with these activities brought me closer to Biology and evolution.
Throughout my schooling, I had been making in the top rankers of the school. My grades were consistently above average, resulting in different opportunities to learn and evolve in biology. When I reached my senior secondary school, I had to choose the subject of my interest. Without a second thought, I chose biology as my major. Again, my grades in senior secondary were quite good. I score a rank of second in my school. This gave me the confidence to choose biology as my major in under graduation.
One person who helped me understand the complexity of the domain in a better way was my father. My father was a scientist by profession. With all his knowledge and experience, he used to help me understand and learn better at every stage of my academic career. My father was working on a project which was involved the breeding of prey and endangered species. During this project, I got a golden opportunity to assist my father in breeding endangered species to save them from extinction. During this project, I got to learn the tit-bits of breeding. This also helped me expand my horizon and got to know about various types of species that are on the verge of extinction or need to be taken care of. Moreover, initially, the mindset I had was of a boy who considered this as just interest, but when I assisted my father and took my interest to level up, I realized something. I realized that this was not just an interest, but I was born to serve in the field of biology.
After my schooling, I was admitted to one of the most prestigious colleges in India. While pursuing my bachelors in biology, I got to learn a lot about complex concepts and courses. Due to the interest I had in biology, I scored good grades throughout in my college. I am a student who is not a bookworm. Instead, I was always active in other co-curricular activities. I had was the captain of the cricket and basketball team of my college. My team and I represented my college in a lot of tournaments and performed well. I also joined English speaking course to achieve native proficiency in the language. Currently, I am a proud member of “The Natural History Museum” in London. I also got an opportunity to join a course on “The Evolution of Animals”. This was organized by ABC college. The study was so interesting that I would travel approx. 100 km every Thursday to attend the session. This was the proof of my curiosity that it hasn’t become any less. My interest grows every day when it comes to biology.
The academic performance from school to my bachelors has made me sure that I am ready to pursue my masters in the field of biology. When I started my research to find the best college for my masters, your college was top. The faculty, infrastructure, student environment and diversity of the college has been an attraction to me. It fits into my requirements from every point of view. Moreover, the labs and the curriculum of your prestigious college has given me the confidence that I would surely be able to serve the field of biology with all knowledge and experience I will be gathering from this college.
In addition to this, I also have a keen interest in Paleoethology and the Development of Science. I am a student that is very determined and dedicated to whatever I do. I genuinely believe that I would stand on your expectations. I am confident about the fact that I will be a significant contribution to your prestigious college.
I am looking forward to building a successful career in biology after completing my masters from your college. I hope this application gets your kind attention and consideration.
How to write SOP for MS / Masters in Biology? We have added sample SOP for Biology to give you some idea on how to write SOP for masters in Biology university course application.
What should I include in my SOP for Biology course?
For statement of purpose of Biology, you can include – Introduction, Academic qualification, Work experience, Ambitions, Goals, Why that course and university, your individual qualities, research experience.
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Sample “Statement of Purpose” for Biology Graduate School
Statement of purpose.
The supplementary stuffs of life inside the round and rectangular threshold each with exceptional functions of their own when introduced to me by my teacher as a “cell” fascinated me when I was in middle school. In the next grade, seeing onion cells aggrandized by the microscope and later learning that an egg is a cell too lured me in the field of …….. It has been a process since then and my ascension to the graduate level (Master’s degree) in the hierarchy of academia was inspired by those little things that got me curious during my time at school. Microbiology is not just about the pathogenic microorganisms, it’s also about benign and disinterested microorganisms and their huge role in the ecosystem. Those microbes and the world under the lens of microscope thrusts me to climb up the hierarchy by pursuing a Doctorate.
After high school, when most of my friend who were inclined towards biology were busy preparing for the entrance for the medical degrees, I was learning about the novel approaches developed in the field of Biological Sciences. So, to pursue my interest I joined an undergraduate course majoring in Microbiology at www.thesciencenotes.com College supported by “THESCIENCENOTES.COM Scholarship” sponsored by www.thesciencenotes.com in ……. During my undergraduate years, I got opportunities to acquaint myself with a huge array of topics in biological sciences. A group project focusing on isolating and identifying the pathogenic organisms from the various water samples in the www.thesciencenotes.com valley under the able supervision of Mrs. ………., further enhanced my interest in this vast and exciting field. While working on this project, I learned about the research methodology and acquired an insider’s perspective on how research is carried out in the field of biological science.
Furthermore, my study of master’s degree at THESCIENCENOTES.COM College was the period in which I got to learn more about different facets of Biological Sciences focusing more on Medical Microbiology. During this period, I got to use and learn about various tools and procedures like spectroscopy, PCR, electrophoresis, blotting, Cell / Tissue culture etc. to name a few. Participating as a presenter in Journal Clubs and attending various seminars held in the campus made me more enthusiastic towards it. The first presentation I made during my study period was on “………………………………………………………………” (www.thesciencenotes.com. et al 2013). AMR is one of the area of my interest and since ……….. Resistant is considered to be one of the deadliest, I did my thesis on “……………………………………..” under the supervision of ………..and ………………….. We isolated and identified the organisms (Enterobacteriaceae) from various samples and performed Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing. Carbapenem resistant isolates were then selected and PCR was done among the Modified Hodge Test positive isolates for the detection of blaNDM1 gene. The results I got as I completed my work showed a condition of havoc in the field of AMR. I presented a poster on this at a poster presentation organized in support of ……………………which was held at ……………………………………. And this work has been published in www.thesciencenotes.com Journal.
After the completion of my degree, I joined as an intern for 7 months at XXXXXXX Hospital, Pathology Department where my job was mainly focused on processing of samples, culture, Antibiotic Sensitivity Test and reporting the result to the physician.
Simultaneously, I also worked as an intern and later as a Research Assistant for three months at……….. Research Centre, where I got to learn about and use conventional PCR, RT-PCR, and Gel Doc Electrophoresis. I also used PCR for the detection of ……. gene at this research center which was the part of my thesis.
I along with some other researchers with coinciding interest in Research decided to get our own Research Center which later got registered as………………… Here, I am working on a project regarding …….. that has been spreading across world from the month of Dec 201… We are studying the difference in …… patients’ immune response against different strains of ……. We do that by studying the host’s ….. and ……markers in response to ……. infection. Along with that we also analyze the kinetics of associated inflammatory responses in …… infection course and study the genotype and phylogenetic relation between different strains of ……… This work is being carried out in collaboration with the lab of Dr. XYZ; Institute of V. at University of uuuuuu, Galllakojsa. This work is completed, and the article is anticipated to be published soon. Currently, I am also working on a project which is focused on studying the co-prevalence of X and Y infection among intravenous drug users. Several topics have interested me over the past years. I have a proclivity towards research on biochemical aspects of an organism’s physiology. I find the chemical processes that dictate the working of our body fascinating and want to learn about how a healthy organism’s metabolism stray from its intended path in the presence of extrinsic factors like bacteria and viruses as well as a mostly intrinsic factor like cancer cells. Some topics I am passionate about revolve around the host-pathogen interaction, especially the immune response evoked by the pathogen. The role of cytokines in the host response to infection; mechanisms of pathogen detection and elimination by innate immune detection and effector systems; and the role of adaptive immune response to infection. The rapidly evolving nature of bacteria and viruses give rise to numerous antigenic variants which make the development of prophylactic vaccine arduous. Topics that tackle his conundrum interest me the most.
The origin and evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria have put forth a challenging task of investigating the mechanism of this resistance as well as figuring out the alternative to those drugs. Novel antibiotics, as well as antimicrobial peptides derived from sources like plants and insects, excite me the most when it comes to countering this problem.
Applying to graduate program at this university will be a steppingstone in my journey to acquire knowledge about the fields. I came across many faculties whose field of study are close to the interests I harbor. The interdisciplinary nature of Biological sciences, complemented by the diversity of faculty at this institution, would certainly help bring out the best in me.
My desire to pursue the PhD in Microbiology and Immunology, in part, is due to the lack of proficient academicians conducting adequate research in ….. In the future, I see myself conducting such research and promoting the importance of research in a developing nation like ours. With this intention, I am applying to your esteemed university. I hope to hear from you soon.
Thank you very much.
Statement Of Purpose For Biology
Biological engineering personal statement.
Walt Disney once said “You can design and create and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes the people to make the dream a reality.” As I approach my final year as a student here at the University of Georgia, I find Mr. Disney’s words to be quite true. Earning my biological engineering degree is by far the most challenging goal I have ever set out to accomplish, but I have found that over the years, my peers and the incredible faculty and staff at UGA have ignited in me a passion for science and technology. It has taken many people to help make my dreams a reality and I am forever thankful for the skills and the experiences this school has given me.
AP Biology: A Personal Statement Of Purpose
The field of science has always been of interest to me. The quest to learn as much as possible about the universe we live in has always been a journey I would like to be a part of. However, I had not, until recently, decided in what facet I would like to contribute. Originally I had thought that an area of physics was the field I would pursue. The mysteries and beauty of the cosmos drew me in but I was never certain it was what I wanted to pursue. My realization came during my first semester in AP Biology. I was exceptionally fascinated by the molecular workings of cells and by the genetic code that orchestrated it all. The beautiful complexity of intercellular communication and the wonderful mystery of noncoding DNA, captured my interest.
Statement Of Purpose: A Career As A Marine Biologist
In the future it brings surprises, but sometimes it brings opportunities for average people. A profession I would love to go into is being a Marine Biologist, seeing amazing creatures both big and microscopic. With this profession, I would go into in the future, I would find out the details, the salary, locations for work, and of course why the Marine Biologist profession interest me.
Biomed Academy Personal Statement
Biomed Academy at my high school will be the most contributing factor to attain my goal. This academy has changed my perspective about medicine career. I have gained tons of knowledge from BioMed academy in these high school years. This will help me to attain my goal, because the knowledge gained from this academy will help me to be a successful medical professional. The principle of Health Science, Health Science, CNA, psychology, Biology, and anatomy and physiology are classes that prepared me to be an eligible Pre-Med applicant. I have learned from the basic structures of the body to the complex structure of the body, and from classroom to hands-on experience at the rehabilitation center. These years in BioMed Academy will help me to attain
Statement Of Purpose: My Degree To AP Biology
Biology. Seven letters, one word. Biology initially was a course the state of Texas required me to take but as time progressed biology soon became my passion. Eventually over time, biology started to reflect in my everyday life and started to inspire me to scope more into the study. Biology became my calling and the key to the future I’ve always desired to obtain. Becoming a biology major in the University of Texas at Austin and obtaining a Human Biology degree with be the first step of many to being closer to becoming a successful physical therapist.
Statement Of Purpose For Biostatistics
Growing up in a family of doctors influenced me to pursue the knowledge of health and diseases. I long for devoting myself to public health. With data explosion, I realized that data-driven science is indispensable to meet the increasing demand in medical and biological improvement. Therefore, I want to apply tools of statistics to address human health problems and become an excellent biostatistician. My goal in entering in the M.S. program at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) is to develop expertise in Biostatistics. At JHU, I am able to obtain an interdisciplinary perspective, combining approaches and knowledge derived from statistics, computing and biology. In the future, I plan to pursue Ph.D. study and one day lead my own research group. To meet these objectives, I wish to carry on advanced study at JHU.
Personal Statement For Biomedical Engineering
One of the crucial moments in my life was the decision I had to take; as to what I was going to do next in life. Having completed my Advanced Level in 2013, I realized that it was not the end of my career as a student. I needed strong academic foundation along with other soft skills to meet the challenges and survive in this commercial world as a successful individual. In view of these thoughts, I was unable to make a firm decision as to what my career direction would be. After a month or so of various discussions with my parents, friends and other learned people I was able to reason out the best choice for me.
Ap Biology Personal Statement Sample
My interest for science blossomed as a child, my mom is a lab technician and going to her job and seeing them learn all these astonishing things about a person from a simple tube of blood blew me away. In middle school I went to a STEM school, The Academy for Science and Design in order to allow that passion to grow, and from there I have participated in multiple science related research projects that I have been able to bring with me to national level competitions. In addition, in high school I am taking AP level science classes, such as AP Biology, in order to expand my knowledge. Soon I plan on starting to volunteer at the community hospital for an opportunity to gain real world experience in the scientific field. The thing I take most pride
Statement Of Purpose: Hi Dr. Role
I am a second year graduate student in the integrative neuroscience program here in Stony Brook University. My advisor is John Robinson and I am taking his History of Psychology course currently. As part of the course requirements, students have to give a presentation, and one of the topics include women in neuroscience. It would be great if I can interview you for this purpose as we would love to hear your story. The interview would take about an hour. Please let me know your thought about this. Thank
Biomedical Studies Personal Statement
When I first entered college, I had thought that I wanted to major in Biomedical Sciences. The reason being, I was diagnosed at the age of 7 with Type 1 Diabetes. I was tossing around the thought that I was interested, possibly, in having a career that involved my disease in it. From being a part of this compass program, I have learned about many careers. Even though I learned more of what I do not want to do, it has helped me narrow down to majors that I am more interested in. I was thinking of still having the possibility of entering the medical field, but I am unsure. Learning about the different careers in the medical field and visiting labs has shown me that it isn't something that I am interested as much as when I first enter college. While I do want to be involved with my disease, I’m not sure if I want to have a career with it, but it could still be a possibility.
I Want To Pursue An MD/Phd Degree
As a double major in biotechnology and biochemistry at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, cancer research fascinates me. There are still so many questions unknowns and many challenges to be solved. It was not until last year, when I discovered my passion for research, that I was able to learn more about myself. For ten weeks, I worked in a pancreatic cancer laboratory at the Mar Institute of Medical
Personal Statement Of Purpose: Applies Arts And Science
I chose Applies Arts and Science because I wanted to continue to make a difference and have an impact on young people in my community. This field, allows me the opportunity to take more courses to enhance my overall knowledge and understanding of some the issues that face our society. So many times in our society arts and science of both put on the back burners of what is important the reality of it is these are two very important fields of study and the help and understand how to alleviate some of the Associates is that exist in our society today. I plan on using the skills and knowledge I learned to have contributed to the betterment of
Biomedical Personal Statement
As I study to complete a Biomedical Engineering degree at the University of Florida I know that I will gain extensive knowledge that will help me succeed in my post collegiate endeavors. Attending the University of Florida will further my knowledge on this field in both classrooms and research labs. By the end of my career at UF I hope to have the skills and knowledge needed to conduct research, work in a research group, and even lead research projects in the Biomedical field. Currently, I am planning on applying to medical school. The hard work and dedication that i need in order to receive a degree from UF will not only increase my chances of being accepted into medical school, but also of being successful as a med-school student, and eventually
Statement of Purpose
“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -- myth is more potent than history -- dreams are more powerful than facts -- hope always triumphs over experience -- laughter is the cure for grief -- life is stronger than death.” If you ask me to describe myself I would say that I am pleasant, diverse, and active man. I think one of my most distinguishing characteristics is the diversity of experiences I possess. I am an engineering graduate with a flair for management. I also have a passion for traveling and exploring different cultures of the world. All these elements have helped me develop a very broad outlook, with varying degrees of knowledge in a range of topics. As a freshman at the undergraduate
Statement Of Purpose In Microbiology
From the very beginning of my student life, I loved biology. When I was in my lower secondary school, I still remember that day when my science teacher told me the story of microbes and the day after showed and taught applications of microscope, my interest in microbiology started to take its shape. I became even intensely interested when he told us that bacteria and virus are invisible to your naked eyes, however they can cause you disease and some might kill you. After the completion of my high school as a science major student, my parents wanted me to join medical school and become a doctor. But I had already encrypted curiosity of microbiology inside my mind. So, I began my journey into the world of microbiology. I secretly joined microbiology without telling my parents and told them that I am not shortlisted in MBBS exam.
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Master’s Degree Sample Admission Statement: Biostatistics
Nothing excites me as much as studying the driving forces that are responsible for the occurrence and nature of physiological phenomenon and the creation of mathematical models for human physiology and improved human health. I cannot imagine ever feeling bored while exploring these areas and my passion for the intersection of Biology and Mathematics is so great as to leave me feeling most confident that I have chosen the right career path for me. I have taken several courses in Biomathematics courses, currently hold a mathematics degree and I am in the process of earning an undergraduate degree in Statistics as well so as to be optimally prepared by my undergrad studies hit the ground running and excel in your program at the University of XXXX.
I have experience with the math program Latex, R - and SAS - statistical programming languages, as well as Matlab and C++. I also have a solid background in Human Physiology and Neurology. I have invested a great deal of my free time over the years reading about arthritis, schizophrenia, and dementia and contributing towards the realization of a cure in these areas – or at least a highly effective treatment - would be a special triumph for me.
I can think of no more noble work than investing one’s professional lifetime laboring to enhance the effectiveness of medicines and other medical treatments. Using accurate mathematical models, we may be able to screen medicines and other medical treatments before human and animal trials which would be more cost effective, humane, and efficient. I believe that my background in both statistics and mathematics will help me to make the most out of my graduate studies and position myself further on for making importance contributions to increasing our understanding of the human brain using mathematical modeling. I got off to a slow start as an undergraduate student and my grades during the first two years of my studies were far from stellar. By my third year of studies, however, the underlying causes of these problems had been remedied and my grades improved considerably. I am confident that my more recent work more accurately reflects my potential for excellence as a graduate student.
I thank you for considering my application to Biomathematics at the University of XXXX.
Biology and Professional Ethics
I take particular delight in the way in which the study of biology has an immediate relevance to our daily lives. It is important for everyone to develop an informed sense of how we may individually and collectively continue to fit into the complex ecology of our planet without rendering horrendous destruction. Some of the greatest engineering feats of the future are likely to involve bioengineering projects, particularly concerning the disposal of municipal and industrial wastes and the development of renewable resources.
Biology, as the Queen of the Physical Sciences, provides special opportunity for creative statements that are carefully tailored to your long term career plans. The Master’s Degree in Biology is a preferred strategy of prospective dentists and doctors alike, as a way to beef up their credentials for entry into Dental or Medical School. Oh, the struggles that I have had with cancer on paper, helping people gain admission to dedicate their lives in this battle. It is a privilege and I would be honored to help you as well.
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Statements of Excellence for Admission to Graduate School in Biology
As someone with a PHD in Religion and Ethics, I am especially concerned with the way in which ethical judgments may heavily influence the success of applications that develop from many avenues of biological research. Sequencing the human genome, gene localization and identity, gene therapy, the creation and release of genetically engineered organisms, bioengineered pharmaceuticals, and ecosystem management of marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments, are all current and lively areas of applied research that call for cooperation and partnerships between biologists and many other professional and cultural groups in the community.
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Sample 1st Paragraph Masters Biomedical Engineering
The Heroines of Biology
Time to check out the current heroines of biology! Oh, there are so many. Here are just a few for you.
Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic
Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic is a neurobiologist and Professor of Neurobiology, Neurology, and Psychiatry at Yale University. The persistent firing of neurons in the prefrontal cortex is the "glue of consciousness," says Goldman-Rakic. "It allows one event in time to connect to another and forms our memory."
Her pioneering studies show that when this circuitry breaks down because of, for example, fetal damage or substance abuse, and we're easily distracted and confused. "The inability to keep a coherent line of thought is one of the cardinal symptoms of schizophrenia and other memory disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and childhood attention-deficit disorder," she says.
Rita Colwell
Rita Colwell is Director at the National Science Foundation. Her day job takes up her time, but she says she would feel "starved" without her research on cholera, which she´s now been involved with for 25 years.
"We took this elegant, interdisciplinary research involving molecular biology, oceanography, remote sensing, and clinical medicine and came up with a very simple technique to prevent the disease: filtering water through sari cloth," says Colwell. That strategy, she found, reduces the number of cases by around 50 percent. "This is the kind of holistic approach we need to solve complicated scientific issues," she adds.
Elizabeth Blackburn
Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at University of California at San Francisco, Elizabeth Blackburn discovered telomerase.
Each time a cell divides, its chromosomes shorten slightly. To protect vital genes from being lopped off, chromosomes are capped with telomeres, blocks of DNA and protein.
Telomeres are maintained by telomerase, which biologist Carol Greider and Blackburn discovered in healthy cells. In most healthy cells, telomerase production eventually ceases, telomeres whittle down, and the cell then dies.
Blackburn's research has shown that in cancer cells, the enzyme never shuts off, and cells become immortal. "Telomerase is reactivated in about 90 percent of tumors. It is a great favorite of cancer cells," says Blackburn. And thus a target for new drugs.
Anna K. Behrensmeyer
Anna Behrensmeyer is a Research Paleobiologist at the Smithsonian Institution. She has spent almost three decades at Amboseli Park in Kenya watching animals disintegrate and fossilize as she researches taphonomy—the science of burial.
"There is a bias in the fossil record caused by all of the factors that determine whether or not something becomes a fossil. Did it have hard parts, did it die in the water where it could more easily be buried and preserved?" That bias, says Behrensmeyer, only gives us a relatively small window to the past. "My work tries to illuminate what we can see through that window," says Behrensmeyer.
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Sample SOP for Masters in Biology, Virology, Immunology
Whizstorm provides excellent writing services to assist you in writing your Statement of Purpose ( SOP )
“Biology is a science. Evolution is a concept that makes Biology unique.”
-Jared Diamond
When we look beyond the facts, reason out the impossible, and work towards a deeper understanding, we can draw real interpretations. I have always enjoyed working on theories that look impossible; I believe it helps me accomplish something more than the ordinary. Biological research envelopes all the aspects involved in the functioning of the human body and the influence of external factors on it. My keen interest to acquire information exhaustively about these subjects urges me to continue advanced studies at an internationally recognized institute. I am applying to this Master’s program because I want to upgrade my knowledge and explore research possibilities in the field of Molecular Biology.
Academic Background:
In 2017, I completed my Bachelor’s in Biology with a concentration in cell and molecular biology. During my undergraduate education, molecular biology, cancer biology, immunology, and virology, were my most favorite subjects. I made sure that I implemented all the theory learned in the classroom and made optimum use of my analytical skills to find inferences for my laboratory work sessions. A major project that I worked on was ‘Cytokines Growth Factors And Chemokines’. While working on this project, I learned (relevant project details/synopsis…………………………………….) My idea to use (methods implemented………………………..) contributed to successfully drawing inferences that were crucial for further clinical research.
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Graduate School Statement of Purpose Tips
Not sure what the statement of purpose in the BE PhD application is supposed to look like? You’ve come to the right place. Let’s break it down.
The two most important questions to answer in your personal statement are:
- What have I done during my time as an undergraduate and afterward to prepare myself for being a Biological Engineering PhD Student?
- How do I show I am a good fit for the BE program specifically at MIT?
Let’s start with some tips on addressing the first point – your past experiences and preparation for a PhD program:
- Your personal statement should describe your most important previous research experience(s) in depth. For those who have worked in several labs, discuss only those experiences which were the most relevant to your scientific journey. For those who have only worked in one lab, do not panic, that is completely okay! Either way, just make sure to describe both what you accomplished during your research and what you learned in the process. What you learned in the process should emphasize either transferable technical skills you picked up, such as writing well-organized code, or research “soft skills” that you gained, such as working independently or collaboratively. Frequent approaches to talking about previous research with a compelling narrative include discussing a challenge you overcame and what you took away from it, discussing a moment of failure and how you moved forward, or discussing a moment that brought you joy to be doing research. You can spend multiple paragraphs addressing previous research. Also, feel free to mention if any patents or publications came out of your work (and it’s completely fine if not).
- If your transcript does not include both fundamental biology and quantitative coursework, discuss how you have demonstrated competency in the missing area. It is usually best to leave your coursework to your transcript unless there are one or two advanced courses you feel had a large impact on your research interests. However, if you haven’t had any fundamental biology courses (like biochemistry or cellular biology), describe ways (e.g. online courses, reading, or research) that you have gained an understanding of how biological systems operate. Similarly, if your transcript does not include courses with significant quantitative components (such as ODEs, introductory programming, probability and statistics, or thermodynamics), discuss how you’ve supplemented your coursework with quantitative material.
Okay now for the trickier part. How do you show you are a good fit for Biological Engineering specifically at MIT? Here are some tips:
- Your personal statement should show that your goals align with the MIT BE mission to further knowledge at the interface of biology and engineering. The MIT Biological Engineering graduate admissions committee wishes to know how you plan to fuse an understanding of how biological systems work (especially at the molecular and cellular levels) with engineering approaches (such as mathematical modeling, computation, and/or hands-on design) in order to measure, model, manipulate, make, or quantitatively analyze biological systems in novel ways for societal benefit.
- Your personal statement should describe your research interests moving forward, and should discuss how they tie into the research people in the department currently do. It is recommended you specifically mention at least two (preferably three) professors with whom you would be interested in working. Rather than saying you are “generally interested in biological engineering,” discuss specific examples of subdisciplines (or even sub-subdisciplines) you would like to work in, such as “mammalian synthetic biology,” “cancer immunotherapy,” or “neurological drug delivery.” Make sure to describe why you are interested in these subdisciplines. It is often helpful to give examples of specific scientific questions you would like to answer or engineering challenges you would like to work on. Tying these ideas to work currently being done in the department/program will make them much more impactful. These interests may easily change while you are in the program, but it is still important to show you have identified and reflected upon the research directions you most likely want to pursue. Additionally, not all the faculty members you mention must be doing exactly what you are interested in so long as you can explain how your research interests fit with theirs.
Finally, here are a few miscellaneous tips to polish it off:
- Your personal statement should emphasize how your previous experiences will help you achieve the scientific goals you’ve described. Basically, when you read back over your statement, it should be clear how what you’ve done in the past makes you qualified to do what you want in the future. It’s okay if you still have many skills you need to pick up on the way! That’s expected. It’s also okay if you don’t want to do the same thing in grad school as you did in/after undergrad (that’s extremely common). Just make sure to at some point explain how what you previously worked on makes you a good candidate for researching the kind of things you want in the future. This could include technical skills (e.g. you now want to apply machine learning to immunology rather than neuroscience) or soft skills (e.g. your comfort with independently designing experimental protocols will be helpful for making new methods for performing cellular measurements). Sentences addressing this point can be peppered throughout the narrative, or you can section off a paragraph for it, but make sure it goes in a logical place.
- At the end, your personal statement should very briefly discuss long-term career goals and research visions. There is no right answer, and there are no expectations that you would know now, but best guesses are helpful. This can just be one to two sentences. And you don’t have to say that you want to be a professor unless that is something you think you might want to do!
- Your personal statement should be no more than 2 pages (single-spaced). Them’s the rules.
Additional Resources:
- Get more tips on personal statements from the BE Comm Lab here .
- Tips for CVs/Resumes and templates .
- Don’t forget to prep for interviews .
Blog post written by BE graduate students Dylan Hirsch, Molly Parsons, and the Graduate Student DEI recruitment working group.
Posted Sept 2021.
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Graduate School Statement of Purpose Tips · Your personal statement should show that your goals align with the MIT BE mission to further