What You Can Learn from a Sample Graduate School Essay

"Earning a graduate degree can be one big, fluffy feather on your cap, especially if you get accepted to the best universities and graduate programs. As what can be expected, reputable universities get the most number of applicants for admission, which makes the whole process very competitive and the admission committee downright selective. In fact, only half of graduate school hopefuls actually get to fulfill their dreams of studying in these universities. In some cases, the percentage can go as low as 9%. What do these successful applicants have? Aside from outstanding GPAs and excellent recommendations from their college professors and other mentors, they turn in admission essays that can make a presidential campaign speech seem like a sixth-grade paper.

If you are planning to apply at these universities or you want to put your best foot forward in a competitive bid for scholarship in a good graduate school, it will be to your advantage to get your hands on a sample graduate school essay, which gave its writer the admission committee’s elusive nod of approval. What if you do not know anyone who has come out victorious in this feat? Don’t despair. The Internet is the ultimate information highway, and it can lead you to virtual libraries, where you would find a sample graduate school essay that will serve as your guide.

How a sample graduate school essay can help you

Even if you are a literary genius, there are certain requirements for successful graduate admission essays that go beyond exceptional usage of the elements of style. Your admission essay should present you as a suitable candidate for the graduate degree that you wish to earn. If you get to read a sample or two, you would find out that what these essays have in common include consistency of purpose, clarity of goals, and a rundown of activities and experiences that make the writers worthy of acceptance into relevant programs.

Learning vicariously from those who made it

Study the sample essays and do a reverse outline. For instance, if an essay for a Master’s or PhD in Psychology began with, “Every man is three men: the man he thinks he is, the man others think he is, and the man he really is,” you would notice that it reflects the writer’s philosophy, and at the same time, it is relevant to the field that he or she wants to specialize in. In addition, it makes for a good transition to how the writer can then describe himself or herself and his or her motivations. Think about a principle or quote that represents your beliefs, and then relate how it leads you to pursue a graduate degree in a particular academic discipline.

Review other elements that you could find in the sample. Browse through as many samples as you can, so you will get plenty of ideas and a variety of approaches that you may use when you start writing your own. Remember that you will be using the samples only as reference. Never copy the entire essay and substitute specific content with your own. It is dishonest and will make you feel less confident with your application."

About The Author Nancy Havemford knows how useful a sample graduate school essay is. In this article, she explains what things you can learn from a sample graduate school essay when writing your own.