During my time spent at the University of [redacted] I have worked in various jobs both academic and non-academic related. Consequently, I know the frustration of squandered effort, the perceived inequities in rewards systems, and the lack of job satisfaction. However, I do also know the triumph of excellent performance, intrinsic job satisfaction, and the piece of mind that accompanies work well designed. The ultimate goal of Organizational Psychology is to reduce the margin that exists between how people could feel about their work, and how people do feel about their work; while integrating the organization’s and the individual’s needs.

Because of my varied work experience, I am able to offer strength and diversity to your program. Before attending the University of [redacted] I led or was part of many musical organizations and during my time at the University of [redacted] was employed in the technology center at the [redacted] Business School. I view the time and experience as invaluable for they have shaped my motives, compelled me to appreciate the need for goal orientation, and allowed me to experience the triumphs and frustrations of the “real” world. Consequently, throughout my time at the University of [redacted] and now after as I approach my goals with a strong sense of purpose.

Since around the age of 8 when my mother first sat both my sister and I down at the keys of a piano and introduced us to Mozart, Haydn, Bach, Chopin and Beethoven classical music has been a strong part of my life. There was a certain fascination that roused up within my soul as my fingers clumsily pounded out off key notes for the first time. Comparing myself to the old recordings mother had I was at first confused why I wasn’t able to create such beautiful music. Unable to understand I threw a fit and what was a barely audible “three blind mice” became a cacophony of disaster. A little later I was started on piano lessons and as I practiced daily slowly results were starting to show. It wasn’t long before “three blind mice” became “clare de lune” and “fur elise” and my heart soared. Music continued throughout my years up till entering college. I went to competitions, had master class lessons with some of the bests in the Northwest and even gave a few lessons on the side. It took a lot of time and dedication in order to achieve where I wanted to be musically. Often I found myself struggling to find time to practice as school and other activities would often compete for those precious hours I was awake each day. There was also an internal struggle as motivation left my being and I had to rediscover the inspiration and love I had for the arts. It was this constant struggle which helped me develop valuable skills that benefit all aspects of my life such as time management and perseverance. From music I have gained an appreciation for hard work, dedication to whatever you put your mind to and resilience to failure.

Through the four years I have spent at the University of [redacted] I have worked 3 years at the [redacted] Business School. I was part of a team that supplied hands on technical support, provided hardware and software help for the entire faculty and staff, catered specifically to presentation equipment and often provided support for guest speakers from corporations such as Microsoft, Costco and Starbucks. This experience showed me the value of teamwork and how it is impossible to do such large scale tasks on your own. In order to achieve even the smallest of tasks I discovered that you will rely upon those around you. That you will rely upon them to pull their weight and that they will also rely upon you for the same. Without that dedication to the work and to each other it would have been extremely difficult to provide service to the entire University of [redacted] [redacted] Business School.  This experience taught me the importance and value of teamwork and even with a few outstanding workers it only takes a few weak links to impair productivity. Through my 3 years working for the center I have experienced being completely naïve to an experienced senior member of the technology team and I was fortunate to have mentors which stressed the value of leadership and teamwork. As a senior member of the team I was able to pass on the same values to the new hires this year. My work experience has provided a strong sense of cooperation, accomplishing goals as a team and leadership experience.

I have prepared myself academically for advanced graduate study in Organization Psychology through relevant college course work, such as basic and advanced Research Methodology, Psychology of Personality, Quantitative Statistical Methods, Cognitive Psychology and human subject based psychology research. I have conducted research, under graduate student [redacted] (advisor [redacted]), University of [redacted], on the properties of stress in young adults and coping methods which they use. This included data collection of over 200 students, running a computerized test which took 2 hours per student, running statistical analysis on those results and data mining for similar previously conducted studies. I have worked with [redacted] for 2 quarters helping her gather and analyze data and her results will be ready for publication by the next year. I have qualified for the dean’s list in the past 2 quarters, currently graduated with a 3.34 GPA and a 3.26 GPA in my major.

In addition to my academic and related activities, I manage to keep an active lifestyle swimming, playing on an intramural tennis team and hiking. In my spare time I also enjoy cooking with an emphasis on baking. Also between periods of work and school I occasionally go back to the piano and revisit the music which I grew up loving. I feel that in balancing academic, work and family activities, I have developed into a person who is confident, competent, assertive, reliable, resilient and compassionate.

Of my experiences through my professional and academic career a few key questions have come up regarding Organizational Psychology and how [redacted]’s graduate program may provide those answers. One question which arose from my work at the technology center is what should be the proper incentive given to an employee to prevent worker turnover? In the three years I have seen a handful of people come and go in a short term. I want to know why they leave and how they feel about the work if it was too much, not enough compensation or perhaps if it didn’t fulfill their career goals. I will use my graduate study to address that question and explore the human factors that are involved in how an individual may feel about the workplace. My goal is to understand the worker mentality and be able to provide an environment that ensures worker satisfaction.

In today’s world nearly all important projects require us to work together with others. This compels us to constantly and effectively collaborate with different people to achieve a set goal. But the manner in which we collaborate directly influences the outcome of the project. Therefore there is a need to recognize some simple and general ways of becoming good team players. The experiences from my academic and professional career have helped me determine certain key qualities which are vital for an effective collaboration. These include the ability to communicate with your team members as often as possible and necessary. This communication should aid your work, not deter it. Discuss only things that pertain to the project at hand; in other words, know the scope of what is being done. Working at the business school taught the value of communication in achieving a unified goal. It was through a network of email, telephone and a dedication to the work that allowed the entire staff to function smoothly and as a whole.

Another quality which helps insure quality is voicing issues. If you have issues, voice them. The smallest of issues have the potential to significantly affect the project. Informing others about problems related to the project makes space for others to help you out. I have found that is it better to raise your issues as early as possible in the course of the project as to holding them back. In a musical group I was a part of a member would always forget their score. At first this wasn’t a big issue as we all had copies however as it kept dragging on and other problems arose that particular issue got blown out of proportion. Something seemingly benign became a catastrophe.

One more quality which is vital for an effective collaboration is a mutual respect for team members. I have learned to never overlook this simple ingredient in collaborating effectively. Bearing grudges against people you work with does not help in forming a good work relationship. I worked for a painting company one summer and conflict arose between two fellow painters. This soon became an issue that affected the entire team and consequently progress was slowed, productivity was shot and the overall quality of work was terrible. From this I have learned to channel my efforts and skill into solving the real problem at hand, which is the project; do not let your fellow workers be the problem. My co-workers understood that after a long discussion with our manager. In extreme cases of disagreement with a fellow member of the team such as this one, one should try to arrive at a compromise or agree to disagree but never let personal matters disrupt the project.

I believe that to achieve my goal an institution needs to be able to provide the resources, the inspiration and the opportunity. [Redacted] is such a place where I know I can achieve my goals and that the skills required in the field of Organizational Psychology will be taught thoroughly and effectively. My future goal is to provide companies with employees that are satisfied with their work and to reduce the margin between how people could feel about their work and how people do feel.

***

This applicant applied to a small, but selective, private program.  He was accepted.

{Need more help with your psychology Statement of Purpose? Check out our ebook Hacking Your Statement of Purpose for a concise guide to writing and revising your Statement of Purpose.}

As a kid growing up in southwestern Oregon, I had the Cascade and Siskiyou mountains and the Pacific Ocean as my playgrounds and I quickly developed an appreciation for the outdoors. It did not matter if organisms walked, crawled, slithered, chirped, hopped, swam, or were hazardous to my health; if I found them, they made it into a shoe box or an aquarium. My passion and love for the outdoors combined with my curiosity for how things work attracted me to the field of biology, particularly the field of marine biology. The ocean is a mysterious and fascinating place, a world filled with fire engine reds and sunflower yellows and other eye catching colors combined with a multitude of crazy and bizarre looking creatures that leave me in wonder. During the pursuit of my degree, my diverse class foundation has given me the tools to explore biology, as well as formally taught me how to talk and think about biology, and has cemented my interest in pursuing a career in biology. Earning a Master of Science degree in Biology would enhance my research skills and make me more competitive for positions in research and in wildlife management.

My specific interest in pursuing a graduate degree at [redacted] University is to develop a deeper knowledge in the fields of comparative physiology, molecular biology, ecology and evolution, particularly of aquatic organisms. I am interested in studying how the comparative physiology of aquatic organisms influences their ecology and interactions with biotic and abiotic factors within an ecosystem.  I am also looking to develop skills in cellular and molecular biology, particularly if the lab work helps me understand how the animal interacts with and responds to its environment.  Dr. [redacted]’s current studies on freshwater clam (sphaeriid) populations at Turnbull national wildlife refuge and the project she wants to develop in the Coeur d’Alene watershed are the type of research I hope to undertake in the future and the main reason I am applying to the biology graduate program at [redacted].  Dr. [redacted] and I have discussed potential thesis projects, and these projects combine field work like documenting clam distributions and limnological factors and conducting transplant experiments, with laboratory work like tissue processing and biochemical assays. Doing this type of research at [redacted] also would allow me to tap into the aquatic biology expertise of Drs. [redacted] and [redacted].

A Master of Science degree with a research project that combines field and lab skills would prepare me for the work I hope to do with aquatic animals and allow me to progress into marine work in the future. There are many fields of biology that interest me and I am not sure exactly which field I would like to go into, but getting a masters is good first step and would provide me with many career opportunities. In the future I would like to possibly work as a research scientist for an organization like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or work in an Aquarium.  I may even go on toget a doctoral degree and become an academic scientist at a college or university. The outdoors is my passion and I would like to be part of the solution in keeping it healthy and around for future generations to enjoy and learn about.

***

This candidate applied to smaller regional state school programs with good reputations in the part of the country he wanted to live in.

{Need more help with your science Statement of Purpose? Check out our ebook Hacking Your Statement of Purpose for a concise guide to writing and revising your Statement of Purpose.}

The following is an example of a Statement for a physician assistant program that responds to a very specific prompt.  Because the prompt was so specific we have included it with the essay below.

[Redacted] School of Medicine embraces a wide array of adult and applied learning methodologies within its educational program. The Physician Assistant Program has designed and modified its curriculum around the principles of adult learning and our own educational research. A significant portion of our training is accomplished through Problem-Based Learning(PBL). PBL is a student-centered instructional strategy in which students collaboratively solve problems and reflect on their experiences. In the PBL learning process students, in small groups of 6 to 8 students, encounter a problem and attempt to solve it with information they already posses, allowing them to appreciate what they already know. Students also identify what they need to learn to better understand the problem and resolve it.  Please describe your motivation for being enrolled in a program that emphasizes adult and applied learning methodologies, such as PBL. If you have prior experience with related methodologies, please briefly describe those.  Answer should be 500 words or less.

Participating in a program that uses Problem-Based Learning is something that both excites me and draws me to [redacted].  In my undergraduate years my primary method of learning was rote memorization.  It was a style I adapted to quickly, and that I used to my advantage.  This method has helped me to build a large base of knowledge from which I am able to easily regurgitate statistics and facts.

Since entering the work force in the real world, though, I have found that a large base of knowledge does not always mean that you will know what to do with that knowledge or how to apply it correctly.  Hands on experience, and practice solving problems and making decisions are not things that can be acquired by reading textbooks or by flipping through a stack of flashcards.  My current position as the operating room medical technician allows me to learn in an interactive environment. When the patient goes under anesthesia the operating room becomes the most engaging classroom I have had the privilege of learning in. I have watched, and participated, as the OR staff adjusts a plan or procedure to overcome an unforeseen problem.  Surgery, like all of medicine, can be unpredictable and it is necessary to be able to adapt and think quickly.

Based on this experience I believe that the best learning method is to engage someone in a problem while guiding them through the learning process. Eliciting information from students, rather than giving them the answers, forces them to think critically about the material, drawing on their past experiences and their latent knowledge.  Learning is not something that is done passively, it requires the student’s active participation and interaction – a student that has taken the time to figure out a pattern for themselves will have a much stronger command of the subject matter than a student that has had the answers given to them.

Working in the OR I have had this proven to me over and over again.  I have acquired so much practical knowledge that comes with being challenged to overcome a problem, knowledge that would be difficult to glean from reading a textbook alone. I am looking for a program that will continually engage me as I learn, and that will prepare me to be able to think critically about the cases I am presented with.  I am confident that [redacted] is exactly that kind of program.

***

This essay won the applicant admission to her first choice school.

{Need more help? Check out our ebook Hacking Your Statement of Purpose for a concise guide to writing and revising your Statement of Purpose.}

I went to the same high school as James Agee, and when I was seventeen, I re-lived The Morning Watch.  With a few friends, I kept vigil in the Lady Chapel, kneeling before the spring flowers collected illicitly from the yards of neighbors.  Just before sunrise, we left the chapel and went out into the still darkness.  We walked along the old railroad path through the woods until we came to the Sand Cut, and we jumped in—it was as cold as Agee had promised.  Shivering, euphoric, I returned to campus and attended my first period class, my hair still wet from the Ageean baptism.

At that time in my life, I showed my passion for literature through imitation.  I wanted to re-create the narratives that were significant to me, to praise them through replication. Then, as an undergraduate at [redacted] College, I found more complex connections in texts through analysis rather than simple imitation.  I studied writers like Margaret Atwood, M.F.K Fisher, and Tennessee Williams through a variety of critical lenses. I concentrated on gender studies and drama, particularly in 20^th– and 21^st-century American texts, and I completed coursework in literary criticism, 20^th-century drama, fiction, poetry, and playwriting.

Since graduation, my career in the fine arts has further refined my literary interests.  From working on August Wilson’s 20^th-century cycle of plays at the [redacted] Center for the Performing Arts, to promoting new productions like Next to Normal and Looped at [redacted] Stage, to publicizing VSA commissions from playwrights and performers with disabilities, I’ve experienced the vibrancy and relevance of the arts today; not only are new works being created, but familiar texts are constantly being interpreted and re-told.  I no longer want only to replicate literature or dissect it: I want to participate in the ongoing literary discussion.

From my work in theater and disability, I’ve developed an interest in adaptation—adapting novels to plays and adapting environments to suit physical capabilities.  For example, one possible study that interests me is how Carson McCullers’ fiction translates to the stage and the relationship between her personal experience with disability and her fictional portrayal of disability.  Another is how James Agee’s work in film differs from his fiction and how his experience as a Southerner in the early 20^th century informed his work.  I’d like to explore how individuals adapt to society, in texts like Flannery O’Connor’s The Violent Bear It Away and William Faulkner’s Light in August, as well as how individuals adapt to their landscapes, whether it’s a thriving relationship in Willa Cather’s My Ántonia or a debilitating one in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.   The landscape can change the rhythm, the tone, the very syntax of the work.  The land and the body, the set and the characters—these are the elements of literature that intrigue me.

It’s both humbling and empowering to assert that I deserve to be part of your program.  Since both my mother and sister received their doctorates from [redacted] (in chemistry and medicine, respectively), I’ve long been aware of what an exceptional university this is.  [redacted] boasts an impressive faculty, and I am most interested in studying under Dr. [redacted], Dr. [redacted], and Dr. [redacted], since, as this essay makes apparent, I’m drawn to Southern literature.  It would be an honor to learn from Dr. [redacted], whose scholarship on Southern writers from H.L Mencken to William Faulkner has distinguished him in the field.  I admire Dr. [redacted]’s blending of history, biography, and geography to create a full representation of a literary genre, and I would love to learn more about gender and queer theory with Dr. [redacted], who writes fascinating analyses of sexual politics.  [Redacted] has strengths in my key areas of interest, and I’m eager to pursue the best possible training as a scholar and teacher.

My goal is to become an educator.  My experience as a middle school English teacher revealed to me that I enjoy teaching as much as I have always enjoyed learning.  I am equally engaged in the solitary work of literature, the reading, writing, revising, and researching, and the social elements of education, the collaborating, challenging, discussing, and informing.  I aspire to engage fully in academic life, in both my relationships with texts and my relationships with faculty and students.  If I can leave you with one thought, it’s this: I am completely invested in this work.  I want to study, diligently and earnestly, and then I want to share that knowledge.  I’m ready to jump in.

***

This essay received an offer of admission from a top 15 program.

{Need more help? Check out our ebook Hacking Your Statement of Purpose for a concise guide to writing and revising your Statement of Purpose.}

A quick google search can yield a wealth of information about writing your Statement of Purpose.  We’ve looked through most of the stuff out there, and these are our favorite resources.  As you browse these, please keep in mind that there is no “right way” to write a Statement of Purpose.  Take all advice with a grain of salt.

1. Berkley’s advice on SOPs.

2. An older, but very informative guide to SOPs.

3. The Purdue OWL.

4. The Grad Café.

Palmyra Atoll appeared from the clouds as a small green horseshoe on a vast deep blue horizon. Our plane circled the remote atoll, known for its paradisiacal lagoon and pristine coral reefs, before landing and beginning one of my most memorable summer research experiences. As we trekked across the islands, performing vegetation transects, bird surveys, and soil samples, I came to love this small piece of paradise where humans have never lived. It struck me hard, then, when a fellow researcher mentioned, “With even a few feet of sea level rise from climate change and this atoll disappears from the map.”

Climate change will dramatically alter the fabric of ecosystems in years to come, and much of our ability to preserve biodiversity and elevate human development without compromising the environment depends on our capacity to understand and predict these effects. As climate perturbation intensifies, scientists will face multi-dimensional challenges in understanding the natural world, cooperating with the people inextricably linked to the environment, and communicating their findings to those making the decisions. My background from rural Colorado has given me the passion to study the environment, but it has been my time at [redacted] and my research experiences that has prepared me to do graduate work in conservation biology. I am committed to addressing these future challenges in my graduate research and would like to focus on the intersection between climate change and ecosystem services. The exceptional faculty and opportunities for innovative interdisciplinary work make [redacted]’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology an ideal program for me.

I grew up in rural southwestern Colorado and came to appreciate the vast complexity and beauty of ecosystems as my family camped, hiked, and backpacked across our corner of the Rocky Mountains. My love for the outdoors echoed through all aspects of my high school life, from my love of math and science to learning Spanish from my Cuban grandmother to read Pablo Neruda poetry, from drawing from the styles of nature writers like Henry David Thoreau in my own creative writing novels to composing my own nature-inspired piano pieces to perform.

While my passion for preserving nature, rooted in my youth, drives me to study the environment, my knowledge of the deep interdependencies between humans and the natural world and the intricacies of environmental issues has developed greatly during my last four years at [redacted]. Initially a double major in Human Biology and English, I have taken a wide variety of classes at [redacted] and I feel this wide breadth of education will be critical to approaching future problems. Two courses especially, both field courses in tropical biology, profoundly impacted my understanding of science and my future directions. The first class involved a ten day field research component in Veracruz, Mexico, followed by an entire class of analyzing the data, writing up the findings and presenting our research. This class taught me the rigor and complexity of designing and conducting a study, as well as how to synthesize and communicate my results. The other course, two weeks in the Amazon Rainforest in a group of twenty American and Brazilian students, highlighted for me the interconnectedness of human welfare and environmental problems. As we traveled by boat up the Rio Negro, we passed endless cattle farms and squalid houses in pastures cleared from the forest. While the class was supposed to focus on the carbon cycle, climate and soils, it soon became clear to all of us that you can never simply focus on the science of the environment. The solution to stemming deforestation in the Amazon will come from a variety of programs, from ecotourism to infrastructure, from research to education for native people.

My past research has given me experience in ecology fieldwork and practical tools with which to approach the effects of climate change on ecosystem services. From a summer spent doing forest management with the United States Forest Service, to a summer sampling salamanders in Yellowstone National Park, to the field work on Palmyra Atoll, I have been exposed to a large variety of ecology fieldwork. I have been able to go in-depth in my Human Biology honors thesis with Dr. [redacted] on riparian bird populations, land-use change, and climate change. Above all, I feel that my senior honors thesis has given me the most relevant and helpful experience for graduate research. I repeated a Breeding Bird Census done in 1972 to calculate the change in bird populations over 35 years and intend to investigate changes in land-use and climate over that time period. I hope to publish the findings of my work before I graduate. Throughout each stage, whether in the bird survey methods, climate data, or finding quality aerial photographs, I have had to overcome various setbacks, and the project has made me much more resourceful and creative.

In my graduate work I am most interested in looking at the effects of climate change on ecosystem services. Much current work in quantifying ecosystem services focuses on the impacts of land-use change to ecosystems. Climate change will likely impact many aspects of ecosystem stability, including the services that the ecosystems provide to native people like water purification, native pollination, and forest products. The flexibility, breadth and depth of the faculty at [redacted] make it an ideal place to study this. I hope to balance theoretical work and applied conservation biology, as well as incorporating modeling and economic elements in my work, and such interdisciplinary work fits well with the program at [redacted].

Palmyra Atoll is one of the few places on this planet without people, yet it will still be harmed by climate change. Future conservation efforts will hinge on finding new ways like ecosystem services to finance the continuing integrity of ecosystems and must involve human concerns on all scales. Understanding the effects of climate on natural systems and the services they provide will be an integral part to preventing future losses of biodiversity and human suffering. It is my goal to work to ensure that places like Palmyra Atoll are not simply places of the past, committed to their own quiet extinction.

***

 This author gained admission to three of the top programs in biology in the country.  If you are interested in seeing how authors may write multiple versions of an SOP, please see the sister-essay Palmyra Atoll – version 1.

{Need more help with your science Statement of Purpose? Check out our ebook Hacking Your Statement of Purpose for a concise guide to writing and revising your Statement of Purpose.}

“A few feet of sea level rise from climate change,” a fellow researcher remarked as we stared across the turquoise lagoon of Palmyra Atoll, “and this atoll disappears from the map.” Thinking about the delicate system of vibrant coral reefs, native Pisonia grandis trees, and pelagic seabirds, the profound threat of rapid climate change to the worlds’ ecosystems struck me viscerally. My background from rural Colorado has given me the passion to study the environment, but it has been my time at Stanford and my research experiences in places like Palmyra Atoll that have prepared me to do graduate work in conservation biology. I would like to focus my graduate work on the intersection between climate change and ecosystem services. The depth of faculty and potential for interdisciplinary work make [redacted]’s School of the Environment and Earth Sciences an ideal setting for this research.

Growing up in rural southwestern Colorado helped me to appreciate the vast complexity and beauty of ecosystems as my family camped, hiked, and backpacked across our corner of the Rocky Mountains. My connection with the outdoors echoed through all aspects of my high school life. I learned Spanish from my Cuban grandmother and soon fell in love with Pablo Neruda’s lyrical poetry of the natural world. I incorporated the styles of other nature writers like Henry David Thoreau in writing my own novels and drew from the natural world in composing my own piano and orchestral pieces.

While my passion for nature drives me to study the environment, my appreciation for the deep interdependencies between humans and the natural world and the intricacies of environmental issues has developed greatly at [redacted] University. Two courses especially, both field courses in tropical biology, profoundly impacted my understanding of science and my future directions in ecology research. The first class involved a ten day field research component in Veracruz, Mexico, followed by an entire class of analyzing the data, writing up the findings and presenting our research. This class taught me the rigor and complexity of designing and conducting a study, as well as how to synthesize and communicate my results. The second course, which included two weeks in the Amazon Rainforest, highlighted the interconnectedness of human welfare and environmental problems. While the class was supposed to focus on the carbon cycle, climate and soils, it soon became clear to all of the students that one can never simply focus on the science of the environment. The solution to stemming deforestation in the Amazon will come from a variety of programs, from ecotourism to infrastructure, from research on valuing the ecosystem services to education for native people.

My past research has given me experience in ecology fieldwork and practical tools with which to approach the effects of climate change on ecosystem services. I spent a summer doing GPS work, timber marking, and aspen regeneration surveys with the United States Forest Service that taught me the challenges of forest management. My next summer research experience took me to Yellowstone National Park to sample salamanders and investigate the genetic underpinnings of paedomorphosis. Subsequent field work on Palmyra Atoll last summer exposed me to a large variety of ecology fieldwork – bird surveys, bird tagging, shark tagging, vegetation transects and soil digests.

Finally, my Human Biology honors thesis has provided the experience of designing and conducting publication-quality research. My project focused on riparian bird populations, land-use change, and climate change. I repeated a Breeding Bird Census done in 1972 to calculate the change in bird populations over thirty-five years, and have begun to investigate changes in land-use and climate over that time period. I plan to submit the study to an academic journal before I graduate. I have had to be resourceful and creative in overcoming obstacles throughout the study. For instance, due to the paucity of available quality aerial photos, I devised several alternate methods of measuring land-use change like integrating road-density, Census Bureau data, and county building permits.

Climate change will dramatically alter the fabric of ecosystems in years to come. Much of our ability to preserve biodiversity and elevate human development without compromising the environment depends on our capacity to understand and predict these effects. In my graduate work I would like to examine the effects of climate change on ecosystem services. Much current work in quantifying ecosystem services focuses on the impacts of land-use change on small scales. Arguably, however, climate change has already and will continue to compromise and alter many aspects of ecosystem stability, including the ecosystem services provided to people. What are the effects of climate change on native pollinating insects and what repercussions will that have on agriculture? Will the projected changes in precipitation patterns across the American west damage riparian vegetation and affect water purification for many local communities? Will changes in bird species range effect seed dispersal provided by these birds, limiting plant dispersal and regeneration potential? Because my research interests cover a broad spectrum of conservation biology, my project necessitates a breadth and depth of the faculty such as that found at [redacted]. I hope to balance theoretical work and applied conservation biology, as well as incorporating modeling and economic elements in my work. The [redacted] School of the Environment and Earth Sciences provides opportunities to do such interdisciplinary work. I have contacted Professors [redacted], [redacted] and [redacted], as my interests align with facets of their research.

Understanding the effects of climate on natural systems and the services they provide will be an integral part to preventing future losses of biodiversity and human suffering. Future conservation efforts will hinge on finding new ways like ecosystem services to finance the continuing integrity of ecosystems. Palmyra Atoll is one of the few tropical places on this planet that is still uninhabited by humans, yet it will still be devastated by climate change. I hope to work to ensure that places like Palmyra Atoll are not simply places of the past, committed to their own quiet extinction.

***

 This author gained admission to three of the top programs in biology in the country.  If you are interested in seeing how authors may write multiple versions of an SOP, please see the sister-essay Palmyra Atoll – version 2.

{Need more help with your science Statement of Purpose? Check out our ebook Hacking Your Statement of Purpose for a concise guide to writing and revising your Statement of Purpose.}

To me, a poem revolves around the associations it draws from its reader.  This idea has influenced powerfully my development as a scholar.  My past research projects have provided opportunities deeply to explore the way themes and motifs evolve and dissolve through poets’ manipulation.  The network of associations a reader draws from a poem constantly changes, grows, develops, and dissipates as new elements, both of the text and of experience, are introduced.  This organic dialectic between subjective reality and literature led me to write my undergraduate thesis about T. S. Eliot and Wallace Stevens.  Both poets’ work engages not just with narrative content but with the function of poetry, and this pursuit of poetry’s purpose impels me to become a professor of literature.

The late medieval and twentieth-century American periods, though seemingly worlds apart, have fostered my intellectual growth.  My way of thinking about poetics is, in a sense, mythical: symbols assume new meaning as they interact with other symbols and personal experience, and the way in which this meaning grows is often the meaning itself.  Eliot harnesses this changeability in his introduction to The Waste Land: “April is the cruelest month” perverts Chaucer’s celebratory opening to The Canterbury Tales.  Both poems are spiritual journeys.  In my future research, I plan to explore the ways such texts as Eliot’s poem not only follow from, but are sustained and transformed by, older texts.  As Eliot argues in “Tradition and the Individual Talent,” past and present literature exist together in an eternal present; the addition of a new text recreates the canon.  Chaucer’s tales are not mere influences; they are alive.  At the same time, that eternal present is always turning into a new past in need of constant renewal.

As a research assistant for The College of [redacted]’s Project MUSE, I examined the way poets recreate, rather than echo, their predecessor’s voices.  Professor [redacted] and I compared the style of late medieval and Renaissance poets in order to determine ways in which Chaucer was the father of early modern English poetry.  My current interest rests on this framework of literature as an organically connected body.   David Holmes, a prominent stylometrist, theorizes that the frequency and grammatical context of words in a text illuminates its author’s style.  Holmes made lateral comparisons between contemporaries; Professor [redacted] and I applied his method to literary history.  With the aid of computer software we measured Chaucer’s, John Lydgate’s, and Edmund Spenser’s stylistic signatures.  Though the project continues, Chaucer’s idiosyncrasies seem active in Spenser’s texts.  This endeavor inspired my ongoing search for reciprocal relationships between distant periods.  Chaucer’s presence in Spenser’s poetry exemplifies Stevens’s supreme fiction, reality which constantly changes yet always refers back to itself.

The College of [redacted], a small public college with a strong liberal arts program, has provided me with a focused and personalized education.  All courses at [redacted] are taught by professors devoted to both their students and their research.  While writing my thesis I met weekly with Professor [redacted]; he guided my project in a critically relevant direction while encouraging me to pursue my own interests.  I hope to gain insight into such mentorship by teaching sections under the auspices of the University of [redacted]’s faculty.  [Redacted]’s analysis of the seasonal arc in Stevens’s poetry particularly intrigues me, as does [redacted]’s study of medieval travel and sexuality.

My background in philosophy, my second major, has been essential to my development as a critic.  While English provided a theoretical foundation and a wide breadth of reading, philosophy trained me to build robust logical arguments and to engage with theorists analytically.  Literary theorists are not scientists; rather, they are philosophers who think categorically in order to classify the semantic structure and poetic effect of text.  In my thesis, I addressed questions concerning the nature of reality as conceived by Eliot and Stevens; my experience untangling metaphysical problems allowed me to make fine distinctions between reality-as-divinity and reality-as-material.  This skill, in conjunction with my practiced use of abstract concepts as theoretical frameworks for larger discussions, informs my continuing study of medieval and modern poetics.  As a student of philosophy, I am equipped to articulate and defend my growing theories about the living nature of past literature.

One’s ability to create and transform subjective reality through symbols that both epitomize and obscure meaning is central to my academic inquiry.  For me, Stevens’s idea that the imagination both produces and is a part of reality resonates above all others.  As I argue in my honors thesis, both Eliot and Stevens are what Blanford Parker, in his remarkable Triumph of Augustan Poetics, calls logists: they push language (logos) beyond its material limits.  I believe the poet harnesses–as Coleridge suggested–the process of consciousness: an evolving collection of symbols, a myth recreated in every moment and never complete.  Eliot’s logism is Christian; he attempts to facilitate the reader’s experience of God.  In doing so he treats his poetry, a succession of symbols, as a machine to be used and then discarded.  Hence Eliot develops motifs of the four elements in “Little Gidding” that culminate in death: he wishes to reveal God in the earthly elements’ wake.  This treatment of language as mechanical marks Eliot as a modernist.  Stevens similarly invokes old symbols in order to negate them: the dove of the Holy Spirit becomes a pigeon in “Sunday Morning.”  However, Stevens shows his reader that poems are not dead objects; they are symbolic of, and synonymous with, reality–a vital, continuous process: in this he is both a secular logist and postmodernist.  Eliot and Stevens disagree on the fundamental question of whether language, in facilitating the experience of reality, transcends itself or reflects upon itself.  In my graduate studies I wish better to understand the ways in which poets resolve this tension.  I hope to take Stevens’s philosophy further by exploring the living worlds created by late medieval poets, these worlds’ presence in modern literature, and their ongoing function in literary history.

***

This application received an offer of admission from a top 10 public university.

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Entering the Masters program at [redacted] State University, I was returning from two years in Europe, homesick for the West, and vaguely interested in Wallace Stegner’s ideas of place and home. Enjoying the academy, I began collaborating with professors: annotating letters for [redacted]’s forthcoming second volume of [redacted], and teaching first year writing courses: English 101 and 102. I led sections of American and British literature classes under Profs. [redacted] and [redacted]—an unusual opportunity at [redacted] State. I also presented on intertextuality in Stegner at University of [redacted], Stegner and eros at the [redacted] conference 2011, and on agrarian narratives at University of [redacted] in 2012.

My interest in Stegner and the West led me to explore the relationship between desire, knowledge, and land. While working as editorial assistant to book review editor [redacted] for the journal [redacted] I got to sample ecocritical scholarship–including a few books on agriculture as the practical intersection of knowledge, culture, and land. This led me to a small but passionate scholarly conversation focused on “agrarian” literature.

Looking for practical agricultural texts, I uncovered a popular 1864 farm pamphlet, Ten Acres Enough by Edmund Morris. I saw clear claims about knowledge, land, and “the good life”—I thought of Thoreau and current ecocritical concerns tied to the 19^th Century. In my portfolio I explored Morris’s popular claim of farm-based economic freedom in conversation with Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. These texts indicate and illuminate a historical and ideological shift: from farming as a dominant cultural force to subversive counterculture.

I also studied German as an undergraduate, and translation at [redacted] State. This September, I was awarded the prestigious [redacted] Prize for Young Translators by the [redacted] Institute for my translation of the opening chapter of [redacted]’s [redacted]. Through translating, I continued to engage with German theory and philosophy, and found useful thinking about human relationships to the world.

I continue to study Thoreau and 19^th-century American literature. But my varied interests—including what Prof. [redacted] calls “New Agrarianism,” classical literature and philosophy, new historical criticism, and German thought—are united by knowledge, identity, and place.

I work seasonally as a hired hand on a local farm. I teach literature, composition, and a philosophy-based humanities course as an active member of the English department at [redacted] State. I am revising an article (on Stegner and Socrates) to submit to the [redacted], and writing a book review for [redacted].

I strive, ultimately, to teach and learn with aretē, to fulfill my potential. Study at [redacted] University would help me cultivate my scholarship. [Redacted] reflects my interests through its [redacted] Institute, environmental studies program, the Cather and Whitman archives, a strong American literature program, interdisciplinary outreach, and the outstanding faculty with strengths in 19^th-Century studies, theory, and Western/Plains scholarship. I intend to excel in the field of literary studies and teaching. I believe I would be a good fit for [redacted].

***

This candidate applied to nine programs, and was ultimately accepted to a state school with funding, an offer he accepted.

{Need more help? Check out our ebook Hacking Your Statement of Purpose for a concise guide to writing and revising your Statement of Purpose.}

Medical schools often require a Personal Essay or Statement of Purpose as part of their application process.  Most medical schools give an enormous amount of weight to experience within the medical field, as they want to make sure applicants understand what they are getting themselves into.  Making sure that your medicine Statement of Purpose strikes a careful balance between a passion for the field and demonstrating that you are not some starry-eyed dilettante who has never worked with bodily fluids will go along way.  Demonstrating that you have experience with, and a firm grasp on, the daily routine of working in healthcare is essential.

Medicine Statement of Purpose essays submitted to healthcare and medical programs:

1. I Am Ready (Physician Assistant)

2. Problem-Based Learning (Physician Assistant)

3. Feeding the Whole Self (Nutrition and Dietetics)

4. Sustainability and Evolution (Nutrition and Dietetics)

A few more resources from around the web:

1. Advice from Johns Hopkins on the med school Statement of Purpose.  The sections on “Qualities to Portray” and “Themes to Avoid” are especially helpful.

2. 15 sample statements from the Medical College of Wisconsin.

3. The UNC School of Medicine provides 3 example essays, as well as an example CV.

{Need more help with writing a medicine Statement of Purpose? Check out our ebook Hacking Your Statement of Purpose for a concise guide to writing and revising your Statement of Purpose.}