

Describe your experiencesĮxperiences are the “what” of your essay. No one will hold you to this this just helps your committee visualize your potential trajectory. What research directions are you passionate about, and why? What do you picture yourself doing in 10 years?Ĭlose your essay with a 2-3 sentence discussion of your career interests. Get the committee excited about investing in you by opening your essay with a brief portrait of what drives you as a scientist.
#Mit lab master programs professional#
PhD programs invest in the professional and scientific growth of their students. To make it easy for them to remember you, create a narrative that “brands” you. To make it easy for them to figure out that you are a good fit, make direct, concrete statements about your accomplishments and qualifications.

The graduate committee probably reads hundreds of applications a year. They are therefore interested in your qualifications as a researcher, your career goals, and how your personality matches their labs and department. They’re trying to determine if you will be a successful graduate student in their department, a positive force in the department’s intellectual life, and a successful scientist after you graduate. Your personal statement will be read by a graduate committee, a handful of faculty from your program. Your personal statement should make this match clear. Matching goes both ways: they should be interested in you, and you should be interested in them. The graduate school personal statement tells your story and demonstrates that you are a good match for a particular department or program.
