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Bummer - no ideas guys?? I'm thinking I'm going to have to substantially edit the personal history statement, so that I don't talk about about my disability in both...What do you all think, though? Any idea if the people reading the diversity fellowship statement will also be reading the other essays?

Hi all, So I applied to two linguistics graduate programs my senior year of undergraduate studies in Chinese and Spanish. I wasn't accepted, and one university provided the explanation that essentially I didn't have enough background/research experience in the field. I am reapplying to those graduate programs now five years later and am wondering a few things -- 1) if/how much I should discuss the denial. Should I explicitly mention it, so I can point to exactly how my application is different? Or just talk about my preparation without referencing the previous application? 2) I have taken three linguistics MOOCs, audited a phonetics course in the speech language pathology department, and completed a TESOL certificate program. However, I don't have for-credit equivalents to one program's several prerequisite courses. Again, should I reference this (obviously with emphasis on the positive)? Thanks so much for your time, guys.

Here's the personal history statement prompt: The purpose of this essay is to get know you as an individual and potential graduate student. Please describe how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. You may include any educational, familial, cultural, economic, or social experiences, challenges, community service, outreach activities, residency and citizenship, first-generation college status, or opportunities relevant to your academic journey; how your life experiences contribute to the social, intellectual, or cultural diversity within a campus community and your chosen field; or how you might serve educationally underrepresented and underserved segments of society with your graduate education.

Hello all, I am working on my application to UC Davis. It requires a Personal History Statement separate from the Statement of Purpose. I've been through this process with UC Berkeley, and the prompts are almost exactly the same. Davis, however, also has a diversity fellowship that I'd like to apply to that requires a short statement, and if I leave my Personal History Statement essentially the same as what I submitted for Berkeley, I'm afraid I may repeat a lot. I'm trying to figure out if and/or how to make them distinct. In my personal history statement, I talk about the interaction between my having a significant physical disability and the progression of my interest in academics and confidence in my ability to succeed in higher ed, discussing in one paragraph some of the health-related challenges I faced. I also talk about observing and helping interpret for my sister, who had speech production limitations after getting a tracheostomy -- how it really made me cognizant of language and grew a desire to affect some kind of difference in the lives of those who have language challenges, subsequently drawing me toward psycholinguistics. I'll put the prompt for personal history statement in a reply for those unfamiliar. The diversity fellowship prompt says to briefly explain how you fulfill their criteria. The ones that could apply to me are these: To be eligible for a fellowship that promotes diversity, applicants must have an interest in an academic career in teaching and research, be a United States Citizen or Permanent Resident, and meet one or more of the following criteria: 1. Demonstrate potential to bring to their academic research the perspective that comes from their understanding of the experiences of groups historically underrepresented in higher education or underserved by academic research generally. 2. Provide evidence of academic achievement while overcoming barriers such as economic, social, or educational disadvantage. 3. Demonstrate potential to contribute to higher education through the understanding of the barriers facing women, domestic minorities, students with disabilities, and members of other groups underrepresented in higher education careers, as evidenced by life experiences and educational background. Examples include, but are not limited to: b. ability to articulate the barriers facing women, racial minorities and other groups in fields where they are underrepresented; Thanks so much in advance. I hope everyone's having a great start to their 2016