Personal essay

[troika]

Hi all,

I just finished my personal essay for MIT ( role of family and community in personal and academic development), and realized I got quite creative in the process. Now I am wondering if I should make it more professional, so my question is how personal is acceptable? I haven't followed a well defined common thread because there are just so many things I could talk about. I also tried not to write more than a page (around 400 words).

While I realize I can't expect to receive any clear-cut answers, it would be helpful to have a rough idea of what other people included in their personal essays. Thank you.

OC

[polisciphd]

Biggest thing to keep in mind is that this is not an undergrad personal essay. This is your opportunity to explain why your research interests fit with the department (specifics are a must), and why your academic and professional background (notice I said nothing about your personal background) prepare you do the kind of research that the department wants their students to do (like advanced statistics or math background, foreign language and/or travel, your congressional internship, whatever...). Treat this like a written job interview, explain why you are the best candidate for the specific position to which you are applying.

[JanuaryHymn]

Troika, it depends what you mean by creative. All personal statements should be pretty professional. In mine, I included my ethnicity, academic experiences, and community involvement, and discussed how they all informed my research interests/decisions to go to graduate school.

Tidefan, it sounds like your describing a statement of purpose, not a personal statement about which the OP is talking.

[troika]

@tidefan, I did all of that in the statement of purpose, your advice is very helpful in that sense. The personal essay is separate and specifically asks what the role of my family and community has been in my personal and academic development.

@mbrinkmo, i wrote it more like an undergrad personal essay, which now I am not sure is a very good idea, and that's why I decided to ask for other opinions. I talked about my childhood in my home country and how I came to study in the US, but I didn't tie this in with my research interests, which I explain in the statement of purpose. I also mentioned my family and the values towards education that I got from them, plus my college experience in the States (very briefly) - how I changed and how it helped me make plans for my future career.

[polisciphd]

Wait, so you have to write a Statement of Purpose and a personal essay? Strange, didn't have to do that for any of the schools I applied to.

[adaptations]

Wait, so you have to write a Statement of Purpose and a personal essay? Strange, didn't have to do that for any of the schools I applied to.

There are a number of schools that require both the statement of purpose and personal statement.

@troika: I think you are addressing the right types of things in the personal statement. I am of the opinion that you should also tie your personal narrative to your motivation to attend the specific school and pursue a PhD. You don't need to go to the level of detail of your SOP, but explicitly connecting the dots between your personal development and current goals seems like a good way to go.