Biographical statement

[YouOnlyYoloOnce]

A few of the schools I am applying to ask for a biographical statement/personal history statement (the three schools I am referring to are UMichigan, UC Berkeley and UC San Diego). This is separate of course from the statement of purpose. I have already put a lot of work into my statement of purpose, but it is completely academic and has essentially no biographical element. 

 

I am not sure what to include in a biographical statement. It's not that I don't like talking about myself (I think I'm the most interesting person around.) However, it feels like I'll be walking through a minefield. I am especially wary of saying anything along the lines of "I've been philosophizing since I was a kid." Anyone else have any ideas about what to write in those kind of statements?

[Maleficent999]

I'm in the same boat as you, Yolo. UCSD and UCSB require this scary "personal history statement." I'm not sure if I'm really one to be giving advice but I can tell you what I am doing. I just sat down and pretty much told the story of how I got to where I am. It was just one long stream of consciousness about the struggles I've encountered and how they've shaped me. I've been editing it from there. I think what they're looking for is more information about what sets you apart from everyone else. Sure you're smart, experienced, etc. But what about your story will make you a good addition to your cohort? I think a LOT of academic institutions are under the impression that diversity is the key to learning (I think this is somewhat true but I'm wary of schools who won't let more than one person from a specific background into their program) so you want to show that you can bring something special to the table.

[danieleWrites]

All of your materials answer a single question: Why should you admit me into your program?

 

Your biography is no different. It should show the reader why you're the special snowflake. Just no the way an SOP does. The SOP is about your scholarship. The biography is about what prompted you to do the scholarship, and what is prompting you to try to do it in graduate school.

 

If I were to write one, I would write about how I developed my interest in the sociological aspect of literature. It's an incident involving Karl Marx and Arthur Miller. You can't tell you whole life story, so pick a few defining events or characteristics and work with those. I'm Mexican-American, and female, which would have made some great diversity fodder, but I wouldn't put that in there because my ethnic history isn't relevant to my interests. If it is to yours, go for it. If you spent hours fishing with a grandfather who loved Hiedigger, tell that story.

 

Basically, explain the parts of your biography that inform your scholarship. I'm an American female who grew up in an upper middle class world, and then married into a lower working class world, focused powerfully on the lower enlisted segment of the military. Army. I could use that biography to explain why I get Marx and Wallerstein. I could talk about the crisis of faith that prompted me to define terms I'd taken for granted before, like evil, good, moral, right, wrong, and so on, and how this informs my research into how main street Americans define good and evil.  And so on.