Personal History Statement vs Diversity Fellowship response (UC Davis)

[ellindea]

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

Edited January 7, 2016 by ellindea

[ellindea]

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.

 

[ellindea]

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?  

Edited January 12, 2016 by ellindea

[soydominique]

On 1/12/2016 at 5:54 PM, ellindea said:

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?  

Mine were almost the same. I haven't heard back from them yet. I know some rejections for ethnic studies went out yesterday, which I was not a part of. It's a really late reply, but with the diversity fellowship, I referenced the same issues, but displayed my leadership skills in the diversity fellowship.

[johnnycomelately]

I have been awarded a diversity fellowship at one program and nominated for one at another. I focused on my research-education and training, how my research interests came about, and "fit" for the program-for the SOP, and made my diversity/personal statement about my experiences pertinent to the fellowship prompt. Grad admissions committees, from my experience, read both, and, if necessary, forward the diversity statement to the grad division/diversity division that awards the fellowship. Hope that helps. 

Just realized this is info might be a little late. Have you heard back from any programs?

Edited February 15, 2016 by johnnycomelately
Clarification.

[samiradedas]

On 2/15/2016 at 5:48 AM, johnnycomelately said:

I have been awarded a diversity fellowship at one program and nominated for one at another. I focused on my research-education and training, how my research interests came about, and "fit" for the program-for the SOP, and made my diversity/personal statement about my experiences pertinent to the fellowship prompt. Grad admissions committees, from my experience, read both, and, if necessary, forward the diversity statement to the grad division/diversity division that awards the fellowship. Hope that helps. 

Just realized this is info might be a little late. Have you heard back from any programs?

Thanks! I'm working on my fellowship statement of purpose and your advice is pretty helpful! I wasn't sure as well whether admissions committees read both statements. 

Edited June 9, 2017 by samiradedas