<p>Hi!
I decided (late) that I was going to go ahead and apply to grad school this year. Any how, I took the gre and requested LOR, BUT I cannot get myself to start writing the statement of purpose and my personal history statement, I am extremely anxious and everytime I try (emphasis on try) to even start I can only cry and feel frustrated, I dont know why!! I hate this!!! My first language is Spanish and I feel that I'm not a strong writer in English, and that has me paralized. Next Monday I will meet with a professor to go over my statements but I have nothing yet. The limit is 500 words for each. I don't even know where to start, this is never happened to me, I'm usually confident and very focused on what I have to do :(
Any ideas???
Do you guys know of any website where I can find some guidelines or samples???
Thank you for reading.</p>
<p>Sorry if this sounds crazy, but I am going crazy, Im stressinggg too much!</p>
<p>PhD.org has some examples and some pointers, written either by profs or by grad students who survived the process. Try to focus less on the writing style, and think about the information you want to convey about your preparation, your interests, and goals. Maybe if you start backwards -- with the final paragraph about what appeals to you about the particular program at the particular university you're applying to, it will help you get something down on paper and break through your paralysis. Most people have trouble writing about themselves!</p>
<p>Thanks dobby and sac!!
I'm going to work right now, but as soon as I get back home I'll check those sites out. Thank you!
Ah, one more question, do you guys think that this one week I have will be enought time?
I already did my research and have a broad idea of what to write about.
Thanks again!</p>
<p>What I did that helped (and I'm a native English speaker) - I just sat down and wrote out everything I wanted to say, without worrying about structure, etc. too much. It was crap, I knew it would be crap, and I knew I would throw it out. But the process of getting it all out on paper helped me focus, and my second draft was much better. Revise, revise, revise - I think my SOP was revised about 20 times!</p>
<p>One week is cutting it close - but you can do it. Just remember to work in a couple days where you don't even look at it - seriously. When you come back to it, you will look at it with fresher eyes. Your SOP will be better for it.</p>
<p>I agree with the above poster. First think about the conversations you've had with your professors when you asked about letters for graduate schools. What you said to them should be ON the paper (because obviously they think you can do grad school and so should the admissions committee). Here are some suggestions on how to set up your SOP:
-What inspired you to go for this field of interest? (usually the hook)
-What have you done to pursue that (mention any significant research or lab work)
-What are you interested in doing with this particular field of interest?</p>
<p>You should definitely state specific reasons for why that particular program- make the programs feel very special that ONLY they can cater to your needs and no one else- is it the curriculum? Certain professors (if so, name them and what is it about them that you like)? Opportunities?</p>
<p>And.... a good SOP should have a reason of why you want to earn that degree as money is involved (why should the program invest $200K in you for a PhD or why would you waste $50K just to earn a MA?)</p>
<p>I know it's a lot but if you've thought some of this already, then you shouldn't have too much trouble throwing together your first draft. Leave the stylistic issues to the end.</p>
<p>You could try writing it in Spanish and then translating, if you're more comfortable that way. I did that with French essays when I was first learning to write longer stuff.</p>