<p>I graduate spring 2009 in chemical engineering and am looking to applying again this fall. I applied the two years ago (wow) and got accepted to places but decided to do volunteer work for a non-profit organization after I graduated. I still have my personal statements but as I was reviewing them, I didn't know whether I should include the experience in my statement. The work I did wasn't engineering related but rather closer to theology. Should I mention it in my essay along with the research experiences I had 1-2 years ago? Or should I leave out the experience or mention it off-offhandedly? Thanks.</p>
<p>Leave it out completely.</p>
<p>so what about the recommendation letters? Should I tell the professors to leave it out in that too? Would schools question what I did the past 1-2 years after I graduated?</p>
<p>Your professors should be well aware of what is appropriate to include in a LOR. You don’t need to tell them what to write.</p>
<p>I just applied successfully to sci grad programs. I graduated in 2009 and spent part of this year volunteering - I mentioned my volunteer work in my SOP as it related to my career goals. Some apps included places for you to say what you have done since graduation from college (some require you to fill this field). And they will most definitely ask about your vol. work during interviews… (I had to justify it and explain my decision). I personally think it would look very odd if you did all this cool stuff as an UG, then don’t account for what you did these last two years, and then are like, “Hi, please accept me into you program!” Most of your SOP should be about your research, career goals, research interests, explaining your desire to go to that specific grad school program, and whatnot but I would include a brief mention of what you did for the last two years (perhaps try to highlight something you got out of it that relates to your grad school plans - like: “While volunteering with __ during these last two years, I learned/realized/developed skill X, which will be helpful during grad training…” or something like that - something v short)</p>
<p>(From my experience: It always goes down like this: You: “I graduated in 2009.” Grad school interviewer/grad students/other applicants/random guy on the street: “Oh, so what have you been doing since then?” You need to have a good, succinct answer (which is why I suggest crafting something on your SOP that will answer this))</p>