Personal Essay Requirements

I’ll include a few, because I legitimately don’t have plans for any particular one.

McGill University’s Linguistics PhD program:an essay in which the applicant describes their reasons for applying to graduate studies and indicating qualifications, qualities, or circumstances the applicant feels to be significant; usually provides information about educational and professional goals and discusses the applicant’s interest in the desired field of study.

University of Pennsylvania’s Linguistics program: Your personal statement is an important part of your application. The admissions committee looks not only at the general background and qualifications of the applicants, but also at the fit between your specific goals and interests, and the kind of research conducted by the members of the graduate group. A length of two or three pages is usually appropriate.

The most successful statement will demonstrate that you understand the kinds of work conducted by members of the faculty with interests related to yours, and why Penn is a particularly appropriate place for you to study. You should be clear about your goals; it is acceptable to have wide interests or not to be entirely focused yet, but you should show that you understand what it means to pursue advanced study in the areas of interest that you identify. Personal anecdotes about how you became interested in linguistics, or childhood experiences with language, do not generally contribute to the effectiveness of the statement.

The personal statement is the place to describe your past training in linguistics or in related areas. We welcome applications from those with limited formal training in the field, but in such cases it is especially important to demonstrate your understanding of what graduate work in linguistics will entail, and to emphasize aspects of your educational background that will contribute to your success. We do not normally expect a resume or CV, but if your work or educational history is complicated, you might wish to include one.

When you are asked to specify your area of concentration, please choose from among these categories: syntax, semantics, pragmatics, phonology, phonetics, sociolinguistics, historical linguistics. If you are interested in an interdisciplinary pursuit such as computational linguistics or psycholinguistics, specify that in addition to at least one core area of study, such as syntax, pragmatics, or phonetics.

Note that applicants are not expected to work out arrangements with individual faculty members before applying. The application is made to the graduate group as a whole, and students who matriculate in the program are assigned appropriate advisors after they arrive. Nevertheless, it is entirely sensible to identify how your research interests relate to those of the faculty at Penn.

University of Washington Library Science program: Your personal statement should be between 750-1000 words and should communicate to the admissions committee your aspirations for your future in the library and information science professions. Among other things, it could discuss:

• What you hope to accomplish from this program
• Reasons for choosing the our MLIS program
• Special interests and abilities
• Tentative goals for your professional career
• Your experience with information technology
• Your leadership experience and potential for leadership in the profession.

Since we welcome applicants who have varied cultural, educational, and socioeconomic backgrounds, we encourage you to discuss your personal history, family background, and influences on your intellectual development, especially if you want us to include these factors in the review of your application.

University of Rhode Island’s Library Science program: The personal statement is in essay form, and there are as many good ways to write it as there are applicants.

• Content is important. The best personal statements often show that the student knows what librarianship and information services are really about and has good ideas about how to work through institutions to make a difference in people’s lives. Some applicants take the opportunity to explain apparent weaknesses in their records, or highlight the relevance of special life experiences. We hope to recruit future colleagues who will enjoy their work and help create new ways for libraries and information services to serve our communities in the decades ahead. (One use of your personal statement: your interests and goals help the committee chair assign your initial academic advisor.)
• Form matters, too. Employers in our field are looking for good communicators, and the personal statement serves as a writing sample. Good statements are clear, well-organized, and informative.

CUNY Linguistics program: Each candidate is asked to write a personal statement describing why he or she wishes admission to the graduate program. This statement should discuss problems and concepts that have interested the applicant and show how the applicant has thought about them, being as specific as possible. The personal statement provides the candidate an open-ended opportunity to convince the admissions committee that he or she has the required commitment to research. Although the committee understands that many candidates may be unprepared to define specific topics of interest, an expression of curiosity in some definable area of language is expected. It is in the personal statement that applicants may choose to explain any aspects of their personal or academic records that they think need clarification.

This is what I’ve found so far.