graduate level essay format

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APA Writing Guide: Formatting for Graduate Students

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Writing Center

The Liberty University Writing Center is available to provide writing coaching to students. Residential students should contact the  On-Campus Writing Center  for assistance. Online students should contact the  Online Writing Center  for assistance.

General Rules

Liberty University has determined that graduate students will use APA 7’s formatting guidelines for professional papers. To assist you, Liberty University's Writing Center provides a template paper and a  sample paper .

For professional papers, the following four sections are required: 

• Title Page with Running Head
• Abstract with Keywords
• Reference List

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you format your paper:

• Fonts  - LU recommends that papers be typed in 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Calibri fonts.  
• Use only one space at the end of each sentence in the body of your paper.
• In general, APA papers should be double spaced throughout. A list of exceptions can be found here.
• To make sure that your paper is double spaced throughout,  select the text ,  right click , select ' Paragraph ,' and look under the section ' Line Spacing ' as shown below:

• Margins/Alignment  - Your paper should use 1-inch margins on standard-sized paper (8.5' X 11'). Make sure that you use  Align Left  (CTRL + L) on the paper, except for the title page.  
•   Indentation – The first sentence in each new paragraph in the body of the paper should be indented a half inch. The abstract, however, should not be indented. References use hanging indentation .  
• Headings:   Please note that all headings are in title case. Level 1 headings should be centered (and in bold), and Level 2 and 3 headings should be left-aligned (and in bold or bold italic, respectively). Level 4 and 5 headings are indented like regular paragraphs. An example of formatting headings in a paper is available here

Title Page: When setting up the professional title page, please note the following elements should be present on the page:

• There is no limit to the number of words in the title.
• Add an extra blank double-spaced line between the title and author’s name.
• Name of each author (centered)
• Name of department and institution/affiliation (centered)
• Place the author note in the bottom half of the title page. Center and bold the label “Author Note.” Align the paragraphs of the author note to the left. For an example, see the LU Writing Center template for graduate students here .
• Page number in top right corner of the header, starting with page 1 on the title page
• The running head is an abbreviated version of the title of your paper (or the full title if the title is already short).
• Type the running head in all-capital letters.
• Ensure the running head is no more than 50 characters, including spaces and punctuation.
• The running head appears in the same format on every page, including the first page.
• Do not use the label “Running head:” before the running head.
• Align the running head to the left margin of the page header, across from the right-aligned page number.

Abstract Page: The abstract page includes the abstract and related keywords.

The abstract is a brief but comprehensive summary of your paper. Here are guidelines for formatting the abstract:

• It should be the second page of a professional (graduate level) paper.
• The first line should say “Abstract” centered and in bold.
• The abstract should start one line below the section label.
• It should be a single paragraph and should not be indented.
• It should not exceed 250 words.

Keywords are used for indexing in databases and as search terms. Your keywords should capture the most important aspects of your paper in three to five words, phrases, or acronyms. Here are formatting guidelines:

• Label “ Keywords ” one line below the abstract, indented and in italics (not bolded).
• The keywords should be written on the same line as and one space after the label “ Keywords ”.
• The keywords should be lowercase (but capitalize proper nouns) and not italic or bold.
• Each keyword should be separated by a comma and a space and followed by a colon.
• There should be no ending punctuation.
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• Last Updated: Aug 29, 2023 11:29 AM
• URL: https://libguides.liberty.edu/APAguide

How to write a Master's Essay

In view of writing a master’s essay, if academic writing is strange to you or you have never done it before, the prospect of choosing a topic, researching on it, and writing an academic essay can be daunting.

While some imagine that they can take their undergraduate-level writing skills and turn them into a magic wand to ace master’s level assignments, sometimes it doesn’t just cut it. A master’s level essay, for instance, requires a deeper level of independent reasoning, which is best achieved through the tips that we’ve tested, applied, and scored better grades ourselves.

Writing a master’s level assignment follows a step-by-step approach that commences from understanding the assignment to submitting the assignment. Each step is very significant, so try and take some of your time to skim through.

However, if at this point all you want is master’s essay writing help, you can trust our experienced essay writers. They are well-versed in research, writing, and polishing graduate-level assignments.

Undergraduate essay writing vs. Master’s Essay Writing

This guide can be used as an academic essay writing bible for postgraduates. We have refined everything to help you draft, craft, and revise essays at that level when completing your Master’s degree.

We intend to make you write outstanding master’s level essays that meet the expectations of your professors. Remember, when writing your essays, you should draw intellectual findings from texts written by authority researchers in your field, primary data gathered and manipulated by yourself, and logical reasoning.

Besides that, you also need to ensure that your writing demonstrates a high level of mastery, dominance, and intellectual acuity.  Here are some things your essay should portray to differentiate it from undergraduate level work:

1. Show mastery

At the graduate level, it is vital that your writing demonstrated mastery of your subject. For this reason, ensure that you have contextualized the topic and arguments as you meticulously reference scholarly academic sources. In addition, refer to theoretical propositions, paradigms, norms, and themes within your chosen discipline.

2. Let the scope of your paper be known off the bat

It is also helpful that you define and delineate the scope of your graduate paper early enough. While a thesis statement ideally does this, your introduction should conclusively point out your position given the topic or subject area.

A well-defined scope shows that you’ve mastered your academic writing and possess appropriate knowledge in the field – it announces your mastery. Therefore, you must contextualize a given idea when defining your scope.

3. Display independence of thought

Although you need to ensure that your graduate essay has a flow of ideas and demonstrates proficiency, you can only achieve that through the lucid description, evaluation, arguments, and analysis. Doing so shows that you can interpret, understand, critique, and present issues from a peculiar perspective.

As you put your fingers to the keys to write that piece, ensure that you challenge any assumptions and explain the rationale for your stance.

4. Use conceptual thinking and critical reasoning.

While the temptation of critiquing academic literature might creep in, avoid the temptation. Instead, ensure that your arguments are well-interpreted, devoid of bias, and show genuine conceptual engagement from the word go.

5. Have a compelling conclusion

When making claims – persuasive or argumentative, ensure that you draw plausible conclusions. There is no reason to write an entire essay, only to realize later that it is not balanced and ideas are stiff. Instead, by weighing evidence, you can analyze the arguments, develop and defend your position. Then, once you can read your master’s level essay and convince yourself you have nailed it – your audience will be convinced too.

6. Maintain substantial originality/authenticity

As a rule of thumb, you are supposed to acknowledge your sources. Therefore, when writing a graduate and postgraduate essay, you need to display your field knowledge.

One way of doing so is through reading and reporting what is written. You can also achieve the same through evaluating and criticizing, where appropriate.

You can cite publications in your field through summarizing or direct quotations, which entails acknowledging the sources by providing in-text citations and references or bibliography at the end of your assignment.

Although citing and referencing is both arbitrary and complex, it makes you develop better arguments and avoid plagiarism. On the other hand, you do not want to present another person’s work as your own because it is not helpful, you need to develop your conclusion based on research, and it is against the academic regulations.

In as far as master’s level essay is concerned, avoid:

• Changing some sentences off a text while maintaining vocabulary and structure of the original text
• Paraphrasing ideas but mixing original content from a text
• Using phrases or quotes of a text because they are sound
• Using an argumentative organization of an author because it seems plausible
• Direct copying of content from a source
• Making small changes to a paragraph drawn from a source
• Fixing phrases from a source and piecing them to make an argument

Any of the above revokes the authenticity and originality of your essay. Some of the verbs you can use when reporting the findings or ideas from authors include: claim, speculate, hold, opine, assume, assert, comment, contend, suggest, discuss, report, note, argue, state, show, demonstrate, refute, point out, and many other essay and assignment words and phrases as we have outlined elsewhere in our blog.

At the undergrad level, you scored top grades on essays due to evidence of genuine originality. On the other hand, at a master’s level, you must routinely show originality. It is a means of showing academic perspicacity. Therefore, ensure that you present ideas as per the academic norms.

7. Display excellent research skills

Your academic paper must demonstrate that you researched well. When writing a master’s essay, ensure that you support the arguments with recent research. Maintain using recent sources unless you need primary research conducted in the past for relevance. Sometimes trends do change, and referencing old studies could lead to inaccurate conclusions.

You can extend your scope of reading beyond the list provided by your lecturers. Find scholarly sources that support or refute your arguments and incorporate them as well.

8. Maintain all the academic standards

Academic writing has its conventions : always strive to achieve them. Use the appropriate tone, language, and referencing style. If a paper requires that you use Harvard, APA, MLA, and Chicago/Turabian format, stick to the tenets of each citation.

9. Observe the 3 Cs

When writing your essay, stick to the 3 Cs: clarity, conciseness, and consistency. Ensure that your main points in the essay are clear. Ensure that you use the concise presentation of ideas instead of using long run-on sentences that make no sense. Avoid fillers and keep your writing as simple as possible. If possible, you can use headings and subheadings but maintain academic conventions.

10. Immaculate organization and presentation

Although trivial, a disorganized and poorly presented essay can cost you your grades. Therefore, ensure that you demonstrate professionalism by maintaining a good flow from introduction to conclusion.

Balance ideas in your paragraphs by maintaining each idea per paragraph. Use transition words to knit together the various paragraphs and maintain flow. You can as well use signal words to make your essay academically sound.

11. Strong editing and proofreading skills

Finally, after all, is said and done, edited and proofread, the essay scores better grades than that which is hurriedly submitted. Check for all the punctuation mechanistic, grammatical, and spelling mistakes. Although basic, such errors can cost you big time. A linguistically sound master’s essay will score the best grades; that’s a given. You can use editors and proofreaders to polish your essay if you are not confident.

Step-by-step process of writing a master’s level essay (assignment)

In a nutshell, while writing a graduate-level essay essentially follows the steps you took during your undergraduate, you need to go the extra mile to convince your professor to give you top grades. The process begins by reading the instructions, internalizing them, researching and drafting, and finally editing and submitting. Below is a detailed step-by-step process to write your Master’s, MBA, or Ph.D. essay and get a good grade.

Step 1 – Understand the instructions.

It would help if you commenced writing the essay by understanding the instructions for the assignment. To do so, read the prompt, rubric, and any accompanying material from your instructor. The assignment description files have everything you will need. If something is not clear, you are always encouraged to ask your instructor early enough before the deadline. In most cases, the class announcements will have clarifications for various assignments. While reading the instructions, identify the verbs, key terms, and referencing instructions.

Step 2 – Create an outline or plan.

With the description decoded, you must take your time to get immersed into your paper. Of course, by now, you have settled for a topic or made a selection of the question that your essay or paper is going to handle.

Therefore, you need to decide what your main argument, the paper's focus, will be about. With this information, you then create a preliminary thesis statement. You need to ask yourself:

• What are my main ideas in this paper?
• How do these ideas support my main argument or the thesis statement?

Doing this helps contextualize research, determine the scope of your paper, and know what to put where in your essay.

Along with the thesis, plan on the type of hook you will integrate into the introduction to enthuse your audience to want to read your essay. 

It would help if you then created an outline for your essay, noting down the main points that fall in your essay's introduction, body, and conclusion. Note that, as you become skilled in academic writing, you might often get the temptation of ignoring the planning aspect and going straight to looking for resources for your paper. When such happens, overcome it and do the step.

Step 3 – Come up with a thesis statement.

When creating the preliminary essay or research paper plan, you already have a preliminary thesis statement. Therefore, you only need to polish it to define the scope and direction of your paper strongly.

Remember, a strong thesis statement gives your readers and yourself clear scope of what you are discussing in the paper. For instance, if you are writing about why a certain municipality should eliminate feral cats from the arboretum, you need to identify the ethical method to be used and justifiable reasons for the method.

To write a great thesis statement, think about how you would describe the paper to a layperson or total stranger in one or two sentences. If you have a hard time doing so, you probably need to revisit and refine the thesis.

Step 4 – Research your topic.

As you advance through writing your essay, you need to determine the type of essay that you’ll be writing. For example, is it expository , argumentative , persuasive, analytical, narrative , compare and contrast , or descriptive?

Understanding the type of paper you are writing further helps you know the resources to use when supporting or refuting your stance/arguments. Some papers require gathering and analyzing primary data; make sure you have factored in that one too.

You can then look for books, journal articles, policy briefs, statistical data, newspapers, blogs, legislation, white papers, conference proceedings, periodicals, government documents, and organizational publications. Understand what is scholarly and non-scholarly when searching for sources to use. Also, understand whether a source is primary, secondary, or tertiary and determine its suitability for your paper.

You can begin your search in Google, then proceed to Google Scholar, institutional database, and specialized databases, in that order. This enables you to understand your research, add to your outline to refine it further, and develop better arguments.

Step 5 – Refine your outline.

Now that you’ve gathered the correct data and organized the references using either Word Document or online referencing tools like Citation Machine, BibMe, Citefast, or citethisforme, you need to finalize your outline.

You will be adding flesh to it using the new information from your thinking and research. As you fill in the outline, ensure consistency and sound logic, and flow in your plan from sentence to paragraph level.

Remember, academic paragraphing demands that you discuss only one idea per paragraph. You should also have topic sentences, conclusion sentences, and supporting facts. You also have to use transitions.

Step 6 – Revisit the research.

You then need to double-check your research resources to determine if they still support the thesis. For example, if you rephrased and changed the thesis statement, you need to do further research. As you do this, ensure that your paper is flowing well. Do not mix ideas in the name of filling the pages; this might affect your grades.

Step 7 – Write the first draft.

With the refined outline, you can start writing the first draft of your essay. But, first, ensure that you have all the information needed to organize the flow of your paper.

As you write the paper at this point, do not perfect it so much for later. A draft is supposed to be what its name is, a piece that will be refined later.

Most of your time will be spent drafting the paper. Be wary of writers’ block because it is at this point that it creeps into you uninvited.

Step 8 – Be wary of writer’s block (plan well).

Now, everybody suffers writers’ block when they are working on a paper. How each person handles theirs is what differs. However, when you realize that writer’s block has affected you:

• Take a break from writing. You can do other things like walking, riding a bike, taking a nap, or swimming to relieve the thought and pressure of a paper.
• Manage your time well so that you do not stress over a last-minute essay.
• Check whether you have sufficient information or too much information and come up with a strategy.
• Seek help from a trustworthy writing website – one where you and the writer work hand-in-hand.
• Listen to music
• Brainstorm on how to improve your writing
• Spend time with people who bring the best out of you
• Brew some coffee
• Ask help from your writing center; they can help you get relevant material

The goal is to stay focused. Any way you can achieve these counts at the end of the day.

Step 9 – Revise the draft.

With the preliminary draft in place, you need to revise and edit it to make it a final draft. Here, you should check:

• Flow of ideas
• Logic and arguments

This means that you will be mostly rewriting, rewording, paraphrasing, and adding as well as deleting sections. As you revise, ask yourself:

• Is the essay answering the questions in the prompt?
• Do I meet the higher band in the essay rubric?
• Does the paper require a major revision such as deleting, moving, reworking, or paraphrasing a section?
• Does the content support the thesis statement?
• Is there a logical flow in the paper?
• Is the paper grammatically sound?
• Are the paragraphs logical?
• Does each paragraph maintain only one idea?
• Is the work well-cited?
• Are all the direct quotes balanced and cited?

Step 10 – Edit your Draft

You need to edit the paper for a top grade. Otherwise, all the effort will be in vain. Here are some things to do when editing your master’s essay:

• Highlight the thesis statement. It is either the last sentence or the last two sentences.
• Check whether the topic sentences of each paragraph support, expand, or explain the thesis statement.
• Review the assignment instructions and determine whether your written piece meets the requirements.
• Sparingly use direct quotations. For example, for a 1000-words essay, you can use one or two direct quotes. However, use parenthetical citations as they show your level of analysis and critical thinking.
• Ensure that the in-text citations are consistent with your chosen formatting style.
• Ensure that the cover page follows the chosen format.
• Make use of spell-checker and grammar checkers to refine the arguments and maintain flow.
• Reword all the sentences that begin with there is; there are, this is, it is, they are… etc. Reword these sentences to make them begin with a stronger subject. For example, “There are five critical factors to consider” can be better stated as “Five important factors require consideration.” The second sentence is stronger because it has a specific subject and verb. Some sentences cannot be reworded, so leave those as they are.
• Edit random paragraphs in the paper to focus on what is actually on the page versus what you think is there.
• Read each paragraph aloud. You will be surprised how many minor errors you can catch with this method of self-editing. For example,  errors like mistyping “form” instead of “from” or “hen” instead of “then” are easier to find when you read out loud.

When editing the paper, focus on the thesis, purpose, audience, organization and flow, ideas (examples, citations, and evidence), sentence structuring, punctuation, word choice, spelling, and grammar.

Step 11 – Prepare the Final Draft

Now that everything is in its rightful place, you need to do the last ritual before submitting the paper.

• Create a relevant cover page for your essay
• Compare the final essay against your outline or essay plan
• Check if the changes you made still make the paper relevant to the instructions
• Fix all the minor errors
• Read the paper loud
• Allow someone to revise, edit, and proofread your paper. Gradecrest has the best editing and proofreading services .
• Ensure that the paper reflects your understanding and knowledge of the subject matter

Step 12 – Submit the Right Assignment

Countercheck your assignment to ensure that the instructions are followed. Also, check that every detail is covered as per the rubric. For example, your personal information should be on the first page, as per your recommended cover page and format.

If everything is okay, click on the submit button. Most institutions have integrated plagiarism checkers to check every submission. If you wrote your essay from scratch or had help from an expert, you need not worry about plagiarism. Otherwise, avoid pre-written essays as they are full of plagiarism.

There you go, sit back, relax, and wait for that good grade.

Parting Shot

Writing a master’s essay is not a walk in the park. At first, it might seem like a distant idea, but soon as you master the steps above, you can even write an 8-page essay in a day. It is possible; our expert essay writers do this when you pay them to write your essays.

Now, we hope that these insights will enable you to perfect your essay writing skills. You can as well check our general essay writing guide for details we probably missed in this guide.

Otherwise, if you have any questions or need help, do not hesitate to reach out to us.

Gradecrest is a professional writing service that provides original model papers. We offer personalized services along with research materials for assistance purposes only. All the materials from our website should be used with proper references. See our Terms of Use Page for proper details.

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Graduate School Application Essays

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Types of Essays

Regardless of the type of school you are applying to, you will be required to submit an admissions essay as part of the application process. Graduate programs want students with clear commitment to the field. Essay prompts typically ask applicants to discuss their previous experience, future professional goals, and how the program can help them in achieving those objectives. The essay gives the applicant the chance to articulate these goals and display strong writing skills. Remember to tailor your essay to each school and the faculty committee that reviews your application. But first, take note of what kind of essay is being requested of you. Here are the two main admission essays:

Personal Statement

A personal statement is a narrative piece describing how your character and experiences have formed you into someone who will contribute positively and effectively to not only the department but the academic discipline as a whole. This is often achieved by detailing social, educational, cultural, and economic obstacles you have overcome in your journey to get to where you are today and your future objectives. A personal statement is also an opportunity to highlight what is unique about you and how you will advance diversity within the institution.

Check out Personal Statement Resources for Graduate School Applications in the Resources section of Handshake for a brainstorming activity and essay samples that can help you get started on your personal statement.

Statement of Purpose

Interchangeably called a “research statement”, a statement of purpose will prompt you to describe your research interests and professional goals, how you plan to accomplish them, and why a specific program is best suited for you to do so. Be specific about your specialized interests within your major field. Be clear about the kind of program you expect to undertake, and explain how your study plan connects with your previous training and future goals.

Use the Outlining Your Statement of Purpose guide in the Resources section of Handshake to get started on your statement outline.

How to Write a Powerful Admission Essay

Whatever required format, your essay should be thoughtful, concise, compelling, and interesting. Remember, admissions officers read hundreds of personal essays. Below are some tips for your admissions essay writing process:

Before Writing

• Read the question:  Be sure you are aware of all aspects of the prompt. Failing to pay attention to details in the prompt won’t reflect well on you as a potential candidate.
• What is distinct, special, and/or impressive about me and my life story?
• Have I overcome any particular hardships or obstacles?
• When did I become interested in this field and what have I learned about it?
• What are my career goals?
• What personal traits, values, and skill sets do I have that would make me stand out from other applicants?
• Create an outline:  You might have a lot that you want to say, but you will need to whittle down your many thoughts and experiences to a concrete thesis with a select number of examples to support it. Create an outline for your draft, not only to organize your points and examples, but to help tailor your essay for your readers.
• Know your audience:  Consider how your narrative can best meet the expectations of admissions committee members. Will faculty be reading this? Administrators? Experts in the field? Knowing your audience ahead of time will assist you in addressing the prompt appropriately.

While Writing

• Grab your reader’s attention:  Start your essay with something that will grab the reader’s attention such as a personal anecdote, questions, or engaging depiction of a scene. Avoid starting things off with common phrases such as “I was born in…” or “I have always wanted to…” Consider the experiences that have shaped you or your career decision, and delve into them with a creative hook.
• Write well:  Your essay is a sample of your writing abilities, so it’s important to convey your thoughts clearly and effectively. Be succinct—you don’t need to write out your full autobiography or resume in prose. Exclude anything that doesn’t support your thesis. Gentle humor is okay, but don’t overdo it. Also, don’t make things up! Be honest about your experiences.
• End strong:  End your essay with a conclusion that refers back to the lead and restates your thesis. This helps unify your essay as a whole, connecting your detailed experiences back to the reason you are writing this essay in the first place—to show your qualifications for your graduate program of choice.

Final Touches

• Use resources: The MIT Communication Labs have a CommKit that collects all of the Comm Lab resources relevant to the grad application process , including recommendation letters & interviews
• Revise:  Give yourself enough time to step away from your draft. Return with a fresh pair of eyes to make your edits. Be realistic with yourself, not your harshest critic. Make a few rounds of revisions if you need.
• Ask for help:  Have your essay critiqued by friends, family, educators, and the  MIT Writing and Communication Center or our Career Services staff.
• Proofread:  Read your essay out loud or even record yourself and listen to the recording, to help you catch mistakes or poor phrasing you may have missed when reading to yourself. Also, don’t rely exclusively on your computer to check your spelling.

• Communication
• Graduate Level Writing Tips

Graduate-Level Writing Tips: Definitions, Do’s and Don’ts

Debra Davenport, PhD

In your communication master’s program, you will be expected to demonstrate well-honed writing skills in your essays. Your courses will require proficiency in real-world business communications, as well as scholarly writing and the use of APA formatting.

Real-world written business communications may include:

• Executive summaries
• News releases
• Media advisories
• Company fact sheets
• Business reports

Academic papers are those you will write in your courses that:

• Review and discuss the scholarly literature
• Synthesize theories, models and course readings
• Present critical analysis, research and scholarly insight in an objective manner
• Are formatted according to APA standards
• Are written in the scholarly voice

What Is the Scholarly Voice?

Essentially, the scholarly voice is unbiased, high-level and evidence-based writing that reflects the epitome of good grammar, syntax and tone. Follow the do’s and don’ts below to excel at this format in your graduate school essays.

Scholarly Resources:

• https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/683/1/
• http://blog.apastyle.org/
• http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/scholarlyvoice
• http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/scholarlyvoice/tone

The “Do’s” of Scholarly Writing

1. Use proper syntax. Syntax is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.” Syntax is an important aspect of writing that helps to ensure clarity. Incorrect syntax often results in sentences and paragraphs that do not make sense, and this can pose serious perceptual issues for professional communicators. See this article for a number of examples.

2. Follow the rules of punctuation. Common errors include incorrect placement of quotation marks and erroneous use of the semicolon. As an example, note that quotation marks follow periods and commas, (“The sky is blue.”)

3. Include references, citations and /or footnotes, no matter what kind of document you’re writing. Taking the time to locate sources that substantiate your statements demonstrate your proficiency as a scholar-practitioner and your commitment to excellence. Citations are required in your academic papers, but clients also appreciate this attention to detail. When pitching a project or campaign, the inclusion of reputable sources will support your recommendations and boost your own credibility.

4. Proofread and edit your work. Many errors are missed during the first proofread; be prepared to review your work multiple times.

The “Don’ts” in Scholarly Writing

1. Don’t write in the second person narrative. The second person voice is typically used in articles like this one, where the writer is intending to inform and instruct. According to WritingCommons.org , “writing from the second person point of view can weaken the effectiveness of the writing in research and argument papers. Using second person can make the work sound as if the writer is giving directions or offering advice to his or her readers, rather than informing [them].”

Here is a comparison of second and third person perspectives from WritingCommons.org:

• Weak: You should read the statistics about the number of suicides that happen to your average victim of bullying! (2nd person)
• Stronger: The statistics from a variety of research reports indicate that the suicide rate is high among victims of bullying; they are under so much psychological pressure that they may resort to taking their own lives. (3rd person)

2. Don’t rely on software to correct your writing. Certainly, tools such as spell check, grammar check and grammarly have some benefit, but they cannot replace firsthand knowledge and mastery of proper writing. I recall one particular paper I received several years ago that was, quite literally, gibberish. When I inquired about the content of the student’s paper, she replied, “Well, I used grammar check!”

Don’t hesitate to seek writing coaching if you have questions or concerns about any aspect of good writing. As graduate students in a masters-level communication program, writing excellence should be a top priority.

By taking an informed and proactive approach to your writing, you will strengthen your academic performance, hone your professional and communication skills and enhance your career.

Dr. Debra Davenport is an online faculty member for Purdue’s online Master of Science in Communication degree program. The program can be completed in just 20 months and covers numerous topics critical for advancement in the communication industry, including crisis communication, social media engagement, focus group planning and implementation, survey design and survey analysis, public relations theory, professional writing, and communication ethics.

Find out more about what you can do with a MS in Communication from Purdue University. Call us today at 877-497-5851 to speak to an admissions advisor, or request more information .

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Graduate Writing Overview

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

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Here we present four vidcasts that offer a broad introductory overview of graduate writing. In this context, it is helpful to think about writing as a conversation , a process , a social endeavor , and a disciplinary undertaking . Stay tuned as we continue to publish these vidcasts!

Writing at the graduate level is quite different from writing at the undergraduate level. As emerging scholars, graduate writers will need to become well-versed in the scholarly conversations taking place in the journals and at the conferences within their field. Where undergraduate writers may find themselves primarily writing for their professor as audience and to show mastery of subject matter as a purpose, graduate writers’ audience will be their colleagues in the field, and their purpose will be to engage in conversation with and to disseminate new research to those colleagues. A graduate writer’s identity as scholar requires a concurrent identity as writer.

Materials in this section cover a range of topics relevant to graduate-level writing and to the process of becoming a scholarly writer within a particular field. Two sets of vidcasts fall in the category of Intensive Writing Experience (IWE). An IWE is a concentrated program aimed at a particular group of graduate students (e.g., those new to graduate writing or those writing theses and dissertations). These programs ask writers to learn about and engage with information about and strategies to apply to writing that they can then use in their own work. The Introduction to Graduate Writing vidcast series explores how writing is a conversation, a process, a social endeavor, and discipline specific. The IWE for Thesis and Dissertation writers offers material on how to set goals for and remain motivated during a long-term project. It covers topics relevant to drafting and revising documents, such as reverse outlining, sentence concision, and flow in scholarly writing.

In addition to the vidcasts, this section of the OWL houses a number of handouts specific to graduate writing on topics such as style or organization and on genres such as literature reviews and conference proposals. These materials offer explanations and samples of the particular topic or genre being covered in the handout.

Writing at the Graduate Level

Personal statements.

2 Law School Personal Statements That Succeeded ( Ilana Kowarski , U.S. News & World Report) An article that discusses successful personal statements for law school.

10 tips for writing a grad school personal statement (Billie Streufert, USA Today) “While you cannot change your grade point average or entrance exam scores, you have complete control over the contents of your personal statement. There are many applicants and few spots, so work diligently to persuade readers that you fit their program given your qualifications, interests and professional goals. Use the tips below to prepare and refine your essay.”

Advice for Writing Personal Statements (George Mason University, The Writing Center) A list of rhetorical questions to ask yourself when preparing a personal statement.

Writing a Personal Statement (Binghamton University, Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development) (PDF) Includes strategies for focusing your essay, prewriting questions, resources, and tips.

Writing the Personal Statement (Purdue OWL) “This handout provides information about writing personal statements for academic and other positions.” It includes rhetorical questions to ask yourself before you begin writing and helpful advice. The following sections are also excellent resources:

• Advice from Admissions Representatives Read about what admissions officers from different colleges say they’re looking for in an admissions essay or statement.
• Examples of Successful Statements Two personal statement examples that can serve as resources for writers composing their own personal statements.
• Personal Statement: Top 10 Rules and Pitfalls As the title suggests, this source lists some “dos” and “don’ts” for writing a personal statement.

Write Your Personal Statement (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Career Center) Provides tips for writing personal statements.

Writing Your Medical School Personal Statement (The Princeton Review) A brief list of tips for writing a personal statement when you’re applying to medical school.

Writing Your Personal Statement (University of Delaware, Career Center) An overview of writing personal statements with general tips, a suggested process, self-reflective questions, and a list of “dos” and “don’ts.”

EXPECTATIONS AND GOALS OF GRADUATE-LEVEL WRITING

Introduction to Graduate Writing (Dr. Emily Heady, Liberty University Graduate Writing Center) “Some characteristics of good graduate-level writing remain consistent across disciplinary boundaries. This workbook is designed to give students practice in these areas, which include the following:

• Punctuation
• Logic and Organization
• Critical Thinking
• Diction and vocabulary
• Research Writing

In addition, this workbook will give students limited practice in discipline-specific skills such as citation.”

Do’s and Don’ts of Graduate Writing (Debra Davenport, Purdue University) A handy article listing expectations of graduate-level writing.

Graduate Student Writing Resources (Portland University, Writing Center) Here you’ll learn about the differences between undergraduate and graduate-level writing, research, language use, documentation, and integrating evidence.

Temple University Harrisburg Guide To Graduate Level Writing (Temple University; retrieved from Utica College Resources for Graduate Students) (PowerPoint Presentation Download) This PowerPoint presentation provides students with a way to approach writing a 10-12-page paper, from finding a topic to making final edits. It also includes information on making sentence-level revision, with emphases on the following topics: clarity, semantics, positive phrases, subordination, parallel structure, and paragraph construction. Finally, the presentation offers a brief overview of APA citations.

USING PRIMARY, SECONDARY AND TERTIARY SOURCES

How to Read a Primary Source (University of Iowa, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: History) This source provides a series of critical thinking questions to help you analyze a primary source based on its purpose, argument, presuppositions, epistemology, and relationship to other texts.

Research Using Primary Sources (University of Maryland, University Libraries) Primary, secondary and tertiary sources are explained with definitions and examples. Included on this page you will also find a short video detailing specific criteria for evaluating sources.

A Source’s Role in Your Paper (Harvard College Writing Program) “When you begin to draft your paper, you will need to decide what role each of your sources will play in your argument. In other words, you will need to figure out what you’re going to do with the source in your paper. As you consider what role each source will play in your paper, you should begin by thinking about the role that source played in your research process.” This source offers “a list of questions to help you decide how you’re going to use each of your sources.”

What are Primary Sources? (Yale University) Primary Sources at Yale divides primary sources into the following categories, with detailed explanations and tools for finding sources within each category: Books and Pamphlets, Serials, Government Documents, Manuscript and Archival Material, Maps, Realia/Artifacts, Tablets, Visual Materials, Music, Sound Recordings, Oral History and Dissertations.

What Are You Supposed To Do With Sources? (Harvard College Writing Program) Identifying useful sources is an important part of the research process, but it is equally important to understand how to use these sources effectively in your paper. This source details how to consider your sources in the context of your central research question, discipline, and scope of your paper.

What is Primary Research and How Do I Get Started? (Purdue OWL) “Primary research involves collecting data about a given subject directly from the real world. This section includes information on what primary research is, how to get started, ethics involved with primary research and different types of research you can do. It includes details about interviews, surveys, observations, and analysis.”

IRB APPLICATIONS

Common Problems with IRB Applications (Montclair State University, IRB) The Montclair State University IRB has compiled a list of common issues with applications they review. Here is a list of these issues and a description of the measures you can take when completing your application to avoid them.

How do I improve my consent’s “readability”, or lower its “reading level”? (Montclair State University, IRB) (PDF) This document explains how to test your document’s readability according to the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and the steps you can take to improve its readability.

Identifying and Avoiding Bias in Research (Christopher J. Pannucci and Edwin G. Wilkins, National Center for Biotechnology Information) In the second section of this article, “Pre-trial bias,” you can learn about “the importance of clearly defining both risk and outcome, the necessity of standardized protocols for data collection, and the concepts of selection and channeling bias.” Clearly defining, acknowledging, and/or avoiding non-intentional bias in your research design will help you submit a well-planned and thorough IRB application.

Montclair State University: Institutional Review Board (Montclair State University, IRB) “The purpose of this website is to provide investigators and the research community at the University with the information and materials that are needed to obtain IRB approval of research that involves human participants.”

Readable Readability is a measure of how easy a piece of text is to read. It can include elements of complexity, familiarity, legibility and typography. Readability formulas usually look at factors like sentence length, syllable density and word familiarity as part of their calculations.

Tips to Reduce IRB Application Turnaround Time (The University of Mississippi) These tips from the University of Mississippi include some best practices for all researchers submitting IRB applications.

WRITING TERM PAPERS

Graduate School Papers and You (Tara Kuther, Thought Co.) Kuther explains the importance of recognizing short papers in graduate school as furthering scholarly exploration, creating opportunities for constructive feedback, improving writing skills, and preparing for a thesis or dissertation.

Writing Tips for PhD Students (John H. Cochrane, University of Chicago) (PDF) Cochrane offers tips for PhD students who are organizing, writing, and presenting seminar papers. Although he focuses mostly on business writing, much of his advice can be useful for all postgraduate writers.

WRITING YOUR THESIS, PROSPECTUS OR DISSERTATION

Abstracts (UNLV Writing Center) (PDF) This page defines what an abstract is providing samples.

How Theses Get Written: Some Cool Tips (Steve Easterbrook, University of Toronto) (PDF) These presentation slides offer tips for writing your thesis and insights into how your examiner/advisor might review or comment on your work.

How to Organize your Thesis (John W. Chinneck, Carleton University) This page highlights the importance of graduate research, offers a generic thesis structure, and provides some suggestions for writing your thesis.

Prospectus Writing (Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning) This site includes guidelines and links to prospectus examples from different disciplines.

Resources for Dissertators (University of Wisconsin – Madison, The Writing Center) “This page lists some useful books and websites for graduate students working on dissertations.”

Time Management Tips for Dissertation Writing (Elizabeth Gritter, UNC Chapel Hill; Retrieved from The Southern Association for Women Historians) (PDF) In this handout, Gritter presents time management strategies for people who are writing their dissertations.

Writing a Literature Review (Purdue Owl) “A literature review is a document or section of a document that collects key sources on a topic and discusses those sources in conversation with each other (also called synthesis). The lit review is an important genre in many disciplines, not just literature (i.e., the study of works of literature such as novels and plays). When we say “literature review” or refer to “the literature,” we are talking about the research (scholarship) in a given field. You will often see the terms “the research,” “the scholarship,” and “the literature” used mostly interchangeably.”

Writing and Presenting Your Thesis or Dissertation (S. Joseph Levine, Michigan State University) “Instead of examining such aspects as identifying appropriate sample size, field testing the instrument and selecting appropriate statistical tests, this guide looks at many of the quasi-political aspects of the process. Such topics as how to select a supportive committee, making a compelling presentation of your research outcomes and strategies for actually getting the paper written are discussed.”

Writing the Thesis (Mark C. Griffin, San Francisco State University) (PDF) “This guide is designed to give you a procedural outline for working on your thesis. Every thesis project will have special considerations that are not covered here. You should consult with your committee early and frequently to resolve how to handle these special considerations.” The format and documentation of your project will vary based upon your school and discipline.

How to write a graduate-level essay

Lead personal leadership challenge reflective paper, demn linking theory with practice.

• 2. Create a preliminary document plan
• 3. Draft your thesis statement
• 4a. Become familiar with the information landscape
• 4b. Select the appropriate search tool
• 4c. Develop effective searches
• 4d. Beyond keyword searching
• 4e. Find statistical information
• 4f. Evaluate the resources you find
• 4g. Read, absorb, and organize the information you find
• 5. Finalize your document plan
• 6. Double-check your research
• 7. Start writing the first draft
• 8. Overcome writer's block
• 9. Revise the draft
• 10. Edit the draft
• 11. Prepare the final version
• 12. Submit the assignment

Please note: The examples provided here are illustrations only and may not reflect the current course assignment. Students should not rely on this information to shape their assignments but should instead refer to the assignment description provided by their instructor(s).

1. Assignment description: LEAD: Personal leadship challenge (PLC) description .

2. Marked-up versions with verbs, keywords, and instructions indicated: LEAD: PLC description mark-up .

Condensed interpretation of the assignment:

• 1000-1500 words, excluding references 
• identify personal leadership challenge currently facing in workplace
• reflect on personal responsibility for challenge
• demonstrate openness to shifting challenge through own personal learning
• personal and immediate
• challenge that can be addressed internally without relying on further organizational support or action
• situation must be able to be improved through applying skills and knowledge gained in first term
• must be able to identify potential change in situation through application of change in behaviour, new knowledge, or interactions with others
• scope: problem must be small enough to address after first term but sufficiently interesting to keep interest for 11 weeks of term
• selecting and using appropriate research evidence from readings
• quote from organizational materials to contextualize challenge
• refer to guiding questions for content direction
• APA 6th edition formatting rules for citations and references
• Submit to drop box

Dr. Brigitte Harris, Director of the School of Leadership, approved this interpretation of the assignment.

Please note: The example provided here is only an illustration and may not reflect the current course assignment. Students should not rely on this information to shape their assignments but should instead refer to the assignment description provided by their instructor.

For the full assignment description, please click here: DEMN linking theory with practice .

To see the version with the verbs, keywords, and instructions indicated, click here: DEMN linking theory with practice mark-up .

• 6 page (1500 words) argumentative essay, not including title page or references
• Select real disaster and emergency management practice problem from own practice or intended area of practice
• Critically review peer-reviewed research to find 5 or 6 research articles that improve personal understanding of problem
• Describe the problem and situate it in own professional context
• Synthesize and critique literature findings
• Use literature as evidence to support arguments re: how to address problem/issue
• Provide analysis on how research evidence supports and informs practice = demonstrate critical thinking
• See suggested process in assignment
• APA format guidelines
• Introduction - no heading required
• Section/sub-section headings
• Show opposite side of argument when relevant
• Conclusion that summarizes points from paper and suggests implications for research/practice
• References (APA format)
• All pages are included in the page count and are therefore numbered; however, the title page doesn't show a number.

The interpretation of this assignment was approved by Dr. Jean Slick, director of the School of Humanitarian Studies and faculty member for the MA in Disaster and Emergency Management program.

• << Previous: 1. Understand the assignment
• Next: 2. Create a preliminary document plan >>
• Last Updated: Feb 6, 2024 4:02 PM
• URL: https://libguides.royalroads.ca/grad_essay

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Articles & Advice > Graduate School > Articles

3 Great Grad School Application Essay Examples

The grad school personal statement is an important part of your application. Here are a few good graduate admission essay examples to inspire you.

by CollegeXpress

Last Updated: Jan 3, 2024

Originally Posted: Jun 15, 2017

Graduate school application essays, personal statements, and letters of intent can be a major hurdle to overcome in the application process. Getting just the right words on paper to convey why you want to go to grad school and the impact you intend to have using your degree is a lot to ask. To help you get some inspiration and tell your story the right way, check out these three essay examples. Every essay here comes from a successful grad school application, and after reading the essay we break down just what makes it good. And you’re going to love their stories.

Daniel Masciello, Juris Doctor

University of Connecticut Class of 2015

T ry. To get. Some. Slee—it’s no use.

It’s 3:00 am, 90 minutes before our day at work in the landfills of rural Thailand is set to begin, and the 60-watt bulb is still shining bright overhead. It is radiant.

Directly on my left is one grown man’s bare armpit; to my right is more of the same. I keep my nose pointed at the ceiling. I can’t lift my arms because I am too big, a Caucasian beetle trying to fit into this Thai ant colony.

I’ve been lying still for the better part of six hours now, unable to determine exactly why my host family insists on leaving the brightest light in the house on all night (to this day, still a mystery). It is not for a child’s sake; I, at 22 years old, am the youngest in the home. I’m also the only American. Five grown men, lined up snugly on a queen-sized mattress, are soundly sleeping while I contemplate excuses for not working in the landfill that day.

Twelve hours later, over sticky rice and “fresh” vegetables (from the landfill), I try to call out some of my bunkmates for being afraid of the dark. Nobody laughs at my jokes, but they don’t stop smiling either. Perhaps they don’t understand my infantile Thai. From what I can understand of them, they enjoy talking about how grumpy I’ve been all day. No sleep for some 60-odd hours and putting in two grueling days in the landfill, filtering through mountains of trash from the nearby city of Khon Kaen, looking for yogurt containers and car batteries in the hot Thai sun—these things can change a man’s general disposition.

But I did wake up and go to work with my host family. No, I was not prepared physically or mentally, nor was I in the best of moods that day. But the smiling way of the Thai people is infectious, and it wasn’t long before I was smiling too that night, stomach full and ready for more...

That was back in the fall of 2008. The study abroad program I was participating in revolved around studying specific issues (damning rivers, mining minerals, razing slums, etc.), staying with a village that was negatively affected by an issue, and then working to help solve the problem. It was not uncommon to have sessions lasting eight or nine hours just to prepare for a town meeting the next day. Free time after exchanges and interviews would be spent working in the fields with the villagers or perhaps working on our program’s publications. It was not your typical study abroad experience. I have yet to learn of another like it.

It was also challenging at times. Thailand changed my view on a lot of things for the better, including what it means to truly work hard. As a waiter back home, it was a routine practice to work 40 hours a week in addition to going to class and studying. Still, sometimes I wonder if I used jobs outside of class as a crutch. I always had the excuse: I have to work to support myself. But so do a lot of people. And for some of those people, like many of the villagers in Thailand, working extra hours is not temporary. It's a way of life.

At the time I'm not sure I truly appreciated the privilege I had of going to college, as my undergraduate GPA might indicate. Part of that disappointing number is that I feel as if I was afraid of putting 100% of my effort into school. If I was to put all my effort in and still get mediocre grades, I would have considered myself a failure. Apparently I couldn’t or refused to handle that. How cowardly, not to mention foolish!

But while I was in Thailand, I developed a confidence in myself that I simply hadn’t been able to locate before. On multiple occasions I tasted the failure that comes with studying complex issues in a foreign land. Each time it tasted horrible. But I worked on these failures.

For example, I nagged my homestay families to help me with my Thai and forced myself to request constructive criticism in a group setting. Through these trials I discovered the sweetest feeling of them all: perseverance. That meal next to the landfill, described above, was one of the most deliciously memorable meals of my life for that same reason. I was exhausted and maybe a little bit grumpy, but I learned to work through it—and smile too.

I am well aware that law school will probably force me to even further revise my definition of hard work and present challenges and setbacks the likes of which I may not have yet experienced. But I would like to face these challenges, and most importantly overcome them, at your school. I hope my letters of recommendation and LSAT score give the indication that I am capable of doing so. This essay, lastly, is a chance for me to convince you that I can and will. I look forward to hearing from you.

Why this essay is great

Try to stop reading this personal statement, we dare you. The introduction grabs you and doesn’t let go. But besides spinning a great yarn that also says a lot about Daniel’s values, this application essay has an important function: it thoughtfully and maturely addresses any concerns the graduate admission committee might have regarding Daniel’s undergraduate academic performance. Showing rather than telling, he depicts a person who is prepared to do the work to overcome obstacles and learn from mistakes. And since he was admitted to the grad program, clearly it worked.

Related:  How to Know If Law School Is Right for You

Bridget Sullivan, Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration

Boston College Class of 2017                                                                                                    

I did not know higher education existed as a field until I came to college. Despite this, it has surprisingly been the field that has had the largest impact on my college experience. It has given me direction going forward.

College has been my most important experience so far, in that it has allowed me to better understand how I interact with my environment and how others experience the world around them. Without the Student Affairs professionals I have interacted with over the past four years, I would not be where I am today. I hope that in my future as a Student Affairs professional I can give students the great experience I have been privileged to receive. I will take the lessons I have learned and those that I will learn in the future to improve the college experience for many future generations going forward. 

I have enjoyed being a Resident Advisor, a Parent Orientation Leader, and an Assistant Resident Director while attending the University of Massachusetts Lowell for the past four years. All of these jobs fall under the Office of Residence Life. These opportunities have been cornerstones of my college education. They have taught me the long-term and transferrable skills of organization, conflict management, and supervision.

I have most enjoyed being an Assistant Resident Director, as I get to work with the Resident Advisors and Resident Director in a more administrative capacity. The ARD works closely with the RD to get the work done and hold RAs accountable. I think my favorite part of being an ARD this year has been working with the RAs to make sure they have the best experience they can, while at the same time making sure they complete their work well and on time. I enjoy helping RAs and other students reach their full potential, and I feel that it is a learning process for me too. The ARD position has shown me how much I value helping others on the path I have set for myself through my experiences with the RAs I supervise.

Because of the ARD role I have been afforded, I have had the opportunity to see how this potential career may play out. I feel confident about my ability to transition to the professional side of the field because the ARD position has already forced me to take on many of these steps. I tested the waters of the potential career in my RA role last year; this year as an ARD has shown me that I know I can succeed. 

I am passionate about student affairs and higher education because it is an opportunity to work with college students and help them grow and develop. I truly believe that there isn’t a more rewarding career than one that allows you to help others. This field allows me to assist others every day at a time in their lives when many students need it most. It was my developmental path, and I want to give that support to others.

So far my academics and daily practice have not been linked nor intentional. I am excited to be able to make this so by starting a graduate program in higher education. Understanding my former responsibilities in terms of theory and learning how to turn new theories into practice is a process I cannot wait to begin. 

I know the Lynch School of Education can assist me in achieving this goal through their program in Higher Education Administration. The opportunity to study in the Boston area will give me a multitude of professional development opportunities that would be hard to find anywhere else. If I am admitted, I will work hard to maximize my time at the Lynch School and become a young professional who can innovate and improve upon current practices in the field.

This personal statement takes you on a journey, as Bridget discovers her calling as an undergrad, gets all the hands-on experience in it she can, and figures out the perfect way to make it her career: grad school. And not just any grad school—Boston College in particular! There’s no doubt in your mind that she’s going to take advantage of everything BC’s master’s program has to offer, and she has the real-world experience to back her claims up.

Related:  Great Alternative Jobs for Education Majors Who Don't Want to Teach

Haviland Johannesson-Forgit,  Master of Arts in Arts Administration

Vermont State University , formerly Castleton University Class of 2018

While contemplating how I should approach my personal and professional goals and how earning an advanced degree will support them, I came upon my application essay for Goddard College that I wrote close to three years ago:

“Oftentimes, children who lack positive, authoritative figures and emotional support end up making unwise choices that stay with them and induce prejudice and judgment from other people who may be ignorant to what caused these children to make the choices in the first place. This cultural stigmatism that exists in our society often leads to these children being segmented into a disenfranchised group as adults. The misunderstanding and neglect that occurs in communities towards socially disenfranchised children goes against everything that I was raised to take in regard when attempting to understand a person.

I envision my studies reaching children and young adults in many different communities. It is my goal to immerse myself in rural, inner-city, and lower-income communities and meet these children before or in the midst of their time when the decisions they make can influence where their life may lead. I believe that the teachings of dance as a holistic lifestyle will provide outlets of knowledge and self-expression for these children and young adults that will lead them in positive directions.”

In this essay we were expected to write about our intentions and ambitions for our studies; to address the passions that acted as the drive for our work during our attendance at the college as well as after graduation. In returning to this essay, I was pleased to discover that my ambition and dedication to using the performing arts as a source of structure and reliability for youth in this country has not changed. When applying to Goddard College for my undergraduate degree I knew that I would want to continue on to pursue my graduate degree afterwards to enhance myself as a qualified candidate working in my field. Earning my advanced degree will enable me to go forth in the world as a confident and learned individual prepared to create the positive opportunities I envisioned years ago.

While earning my advanced degree, I intend to learn the details and structure that is needed to successfully run arts organizations. The closeness that Castleton University has with the Association for Arts Administration in developing its program for the MA in Arts Administration encourages me; it assures me that the quality and rigor of the program at Castleton is the right fit for my personal and professional aspirations. The efficacy of the program combined with the professional portfolio of projects demonstrating a mastery of skills in a range of areas in the arts and the six-credit culminating internship is exactly what I am looking for in an advanced degree program.

My background in the performing arts is broad. Not only have I have spent many years performing in productions of theater and dance, but I have also devoted my time and learning to other aspects of performance arts, whether it be technical, political, or social. My time attending Goddard College has proven to be extremely educational in training me in areas of social justice and cultural realizations of privilege, class, and human rights. With an accomplished and culturally diverse faculty and staff, the College requires its students to incorporate this training into their degrees, which makes for globally conscious citizens.

What I stand to bring to Castleton University’s campus is a vibrant love for the performing arts accompanied by acute social awareness training. My dedication to improving myself as an individual in my career is resolute; earning my advanced degree is vital to my continuing as a professional in a field so important to the foundation of our culture. I look forward to the opportunity of earning my Master of Arts in Arts Administration at Castleton University. 

Haviland draws a remarkable line from her undergraduate studies and goals to the present day . She’s been on a clear path for a long time, and grad school has always been part of the plan and the logical next step for her career. Her unwavering commitment to arts education and dance as a means for furthering social justice will serve her well professionally—and it probably impressed the graduate admission folks too. Haviland also references specific features of Castleton University’s graduate program, showing she’s genuinely interested in the school and its unique strengths.

Related:  Careers for People Who Want to Use Their Creativity

We hope these essay examples helped you get a better idea of where to take your grad school personal statements. The most important part of writing your essay is ensuring every word you put on the page is authentically you and true to your goals. You can write a great essay and get into a good grad school; just give yourself the time and flexibility by starting early and focusing on your story. Good luck!

Need help getting the ball rolling on your graduate essays? Check out these  Good Strategies for Writing Grad School Personal Essays from the experts at GradSchools.com.

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Grad school personal statement examples.

Get accepted to your top choice graduate school with your compelling personal statement.

You are a thoughtful, intelligent, and unique individual. You already know that – now you just need to convince top grad school adcoms that you’re a cut above the rest.

By reading the sample graduate school essays provided above, you should get a clear idea of how to translate your qualifications, passions, and individual experiences into words. You will see that the samples here employ a creative voice, use detailed examples, and draw the reader in with a clear writing style. Most importantly, these personal statements are compelling – each one does a fine job of convincing you that the author of the essay is a human being worth getting to know, or better yet, worth having in your next top grad school class. Grad school statement of purpose sample essays should be engaging and attention grabbing.

Here are the 5 things to include in a grad school personal statement:

• Engaging opening
• Consistent use of opening imagery
• A clear theme that ties the essay together
• Solid structure
• Good use of transitions

Grad school essay example #1: The environmental studies student

Two scenes stand out in my mind from my visit to Brazil’s Wetland: Forests burning before seed planting and trees as hedgerows. Before the planting season, I could see the leafless remnants of burnt trees still standing.  READ MORE>>>

• Attention-grabbing opening: The author immediately grabs your attention by placing them in the midst of the scene and vividly conveying what the author saw.
• Vivid, visual opening: You can almost smell the burnt trees and see the ranches and farms thriving behind their protective forests.
• A clear theme that ties the essay together: The writer clearly states an interest in the clash between economic and environmental concerns throughout the essay. Discussion of coursework taken and how it influenced the author’s decision to pursue both master’s and PhD in Environmental Studies also flows through the essay.
• Solid structure: Thanks to the continued theme of the clash between economic and environmental concerns, this is a very easy essay to read. Mentions of different courses that piqued the writer’s interest also help to hold this essay together.
• Good use of transitions: Transitions help your reader move from one topic to the next as you connect the topic in the preceding paragraph to the topic in the next. They can consist of a few words or a phrase or simply the repetition of the topic by name as opposed to using a pronoun.  The writer used the terminology connecting economics and the environment at the end of the first paragraph, and uses the same words at the beginning of the second one.

Grad school essay example #2: The engineering student

A simple bridge truss was the first structure I ever analyzed. The simple combination of beams that could hold cars, trains, and trucks over long spans of water fascinated me. Having the tools to analyze the loads on the truss further increased my interest in structures.  READ MORE>>>

• Attention-grabbing opening: This writer immediately shared his fascination with bridge truss designs and makes the reader want to learn more about structural engineering.
• Consistent use of opening imagery: The writer begins his essay with the image of the first structure he ever analyzed – a simple bridge truss. This bridge truss becomes the basis for all of his future study of structural engineering and design. Toward the end of the essay, he states that design structure has fascinated him since he saw that first image of a bridge truss for his first engineering class.
• A clear theme that ties the essay together: The theme of structural design runs throughout the essay. It is mentioned right at the beginning of the essay, in following paragraphs and in the final paragraph as well. Toward the end of the essay, the writer discusses how a grad degree in engineering will help him reach both his short- and long-term goals. 
• Solid structure: Since the theme of structural design and engineering are so strong throughout the essay, it is easy to follow along as the writer talks about different classes he has taken, an internship he did, and even an experience as a student volunteer. 
• Good use of transitions: The author ends his first paragraph talking about the textbook for his first engineering class, and continues on this theme in the next paragraph. He then transitioned from classes he took to student volunteer research he participated in. When discussing what he plans to study in grad school, the same terminology is used again, joining the whole essay into one cohesive whole. 

Grad school essay example #3: The public health student

What if people lived healthier lives, practiced preventive medicine, and took precautions against illness and disease? My days in the physical therapy department often made me think about the prevention of injuries as well as the injuries themselves. I was already doubting my future career choice as a physical therapist.  READ MORE>>>

• Attention-grabbing opening: The author of this essay makes an early case for why he wants to leave the field of physical therapy and move to the public health arena. You can almost feel the writer’s frustration with physical therapy and their need to find a way to reach a broader population, provide primary care to them, while challenging and motivating the writer to improve.
• Consistent use of opening imagery: The idea of providing primary care to large populations and the benefits the population could get from this care are woven through the whole essay. Finding ways to improve the health of underprivileged populations is also found throughout the essay.
• A clear theme that ties the essay together: Provision of primary care to large communities is a theme that runs throughout the essay. The author’s work at a county health clinic cemented this idea and led to him choosing to pursue an education and career in public health.
• Solid structure: The theme of providing primary care to large underprivileged populations is a theme that ties this personal statement together.
• Good use of transitions: The words “public health” occur in every paragraph. The author ends the second paragraph talking about work in the field, and begins the next paragraph by mentioning field experience. This makes it easy to follow the flow of the essay.

Grad school essay example #4: The physician assistant student

I was nine years old and in the middle of Mrs. Russell’s third grade class when my stomach began to itch uncontrollably. I remember thinking to myself, “Did I get bitten by a bug?” Completely distracted by the incessant itching, I asked Mrs. Russell if I could go to the nurse’s office. When the nurse lifted my shirt, I saw the biggest “bug bites” I had ever seen covering the majority of my stomach.  READ MORE>>>

Note:  The character limit for the CASPA PS is 5,000 characters with spaces. You need to keep this limit in mind as you write your personal statement.

• Attention-grabbing opening and consistent use of opening imagery: The writer of this essay immediately grabs the reader’s attention by making them feel her fear and frustration of having an undiagnosed medical condition. You can also feel her relief when she is finally diagnosed – and treated – by a PA.
• Vivid, visual opening and consistent use of opening imagery: Your heart beats a little faster as you read how a 9-year-old girl’s medical condition couldn’t be diagnosed until a visit with a PA who helped her discover her passion. She continues to illustrate her love of all things medical throughout the essay.
• A clear theme that ties the essay together: Her essay has a clear theme – her interest in medicine and healthcare, and her connection with PAs. This theme is touched upon in every paragraph of her personal statement. Whether discussing her love of learning or the skills learned through sports, the ultimate goal of becoming a PA comes through. 
• Solid structure: The author’s themes of love of learning and medicine, and the desire to become a PA to help others flow through this essay. They make it cohesive, readable, and interesting. 
• Good use of transition: The writer shows how her interest in being a PA grows throughout her life through a series of events – her illness, attending a youth leadership forum where she first saw infected human organs, and finally her mother’s own illness and the care given by the same PA who diagnosed the author at the age of 9. The imagery of the “itchy little” girl from the first paragraph appears again in the last paragraph, pulling the entire personal statement together.

5 FATAL FLAWS TO AVOID

In your grad school statement of purpose, get expert help with your graduate school application.

Our world-class team helps you stand out from the competition and get accepted.

APPLICATION STRATEGY / PRIMARY AND SECONDARY ESSAY REVIEW / INTERVIEW PREP

TOP 10 GRADUATE SCHOOLS

HAVE AN ACCEPTANCE RATE OF UNDER 20% 

AN OUTSTANDING GRADUATE SCHOOL STATEMENT OF PURPOSE IS CRITICAL IN THE APPLICATION PROCESS

You want to get accepted to a top school, but you need to show you're more qualified than other applicants. U.S. News reports the average graduate school acceptance rate is 20% for the top 10 engineering programs and 15% for the top 10 education programs, but our grad school clients enjoy an  85% ACCEPTANCE RATE.  How can you best your competition? By writing an excellent statement of purpose.

Accepted has been helping graduate school applicants gain acceptance to top programs since 1994.

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Graduate School Essay

There are people who have plans to go beyond a bachelor’s degree. I salute you for going beyond just a bachelor’s degree, while others prefer to stay as it is. Which is really fine. For those who do want to go back to school by taking up a master’s degree, they have to go back to basics. Which means, they have to go and apply like they did when they were taking up their bachelor’s degree. Yes, this means that it’s going to be another round of essays. Hear me out, writing an application essay is not at all that bad. Let me explain.

When we want to be admitted to a school or a university, we are told to write an essay . This essay is our key to getting that spot. So writing an application essay for graduate school does not sound all that bad. It’s basically the same thing, and yet it’s not. It’s so much more. What do I mean? What I mean is, there are some things that you need to know when you want to write your own graduate school application essay. Stick around for more. Trust me, this article will help you get there.

10+ Graduate School Essay Examples

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What Is a Graduate School Essay?

First of all, I did mention that writing an essay is not as bad as it looks. I am serious about that, and with that in mind, let’s start off by defining what a graduate school essay is, the purpose and importance. So a graduate school essay is basically your key to getting a spot in the school you are hoping to enroll in too. Your essay is going to be the requirement that they need from you. So this means that your graduate school essay is going to be about you, your goals in life which could be short term or long term. In addition to that, the interests that you have and the reason as to why you plan to take up your grad school in that school.

Lastly, a graduate school essay should follow the format of a regular application essay. This means that you have to watch what you write. Focus more on who you are so that the committee would be able to get even a glimpse of you as a person. As for the purpose, it’s like an autobiography that you write to introduce yourself to the world. Your essay is not just a requirement but in a way defines who you are and if you are the right candidate for this grad school.

How to Write a Graduate School Essay?

Now that we know what a graduate school essay looks like as well as the purpose of a graduate school essay, you may be anticipating on how to write a good graduate school essay that could seriously knock those committees out. I know I am. Here we have five ways to write a good graduate school essay. Excited? Check these out now .

1. Do Your Research

I know what you are going to say, why do I need to do my research? What this means is that get to know or at least have an idea as to what the committee may be looking for. If you have even just a general idea as to what they may expect from your admission essay, you’re good to go. However, if you have no idea as to what they may ask of you or what they want you to write, you have to do your research. It’s better to be safe than sorry and you won’t have to waste your time rewriting your essay.

2. Make It Personal as You Can

Not to the point wherein they would know where you live, rather make your essay as personal as you can get. This means that it does not sound or look generic. It does not look as if you just copied something down and changed some words to make it look like your own. They can tell the difference, besides, writing a personal admission essay is quite rewarding. You get to pour out your feelings which are basically personal. This way the committee is able to know that you are quite serious with what you are doing and this is not just what others may call a phase. You are really committed to your graduate school, so let it show through your writing.

3. Get To Know Your Graduate School Degree

It goes without saying, the school committee may ask you a trick question, and often than not the trick question usually involves why did you choose this school over the other schools that offer the same thing. Be careful how you answer this kind of question, as the committees are going to be reading your answers and will assess how serious and true what you wrote. You can always add that you have been interested in their school since then and say a few nice words that do not sound forced either.

4. Add a Short Anecdote to Your Essay

The short anecdote for your essay has to fit with your essay as well as it has to contain something that can give you an upboost. Do not however add an anecdote that may contain any misinformation or misunderstandings. As well as do not add an anecdote to your essay if it only makes your essay look unprofessional.

5. End Your Essay With a Positive Note

Lastly, end your essay with a positive note. End the essay with hopes and dreams filled out. Not only is this a good chance for you to get in to the school of your choice, but it also shows the committee that you trust them with your goals and aspirations.

What is a graduate school essay?

A graduate school essay is a kind of essay that a student or a potential student writes to get admitted to the school they choose. It focuses on the career, hopes, goals, aspirations and dreams of the student in question.

Why is it a requirement to write an admission essay?

It is a requirement of a school to ask students to write because from the essay, they are able to get to know the person. To get a glimpse of who this person is and their goals in life.

How long is an admission essay?

An admission essay can be as long as a whole page or two. Depending on the writer and how many words are required from the committee.

You see it now? Writing an admission essay is not that bad at all. It’s just about who you are as a person, your goals and dreams. The next time you are told to write an essay, think about it. Do your research, understand what is being asked of you. Make it personal but not too personal. Make it happen.

Graduate School Essay Generator

Text prompt

• Instructive
• Professional

Write a Graduate School Essay on your motivation for pursuing further education

Discuss your research interests and how they evolved in a Graduate School Essay

A Successful Stanford GSB Essay Example

March 28, 2023

Jeremy Shinewald

“What matters most to you, and why?”

This is a huge question and one that requires a great deal of thought before answering. How do you approach this essay prompt that the (GSB) poses in its application? To help you, we have recorded a video offering guidance on this topic! Be sure to subscribe to mbaMission’s YouTube channel for the most up-to-date content. Today, we are going to take you through an actual successful GSB essay and discuss its strengths. 

The essay we will review in this post is showcased in the book “What Matters?” and “What More?”: 50 Successful Essays for the Stanford GSB and HBS (and Why They Worked) , co-authored by mbaMission Founder Jeremy Shinewald. To read more of our analysis of this essay, and that of 49 other examples, be sure to download your copy today. Note that this essay is not meant to be a template—it is one applicant’s personal answer. At mbaMission, we encourage you to reflect on and write about what is meaningful to you ! The first paragraph of our highlighted GSB example follows;

In Lithuania, one of the most Catholic countries in the world, it is almost inconceivable for anyone to leave the church. Yet, as I grew older, I increasingly felt that as a person of science, I couldn’t reconcile being committed to an organization founded broadly on beliefs. Despite a rich tradition and the good guidance the church provides, I still felt that to be true to myself I should file for apostasy—a challenging process! Several of my friends refused to be my witnesses and vouch for my sanity—in our society one is “insane” to leave the church—because they feared I would be ostracized. Finally, finding two people who confirmed the thoughtfulness of my choice, I met with the priest only to hear him reject my deed of will. I had to find his superior to finally get my act stamped and my name removed from the baptismal book. Although I would no longer gain entry to sacred grounds and could not be married in my country, making my life marginally more difficult socially, I was nonetheless at peace with myself because I know that there is no price for living by the truth.

This is an aggressive opening. Three sentences in, and the reader learns that the applicant filed for apostasy. Note that our writer is not trying to tell us about the church. Rather, he is sharing a lot about himself. In fact, he is even deferential to the church to ensure that the admissions committee understands that can be diplomatic. Nonetheless, he very forcefully asserts that he is an independent thinker, taking a symbolic step that will disadvantage him, just to be true to himself and his conscience. That said, the next paragraph is really critical:

To me, this is emblematic of my approach to work and life: I have always had strong opinions, unwavering whether they are aligned with the majority or not.From a young age, my teachers joked that one day I would start a revolution setting Lithuania straight. By the end of high school, my educator asked me if he could resign from applying for highest distinction on my behalf, rather than start a storm by presenting my candidacy, as not all teachers appreciated my independence as he did. (I actually agreed to his request because grades and titles were confirmations rather than goals.) Later, while at Vilnius University, I made my approach of a thesis advisor very carefully, seeking an individual who would strenuously challenge me, because truths must withstand scrutiny. I found that advisor in Professor Sarkinas, our former chairman of the central bank. He was known to intimidate, but I just accepted that he pushed students to reconsider their thoughts and reveled in his constant challenges. Over my four years with him as an advisor, he expanded my view of economics and my perspective on learning. His most important lesson was not a theorem, but was about debate and seeking truth: to oppose, one must understand his opponent, at times, better than one understands himself.

The reader understands that the applicant’s theme is independent thought, but what is important to a business school is that an independent thinker is still productive and does not yield to dogma or consider themselves an expert on everything. In this paragraph, our author talks about how he specifically chose an advisor who would challenge his opinions. In doing so, the writer shows that he seeks understanding before asserting himself. Again, this is a strong theme, but he thoughtfully balances it out.

Equipped with my professor’s wisdom, I have embarked on my career in investment management by building my brand on independence and truth. When the biggest mobile telecom provider in the Baltics was going public, I gave an interview about its prospects, wherein I stated that the IPO was a “smoke screen” to force a higher bid in a parallel private process with a competitor (as synergies in a unified company were far more compelling). Furious, the company excluded me from the IPO, canceled its road show for me and even resigned on group insurance offered by our parent company.In the end, after its IPO, news surfaced that it in fact was in negotiations with its competitor throughout the IPO process, which was intended to inflate its price. Later, in an offering by eight brokerages, an overhyped, fast-growing, Lithuanian financial institution launched its IPO. Listening attentively, I understood that its CEO had admitted to two minor fraudulent practices during its road show and found its business model simply did not add up. I was certain the firm was a deceit that the market did not want to see. At the time, I was on a road show and was repetitively asked about that IPO. I answered honestly that the company was a swindle and that management would end up in jail—not a popular thing to say! As I write this essay, the company is being liquidated and management is in custody, in one of the biggest financial scandals in my country’s history.

In this paragraph, the reader sees the payoff—all the author’s independent thought comes in service of others. The applicant is recognizing frauds that others cannot spot. He is not blinded by a good story. He digs deeper and sees that something is fishy. Something does not add up, and this is to the benefit of his firm, investors, and society at large. His independence is a superpower, not a crutch or a problem. Further, throughout this essay, we are not just learning about a character trait but are also gaining a picture of an individual who has had distinct experiences and will add a unique voice to his class, through his background, knowledge of the capital markets in an emerging region, and other aspects of his character. His message is complete—the applicant has an authentic voice and has led an interesting life. He concludes his essay with the following paragraph:  

Recently, I visited one of the distributors who asked me for another market presentation. When I was about to start my talk, the regional director stood up and said to his colleagues, “Quiet, let’s now listen to the truth.” Maybe just a brief utterance, but also the most rewarding moment of my career, when it became clear to me that truth is not a liability, but a way to help and shape reality.

This is a nice closing to a well-constructed essay. Of course, writing somewhat aggressively can be risky, but readers clearly understand what this applicant stands for, and his principles certainly manifest in this essay, as they no doubt did when he was on the GSB campus!

If you found this post helpful, consider downloading the, “What Matters?” and “What More?”: 50 Successful Essays for the Stanford GSB and HBS (and Why They Worked) . Also, sign up for a  and speak with an mbaMission consultant about any questions you might have about your GSB application—or really about anything related to MBA applications. mbaMission is here to give you our expert opinion and help you on your journey.

Finally, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for even more MBA application tips and advice. Thanks so much for reading, and good luck with your applications!

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