研究生申请论文
Universities and scholarship-granting agencies use the application essay to analyze your interests, see how you handle complex ideas in a specific discipline or field, 衡量一下你对未来的学习有多认真. 研究生 schools and programs also use these essays to assess your writing ability. 你希望你的写作能传达你的想法和计划, 你的智力发展, and demonstrate your readiness for graduate study or other advanced work.
从基本作文开始
你可能申请了不止一个地方, 每篇论文的重点和长度都会有所不同. 从最普遍的问题开始. Once you’ve written that, you can modify it for the other schools or programs.
确定文章的目的
Read the essay prompt carefully and make notes on what the question seems to demand. 如果有几篇文章要写, 确保你对每个人的需求都做出了具体的回应. 不要让你的答案重叠.
关注你现在和未来的兴趣
把注意力集中在课程上, 项目, and experiences of your undergraduate years and your future plans. The committee wants to hear about your adult interests and experiences.
分析你所申请的学校或项目
研究你申请的学校或项目. Make sure there are faculty whose work corresponds with your interests. 阅读为申请人提供的指导方针和建议. If possible, interview someone who went there (many graduate schools offer this service). While your essay should honestly and thoughtfully represent your intellectual experiences and plans, 它还应该对上下文作出反应. 例如, you might emphasize different aspects of your own experience when applying to an American studies program than you would when applying to an English and American literature program, 或者是一个现代思想和文学项目.
补充，不要重复，应用程序
The personal statement or application essay expands on the lists of accomplishments and endeavors that you’ve listed elsewhere in the application or on your resume or curriculum vitae. 这篇文章为申请提供了深度和背景, 以及展示你最好的写作和思维.
Talk about any 教ing, 辅导, or community service you may have done
教学, 辅导, 社区服务显然与研究生学习相关, especially to programs in which graduate students become 教ing assistants. The intellectual and interpersonal skills associated with these activities also provide very relevant experience for many other professions. Use the essay to expand on these experiences and their relevance to your future plans.
Focus on ideas, interests, research experiences, and plans for future research
Write about concrete ideas and interests in your field and their significance to you and in a larger context.
- 什么想法, 课程, 书, 主题, 实习, 重要的时刻, 论文和专题, and thoughts of your own shaped you during college and brought you to the decision to apply to this school or program?
- What particular studies have you engaged in that shaped your thinking about your chosen field?
- 如果你写过毕业论文, 进行了研究, 或者从事其他重大项目, you should write about the ways in which this experience confirmed and expanded your interest in the field and your desire to carry out further research, 教, 等. 你发现了什么?? 为什么这很重要?? 你有什么兴趣进一步研究的问题?
- What kinds of original thinking have you brought and will you bring to the study of this field?
- For many fields, a focus on future research plans is the most important topic to cover in this essay. 解释你希望专攻哪个领域以及为什么. 你不需要写一篇论文, but you should have developed pertinent research questions and concrete plans for future study.
Discuss the program to which you are applying and why it’s right for you
Show how your interests and previous work have prepared you for the particular program you are applying to. 如果申请研究生院, in some fields it is a good idea to mention the names of several faculty members at the institution whose work you know and whom you might want to work with. Specific references to the strengths of the program, particular 课程 facilities, 等. show that you are focused and know that the school is the right match for your interests. 不要简单地赞美
program; instead you should make connections to what you have done and plan to do in the field.
Use specific language and provide examples; avoid generalities and clichés
Good writing uses specific terms and provides illustrative examples, 让我们更深入地了解这个主题. 避免夸夸其谈. Don’t say you want to save the world through literature or chemistry or by opening young minds to …and so on. 这可能是真的，但以前也有人说过.
展现你最好的写作
The essay and sometimes a writing sample provide the evaluators with opportunities to assess your writing ability. 在某些情况下, good writing is even more important than knowing exactly what you want to do because they realize that plans may change. The first sentence and first paragraph are very important and should be constructed so as to capture and maintain readers’ interest. An opening anecdote that illustrates something important coming up in the essay is often a good way to begin. A concise essay with succinct ideas will be considerably more respected than a rambling one.
遵守有关长度、字体大小等方面的规则. 找人帮忙校对!
教师 generally have a lot of experience with these kinds of essays. They can provide helpful suggestions and keep you from making mistakes that might weaken your application. 请一两个老师帮助你, particularly someone in the field or close to the field you are pursuing. CWS tutors also have training in reading and critiquing these application essays. 你可能会收到相互矛盾的建议, so listen to what these readers say and use your own good sense to make the final decisions.