Lesson 11: Structuring the Statement
Now that you have answered the questions, “why graduate school?” and “what will I do in graduate school?” plus identified your skills and detailed your background, plans, goals, and fit, you are finally ready to begin structuring your statement.
Two common approaches are chronology and argument. Which you choose depends to some extent on your experience to date: Those applying as undergraduates or within a few years of earning a bachelor’s degree should default to chronology. If you are applying with many years of professional experience, then the argument might work for you.
A word of caution: Do not try anything sophisticated or elaborate in terms of structure. Readers want to be able to get a sense of you, your preparation, and your plans without hunting through artfully designed paragraphs. Remember, faculty members are reading scores or even hundreds of applications. Don’t try their patience! In any field other than creative writing, you should distinguish yourself by demonstrating those qualities discussed above (seriousness of purpose and the like) not by the cleverness of your statement.
