Short Essay Samples
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Below is a pdf link to personal statements and application essays representing
strong efforts by students applying for both undergraduate and graduate
opportunities. These ten essays have one thing in common:
They were all written by students under the constraint of the essay being 1-2 pages due to the
target program's explicit instructions. In such circumstances, writers must attend carefully
to the essay prompt (sometimes as simple as "Write a one-page summary of your reasons for wanting
to pursue graduate study") and recognize that evaluators tend to judge these essays on the same
fundamental principles, as follows:
First, you are typically expected to provide a window into your personal motivations, offer a
summary of your field, your research, or your background, set some long-term goals, and note
specific interest in the program to which you are applying.
Second, you are expected to provide some personal detail and to communicate effectively and
efficiently. Failure to do so can greatly limit your chances of acceptance.
Good writers accomplish these tasks by immediately establishing each paragraph's topic and
maintaining paragraph unity, by using concrete, personal examples to demonstrate their points,
and by not prolonging the ending of the essay needlessly. Also, good writers study the target
opportunity as carefully as they can, seeking to become an "insider," perhaps even communicating
with a professor they would like to work with at the target program, and tailoring the material
accordingly so that evaluators can gauge the sincerity of their interest
Overview of Short Essay Samples
Geological Sciences Samples
In the pdf link below, the first two one-page statements written by students in the geological
sciences are interesting to compare to each other. Despite their different areas of research
specialization within the same field, both writers demonstrate a good deal of scientific fluency
and kinship with their target programs.
Geography Student Sample
The short essay by a geography student applying to an internship program opens with the writer
admitting that she previously had a limited view of geography, then describing how a course changed
her way of thinking so that she came to understand geography as a "balance of physical, social, and
cultural studies." Despite her limited experience, she shows that she has aspirations of joining
the Peace Corps or obtaining a law degree, and her final paragraph links her interests directly to
the internship program to which she is applying.
Materials Sciences Student Sample
For the sample from materials sciences, directed at an internal fellowship, the one-page essay has
an especially difficult task: The writer must persuade those who already know him (and thus know
both his strengths and limitations) that he is worthy of internal funds to help him continue his
graduate education. He attempts this by first citing the specific goal of his research group,
followed by a brief summary of the literature related to this topic, then ending with a summary
of his own research and lab experience.
Teach for America Student Sample
The student applying for the Teach for America program, which recruits recent college graduates
to teach for two years in underprivileged urban and rural public schools, knows that she must
convince readers of her suitability to such a demanding commitment, and she has just two short
essays with which to do so. She successfully achieves this through examples related to service
mission work that she completed in Ecuador before entering college.
Neuroscience Student Sample
The sample essay by a neuroscience student opens with narrative technique, telling an affecting
story about working in a lab at the University of Pittsburgh. Thus we are introduced to one of
the motivating forces behind her interest in neuroscience. Later paragraphs cite three undergraduate
research experiences and her interest in the linked sciences of disease: immunology, biochemistry,
genetics, and pathology.
Medieval Literature Student Sample
This sample essay immerses us in detail about medieval literature throughout, eventually citing
several Irish medieval manuscripts. With these examples and others, we are convinced that this
student truly does see medieval literature as a "passion" as she claims in her first sentence.
Later, the writer repeatedly cites two professors and "mentors" whom she has already met, noting
how they have shaped her highly specific academic goals, and tying her almost headlong approach
directly to the National University of Ireland at Maynooth, where she will have flexibility in
designing her own program.
Beinecke Scholarship Student Sample
The Beinecke Scholarship essay is written by a junior faced with stiff competition from a program
that awards $34,000 towards senior year and graduate school. This student takes an interesting
theme-based approach and projects forward toward graduate school with confidence. This writer's
sense of self-definition is particularly strong, and her personal story compelling. Having
witnessed repeated instances of injustice in her own life, the writer describes in her final
paragraphs how these experiences have led to her proposed senior thesis research and her goal of
becoming a policy analyst for the government's Department of Education.
Online Education Student Sample
Written during a height of US involvement in Iraq, this essay manages the intriguing challenge of
how a member of the military can make an effective case for on-line graduate study. The obvious
need here, especially for an Air Force pilot of seven years, is to keep the focus on academic
interests rather than, say, battle successes and the number of missions flown. An additional
challenge is to use military experience and vocabulary in a way that is not obscure nor off-putting
to academic selection committee members. To address these challenges, this writer intertwines his
literacy in matters both military and academic, keeping focus on applications of Geographic
Information Systems (GIS), his chosen field of graduate study.
Engineer Applying to a Master's Program Sample
This example shows that even for an engineer with years of experience in the field, the fundamental
s of personal essay writing remain the same. This statement opens with the engineer describing a
formative experience—visiting a meat packaging plant as a teenager—that influenced the writer to
work in the health and safety field. Now, as the writer prepares to advance his education while
remaining a full-time safety engineer, he proves that he is capable by detailing examples that show
his record of personal and professional success. Especially noteworthy is his partnering with a
government agency to help protect workers from dust exposures, and he ties his extensive work
experience directly to his goal of becoming a Certified Industrial Hygienist.