Standout Statements - Get in to Your Top Graduate Program

Name: Standout Statements - Get in to Your Top Graduate Program
Rating: 4.6 (29 reviews)

Learn insider information on how to write a tremendous statement of purpose for any graduate school program.

(29 ratings)

86 students

Created by David Gard, Ph.D.

Last updated 8/2015

English

English [Auto]

What you'll learn

Identify the key components of a ‘statement of purpose’ for graduate school
Create a unique ‘theme’ or ‘hook’ that will make their statement stand out from other applicants
Complete a coherent and exceptional statement of purpose that will be adjustable to various graduate programs

Requirements

Students need to have at least one top graduate program in mind before starting
Exercises will focus on elaborating details of your experience, but bring your CV or resume
Any information on the graduate schools you are interested in attending is also helpful

Description

Learn how to write a statement of purpose (or 'graduate school essay') that will make your background and experience stand out from other applicants. This course will cover the basics of writing a statement of purpose (what exactly to include and what to leave out) - including several interactive and fun exercises that will help you define your passion in a format that will make applicant reviewers want to accept you. This course will also provide you with insider information about the graduate school review process and how to avoid common application mistakes.

Write a compelling narrative about you and your experience

Build a convincing argument for why you are a perfect fit for your top grad program
Elaborate your experience in a way that captivates reviewers
Create a theme that makes the graduate essay easy to write and exciting to read
Avoid common mistakes in your statement writing

Easy to follow steps and exercises will get you to a terrific statement quickly

Writing a statement of purpose is very difficult! This course breaks down the process into easy to follow steps, guidelines, and fun exercises that will help you create a statement that will be enjoyable to write. In this course you will break down the statement into important 'puzzle pieces', and then use these pieces to create a theme that is specific to you and your background. At the end of the course you will have a completed statement that is unlike the rest of the pack.

Content and Overview

This course contains 11 lectures and over 3 hours of content. In addition there are 11 unique exercises that will help you define various components of the graduate statement of purpose.

This course is designed for anyone planning on applying to graduate school – whether the application is due in a few weeks or roughly a year away. The course content is applicable for both applied (e.g., medical school, law school, social work) or more research/STEM based programs.

What are the requirements?

A plan to apply to one (or more) US-based graduate school programs in the next year.

What am I going to get from this course?

11 lectures and more than 3 hours of video content
By the end you will have a complete statement of purpose written
You will also have a better understanding of the review process for graduate schools

What is the target audience?

People applying to graduate school (applied or more research-based) in the next year

Who this course is for:

This course will help anyone planning to apply to graduate school within the next year
This course is applicable to applied graduate programs (e.g., healthcare programs, med school, business school, social work, etc), and STEM/research-oriented graduate programs (e.g., computer science, math, psychological science, etc.)
This course is helpful in identifying your specific graduate school path
However, this course may be less helpful if you are more than a year from applying to graduate school, or if you are completely unsure of what subject you want to focus your graduate work in

David Gard, Ph.D.

Professor, Psychologist

4.6 Instructor Rating
29 Reviews
86 Students
1 Course

I received my Ph. D. in psychology from UC Berkeley in 2005. I have been a professor and instructor for more than 10 years, working with graduate students in both applied and research oriented programs. I have evaluated hundreds of statements of purpose and helped numerous students get into top graduate programs throughout the US (including Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley and many more).