You engineers are a fascinating bunch. Truly, the work you do is exciting. Whenever I receive a first-draft statement of purpose for electrical engineering, I look forward to learning about quantum computing, solar cells, or wild biomedical sensors that could change humanity forever. It’s …
Graduate School Applications
Grad Admissions and Marriage: How One Couple Beat the Odds
Applying to grad school as an individual is already hard enough. Choosing schools, comparing funding packages - it feels like your whole life hangs in the balance. But imagine negotiating grad admissions and marriage at the same time. And imagine doing so as international applicants! To me, the …
Dream School 101: How to Find a Grad Program That Loves You Too
I know -- it's not easy to find a grad program that feels like the school of your dreams. They're all so amazing. Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone just tell you where to apply? Maybe they’d analyze your profile, read your SOP, and highlight four schools actively seeking students who look just …
From 0 to 5 PhD Offers: A Public Health Social Sciences SOP Story
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: my favorite success stories are those who come from students I’ve never met. Such was the case with this remarkable email I received after the incredibly competitive 2021-22 PhD admissions cycle. Lia titled her email “Thank you from a successful PhD …
How to Write a Smart Career Goals Statement in Your Grad SOP
Let’s be honest. Unless you’re a future university professor, then chances are you’re hoping grad school will kickstart a rewarding, well-paid career. This is obvious if you’re targeting a professional-track master’s, like an MHA or MS in Marketing. But even if you’re a Physics mad scientist, I’m …
SOP for PhD Sample – The Best Essay I’ve Ever Seen (Biomedical Engineering)
How do you earn admission to the #1 PhD program in your field? How to get admitted to 5 more for good measure? The answer isn’t as complicated as it seems: you need to be a rock star researcher, and you need to write a luminous, fiercely intelligent statement of purpose. One of these I can’t help …
Flight Attendant to Elite Researcher: A Brilliant Sample SOP for Nontraditional Applicants
How does one go from working as a flight attendant to conducting anthropology research at the #1 grad program in the world? This is no riddle. Nor is it a Hollywood movie. It’s a true story, and it sounds absolutely unbelievable. Heck, I’d probably have thought so too. But then I met Leah, and read …
How to Write Your MHA Statement of Purpose: Success Stories
MHA applications are booming on SOPHAS. No surprise, yeah? ALL healthcare fields are booming these days! That’s good news if you want to manage a hospital’s nitty gritty finances or work in Insurance Consulting. Grad schools now offer better programs and residencies than ever. Yet, this also means …
What’s the Difference Between the SOP and Personal Statement?
In the 2021 admissions cycle, one of my rockstar students, Lee, was a quantum integration engineer from East Asia. For a STEM researcher and non-native English speaker, Lee was a marvelous writer. His SOP was profound. Yet, when it came time to handle his other essays, Lee asked (and answered) two …
How to Write Your MPH Statement of Purpose
If I’ve noticed any single trend in grad admissions over the last few years, it’s this: public health is blazing hot! Before COVID, relatively few students applied to MPH programs. Now, it’s easily the most popular (and thus most competitive) field I encounter among STEM students. Brown’s …