3 Ways to Structure a Personal Statement for Grad School

Let’s make this easy for you, gentle reader. Whether we call it a “personal statement” or a “statement of purpose,” your primary grad-application essay can only have one of three structures. One is excellent—a rhetorically powerful piece of writing that makes you look like an exceptional scholar, no matter what difficulties you’ve faced in the past. Another is “good” or “okay”—a solid, functional, easy way to write. The final one is bad, and despite what anyone else tells you, it correlates highly to grad school rejection. Let’s examine these three essay templates, compare them to some excellent sample essays, and so learn how to structure a personal statement that’ll make you feel awesomely confident…and knock the socks off of admissions committees.

Table of Contents

1. The Bad: Autobiography Essays
2. The Decent: Statement of Objectives
3. The Magnificent: Story-Based Statement of Purpose
4. Why Are These Essays So Good?
5. A Perfectly Structured Master’s Sample Statement
6. A Perfectly Structured PhD Sample Statement
7. How Should You Format a Personal Statement?
8. Next Steps

 

The Bad: Autobiography Essays

I’ve discussed these sad essays elsewhere (along with five other super-common mistakes grad applicants tend to make). But we can summarize them pretty easily.

Autobiography Essays are chronological journeys through your education. Usually, they have a final paragraph at the end that “personalizes” the essay for a particular school. The paragraph-by-paragraph structure often looks like this:

1. How you developed an amateur interest in your academic field in high school or college
2. How you settled on a major and found certain classes interesting
3. How you pursued various co-curricular projects, like research
4. How you pursued various extra-curricular projects, like internships or hackathons
5. “Personalized” paragraph naming professors or resources of interest at your target school
6. Boring conclusion

 

The Problem

These essays don’t work because they ignore the entire purpose of the grad-application essay: to declare your intellectual and career goals for the future. Instead, they’re prolonged acts of navel-gazing.

One Stanford professor described these essays as “inadvertent disclosures of purposelessness.”

In a famous survey titled “Kisses of Death in the Graduate School Application Process,” one faculty member described these essays as a request for rejection:

“I expect a statement of personal interest that displays a convincing, compelling desire for what we have to offer from its start to finish. It’s a kiss of death when I read a personal essay that describes an applicant’s life-long goal of serving humankind and has a paragraph tacked on to the end that “personalizes” the essay for the particular school to which it was sent.”

Make no mistake: submitting an autobiography essay is a bad idea. It’s a waste of your time and the money you’ll spend on application fees. It ignores the four questions that every great essay must answer (as described in our SOP Starter Kits for master’s and PhD applicants).

Worst of all…autobiography essays are disrespectful to you yourself.

I know you’ve worked incredibly hard to get where you are today. You’ve earned this chance for a bright future in academia. Autobiography essays are like giving up at the finish line, like refusing to do the last bit of thinking that proves you’re ready for higher intellectual challenges. Yes, sometimes they work. But 99% of the time, they don’t.

It’s like the tortoise and hare from the old Aesop fable—everyone pays attention to the tortoise, but the supremely talented hare only loses because he literally quits and goes to sleep before reaching the finish line.

 

The Decent: Statement of Objectives

This “classic” personal statement is fairly boring. It won’t make you look like a great writer, and most of the time, your admissions reader will just skim it. But, sometimes, it can work.

Much advice you’ll find across the Internet—even from stalwart sources like MIT—will urge you to write this kind of straightforward, non-rhetorical, information-driven essay. Typically, the paragraph-by-paragraph structure looks like this:

1. Dry statement of goals and objectives
2. How you began exploring these topics
3. How you explored more advanced topics (and gained new skills)
4. How you explored even more advanced topics (and gained even more skills)
5. “Personalized” paragraph naming professors or resources of interest at your target school
6. Your career ambitions

 

How Can We Make This Work?

While it’s not most effective, this type of essay can earn admissions. In fact, I know one MSCS student at Stanford, and one CS PhD at MIT, both of whom took the lessons from our SOP Starter Kits and applied them in very conventional essays that were successful.

Of course, both were genius-level, world-class scholars who could have submitted essays on a napkin and received admission, but still.

(At the same time, I know two other students in the exact same programs, both of whom used the better personal statement structure below. And unlike the students above, they received TA spots, bonus fellowships, and NSF GRFP grants. Take that lesson as you will.)

In any case, this essay structure is effective if:

1. You have a fantastic application profile;
2. You don’t care about proving that you have strong writing or “science communication” skills;
3. You don’t have a personal story that you think could make you unique or interesting in the applicant pool.

If you can check those boxes, by all means, write the most straightforward essay you can. It’ll probably work somewhere.

 

The Magnificent: Story-Based Statement of Purpose

In my experience, nothing is more powerful in grad admissions than a beautifully written essay that declares bold goals in a narrative context. It’s the entire reason this website exists—to teach you to write this kind of essay!

Of course, these essays are more difficult to write. They take time, effort, and a lot of smart thinking. Yet, that smart thinking is exactly what makes these essays so powerful. Writing this way reframes your entire perspective on the admissions process, and makes every part of your application better.

These essays have four sequential sections:

1. Introductory Frame Narrative
2. Why This School
3. Why You’re Qualified
4. Closing Frame Narrative

 

Why Are These Essays So Good?

This personal statement structure makes you maximally competitive because it accomplishes a few distinct things:

• It makes you more unique, memorable, and professional than other applicants (without being naïve or seeming like a show-off);
• It follows the timeless rules of both rhetorical writing and storytelling;
• It shows that you understand your audience—the faculty and PhDs reading your essay—and the goals they themselves want to achieve;
• It makes you look like a wonderful writer, and wonderful writers always seem more intelligent than average or bad writers;
• It gives readers confidence that you have a strong plan for achieving your goals.

If we stick with the tortoise and hare analogy, these essays are what it looks like when the hare doesn’t go to sleep. She’s supremely talented. She’s not afraid to exhibit her talent. But she knows that talent alone isn’t enough—it demands she work hard, work fast, and work smart. Because if she’s not fiercely dedicated to reaching the finish line, some diligent tortoise will come along and happily beat her.

But that begs the question: how can fiercely competitive hare implement this structure for her personal statement or SOP?

Easy peasy, summer breezy.

Our SOP Starter Kits (for master’s and PhDs) ask you to answer four specific questions. Those questions correlate directly to the sections above. Once you plug them in, and tweak the transitions between each section, you’ll have a first draft that shows you’re not someone who goes to sleep before reaching the finish line—you have your eyes on the prize.

 

What Does a Magnificent Personal Statement or SOP Look Like?

There are plenty of sample essays on this blog, including Psychology/Education, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Anthropology, Data Science, Public Health, Fine Arts, and a lot more.

Even so, I have two absolute favorites—one each for master’s and PhDs. These are what I consider truly perfect SOPs, and it’s no surprise that both applicants achieved amazing results. (The PhD applicant was admitted to 7 of the top-12 ranked programs in her field!)

As you read these sample essays, note how the paragraphs fit cleanly into the four sections:

1. Introductory Frame Narrative: 1-2 paragraphs
2. Why This School: 2 paragraphs
3. Why You’re Qualified: 1-3 paragraphs
4. Closing Frame Narrative: 1 paragraph

 

A Perfectly Structured Master’s Sample Statement (MS AI)

During my time at Johannesburg’s Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, I witnessed how Lunit INSIGHT MMG, a deep learning-based medical imaging software, both helped in the detection of breast cancer and lessened physicians’ workloads. Even as an IT extern in the radiology department, I realized the extent to which such products, when they are truly accessible, can help the whole hospital system. In South Africa and countries like it, many public rural hospitals can’t afford such technology, yet have triple to quadruple the number of patients as their urban private counterparts. Obviously, with more patients, doctors are more prone to human error. This is a dilemma of certain consequence. Yet, this problem describes precisely my reasons for applying to Gotham University: I hope to study artificial intelligence so that I can contribute to machine-learning models and applications that help physicians with early-cancer detection, especially in underfunded rural hospitals like those in my home country.

The Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence program will provide both the technical and business-management skills I need to achieve my goal. Through courses like Intro to Computer Vision (MSAI 329) and Deep Learning (MSAI 407), I hope to gain a comprehensive understanding of computer vision, its current limitations, and how it can be advanced. This will provide the foundation I need to contribute to the development of accurate and robust machine-learning models for image classification in medical diagnosis. Furthermore, Innovate: Medical (MBUS 450) will guide me toward creating business plans that turn medical innovations into achievable ventures, while Financial Foundations for Entrepreneurs (MBUS 382) will provide hands-on experience with the financial accounting necessary for startup businesses — a crucial aspect of my long-term goals. I am also interested in Professor Lucius Fox’s work on self-supervised fine-tuning algorithms, as correcting super-resolution convolutional neural networks could greatly enhance medical-imaging processes. If possible, I would like to explore this or similar topics in my capstone, with Professor Fox as my advisor, and thus gain vital experience applying these technical skills that will be directly relevant for my future career.

I also appreciate the many extracurricular resources through which Gotham will support my goals. I am keenly interested in the WeLaunch Program, which supports hopeful female entrepreneurs with incomparable mentorship and networking opportunities. Joining this program will be uniquely important to me, as in the future I hope to coordinate nonprofit efforts that will help integrate AI-powered medical-imaging platforms in rural hospitals in South Africa. Projects like this would require external funding and collaboration with my country’s Department of Health; thus, the WeLaunch Program will greatly benefit me as I seek to develop software prototypes and public messaging that will resonate with collaborators in government and beyond.

Fortunately, my academic and professional experiences have fully prepared me to face these challenges. As a Computer Science student at Metropolis University (with a concentration in Security), I acquired a strong background in system programming and software testing — an education that continues to drive my professional growth in backend engineering roles. Today, I work as a software engineer at Wayne Technologies, a consulting and IT services company, where I have acquired rich experience delivering robust products for high-impact clients. My integration work with frontend, DevOps, quality assurance, and business goals has allowed me to study the product lifecycle from start to finish. Furthermore, having contributed to both large-scale projects with millions of users at WayneTech and small-scale projects from my previous job at the startup, Katara, I have mastered different tech stacks and system designs which I believe will greatly benefit me in the Industry Capstone Project at Gotham. I write code in Python, Golang, and Kotlin, practice data structure and algorithms, and utilize DevOps skills in deploying microservices in the cloud. All these skills, I believe, will be the foundation for my success at Gotham.

After graduation, my short-term goal is to contribute to projects that help close the gap in AI technology between rural and urban hospitals, hopefully in companies like Arterys and Enlitic, both of which design image-classification tools for medical diagnosis. Long-term, I hope to contribute towards creating an AI-powered medical-imaging platform that can integrate rural communities (like those of South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province) into our modern healthcare infrastructure, via collaborative non-profit work. I believe Gotham’s Master of Artificial Intelligence program will provide me with the knowledge and experience I need to achieve these goals, and work toward innovating the future of healthcare systems in developing nations who could most benefit from these efforts.

 

A Perfectly Structured PhD Statement Sample (Mechanical Engineering/Robotics)

While working as lead engineer of the AGV team at Katara, a vertical farming start-up, I developed three versions of an environmental sensing AGV for scale. Amongst the fragrant Canadian blueberry plants, I experienced many facets of novel robotic design, and discovered a passion for research development. Today, as a hopeful PhD student, I am excited to expand this work in robotics for industrial applications by improving autonomous arm manipulation and interaction. I am interested in exploring how to combine physical sensors with visual feedback for state estimation and inference for manipulation, and how to take inspiration from humans to explore non-conventional means of managing internal arm impedance. My long-term goal is to utilize robotics to automate more complex tasks in manufacturing, thereby making environmentally friendly technology more financially viable and prevalent in industry. The ME PhD program at Gotham is the ideal environment for me to combine theoretical concepts and hands-on application to achieve this goal.

At Gotham, I am particularly interested in working with Professor Lucius Fox in the Tetra Lab on his work in state estimation and inference for manipulation. Robotic arms have seen success in controlled industrial settings, but advanced feedback is critical for robotics to complete complex reactive tasks, such as releasing objects from molds and inspecting delicate products. I hope to work with Professor Fox to advance closed-loop manipulation by integrating more dense tactile sensor arrays, methods from online SLAM, and computer vision technology, and thus develop robots that can more precisely interact with unknown environments. Specifically, I am interested in exploring another task family in addition to the insertion and pushing tasks already investigated in the Tetra Lab. I believe object rolling shows great promise because, similar to pushing and insertion, the mechanics are well understood and there is greater potential for task diversity as complexity increases: ball rolling, cylinder rolling, and disc rolling. The optimal robot interactions may also be more complex as object rolling lends itself to non-linear motion. I appreciate how closed-loop robotic manipulation has countless applications and that, for each of those possibilities, there are just as many options for different combinations of feedback; I look forward to incorporating my experience in closed-loop feedback controls in autonomous robots.

I am also interested in working with Professor Dick Grayson in the Thomas and Martha Wayne Laboratory for Biomechanics and Rehabilitation, and helping advance his lab’s work in human-inspired control strategies for constrained-motion tasks. Professor Grayson’s research compares null-space projection and impedance superposition in kinematically redundant robots, and I would hope to expand this by investigating the disparity of task conflict between the two methods in different constrained motion tasks, such as loop-closure constraints and nonholonomic constraints. I look forward to exploring the different facets of physics modeling, algorithm development, and algorithm validation. The benefit of greater robotic arm accuracy and control in constrained movement and forceful interaction could have great applications in detailed industrial recycling applications. For this reason, I would also be interested in working with Professor Ra’s al Ghul’s Mechatronics Laboratory 3D Deprinter to explore a more application-specific approach to robotic electronics recycling, which I believe can be built upon to create other task-specific intelligent robots for industrial manufacturing settings.

I believe my diverse industry-based research experience makes me a unique candidate for PhD study at Gotham. While working at Katara for the past year and a half, I redesigned our entire environmental sensing AGV, “Karl,” three times over, incorporating automation capabilities, a variety of feedback systems, closed-loop navigation, and electronics safety features. Karl can perform reliable data collection while navigating over uneven terrain and will be deployed in all future farm units. I have gained considerable experience in multi-controller system coding, circuit and circuit board design, sensor integration, and autonomous robotics controls design, thus becoming a full-stack roboticist, and giving me a strong foundation for all aspects of robotics research.

Much like I would in a PhD lab research setting, I have led research development for Karl: identifying areas of exploration, investigating literature on the subject, and implementing a solution appropriate for my system while deciding the overall project direction. I reach out to my engineering advisors when I need more experienced guidance, and when my advisors do not have experience in the relevant area, I embark on ground-up, methodical, rewarding research-based learning. For example, I decided to completely transfer the communication protocol between subsystems within the robot to CANOpen in order to reduce points of failure and allow for easier scalability. However, no one at my company had experience with CANOpen, so I bought a textbook, read it cover to cover, and emailed my device’s technical support daily for over a month. I have now become my company’s CAN and CANOpen expert. This feeling of ownership and expertise has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my work at Katara and a strong motivator to pursue a PhD.

My industry robotics development experience has also given me the unique ability to deftly break down and prioritize tasks in a complex engineering project. When my deadline for version two of Karl (dubbed “Karlie”) was moved up, leaving me with half the time to complete my work, I had to reorganize my timeline, postpone non-critical features, and truly understand how to achieve “good enough” on each subsystem to meet the target date. I prioritized consistency in critical navigation and data-collection functionality, and deprioritized auxiliary failure notification systems. After over a year of adjusting to ever-changing deadlines, I believe my ability to (constantly and proactively) reevaluate timelines, understand the boundaries of minimum-viable products, and employ diverse hardware and software engineering skills will all be invaluable assets in effectively conducting doctoral research without getting bogged down on non-critical components.

Developing a blueberry-sensing AGV from idea to mass deployment has been a rewarding learning experience. It has given me a taste of the excitement and fulfillment that comes from directing novel engineering investigations, and diving deeply into learning new techniques, frameworks, and tools. It has also opened my eyes to the fact that a PhD is the perfect environment for me to grow my research skills, help innovate the field of robotics, achieve my long-term goal of advancing automated manufacturing, and bring environmentally-friendly technology to the forefront of the industry. After graduate study, I hope to start or join an early-stage start-up and lead from a deeply technical point of view; the analytical research mindset, technical knowledge, and academic connections from a Mechanical Engineering PhD from Gotham will be invaluable towards this goal.

 

How Should You Format Your Personal Statement?

You can read my entire guide to formatting grad application essays here, but this quick summary should make things easy:

• Font: Times New Roman
• Font Size: 12pt
• Line Spacing: Check your target school’s instructions—they’ll usually ask for single- or double-spaced. If they don’t, both are okay!
• Can I adjust font sizes or margins to fit a single page? Never do this. It’s obvious and often results in flat rejection. Lower your word count instead.
• Do I need a header? No. But if you choose to use one because you think it looks more formal, this template will work beautifully:

Click to make a copy of the Google Doc

 

Next Steps

There you have it. Now, you know how to structure a personal statement for grad school. You can probably tell what my advice is.

Take the time to write a brilliant, poignant, and highly persuasive story-based statement of purpose. You’ve worked too hard to get here. Don’t go to sleep at the finish line now. Think hard. Write the best essay you possibly can. It’s your future on the line. Illustrate that future in a masterful essay, and you’ll get the rewards you deserve.

Need help brainstorming the content that’ll make your essay work?

In my FREE PDFs (for master’s and PhD applicants), I share the 4 questions that every personal statement must answer to generate 3, 4, or 5+ grad admissions.

Get yours now!