MSU 的 PS 官方格式要求

MSU 的 PS 官方格式要求

http://www.gter.net 2002-10-11 18:59:07 寄托天下作者:安公子

我看了寄托文书中的PS，怎么觉得有些跟个散文似的？而且写得老长，人家有些要求500字就
够了，打印出来两页不到是最好的，不用写那长，没用，人家看着烦。附件里是 MSU的 PS
官方格式要求，希望对大家有帮助。其实我想也许每个学校研究生院的网页上都会有类似的
格式要求的，大家勤快点自己去找一找，别自己想当然地写。

(直接贴上来，省得大家下载了！！）

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

A PERSONAL GOAL STATEMENT FORMAT
FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICATION

The first paragraph of your personal statement, one or two sentences,
should make clear the purpose of your
writing: to present an interpretive summary of your background, academic
interests, and future goals as justification
for your admission to a program of graduate study.
The second paragraph interprets your background for the graduate admissions
committee. This paragraph should
establish your academic preparation for the program to which you have
applied. If you have been a strong student
throughout your undergraduate years, you may call attention to what you
believe have been strong combinations of
courses, which seem to fit your prospective graduate program well. If you
have had ups and downs as an
undergraduate, you may call attention to progressive improvement in your
studies: i.e., the difference between your
junior/senior GPA and your freshman/sophomore GPA or your record in
selected course work that is directly
related to the kinds of course work that you will undertake as a graduate
student. If you scored well on whatever
graduate examination that you took, you may want to cite that fact as well.
Keep in mind that graduate admissions
committees want assurance that you will be a successful student. If you
have had relevant experiences, you may
mention them here, too. Some graduate programs such as applied sociology or
social work or resource
development, etc. look for evidence that you have already sought out ways
to translate your academic background
into practical, professionally oriented applications. In short, this
paragraph should assure the graduate admissions
committee that you have matured during your undergraduate years, that your
intellectual and professional interests
have taken shape, and that you have begun a conscientious progress toward
professional development.
In this example format, the third paragraph will be a description of your
professional goals. (This paragraph and
the next, however, could be reversed.) Though your letter takes the general
shape of a summary of your interests
and background, it also builds an argument for your admission to a
particular graduate program. The logic of this
argument runs this way: I know what interests me; I know that I would like
to engage in this work as my profession;
and I believe that the necessary, most logical way to assure me of success
in this profession is to earn this
graduate degree. This paragraph describes what you know about the
professional careers to which this course of
graduate study may lead. Generally, people who pursue graduate degrees tend
toward any of four professional
occupations: academic, public service, private industry, or self-employment
(i.e., writers, lawyers, physicians, etc.).
Though you do not have to commit yourself to one career only, you are best
served by presenting to the
admissions committee as specific an idea as possible about what you intend
to do with their degree. If you know
that you would eventually like to be a business consultant specializing in
labor market analysis, say so. Such a
statement indicates to the committee that you are goal oriented, that you
are capable of identifying what you want
and of developing a systematic means to attain it. This paragraph, in
conjunction with the previous one, assures
the admissions committee that you are an applicant with a purpose.
The fourth paragraph, which describes what you intend to study in graduate
school, should tighten your argument.
Now that you have made clear your interests, background, and professional
goals, you must make the case that
the best way for you to bridge your undergraduate years and your successful
performance as a professional is to
study what this particular graduate program offers. Be as specific as you
can. Learn what courses this graduate
program offers. Identify its faculty members and what research they are
conducting. Know the program's
reputation, its strengths and its weaknesses. Your undergraduate professors
can be of very great assistance in this
regard. As you describe your reasons for applying to a particular program
try to link your interests with what you
know is available through that program and its parent college or
university. If you know that it encourages
practicum experience, something you want, say so. If some of your
undergraduate texts or assignments have
utilized materials produced by that program, say so. Offer suggestions
about combinations of courses or faculty
advisors that you think might be especially imaginative or productive. This
paragraph, thus, accomplishes two ends:
you place this graduate program in the continuum of your own professional
development and you demonstrate that
you have applied to it as the result of an informed, reflective selection
process of your own.
Your personal statement should close with a brief summary of your
background and goals, again just a sentence or
two. This last statement reaffirms both your preparation and your
confidence that your choice of this graduate
program is right.

MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity institution Revised 8/02

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