The Admissions Essay Prep Leader shares essay writing strategies and samples that will help you gain entrance to your first choice graduate school. For more free essay writing advice and for help with your admissions essay, visit EssayEdge.com.

Graduate School Statement Strategies Why Graduate School? Why Qualified? Why Exceptional? Wait-list Letter Transfer Essay Editing Checklist Sample Essays

Why Graduate School?

The secret to doing this theme well is to show why you want to study your field. Don't just say it and expect it to stand on its own. Admissions officers want believable details from your life that demonstrate your desire and make it real to them.

One secret to avoiding the here-we-go-again reaction is to keep an eye on your first line. Starting with "I've wanted to be a physicist since…" makes admissions officers cringe. Yes, we know it's an easy line to fall back on, but these poor people have read this sentence more times than they can count, and it gets old fast. Instead, start with a story that demonstrates your early call to law. Look, for example, at the first paragraph of this essay:

"That's not fair." Even as the smallest of children, I remember making such a proclamation: in kindergarten it was "not fair" when I had to share my birthday with another little girl and didn't get to sit on the "birthday chair." When General Mills changed my favorite childhood breakfast cereal, "Kix," I, of course, thought this was "not fair." Unlike many kids (like my brother) who would probably have shut up and enjoyed the "great new taste" or switched to Cheerios, this kid sat her bottom down in a chair (boosted by the phone book) and typed a letter to the company expressing her preference for the "classic" Kix over the "great new taste" Kix. 

In telling the story, this writer demonstrates that the roots of her political activism run deep without having to ever say it. She doesn't just tell us and expect us to take her word for it-she shows us.

Another approach that is overdone is the "my dad is a XXX" approach. Some admissions officers said that when the only reason an applicant gives for wanting to study a field is a family legacy, it makes them question not only the motivation but the maturity of the applicant. While this doesn't mean you need to hide the fact that your parent is a member of your desired field, it does mean that you should avoid depending on that as your sole reason for wanting to go to graduate school. If a parent truly was your inspiration, then describe exactly why you were inspired by them, and what you have done to test your motivation in the real world.