Help!! Personal Statement for Grad School

[English Ivy]

:neutral: Hi All,

I am currently in the process of applying to grad school for Landscape Architecture, and I feel a bit stressed! :eek: I have to study for the GRE, I am organizing my art portfolio, and trying to work on a draft for my personal statement.

Maybe I'm over-analyzing it, but I don't know where or how to begin...and, I can't seem to put into words "why I am interested in landscape architecture" without sounding so cliche. :eek: I know that I want to become a landscape architect, but lately I've been feeling tired and drained from my job...(it can be very monotnous and mind-numbing; I work full-time, and feel drained and unmotivated by the time I get home) :neutral:

Since many of you have experienced/or are experiencing the grad school application process, perhaps you could offer some suggestions, advice or comments. It would be greatly appreciated. :huge:

Thanks,

English Ivy

[CityGal]

:neutral: Hi All,

I am currently in the process of applying to grad school for Landscape Architecture, and I feel a bit stressed! :eek: I have to study for the GRE, I am organizing my art portfolio, and trying to work on a draft for my personal statement.

Maybe I'm over-analyzing it, but I don't know where or how to begin...and, I can't seem to put into words "why I am interested in landscape architecture" without sounding so cliche. :eek: I know that I want to become a landscape architect, but lately I've been feeling tired and drained from my job...(it can be very monotnous and mind-numbing; I work full-time, and feel drained and unmotivated by the time I get home) :neutral:

Since many of you have experienced/or are experiencing the grad school application process, perhaps you could offer some suggestions, advice or comments. It would be greatly appreciated. :huge:

Thanks,

English Ivy

Ivy, I feel the exact same way. Too often I tend to overanaylze everything and it takes me over a year to finish one little thing. So, first things first, BREATHE- inhale and exhale. Start off slowly. Give yourself a schedule to complete the things you need to do. Don't rush things but make sure to always be working on something. As for the SoP, this takes a lot of patience and revision- that's if you are a perfectionist or have been doing this the second time around (:( like me). Starting is always a problem for me, so I started mine off by doing some freewriting about myself. Try to bullet the qualities that make you a good candidate as well as any related experiences so that you can have them handy to incorporate later.

Steps:
1- Breathe. Inhale, Exhale, Inhale, Exhale
2- Try some freewriting
3- Look up the description of what the school wants in a SoP
4- Contact the department to see what they want
5- In a rough draft answer those questions
6- After you've answered all the questions, leave it alone for a few days
7- Come back to it, edit it, then leave it alone
8- Edit, Edit, Edit--leave alone for another few days
9- Have people look it over. Decide what of their edits you want to incorporate.


These are most of the steps I did.

[CTGirl]

oh fun! There was an extremely brief time in my past when I considered going into that field myself.

First, don't worry too much about sounding cliche, as long as its honest and genuine at the same time.

Also, if you're feeling burnt out by your job, that feeling is prolly gonna have a negative influence on your ability to write a really good statement, so try to distance yourself from that stuff as much as possible (mentally or physically, or both) before trying to write it.

I'm having a similar problem with my job search, in that my burnout with my current job is causing me to be more pessimistic than I should be, and so I'm trying to mentally shut out those feelings while looking for a new job, and do it with a clearer head.

Good luck!

[CityGal]

oh fun! There was an extremely brief time in my past when I considered going into that field myself.

First, don't worry too much about sounding cliche, as long as its honest and genuine at the same time.

Also, if you're feeling burnt out by your job, that feeling is prolly gonna have a negative influence on your ability to write a really good statement, so try to distance yourself from that stuff as much as possible (mentally or physically, or both) before trying to write it.

I'm having a similar problem with my job search, in that my burnout with my current job is causing me to be more pessimistic than I should be, and so I'm trying to mentally shut out those feelings while looking for a new job, and do it with a clearer head.

Good luck!

Totally agree.

[English Ivy]

:huge: CityGal and CTGirl,

Thank you so much for the quick and insightful responses. :huge: It's good to know that others understand what I'm experiencing, and are willing to help out.

CityGal,

Your detailed list (I'm going to call it the "CityGal 9-Step Program" lol. :huge: ) seems very interesting and I'm going to follow it. I was motivated as I read through each step. Thanks a bunch!! :huge: Good luck to you with your SoP and grad school applications.

CTGirl,

Thanks for the advice about not sounding cliche, and I will definitely try to distance myself as much as possible from the work situation as you've suggested. And, I totally agree about the job burnout. I think it's starting to take a toll on me. By the way, what made you change your mind about pursuing landscape architecture?

Good luck with your job search!! :huge: Have you tried searching HotJobs? Just a suggestion. I've had good luck on that job site.

English Ivy

[CTGirl]

CTGirl,
Thanks for the advice about not sounding cliche, and I will definitely try to distance myself as much as possible from the work situation as you've suggested. And, I totally agree about the job burnout. I think it's starting to take a toll on me. By the way, what made you change your mind about pursuing landscape architecture?

Good luck with your job search!! :huge: Have you tried searching HotJobs? Just a suggestion. I've had good luck on that job site.


I didnt want to have to learn about different types of plants, lol, I just liked the design part (same reason I gave up on studying architecture/interior design, didn't like the technical parts)

I have tried Hotjobs actually, thanks! I do some recruiting in my current job, so I have a fairly good handle on where to look, it's just such an exhausting process!

Good luck with the grad school stuff!

[allie1105]

I think everyone applying to grad school goes through this because you are just sooooo overwhelmed with everything! Ugh, I HATED the GRE - but I got through it, as will you. As for your personal statement, I wrote something VERY basic, sent it to some people to proofread. After that, I figured out what I wanted to showcase and how I wanted to say things. It took me over two months to write, because I would write, proof, tear apart, leave alone, repeat a week later. Give yourself PLENTY of time - since the personal statement can make or break you.

I also purchased the book, "How to Write a Winning Personal Statement for Graduate and Professional School." I had no clue what direction to go in with mine, and there are lots of winning essays in there. It gave me an idea what is and is not appropriate and appealing to the audience you are writing to. If you get REALLY stuck, check it out here (http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Personal-Statement-Graduate-Professional/dp/1560798556/sr=8-1/qid=1160078376/ref=sr_1_1/104-8101958-6957569?ie=UTF8&s=books)

GOOD LUCK!

[MollyMe]

I think my bf wrote my SoP for me because I was having troubles with that kid of writing. He is a good BSer.

Basically, I ended up discussing my educational background. I talked about how great I was in school. Then I talked about my jobs. I talked about how my work and academic experience lead me to want to pursue a masters. I talked about that and where I want to take my career. Most of it was BS, though not a lie. I don't know what I want to do with my life; I just had a really good opportunity to go to grad school.

[CityGal]

I think my bf wrote my SoP for me because I was having troubles with that kid of writing. He is a good BSer.


Reminds me of my college days when my ex used to write all my papers. ha. I tried to write them myself but when you write a paper at 3am your head is just not there.