留学申请素材收集表

--申请研究生院的个人陈述

附录一

What is the difference between the above mentioned formats?

* Personal Statement:

 A strong personal

statement is reflective; that is, it demonstrates that you have thought about and gained a clear perspective on your experiences and what you want in your future. In the process of preparing your personal statement, you should also pay attention to the fact that some schools also need the applicant to integrate their response into several questions (see Question-and-Answer Essay) in your personal statement.

* Motivation Letter /Statement of Purpose/Statement of Objective:

 Schools phrase their prompts for the statement of purpose (Statement of Objective/Motivation Letter) in a variety of ways. They even name them differently; what is a statement of purpose at one school is a letter of intent or a personal statement at another. Some schools will even call it an autobiographical statement. These prompts will also impose different restrictions on length, and some will give you more guidance than others will. Nonetheless, they're all asking for pretty much the same four pieces of information:

-- What you want to study at graduate school.

-- Why you want to study it.

-- What experience you have in your field.

-- What you plan to do with your degree once you have it.

In most cases, you can simply use your personal statement if it can well address the four questions mentioned above. 

* Question-and-Answer Essay:

Some schools ask the applicants to compose the essay responding to several pre-set questions, for example:

1 (Applying to college) what is your greatest achievement? Who has influenced you the most? Write page 122 of your 200-page autobiography.

2 (Applying to Business School): Please provide an example of a time when you introduced a new, innovative idea, as a member of a group, organization or company. Discuss how your idea was then carried out and how it affected change within that group, organization or company.

3 (Applying to Law School): What is your understanding of “Justice”?

* Study Plan :

A study plan is designed to help you and your adviser define your educational goals and to identify strategies for accomplishing them. But sometimes you do not need to fully focus on the “plan” itself, the essay can also contain your objective, academic background and motivation as well as personal statement does. In the visa application process, some foreign embassies would also require the applicants to provide a study plan for reference. For example, the Canadian embassy would require the applicants in certain countries to provide a study plan in response of the following questions:

--- Why do you wish to come to Canada to study at this school and in this program for which you have been accepted;

--- What is your overall educational goal;

--- Why you are not pursuing less expensive alternatives in your home country (what are those alternatives? have you investigated them?);

--- What ties do you have to your home country that will lead you to return to home following your course of studies?

--- How will this Canadian diploma/degree increase your chances in your home country’s labor market?