previews what is coming and the order it is coming in, thus making the entire
statement easier and quicker to read.
Body: The body of the personal statement might cover a number of different topics—
topics are largely dictated by the field you are in and the prompt you are given. For
instance, if you are in a research-oriented field, you will want to spend time discussing
your past, current, and future research. In contrast, professional fields may ask for a
teaching philosophy, professional development experience, or specific character traits
related to success in that field.
Common Paragraph Topics:
1. The Inception of Your Interest: Indicate where your interest in the field began,
whether it was as a child or in grad school. Discuss the point in time when you
realized a particular interest or research focus as your impetus to pursue a
specific focus or specialty.
2. Particular Abilities/Experiences that Demonstrate Success: Focus on
demonstrating your proven ability to succeed. Specifically, you want to illustrate
your potential to excel in your field and your ability to complete valuable research
or other appropriate activities. Do not simply state that you will be successful,
and don’t just list accomplishments available elsewhere in the application packet.
Instead, demonstrate your ability through previous experience using CSSAR:
C.S.A.R.R. – Claim, Situation, Action, Result-local, Result-global
In order to truly demonstrate your ability to succeed, provide examples of
past success by creating a claim about the skill or ability you’ve
developed. Next, describe a situation you were in where you utilized or
cultivated that skill, then follow with a description of the action(s) you took
in that situation. Finally, wrap up with the favorable result for that specific
situation (local) and how you will apply that skill to a future situation
(global).
3. Research Focus: Mention your future research interests or a particular area of
focus. Many graduate programs admit very few students, and the students who
do achieve admission typically have a very specific research agenda. Identify
how your research interests fit into a specific department. If relevant, mention any
scholars or individuals you want to work with (as many programs determine
admission based on placement with specific faculty members).
4. Personal Qualities: Elaborate on specific qualities you possess that will help to
advance your success. Avoid making unsubstantiated claims; instead, use SAR
to show specific qualities in action that resulted in success.
5. Career Goals: Indicate what you intend to do with your advanced degree.
Provide a specific career goal, research area, specialty, etc., and indicate how