Hello, can someone please help me with my personal statement for graduate school? I need help with grammatical mistakes as well as the content and the meaning. The school is asking me to write about my academic background / interests, ambitions and research interests. I am stuck where I should be writing a little bit about why I would like to go xxx school. I hope I answered in somewhere in the paper, but I can't really summarize.
Thank you thank you!
"Know thyself", Socrates is the first philosopher to articulate this simple statement in words. However, for one to truly understand what it means for oneself requires further introspection. The discourse of philosophy directly influences how one lives and views oneself and the world at large. After spending more than a year outside of the academe, I deeply experienced this intellectual and emotional quest and thus became my personal philosophy. During my undergraduate years at XXX College, I have gained a solid knowledge within the historical and theoretical framework of the discourse. As a graduate school candidate, I aspire to expand my interest in a more specialized direction by focusing on the contemporary schools of philosophy, especially the areas that concern the philosophy of the social sciences.
In the last few decades, our current political and socioeconomic affairs have become a discomforting reality for the people around the world. The quest for an understanding and the truth of our modern society requires even further questioning and rational analysis ever than before. Philosophy has played a vital role in every single aspect of our thoughts and therefore resulting in our actions. The materialistic content of our modern world is what troubles us globally, locally and personally. My interest in this subject grew stronger as I graduated from XXX College and entered the working world. After my observation of our current economic trend, the competition for supply and demand in the financial markets, the perpetual race for an improved system of trading techniques between banks, and the disappointing credit crisis that lingers for the last two decades are the result of an "unhealthy economic development" as George Soros stated in his recent business conference in Europe. While I hold a neutral position as of yet on the failure of the world financial problems which begins within the realm of market fundamentalism, it is definitely one of the economic issues that I would like to investigate further with my professors and peers at XXX in this year.
Academically, I have accumulated most of my research experience while writing for my senior project as an undergraduate. It is one of my personal endeavors that I pride in after receiving much praised remarks from my professors. The project included many of my area of interests in the philosophy of aesthetics and it is entitled "XXX". This project questioned and examined three philosophers' theories on the origins of beauty and of consciousness. Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche and F. W. J. Schelling all offered invaluable insights that address the origins of self-consciousness and the creative intelligence within the realm of the study of aesthetics. I argued that in order for us to understand the philosophy of art, we must first try to understand the reality of our own, whether it's in the sub-consciousness that of the artist, or our consciousness as individuals. I also extracted and compared Kant, Nietzsche and Schelling's texts to help support my arguments. During my presentation, I sincerely enjoyed answering interesting questions and debated different arguments with my peers and professors.
The last year at XXX College was the most fruitful times of my academic studies. Not only have I produced a substantial body of work, I also have matured in my analytical thinking and academic writing techniques. The friendship and the professional relationships with XXX professors have also influenced in the pursuit of my graduate school education at XXX. It will further advance in all aspects of my philosophical studies. Only this time, it will challenge me and direct my intellectual growth in a specialized field of study. The philosophy of economics and politics directly touches our everyday lives, it is the state of our current society that should be brought to question and examine. As Socrates reminds us, "know thyself" can be interpreted as the basis of all knowledge for oneself. It certainly can also serve as the groundwork for a beginning of an honest and healthy global society.
The area of interests selected by the faculty of XXX also attracts me. After reviewing the faculty webpage and their research topics, it confirmed a dynamic intellectual community that the graduate program has to offer. I look forward to studying and the research opportunities as a graduate student. Not only will it be a rewarding and a challenging academic adventure, it will also be a personal endeavor in a specialized field that I am passionate about. In my subsequent professional career whether it's within a university as a professor or a business owner, I wholeheartedly believe this educational experience will help me gain knowledge to bring positive change in our economic society.
If you can, try and emphasize your specific accomplishments from your undergraduate career. What clubs or extracurricular activities were you a part of? Did you do volunteer work at all? Did you assist professors? Anything like that would expand your qualifications for this particular program. The same goes for your research interests. Try and outline for them exactly what it is you are interested in researching. Do you have a specific situation you are interested in? How would you like to go about conducting said research? Again, the more details you can give them, the more favorably they will look upon you because you are showing that you are a responsible, organized student serious about contributing to the academic community.
Thank you thank you sooo much for your help!!!!!! You have no idea how much weight you have taken off my shoulders!!!! I love your ideas and suggestions . . . it will take me a day or two to think about it, so I'll be back!!
Thank you again!!!!
