Resources

I believe in accessibility. Already so much of academia is gatekeeping future scholars from obtaining the resources they need to be successful and ultimately enjoy the experience of higher education. As well, this is my hot take but personal belief to be weary of people on social media and other digital platforms who will charge you to look over your statements. I hate hearing how scholars are exploited, taken advantage of, and left with more confusion/frustration with the application process during those encounters than when they first began. These are materials that I developed from my workshops (which obviously are more interpersonal, engaging, and fun!) that can assist you as you develop your statements.

Some Rules

I am willing to share this information in hopes that this can assist bright, precocious, and resilient scholars, but there can be no plagiarism. No plagiarism from scholars trying to use these tools to create their own statements and no plagiarism from people trying to copy my labor. It is basically the number one rule in academia and here as well. These statements are to serve as examples, guides, and to provide an idea of how to speak about oneself in graduate school admission statements. Furthermore, these materials are not a one-stop shop — I encourage you to continue reading and speaking to other scholars about how they approached their statements because the more information you have the better you can assess how YOU want to approach YOUR statements.

As well, though the advice I follow and am sharing helped me capture a nice balance of personal but purposeful in my statements, I want to be clear that not every application I submitted got accepted, and there is not a clear-cut formula. This information is from my perspective of how I approached my writing and these are just suggestions and perspectives that I have cultivated through my time as a graduate student, writing specialist, and speaker.

With that being said, there are also other amazing (!) graduate students who have written about their experiences with the graduate application process and being a graduate student:

Enrica Bridgewater - First Generation Blog

Stephen Yang - Application Reflections

Lastly, I want to share my vulnerability in these statements in an attempt to help others learn how to speak about their own vulnerability, experiences, and narratives— please be respectful of how I wrote about myself.

Okay now that, that’s out of the way!

Below are the resources, materials, and information I have available to you all!

• My Own Graduate School Admission Statements

• NSF GRP Statements and Reviews

• Writing Intensive Workshop Documents

These documents aim to be free and accessible.

I do offer one-on-one writing specialist services (Calendly Zoom Sign-Up) regarding graduate admission statements and general research paper reviews — I believe, again, in providing accessibility and knowledge to scholars from a variety of backgrounds. I do a '‘pay-what-you-can” system for the writing sessions. I continue to make my infographics as free as possible, but if you would like to donate to a coffee my way and tell me how these documents helped you, here is my Venmo @krisleer!