If you’re thinking of pursuing graduate studies to fulfill your goal in academic advancement, or use the degree as a way to advance your career, one of the requirements you need to focus on making is a goal statement. Universities and colleges include this one for admission requirements for aspiring graduate students. It is one of the best ways for them to find out your intellectual development, ability in writing their thoughts clearly, and knowledge of the field they’re about to take. Furthermore, they are curious to know why you want to study the field in the first place and if you truly understand what you’re getting into since it will take a lot of commitment to complete the demanding graduate program you’re going to pursue. If you’re not sure how to start writing the goal statement yet, this article will help you how to do it. Read the article to know how to write a goal statement for graduate school.
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What is a Goal Statement?
A goal statement, or also called a statement of purpose, is a piece of writing where you need to describe your interest and reason for choosing the specific postgraduate field you’re pursuing, your research interests, your objectives, and (if required) your contribution to the school where you will be doing your research. This statement is usually requested if you’re enrolling for admission in graduate school.
How to Write a Goal Statement for Graduate School
1. Know Where You Want to be After Graduate School
Before you sit down and start scribbling your goal statement, ask yourself first where you envision yourself after you complete your graduate program. Do you see yourself moving on to get a Ph.D.? or do you plan to use your degree to advance your current career? Whatever your plans will be after graduate school, write them down first and make sure your vision is clear. This is important since this is one of the things you will base your goal and you also need to include this in the last sentence of your statement to let the reader know where you aspire to go after completing the program.
2. Determine Your Goals
Aside from knowing where you want to be post-graduate studies, you also need to realize why you’re pursuing this degree in the first place. To help you understand, consider these factors:
- Know which specific field in the degree you’re interested in. Think about what particular area in that degree that you’d like to study. You can refer to scholars who contributed greatly to the advancement of the field, and you can even include professors of the school you’re enrolling who specialize in the field, to whom you look up to who can help you in your studies.
- Know why you’re interested in the degree that you’re pursuing. Know what instances and experiences made you want to study this particular field deeply.
- Know what type of person you are; your personality and your interests. These factors will play a key role in helping you motivate and stay committed to the graduate program.
3. Write the Goal Statement
Now it’s time to start writing. To help you create a compelling and interesting goal statement, here are some suggestions on how you can do it.
- Explain what motivates you to pursue the degree. Is it career advancement? Is it self-fulfillment? Is it to pursue groundbreaking research studies? Make sure to explain this one first and be concise about it.
- Connect your future experience in graduate school to your goals. Explain how the experience will help you develop certain qualities to make it possible for you to accomplish in completing your graduate degree. Include some details of your past experiences from your background that make you qualified to study for the degree.
- Lastly, include in your statement the areas you need to learn and the knowledge you need to know to know that the graduate program can help you learn them for you to achieve your goals.
FAQs
How long should a graduate school goal statement be?
A graduate school statement should be between 500 and 1,000 words and should not exceed a single page. The reason for this is to ensure that the goal statement is concise and brief enough to make it easy to read.
What should be avoided when writing a goal statement?
There are certain aspects that you should avoid while writing your goal statement. Make sure not to lie or exaggerate when you write the statement and avoid any negative tone as well. Including these in your statements make you look bad and you might run the risk of getting rejected.
To ensure that you will impress the graduate school administration with your goal statement, prepare to write it weeks before you pass it to them. You’re going to need some time to write multiple drafts and make a lot of revisions before you can decide that you’re confident enough to submit it. If you’re still feeling insecure about it, ask for help from your mentor or teacher to help you out. To help you get started writing your goal statement and you need some sample statements you can use as reference, download our free sample templates provided above.
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