5 Tips for University Applications: Essays, Letters, Statements, etc.

Hi everybody, welcome to www.engvid.com, I'm Adam.

Today's video is mostly targeting people who are going to be applying to universities in

English-speaking countries; Canada, US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, but also some other

countries that have English-based schools that have a similar application process.

Now, those of you who are applying to these schools, especially graduate schools, but

even undergraduate schools, you understand that the application process includes a sample

writing.

Now, every school will have their own requirements, the things that they want from you, but all

of them will have general basics that you need to send, and all the things I'm going

to talk about today apply to any of the things that you're going to need to write.

So, first, what are the types of things you're going to need to write as part of your university

application?

Some schools will ask for a personal statement, others will ask for a statement of purpose,

especially graduate schools, or a letter of intent.

A statement of purpose and a letter of intent are essentially the same thing, okay?

Some will ask for a cover letter, just like you're applying for a job, you send a cover

letter, they want a cover letter with your application.

This is more similar to the personal statement.

Some of them will just give you supplementary essays, so a lot of the applications will

have an essay question, or they'll automatically ask for a personal statement, and then each

university will give you a few more questions that you have to write short essays for.

So, make sure you know exactly what you need to submit.

Now, it's very, very important that you do not underestimate the importance of these

pieces of writing.

Your application consists of transcripts, your resume, the actual application you're

filling out, all these things, and a sample of your writing that shows who you are, what

you want to do, why the university should accept you instead of someone else.

So, it's very, very important.

Sometimes this is what's going to decide whether you are accepted to a university or not.

If you're applying and there's a lot of other applicants with similar grades, similar experiences,

similar extracurricular activities, what is going to make you different from the others?

This.

The extra piece of writing that you need to submit.

So, the most important tip - I'm going to give you, actually, five major tips - but

the most important thing that you need to understand right now, give yourself time to

work on these writing pieces, okay?

It is very, very important.

Now, I've helped a lot of students with their application writing.

It's amazing how many people contact me and say, "Can you help me with my personal statement?

I need it by next week."

Next week is too late.

Like, if you haven't already thought about things, you might not have enough time.

American students, Canadian students, UK students, etc., when they know they're going to be applying

for university, they start writing these things a minimum of six months before the application

deadline or before they're ready to submit.

Some people start writing them a year before.

Don't leave it until the last few days or the last week or two.

Give yourself two, three, four months, as much as possible.

Now, I'm going to start with a few general tips, and then I'm going to get into some

more specific tips that you need to know.

Do not underestimate the value of good writing.

And good writing is built on good vocab, good grammar, good structure, etc.

So, the English is important.

You can't write a sloppy statement or letter and expect the university to be impressed

by you.

You can't have mistakes, grammar, vocab, or otherwise, and you have to be very clear,

you have to be very convincing, and you can't be boring.

All of this has to do with language, so make sure the English is very good.

Do not send the first draft.

Do not write a personal statement or a statement of purpose and then send it.

Edit, rewrite, edit, rewrite.

Do this a few times.

You should go through five, six, seven drafts before you have your final draft to send.

Sometimes people go 10, 15 drafts.

Definitely don't send your first draft or your second draft.

Know the requirements.

Make sure you understand exactly what they're asking for.

Is there a word limit, like a word count limit?

For example, they say write no more than 1,000 words.

If you wrote 1,100 words already, you've already lost the opportunity to go to this university

because they're not even going to read your application.

If you can't read a simple instruction, how are you going to understand complex instructions

from your professors?

Make sure you understand what you need to do.

Word count, character count.

Some of the supplementary essays will say in 300 characters or less.

Characters means each letter and space and punctuation.

It's not 300 words.

Make sure you know how much you're allowed to write.

If they say 12 font times new Roman, times new Roman font, 12 point size, make sure you

don't write with a bigger font or a different font.

Margins.

All these things.

Make sure you know exactly what they're asking you for, otherwise you're showing that you're

not a very serious student.

Do use the pronoun "I", okay?

And these two things go together.

This is not an academic essay.

This is a personal essay, so it's okay to use the pronoun "I", and you don't need to

worry about fancy vocabulary, and you don't need to worry about transitions and all these

things that you would use for the - you would need for the IELTS or TOEFL.

This is more of a personal story, so you don't need to be too academic.

You can be - you could use "I", although you can use "I" in academic essays anyway, too,

but don't be afraid of the "I", okay?

So, this is a very general introduction.

Now, let's look at some more specific things.

Okay, so let's start looking at these statements and letters, etc.

The most common mistake I see when people send me their draft of what they wrote, what

they want to submit, is that people repeat a lot of information that the admissions officers

can see elsewhere.

So, don't forget, when you're applying, you're not only sending the statement, you're also

sending your transcript, you're sending your CV or resume, for most schools ask for this,

and you're sending a reference letter.

Somebody recommended you, like a professor or a co-worker or a boss, I mean, etc., so

make sure that anything that I can see here, I shouldn't see in your personal statement.

Don't tell me about your grades, because I can see your transcripts.

Don't tell me about the job you had and how long you were there and who was your boss,

I can see that in your resume or your CV.

Don't tell me that your boss really liked you, because he will have said that in the

reference letter.

If you say your boss really liked you, but your boss didn't write you a reference letter,

that makes you look very bad.

Either you're lying, or maybe you misunderstood your boss's feelings, right?

Anyway, all of these things, the admissions officers will see first, before they read

your statement or letter, so don't merely summarize something that they already know.

You have to give them something new.

You have to make every word count and do something.

It has to have a purpose, it has to lead to some effect on the reader, okay?

That's the most important thing.

Don't repeat information.

Then, and this is another thing that a lot of people fail to do, I think.

When you're applying to a seat in a classroom in a university, it's very, very important

that you remember that hundreds, maybe even thousands of other people are applying for

that same seat.

Not all of you are going to get it.

Let's say for, in some programs, let's say they have 25 seats opening every year.

Two, three thousand students apply.

That means that close to three thousand people are not going to be accepted, so you have

to ask yourself what makes you different from those hundreds or thousands of other applicants.

Now, I'll give you a bit of a case study.

I've helped a few students from a particular country.

All of them applied to a particular program in the US, the same program.

Different students, same country, all wanting to go study the same thing in the US.

And this were different times, like different years and all this stuff.

But every single one of them did the exact same thing.

She told me about her experiences and how they were very valuable and how they changed

her perspective, then her work experience, and then what school she wants to go to, what

she wants to study.

But each of these students, three completely different students, all wrote the essentially

same thing.

So imagine how many hundreds of others are also writing the exact same thing.

So you need to stand out, right?

There's a crowd of students all saying the same thing.

You need to stand out and say something different.

Now, saying something different might sound easy to say.

It's a very difficult thing to do.

You have to think very carefully about what makes you different, right?

And this is especially for the statement of purpose, but when we come to the personal

statement, which I'm going to talk about next, the personal statement, a lot of people forget

the word "personal".

It's about you.

It's not about where you've been, what you've done.

It's not about who you met, what sort of experiences you had.

All of these things don't matter because other students have been places.

Other students have seen things, have met people, have had experiences.

Everybody goes places, does things, and has experiences.

The question is how did these places, experiences, meetings change you?

How did these things affect your life?

How did they make you the person you are today?

The person who is going to be a part of the student body at this university?

Remember, the admissions officers, when they read these statements, they want to see a

person.

They don't want to see a transcript.

They don't want to see a resume.

They don't want to see a copy of all the hundred of other students who are applying.

They want to see an individual who has something to offer, okay?

So, tell me, who are you?

That's your mission in this statement.

Basically, you're selling yourself.

You're selling yourself.

You are a product, and you're hoping that the admissions officers want to buy you.

Obviously, not money.

There's no money involved here, but they want to choose you.

Why?

Because they think you can contribute to the university.

They think you will be good classmates with the other students there.

You will get along with the professors.

You will work hard.

You will succeed.

You will make the university look good.

At the end of the day, the university cares about the university.

They want students to come and succeed, not students to come and be part of the decorations

on the walls, right?

So, you have to be very personal and very unique, and make sure that you stand out from

the crowd.

These two things kind of go together, right, very, very, very important.

Don't forget there are others.

Who are you in relation to them, okay?

Very important.

Two more tips coming up.

Okay, so we're going to continue, but this is a little bit of a review.

When we're talking about the personal statement, I'm sure a lot of people are thinking, "Well,

what can I say?"

Well, you have to think about yourself quite a bit.

You can think about what you have done, but think about how this has changed you.

For example, were you on a sports team?

People say that sports have become cliché, don't use it, but if that's who you are, that's

who you are.

If you were there - if you were on a sports team and you made very good friends, and this

teamwork and this friendship changed your life and made you the person that you are,

write about that.

Explain it, show how it affected you and how this will basically continue on into university

and how being a friend will help you be a better student, will help other students be

better students, etc., things like that.

On the other hand, if you're writing a statement of purpose or a letter of intent, you have

to be very careful not to confuse the two issues.

You still have to show them who you are as a person, but you very much have to tell them

your purpose, right?

So, statement of purpose, okay?

Letter of intent.

Make sure you tell them what is your purpose in coming to this school, what is your intention,

what do you want to do if you are accepted into this school.

And a lot of people make the mistake in the SOP or the LOI of talking about, "Oh, I did

this and I learned that and I met..."

That's not purpose, that's background.

A little bit of background, sure, is very important, but make sure that you focus on

the future.

What do you want to do?

Do you want - like, for example, you want to be a doctor?

Do you want to have your own clinic?

Do you want to work in a hospital?

Do you want to specialize in a particular area?

Do you want to work for Doctors Without Borders?

Do you want to volunteer in, like, poor countries?

What do you want to do once you're educated and once you're licensed as a doctor?

Purpose, intent.

Now, I also have a lot of people telling me, "Oh, I want - I'm applying to this university

because it's a very good school", and they go on and on and on.

But interestingly, they never actually say in their letter of intent or in their statement

of purpose what it is they want to study.

They're applying for dental school, for example.

Okay, yeah, that's obvious.

That's where you send the application.

They know you're applying to dental school.

Do you just want to be a dentist?

Do you want to be an orthodontist?

Do you want to specialize in this area or that area?

You actually have to say what it is you want to study.

They know you want to go to dental school, you applied to a dental school.

Tell them specifically what you want to do.

If they accept you, what are you going to do?

What are you going to do while you're in school?

What do you hope to do, what do you hope to accomplish after you graduate from the program?

What is your purpose?

What is your intent?

What are you going to do with this education?

And when I say during school, when you come to the university, what are you going to do

there?

What do you want to accomplish?

Do you want to just go to classes, take notes, pass the test, and go out and get your degree?

Or do you want to engage, do you want to do research, do you want to contribute to the

growth of the program, etc.?

Lots of little details.

You have to think very, very carefully about all these little details.

Because again, a thousand other people are writing the exact same thing you are.

You must stand out by being very detailed and very precise about what you want to accomplish.

Okay?

And don't tell me why you want to accomplish this.

This is part of the background.

You can say, "Oh, I grew up watching my grandfather build all kinds of machines, that's why I

want to be an engineer."

Great.

Two, three sentences, you're done.

How are you going to be an engineer?

How are you going to contribute to the university?

How are you going to graduate?

How are you going to make your dream come true?

How are you going to attain your purpose?

Right?

That's what you need to focus on.

So, they know that you're motivated.

They know you're going to come and work hard.

They know you're going to succeed and make the university look good, which is what is

important to them.

And that's that.

Next, the essays.

Again, not every university application is going to give you supplementary essays, but

the ones that do, do not take lightly.

Okay?

Put a lot of effort into these.

Usually they're going to be very short.

Now, people think short essays are okay, easy, just write something.

The short essays are actually harder, because you have very few words with which to express

big ideas about yourself, right?

You still have to stand out, you still have to express something, but you have very little

space to do it in.

So, the writing has to be very, very tight, very clear, and very on point.

The most important thing, and this is where a lot of people make a mistake, make sure

that you actually answer the question that they give you.

The supplementary essays are always going to give you a question or a prompt.

Make sure that you answer the question.

Don't go writing about something else.

Answer the question and put a lot of information into very tight sentences.

Now, if I can only give you one piece of advice, well, I'll give you two pieces of advice.

One I already gave you, give yourself a lot of time to work on these essays and letters

and whatever else you need.

Don't wait until the last few days or the last week or the last two weeks, two, three

months or more.

My second most important tip, don't try to impress the admissions officers.

They're reading many, many, many applications.

The only way you're going to impress them is by actually impressing them, by being an

individual.

Impress them by making them see you.

If you're writing the same as everybody else, they just toss you in the rejection pile.

If your English is bad, rejection pile.

If you're writing a personal statement but not saying anything personal, rejection pile.

If you're writing a statement of purpose but you don't actually tell them what you want

to do, rejection pile.

Don't try to do anything, just do.

Just sell yourself, be yourself, and make sure that they see you.

Now, having said all that, I honestly do think, especially for the non-native speakers, but

believe me, I've worked with native speakers as well who honestly just don't know how to

write these particular essays.

Very smart people, very capable people, they just don't know how to write these particular

things.

If you're a non-native speaker, it's twice as hard, three times as hard.

I strongly recommend that you find someone to work with.

If you're in a school now, go to the guidance counselor's office and ask for an appointment.

Ask the guidance counselor to help you write these things.

If you don't have access to a guidance counselor or you don't want to work with your guidance

counselor, there are a lot of people online or probably in your area who are professionals

who can help you work on these essays and letters.

Okay?

Now, if you want, I also do this, I don't do it very much, but you can go to www.editorproof.com.

You can get a bit more information, but keep in mind, this is not a cheap service.

These letters, again, they take time, whereas most people spend months on them, the people

who help you write these will spend a few days maybe or maybe a couple of weeks going

back and forth, but they're going to spend a lot of hours.

Do not expect to pay $20, $30, it doesn't work that way.

Either commit the time yourself or be prepared to pay someone to help you with it.

Either way, take these statements and letters very, very seriously.

They could be the difference between being accepted to university or being rejected.

Okay?

Now, I did put a quiz on this lesson at www.engvid.com.

Just for those of you who are practicing your English and you need a little bit of practice

and comprehension, there'll be questions about everything I said, just to test your understanding

of what I said.

But if you have questions about any of this stuff, you can ask me at www.engvid.com as

well in the comments section, and I'll do my best to help everybody.

Some people might ask, "Why didn't I put a sample letter?"

I can't, because there's no such thing as a standard personal statement or statement

of purpose.

Every letter is unique, because every applicant is unique, alright?

I can't give you one letter, because I would have to create a person in order to do that.

I don't want to make up an imaginary person.

The letter is you.

You are the letter, and I can't write you on the board here, so that's why there's no

sample.

But keep that in mind when you're writing your own letter.

Anyway, I hope some of this stuff was helpful to you.

If you liked the video, please give me a like.

Don't forget to subscribe to my channel, and ring the bell if you want to get notifications

of future videos, and come back soon.

I'll have more useful tips for you to help you with your futures in English.

See you again soon.

Bye-bye.