Asher - Graduate admissions essays: write your way into the graduate school of your choice

Copyright 1991, 2000, 2008, 2012 by Donald Asher.

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Asher, Donald.
Graduate admissions essays : write your way into the graduate school of your choice / Donald Asher. 4th ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
1. College applicationsUnited States. 2. Universities and collegesUnited StatesGraduate workAdmission. 3. Exposition (Rhetoric) 4. EssayAuthorship.
I. Title.
LB2351.52.U6A74 2008
808.066378dc22
2007049830

eISBN: 978-1-60774-322-4

Cover design by Chloe Rawlins

v3.1

A great professor of history can make the French Revolution come alive so that you can see the barricades in the streets of Paris and hear the swish of the guillotines blade as it descends. Likewise, a Shakespearean scholar can help you feel the anguish of the protagonists in the tragedies and can show you the contemporary nature of the humor in the Bards comedies. But how do you excite and entertain an audience when talking about getting into graduate school? Well, Donald Asher does exactly that youll find you not only enjoy yourself, but youll also learn a great deal about tactics and strategies that will help you increase the odds of getting into the graduate or professional program of your choice. Donald is uniquely qualified to present this program. Hes met with admissions officers all across the country and spoken at dozens of colleges and universities. His book, Graduate Admissions Essays, has been a huge seller, and hes written a variety of other books and articles. Im proud to introduce Donald Asher.

Dr. Robert Greenberg, NACE fellow and host of the National Teleconference on Graduate Admissions

I owe special thanks to:

Dr. Orlando Taylor, President, Washington, DC Campus of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology; Dr. Judith L. Kuipers, President, Fielding Graduate University; Dr. David Payne, Executive Director, GRE; Charles Johnson, Director, Masters & Executive Programs, Krannert School of Management, Purdue University; Roger C. Stewart, Director, Graduate Career Services, Krannert School of Management, Purdue University; Geri Weilacher, Director, Penn State TRiO Training Institute; Dr. Thomas Rochon, President, Ithaca College; Mary L. Gonzalez, Assistant Vice President, Division of Special Programs, Texas A&M UniversityKingsville; Cherryl Arnold, Director, Educational Opportunity & TRiO Programs, Georgia State University; Michael L. Jeffries, Associate Dean and Director of Minority Student Affairs, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Founder, McNair Scholars National Conference; Dr. Priscilla J. Fortier, Assistant Dean of Students, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Colin Diver, President, Reed College; Dr. Ruby Ausbrooks, Educational Consultant, Gerlach, Nevada; Dr. Carolyn Herman, Pre-Med Advisor and Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis; Dr. Jennifer Vega La Serna, Dean of Arts and Letters, College of the Sequoias; Julie Kern Smith, Career ServicesExperiential Learning, Reed College; Dr. George B. Robbins, Associate Director of Graduate Academic & Enrollment Services, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Samuel T. Lindquist, Director of Admissions, The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration; Dr. Gerald Foster, Director of Admissions, Harvard Medical School; Richard Badger, Dean of Admissions, The Law School of the University of Chicago; Kathleen Plessas, Director of Admissions, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco; Louise Goldsmith, Graduate Assistant Admissions Coordinator, UCLA-Architecture; Judy Colwell, Assistant Director of Admissions, Stanford University School of Medicine; Russ Coughenour, Director, Career Services, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Dr. Cathi L. Eagan, Assistant Dean, Research and the University Graduate School, Director, McNair Scholars Program, Associate Director, MEDIC-B Program, Indiana University; Dr. Barbara A. Herman Center, University of WisconsinMadison Medical School; Dr. Linda Arbuckle, Graduate Coordinator, University of Florida, Gainesville; Dr. Judy Jones, Executive Director, Pond Mountain Lodge & RetreatEureka Springs; Dr. Manuel Febres, Programa McNair, Universidad de Puerto RicoSan Juan; Dr. Michelle Sparacino, Director of Recruitment & Admissions, School of Public Health and Health Services, George Washington University; Dr. Kay Reed, The Graduate School of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Bertha Thomas, Director, McNair Scholars Program, Truman State University; Dr. Vicki M. Curby, Director, McNair Scholars Program, University of MissouriColumbia; Dr. Steven M. Ehrlich, Assistant Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, Washington University; Jeffrey Johnson, NAGAP Membership Director and Director of Admissions, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine; Dr. Janet Goebel, Rhodes Advisor and Director of the Robert E. Cook Honors College, Indiana University of Pennsylvania; Nick Ewold, Director, McNair Scholars Program, Beloit College; DeVon Wilson, Assistant Dean, University of WisconsinMadison; Linda Vivian, Coordinator of Special Projects for the Graduate School of the University of Florida; Dr. Larry Duffy, Chair, Pre-Medical Advising Committee, The University of Alaska, Fairbanks; John Garic, Esq., Pre-Law & Graduate School Advising, Franklin & Marshall College; Dr. Mary E. Kirtley, Office for Graduate and Professional Studies, Dickinson College; James A. Marino, Director, Career Center, Rutgers-Camden; Katherine K. Nobles, Director, Career Services, Oglethorpe University; Dr. Thomas Q. Reefe, Director, Career Development Center, University of California, Santa Cruz; Tom Francis, Director (Ret.) Career Services, Swarthmore College; Dr. Robert C. Pebworth Jr., Director, Career Planning & Placement, Wabash College; Saul Reyes, Director, Career Center, Jacksonville University; Dr. Edward Zovinka, Chemistry Department, St. Francis CollegeLoretto; John Adams, Director, Career Services, Davidson College; Tony Butchello, Associate Director, Career Services, Davidson College; Gar Cropser, Associate Director, Career Services, University of California, Irvine; Tom R. Cath, Director, Career Center, DePauw University; Carla Mollins Rinde, Director, Career Center, Ursinus College; Lisa B. Dickter, Associate Director, Career Services, Carnegie Mellon University; Judy L. Fisher, Director, Career Center, Harvey Mudd College; Pamela S. Backes, Associate Director, Career Services, Keene State College; Patricia M. Campbell, Director, Career Services, Keene State College; Dr. Rebecca A. Emery, Director, Career Services, Salisbury State University; Stephanie Paramore, Assistant Director, Priscilla A. Scotlan Career Services Center, University of San Francisco; Amy Wilms, Director, Career Services, University of Redlands; Dr. Tariq Shakoor, Director, Career Center, Emory University; Yolanda M. Manora, Associate Director, Pre-Professional Advising, Emory University; Katherine Harper, Director, Career Center, Western Oregon University; Patrick D. Mullane, Director, Career Development Services, Dickinson College; Rob Felton, Public Affairs Officer, George Fox University; Seth L. Smythe, Willamette University; Nancy Norton, Director, Career Center, Willamette University; Anne Hardin Ballard, Director, Career Development Services, Linfield College; Peter S. Van Houten and Mary Blakeslee, Pre-Professional/Pre-Graduate Advising, University of California, Berkeley; Dr. Dandr Desandies, Associate Director, Career Development, Stanford University; Toinette Menashe, Director, Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program, Reed College; Dr. Walter Englert, Chair, Classics Department, Reed College; Lisa Garb, Director of Public Relations, Petersons Guides; Ricky L. Parham, Applicant Relations, American Association of Medical Colleges; Brian P. ODriscoll, Director, Career Services, Pacific University; Dr. Jason Morris, Director, Masters Program in Higher Education, Abilene Christian University; Jennifer Tucker, Associate Director, Field and Career Office, Beloit College; Nancy B. Karpinski, Director, Career Development Services, Wells College; Maureen Daly, Kilian Kerwin, Mohamed Yunus Rafiq, Michelle Levy, Fang-Yuan Chang, Rob Saldin, Gerrad Jones, Damian Madan, Brian T. Powers, Rachel Elizabeth Anderson, Erin E. Bonuso, Yung-Hsiang Hsu, Jonathan Doti, Manny Mora, Juana Gatson, Senetta Bancroft, Catherine Glew Hylands, Todd Hobler, Adam N. Green, Flay Rogers, Margie Lariviere, Andrea J. Morgan, Brad Wurtz, Meyer M. Speary, H. Glickman, Bob Muldoon, Victor F. Simonyi, Kevin Kelleher, Gennine Zinner, RD, Jennifer Ferenstein, Lisa Kemmerer, Linda C. Saremi, Gretchen Craft, Wendy Richardson, Tod Cochran, Molly Stenzel, Deborah E. Gallant, Brian Boyl, Sabrina Gee, Dr. Anastasia Pinoris, David Lawrence Conlin, David Coleman, Dr. Bruce Johnson, Kevan Shokat, Dr. John R. Vasquez, Debbie Redd, Shane Whittington, Rebecca Weller, Dr. Majid Tavakkolijou, Dr. Arturo F. Muoz, Robert Fallon, Paul F. Laubscher, Ranessa L. Cooper, Jeffrey P. Henkle, Jennifer Drayton Sohn, Jennifer Nagy, Charles Kosan, and of course, anonymous.