PS 到底怎么写 - structure

tinaxueMIT

Hi Everyone,

I am a
graduate student at Harvard University and I work at MIT's admissions
office. I also offer a writing and editing service. Through my
professional experience, I have come
across some very common mistakes in PSs. However, reading the blogs and
suggestion columns, I find very little information that is truly
useful. The advice just seems conventional and vague. So, I decided to
start a series of informational posts to help you guys. I will address
one main topic everyday. Hopefully these blogs will help you. 

    

                What should I focus on in my PS

    

Your PS should include 5 essential elements:

    

1)     
Your motivation – what has inspired you to
pursue the field. This could include background, research experiences, family influence, etc.

    

2)     
Professional/research background

Lots of people have problems in this area and don't know what to focus on.

I
obviously cannot just make a list of all possible fields. However, as a
good rule of thumb: If your future goal is to work in industry - focus
on professional experience. If your goal is to work in research or
academia - focus on research experience.

Explaining Research Experience:

Do not just say “new “
developments. Thinking about the following questions will help you more
comprehensively describe your research.

    

1) How did your research change or impact the field - what was the situation before or after your contribution? Emphasize the significance.

If
you only assisted research - how was your assistance important. What
did you actually  do? How did you contribute to the overall project?
Although you only assisted in research, you still need to make sure
that you explain the big picture of the research project and purpose. What was the goal of the research?

    

2) What problems did you solve and how

    

3)
What was your research process? In this area, include technologies,
approaches, systems used (example: Choice behavior, regression
analysis, due
diligence, game theory. Please note that “mathematical model is too
vague.)..Do not forget to say HOW you used the above and why.

    

4) Results - leadership, achievements, publications, patents, proceedings, etc

    

5) future work - in this area...you can include information about possible research for your future.

    

For
professional experience - focus on contributions to the company and
your job tasks. Also make sure you list your achievements, promotions,
leadership, etc

    

    

3)     
Future goals, and how you will achieve them.  (sometimes
it is a good idea to split this
into short and long term goals). Be specific in terms of how... This
should be easy since you should already have a plan for your life. This
can include your graduate studies, future jobs, etc

    

4)     
Why did you pick the school, and how you will
contribute to it?

    

To answer this question, make sure
you know the school. It is a good idea to use specific courses or programs offered
by the school to emphasize your points. Student organizations and research focus can also be included. DO NOT say things like "the school's excellent reputation and faculty impresses me" - this is vague and useless. Anyone on the admissions committee reading it will know right away that you have no idea what you are talking about. However...you can talk about the placement program, an specific professor's research, specific labs, etc.

In
terms of your contribution...sometimes it might help to think about the
future global situation. For example, as Asia develops, your cultural
background and information on Asian society will become very useful.
I'm sure this would be very helpful to your classmates.

    

5)     
Any other information the school has asked you
to provide.

An example for this question is Leadership.

When
talking about leadership, it is best to use an actual example. However,
if you do not have any leadership experience, you can use situations
where you exhibited leadership qualities - such as determination,
compassion, drive, communication, sacrifice, organization. Just make
sure you are able to explain how these traits make you a good leader.

However, the most important pieces of advice I can give you are:
1) Make sure you come up with a comprehensive outline before you write. ORGANIZE your thoughts
2)
Choose examples from your past VERY VERY carefully. DO NOT choose
examples that include failure. This will only highlight your negatives.
DO NOT include examples where you are presenting another company,
organization, person, situation in a negative light. This will make you
seem like you are complaining and difficult to work with. When speaking
about another organization...be either positive or neutral. DO NOT
speak negatively about your previous company.

[此贴子已经被作者于2009/10/23 2:30:48编辑过]

tinaxueMIT

if anyone has further questions, feel free to contact me at tinaxue@mit.edu. Generally I charge for my services. However, if you are interested but unsure about my abilities, I can quickly review your draft and give you comments on the major problems for free as a consultation.

Thanks.

mopton

不错！

tinaxueMIT

thanks...did you find it helpful?

mopton

The structure is very clear and helpful, but I find difficulties integrating what you said into what I wish to say.

Bottomline is I know what I should do to impress an Adcom officer.

tinaxueMIT

I see...okay these are the five elements you need to include...however...this does not necessarily need to be the exact outline for the paragraphs...It doesn't matter which element you mention first...and sometimes the elements can be mentioned together.

For example...using your experiences - you can talk about motivation
Or using your motivation you can talk about your future...

my point is that these five elements need to be included...it does not matter how. HOW depends on your own story.

jasonzun

Her edit work is quite good, and I got 2 top b-school interview invitation with the help of her edit.

There are a lot difficulties we, Chinese applicants, are facing while drafting the essays, such as wording limit and conciseness.Her first edition on my long long essay cutting the words half while keeping the original flavor of the essay really impressed me. 

Just try it once first and you will see whether or not she can be helpful to you.

tinaxueMIT

Thanks!!!! - if anyone thinks that the above post was from me...you can check the IP address. I'm in North America

tinaxueMIT

http://www..com/sample.html - is not a real link. I tried to open it and could not. So stop putting up false information

I also consult for Tsinghua and the Beijing Government.

I think that the fact I am at Harvard studying English as a graduate student is pretty indicative of my writing skills. What is 柏-斯-特's background? Is he an English professor at an Ivy league school ?

mopton

当有人看到你写的“charge for service”的时候，总会有人怀疑你，甚至拿你跟专业改essay的机构去比较。要是免费的话，说不定会排长队来找你的。

我到觉得你根本没必要回质疑你的帖，想让你帮忙的自然会来找你。

以个人的名义，又是新来id想进入这里的市场还是比较难的。