Full Description
This practical book is a timely and comprehensive guide designed for college advisors and instructors who are supporting and coaching students into successful internships, fellowships, graduate programs, and professional schools. This book emphasizes the most important part of any application, the personal statement: how to prepare to write it, how to draft it, how to revise it—and why to invest time in the process of developing it. Helping Your Students Write Personal Statements analyzes the components of the effective personal statement and provides examples from many successful essays by actual college students, as well as exercises for students. It also gives advisors the tools to help engage students who might not ordinarily consider themselves credible candidates for nationally competitive fellowships. This book uniquely takes a developmental approach, offering college advisors and teachers a concrete, step-by-step plan to help any student craft the best, most persuasive personal statement they can write, helping transform their students into compelling, competitive candidates.
Contents
Acknowledgements Preface Chapter 1: What Our Students Don't Know: What Is a Fellowship, and Why Apply for One? Chapter 2: Common Denominators: What It Takes to Be a Successful Applicant Chapter 3: "Who Are You?" Helping Your Students Know Who They Are Chapter 4: What a Fellowship Committee Wants to Know about Your Student: Helping Your Students Understand How to Present Themselves Chapter 5: Framing the Narrative: Authenticity in the Personal Statement Chapter 6: Where to Begin? Getting Your Students Started on Writing Their Personal Statements Chapter 7: Revising and Ending: Helping Your Students Understand the Importance of Refining Their Personal Statements Conclusion: Recruiting, Cultivating, and Retaining Student Talent, and Faculty Collaboration Index
