鬼子喜欢的PS

 

I took some time to read your statement. It's telling. Anyway, I talkedwith the chair of our department today and asked about his opinion on whathe expects one to be. He gave me a few points:

 

First, you need to show why you're interested in biology. It could be justa brief history, a class or something that turned on your interest. Butdon't give the impression of being too romantic. He told me about a badstatement, in which a Chinese student told the story of when he was 2 yearsold and his mother showed him a tadpole and he's been interested in biologyever since then and bla bla bla...

 

Second, tell what kind of field you would want to work in. Don't be toospecific because if there's no one in the department doing such a thing,the committee will think you won't be satisfied when you get here. So, youmay check first to make sure that the research area you want in representedin the department.

 

Third, tell why you want to be a Ph.D. This is generally showing thatyou're interested in research.

 

I told them you have been in the lab. 'Them' means the chair and his wife.They said you should stress that in your statement. I think you can writeabout what your lab is doing, what kind of experimental techniques are youusing and what your role is in there.

 

They also said that they are looking for someone with genuine interest inbiology research and they expect this expressed in the statement. Sinceyou've been working so long, you can sound more mature or formal whendescribing your lab experience. And, don't make the statement too long,they get tired out before reaching the end. You can have your script readby some other teachers and have some feedback on what they think of it.