Materials Sciences Student Sample

For the sample from materials sciences, directed at an internal fellowship, the one-page essay has an
especially difficult task: The writer must persuade those who already know him (and thus know both his
strengths and limitations) that he is worthy of internal funds to help him continue his graduate education. He
attempts this by first citing the specific goal of his research group, followed by a brief summary of the literature
related to this topic, then ending with a summary of his own research and lab experience.

Teach for America Student Sample

The student applying for the Teach for America program, which recruits recent college graduates to teach for
two years in underprivileged urban and rural public schools, knows that she must convince readers of her
suitability to such a demanding commitment, and she has just two short essays with which to do so. She
successfully achieves this through examples related to service mission work that she completed in Ecuador
before entering college.

Neuroscience Student Sample

The sample essay by a neuroscience student opens with narrative technique, telling an affecting story about
working in a lab at the University of Pittsburgh. Thus we are introduced to one of the motivating forces behind
her interest in neuroscience. Later paragraphs cite three undergraduate research experiences and her
interest in the linked sciences of disease: immunology, biochemistry, genetics, and pathology.