The Admissions Essay Prep Leader shares essay writing strategies and samples that will help you gain entrance to your first choice graduate school. For more free essay writing advice and for help with your admissions essay, visit EssayEdge.com.

Graduate School Statement Strategies Why Graduate School? Why Qualified? Why Exceptional? Wait-list Letter Transfer Essay Editing Checklist Sample Essays

Why Exceptional?

If you are different in any sense of the word-if you are an older applicant, a member of a minority, a foreign applicant, an athlete or musician, disabled, or have an unusual academic or career background, use this angle to your advantage by showing what your unique background will bring to the school and to your field. One interesting topic for foreign students, for example, might be to talk about how the education system differs in this country and why they are choosing it over a course of study in their own country and/or language. 

Beware, however, that there are instances where playing the diversity card will backfire: 

If you are a "student of diversity" then of course, use it. But don't harp on it for its own sake or think that being different by itself is enough to get you in-that will only make us feel manipulated and it can show that you didn't know how to take advantage of a good opportunity.

Only people with significant and documentable disabilities should bring them up in the essay. By that I mean not the current popular overdiagnosed disability du jour, which in my day was ADD.

The secret is to tie in your diversity strongly with your motivations or qualifications, or with what you can bring to the class. If you can't make a strong tie-in, then you might simply make a brief mention of your exceptional trait, background, or talent instead of making it the focus. This can be a very effective approach because it shows that you have enough confidence in your qualifications and abilities to let them stand on their own. It is as though you are simply mentioning the fact that you are blind or a refugee from a war-torn land or a violin virtuoso to add shading to your already strong, colorful portrait.

Some applicants, however, will have the opposite problem and will feel uncomfortable stressing their differences. Career switchers or older applicants, for example, sometimes feel insecure about incorporating their experience into the essay, thinking that they will only draw attention to the fact that the bulk of their experience is in another field. If this sounds like you, remember that your past experience gives you a unique perspective and you can use your essay to turn this into an advantage instead of a liability. Or, alternately, you could stress the similarities instead of the differences and make your diverse job experiences relevant by drawing comparisons between the skills required in your current field and the ones that will be needed in graduate school. This writer draws multiple parallels between studying English literature and his experiences volunteering with the American Civil Liberties Union.