I am a 28 year old woman from Taiwan who is a great adventurer. I love to travel and my special love is education. Over the last 4 years I have visited 30 countries so far and I am still traveling. Since education is my first love and college is my life, I want to continue to go to school so that I can get a Masters Degree and finally a PHD in Education. Everywhere I go I visit universities. I have visited XXXX University twice, once in 2007 and once in 2010, just a week ago. I think your university is the most beautiful one in the world, and I am most impressed by your programs, especially your Masters Program in Comparative and International Education. It is my first choice and I would be so deeply honored if you would accept me. I think it is very important for someone who wants to become a professor in international education and to work at the forefront of the development of international educational programs to stay up on the news. And, these last few days, China and Norway have been in the news. We Taiwanese see ourselves not just as Taiwanese but also Chinese, and as a Chinese woman, I am ashamed of the way that the People’s Republic of China is reacting to the great honor of having one of their citizens win the Nobel Peace Prize. I am embarrassed that this Chinese giant is allowing this great honor to have a negative impact on their relations with Norway. This issue is something that I want to learn more about and it illustrates the way that we need more cultural exchange through international education so that our world can better become one, so that we are all citizens of the same planet. At some point in the future, after completing your Masters Program, I would like to go to mainland China and help the dissidents, and speak out for free speech. My education was in Foreign Languages and Literature, and since my graduation, I have been working towards my first graduate degree, mostly online, an Executive Master in Business Administration. This has helped to prepare me for a future in international affairs and relations. What has been most helpful, however, is my professional employment position with the Lion Travel Group in Taipei. I have been working with them for 2 years and I now have extensive experience as a project planner, developing new Asian markets for our international tourist board and the overseas hotel industry. I present seasonal marketing proposals and execute media cues. I also plan projects for worldwide travel exhibitions, provide administrative and coordination support to our management team. And I coordinate travel arrangement and meetings. Since I have been with the company, we have increased our marketing budget from US$1.5 million to US$6 million dollars and our earnings by 32%. I also helped our company to acquire new international customers including Disneyland, Universal Studios, Royal Caribbean, and Club Med. The greatest contribution that I might be able to make to society would be to use the knowledge and skills that I have learned in the area of travel and international business and apply them to the field of international education. I hope to devote my life to building greater ties between my country and Europe through educational exchange. Of all European countries that I have visited, Norway is by far my favorite. And I want to study at XXXX University because I want Norway to be my second home forever.

I am writing for your consideration into the Masters Physician Assistant Program at the XXXX campus of XXXX University. At 25, I feel that I now have sufficient maturity to fully appreciate your program. I am also finally in a position where I have economic security and could afford to pay for my studies. I came to America from the Ukraine in 1991, at the age of 6. Russian Jews, we came here with nothing but have managed to find our piece of the American dream. Perhaps it was this immigrant aspect of my upbringing which accounted for my setting my sights on earning money rather than applying myself to my studies. Up until two years ago, I was a financial success on Wall Street, by the tender age of 23. Then, I took off my tie. For the last two years, I have had the luxury of preparing myself professionally for entering your program to become a professional Physician Assistant. I became sick of making money. My short and long term goal is to treat children with cancer. This is the area that for me most makes life worth living. After leaving my job, I traveled for a few weeks to clear my mind and figure out what career path I wanted to pursue. During my travels, I came to a conclusion that a career in the medical field would best suite me. Upon returning home, I began exploring various medical fields to decide what would be the most appropriate career choice for me to make. My first volunteer position was as a research assistant in the neuroscience department at the College of XXXX. I was responsible for maintaining a developmental neuroscience laboratory. I helped test new strategies for eliminating brain tumor cells through experimentation on live mice. We experimented with curcumin derivatives to eliminate tumors. I provided technical support for all members to ensure that they made solutions and cleaned glassware correctly, as well as coordinating waste disposal. I helped to produce and maintain primary cultures of brain tumor cells and analyze the neuronal morphology through the use of various light microscopy techniques, including digital imaging software. When needed, I also operated a confocal microscope imaging system. All of the experimental data was organized and kept in a detailed laboratory notebook. From January of this year, 2010 through July, I volunteered at the practices of three different physicians. I performed routine clerical activities such as preparing patients for examinations, taking and recording vital signs, assisting doctors during procedures, recording medical history, and preparing examination rooms. The first practice that I volunteered at was for Dr. Bella Fridman who specializes in Nephrology and I had the opportunity to learn about various kidney disorders and how they are treated. My second position was with Dr. David XXXX who specializes in Internal Medicine. From Dr. XXXX I learned a great deal about the duties of an internist, the diagnosis and treatment of various adult diseases. I helped Dr. Yakobashvili see various patients in an office setting. I witnessed a broad variety of cases ranging from patients with rashes, through blood pressure medication checkups, to general physical exams. My third position was with Dr. XXXX who is a pediatrician. A serious ailment of my cousin prompted me to find an assistantship with a pediatrician and it was here that I found my calling. Dr. XXXX is by far my most important role model and has helped me to understand how, with children, one must have enormous patience and take into consideration the unique needs of every child. Thus, after having volunteered at three different types of medical practices, I came to the conclusion that I really wanted to pursue a career in pediatrics. I consider myself fortunate to have found my quest in life at only 25, helping to heal sick children is where I find my greatest joy. I am currently working for the XXXX Institute for Rehabilitation. The XXXX Institute is very well known as a pioneer in physical medicine and rehabilitation. The nation's largest single rehabilitation hospital, we specialize in the treatment of individuals with advanced spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, stroke, amputation, neurological disorders, and musculoskeletal and orthopedic. I am a nursing/rehab assistant so I get to work with patients that have a broad variety of different injuries. Of course, one of the most important responsibilities of a Nursing Assistant is to monitor a patient’s vital signs and record significant changes. We are usually the first to know how well a patient is responding to a medication or another treatment option. I am also responsible for maintaining a patient’s personal hygiene by helping the patients to shave, take their baths, and clipping their nails. I assist in dressing and undressing patients who are unable to perform these tasks for themselves. Another separate but closely related duty is to facilitate a patient’s restroom needs. I wish to devote my life between to the practice of pediatrics at the same time that I am able to spend quality time with my own family. Becoming a physician assistant is the logical career for me because it fulfills these needs. Also in preparation for entry to your program, I shadowed two physician assistants, following them around for weeks, watching how they perform their job, interacting with patients, filling out paper work, etc. Both of physician assistants that I shadowed were very open to my questions, providing me with a wealth of information concerning their careers. XXXXRPA-C, MPA was especially helpful. She specializes in Interventional Cardiology at XXXX Hospital. After spending upward of a month with her, my desire to become a physician assistant was even further cemented in my mind and heart. Elena is so very enthusiastic, finds so much joy in helping her patients and still has enough free time to spend with her loved ones. My goal for the next five years is to get a Masters Degree as a Physician Assistant and get a job working at New York´s XXXX Hospital, treating children who have cancer. By being accepted to the physician assistant program at XXXX College, I would be able achieve my dreams and goals. The only requirement that I do not meet is the GPA. My overall GPA is 2.163, well below your requirement of 2.70. I do not have a good excuse for my poor grades other than my desire to make money. Two years ago, however, I stepped down from my position as Vice President of Investment Sales at a prestigious real estate investment firm. My career had given me an opportunity to attain a high level of financial success; but, as a result, I had become a person motivated by greed and I did not like my face in the mirror. I managed to get a degree but I did only the bare minimum to pass. I was so concentrated on my work that I put school as my last priority. Now that I have a whole new prospective on my life, my number one priority is to become a physician assistant specializing in pediatric surgery. And for this reason I am petitioning for special admission to your program. I look forward to a long and high productive career as a Physician Assistant specializing in pediatric surgery working at New York Presbyterian Hospital. The greatest contribution that I might be able to make to society would be to help treat children with cancer. My cousin, David was diagnosed with Leukemia ten years ago. Before I started working, I spent much of my free time with him. However, between my job and school there was not much time left for David. I was faced with an ethical dilemma when I was informed of his failing health. I had to choose between my job and being with him. Unfortunately, I chose my career over being with David during those last precious moments of his life. After he passed away, my entire life was put into a whole new perspective. I realized that the image I had of myself growing up was radically different from the way it turned out to be. I was raised in a family where the needs of others came before our own. Therefore, I decided to choose a different career that would allow me to live a life that would honor my family and provide me with greater human fulfillment. If accepted into your program, I will no long be working and I will be able to study full time. I have had a long journey to get to this point. I have volunteered for over 200 hours at different medical practices. And I now have over 800 hours of hands-on experience at Kessler. I have shadowed two physician assistants for over 30 hours each. I believe that given my work experience and profound dedication, I would be able to excel in your program. I know deep down that I can be a great student and a most excellent physician assistant, if I were given a chance. I ask for is an interview so that I might have a chance to convince you in person of my great dedication to this noble profession and my humble sincerity.

I am a 26 year old African American man who was raised in Richmond Virginia. I am a hard working you man who has devoted his life to serving others. A compassionate person who is naturally drawn to the healing professions, I have found myself profoundly attracted to the field of Rehabilitation Counseling now for some time, and have been doing a lot of reading in my spare time so as to better familiarize myself with many of the current issues and trends in the field. I want very much to study in your program because it is close to home, and XXU is an institution for which I have also developed a profound admiration over time. I especially look forward to doing research in the many areas in which one´s disability can impact their mental, social, and occupational functioning. I want very much to obtain my MS Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling, and then become a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. One of the strongest aspects of my application to your program is my extensive volunteer experience, since I have served as a volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Leukemia Society and the Lymphoma Society. Working with these organizations has helped me to understand that I crave and have the potential to excel in a leadership position where I will have the opportunity to use the knowledge that I gain in your program in building highly positive interactions with others and sharing insights and experiences with with team members and colleagues. I hope to spend the balance of my professional life making a most positive impact on the lives of others, especially those with special needs and those who have suffered disabilities, full or partial. I wish to devote myself fully to the cause of rehabilitation. I decided to major in Psychology in college in order to better prepare myself for service in the health related professions and studied broadly in the area of professional and interpersonal relations and communications, as well as abnormal, child, and adolescent psychology. I have excellent written and verbal communication skills with great attention for detail and I am a very active learner who is fully committed to continuous improvement, quality, and personal growth. Fully dedicated to lifelong learning, I am flexible and analytical, never losing sight of overall objectives. I have been serving as a Clinical Supervisor with the XXXX Counseling Group for over a year. Prior to this position, I was employed with them from 2007 forward as a Community Based Counselor. I assist clinical staff with caseload management issues related to the organization of the caseload and staff productivity, I analyze various clinical approaches to cases and supervise the quality and integrity of clinical documentation, professionalism and professional development, spending much of my time in meetings and phone interviews with clients, parents, and case managers. I prepare written diagnostic assessments of family functioning, and psychological/emotional needs. And I am responsible for ensuring that staff adhere to and uphold the guidelines and standards of the NCG, DMHMRSAS and DMAS. I am also involved with the Mental Health Support Services Program, working with adults to teach functional skills and appropriate behavior as well as providing crisis intervention as necessary. I feel strongly that the professional skills that I have developed will help me to excel in your program and I appreciate your attention to my application.

I am a young woman who was born and raised in Thailand. I want very much to dedicate my life to becoming a social organizer and this is why I seek to specialize in this area as a student in your unique program. Most dedicated to the joy of lifelong learning I have always been a hard worker and have been blessed by my efforts. I have been able to enhance my education to the point where I now feel qualified and confident in asking for admission to study in such a distinguished program in a world-renowned university. I began school in the Thai countryside where my mother was an elementary school teacher. The single greatest influence on my life so far, I cherish her example and pray that I might be able to someday inspire my own children in such a distinguished manner. I always excelled in school and attained my undergraduate degree in Thailand in English. I have had a love affair with the English language almost ever since I can remember, closer than that of a sibling, I now dream in English and it has become a full fledged expression of my soul. Also in Thailand, I went on to earn my M.Ed. Degree in Educational Psychology. I did this in keeping with my dream of devoting my life to education, giving everything that I could to teaching. My dedication to my career in education became derailed, however, by my new life in America, which began with my arrival 8 years ago. I must confess that I was somewhat infected by the quite American bug of materialism, I wanted to get rich, just like so many that I saw around me in this land of plenty. As a result, I dedicated myself to the task of attaining an MBA with an emphasis on marketing. Yet, as time went on, I began to realize my error, the shallowness and emptiness that accompanies the rat race to keep up with the pack and I decided to return to school to prepare myself as a public servant. I was an ABD for a Doctoral Degree in Public Administration until last August of 2009. It was the early part of last year when my general good fortune in life let me down. The dramatic events which caused me to be unable to complete my MPA degree are highly personal—I asked for a leave of absence and it was denied—and I do not wish to try to explain these events here, because they are now in the past. I have had some time to reflect profoundly about my life and family circumstances, and I have recalibrated my outlook on my own future and wish to make a shift, at the same time that I begin again, in the right direction. I want to return to another graduate program in human organization and begin again, now that I have my personal problems fully resolved. I find myself enormously attracted to the novelty of your MBA program in Human Organization and would love to join. I am most excited about the prospect of constantly challenging assumptions through critical reflection, and fostering group and self-directed learning processes in creative ways. I very much look forward to becoming an active member of the academic community to provide collective support, learning from peers as well as professors from a variety of cultural backgrounds. I appreciate the diversity of your faculty and wish to train to be a leader, a social investigator and strategist who is adept at assisting organizations to adapt to continuous change. My short term goal upon completing your program would be to start a non-profit educational organization devoted to networking and public education in Thailand at the same time that I would join a college or university as an adjunct professor. I want the central focus of my studies to be about educational organization and this is the primary reason why I have my heart set on attending XXU, because I see your university as especially distinguished in this area. And I am particularly attracted to your manifest concern for the education of children in developing countries. I want very much to become a leader in the field of education and to make important improvements to the underdevelopment of my country of origin, Thailand. I am especially interested in the education of women and girls who often appear to be singled out for being left behind by the system. As a woman, I hope to benefit women in my country to develop strength, dedication, and self esteem that is courageous and tenacious in the face of the resistance of traditional boundaries and mores. I strongly believe that this kind of bold courage and assertive leadership initiatives are entirely necessary to achieve widespread and sustainable progress in making necessary and long overdue changes in well-established (and male dominated) bureaucratic organizations that by their very nature resist change as a result of narrowly defined personal interests for the short term—greed, pride, corruption. I ask for admission to your program so that I can become a militant for progressive education reform in Thailand that would help to benefit coming generations of girls and young women who all too frequently find no greater professional solace in life other than entering prostitution. I look forward to doing research on the subject of educational policy in Thailand and how it is biased towards the educational success of boys and men at the expense of women and girls. Only by fully exposing this injustice and describing its entrenched character in both society and the educational bureaucracy can we hope to find the tools to make progressive education towards the liberation of woman a reality.

I want to prepare myself for a lifetime of service in the struggle for the liberation of the women of Uzbekistan and other Central Asian republics, helping them to organize, protecting their human rights. Women are very oppressed in my country of origin and XXXU can provide me with the intellectual tools and necessary credentials to become a major player in the organization of Uzbek women so that we can demand our rights together and gradually reform patriarchal Uzbek society. At XXU I will come to better understand the struggle for women’s liberation in the international context, the historical complexities involved, and learn how to become a more effective organizer. I plan to start my own NGO in the future to promote greater gender equality and safeguard human rights. Thus, I want to learn about social networking, political organization, communications, etc, I am attracted to the interdisciplinary emphasis of your program, and look forward to studying of the vast array of problems confronting the Central Asian republics, our relations with Russia and the West, the intersection of religion and politics, the struggle in Afghanistan, the war on terror and Islamic fundamentalism. I want to open up avenues of participation for women in the region, in terms of education, travel, business opportunities, etc. Thus, I need to develop greater expertise in the psychology of women and the sociology of gender, as well as the general nature of human and political organization. I hope to contribute to the reform of our educational system because it is cruel, oppressive and unjust insofar as it distorts children´s vision of gender and society. When I was a little girl I always wished I was a boy because I was born and raised in Uzbekistan. I want to struggle against the reasons why women in my country have always been subjected to such horrific levels of domestic violence. I want to become an expert in the policies and practices that have been designed and put into practice to protect women in a number of countries, especially in the West, and why it is that we lag so far behind. Uzbek women continue to be regularly beaten and verbally abused by their husbands and other members of the husband’s family and I want to dedicate my life to changing this. Foreign and local NGOs are the only forces of progressive change in my country, so I want to work for an NGO and eventually start my own. The most significant (liberating) experience that I have had in my life was during my freshman year in college when I became a volunteer for the NGO “AYOL” (Woman). It was then when I realized that I wanted to eventually start my own NGO and dedicate my life to building solidarity among women throughout Central Asian. I want to address the problem at its origins and labor towards progressive change in our educational systems at the same time that I seek to help young and middle-aged women to advance, to and find outlets for their products, knitting, oriental rugs, bakery goods, etc., by organizing female run cooperatives, achieving financial independence from men. I am still a volunteer organizer with AYOL, helping with online conferences. I have all the equipment at home and have learned to take advantage of the difference in time zones. During conference meetings I speak with young women from throughout Central Asia who are pursuing their educations and careers in the West. Sometimes I videotape interviews with participants and post them to the web. The Director of AYOL says that my work is very effective. I want to labor to provide young girls with study materials to help them prepare for entrance exams. These materials are difficult to attain. I want to be an organizer of girls and women so that we can brainstorm the challenges that we face together. The participation of local teachers in future meeting will be especially important. I want to target girls who have been admitted to college and award those with the greatest achievement. I want to develop an NGO that publishes its own magazine where young women can find information about campus jobs, foreign grants or scholarships, libraries, and free internet resources. I am excited by the fact that your program allows us to cross register with other universities which will help me to build my solidarity network. I look forward to learning a great deal from the entire academic community, peers as well as professors, taking advantage of the resources of the university and the surrounding area, learning about history, social movements, political configurations, the sociology of the woman’s struggle, etc. SIPA is an ideal place for me to pursue my career in international relations and foster greater solidarity among NGOs to protect and advance women´s rights throughout the world. I am especially excited about the way that SIPA fosters an intimate, friendly and collaborative environment within its MIA program. I want to develop skills in multiple areas and enjoy interdisciplinary study and group work. And, in addition to its curriculum, SIPA has a vast variety of speakers coming and meeting with students, from famous politicians to pop stars. Growing up, I witnessed women be abused in many situations. When I was 12 years old my twin aunts both got married. Later, both were brutally abused along with their children and needed to come home. Yet, because of societal standards, my grandmother did not want to protect them. I want to dedicate my life to changing this. In 2006 when I arrived in the United States as a student, I had great hope. Unfortunately, a few months later, my uncle who was paying for my tuition passed away. I had to transfer to a less expensive school. I failed to get a scholarship and have been forced to support myself so that I could keep studying. I have read many books and essays on women´s rights in different parts of the world including a book by the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, “Murder in Samarkand,” where he describes the human rights situation in Uzbekistan through the eyes of a foreigner. This book has inspired me as never before. I continue to have great hope. I speak English, Russian, Uzbek, Tadjik and some French and I pray for the women and children of Uzbekistan in all five languages.

I was born in South Korea in 1985 and immigrated to Guatemala City with my family five years later, in 1990. Later, I would go the USA to complete my college education in Chicago. Thus, I have mastered both English and Spanish, which, along with my native Korean, will provide with an important foundation for becoming a language teacher devoted to the language of Business, my major at XXXX University in Chicago. Korean will always be my favorite language because it is my mother tongue. And Korea will always be the country that I most love because it is where I was born and the Korean people are my people. Growing up in Guatemala, I was so very proud to see more and more Koran cars as the years passed. Now, as in much of Latin America, a majority of the new cars and trucks that are being sold are from my home country. And I am so very pleased to see Korea make this contribution to the rest of the world, helping developing countries improve their economies since they benefit from reliable, safe, and highly fuel efficient transportation. This is why I want to become an English teacher by attending Korea University, so as to help the economy of our interconnected to world to continue to prosper. Guatemala is known for being a dangerous place and it is, because of the poverty and underdevelopment. This also motivated me to work hard on my English skills and to study business in college, so that I could struggle for the rest of my life to contribute to economic development, thus helping poor people and poor countries to prosper. Guatemala does have nice weather, which I soon came to appreciate after having endured my first very cold winter in Chicago studying at XXXX University from 2004 to 2008. I am writing the study plan which follows below because I want very much to study at Korea University, which I see as the finest educational institution in the world, at least for the Korean people. My studies at XXXX University in Korea will be indispensable for my future career development and will benefit me throughout my entire life. When I was thirteen years old, my father told me: “If you read five hundred books with a written report for each, I will buy you a car.” My father’s intention was to improve my English, for me, as a teenager, what I wanted most was the car. In time, however, reading books in English became my hobby, in fact, my passion, and I developed a vast appreciation for reading, especially high quality fiction, biographies, and modern history. These days, I also spend a great deal of time reading in Korean, helping me to prepare myself for life back home and study at Korea University. The four years that I spent in Chicago studying for my college degree did wonders to perfect my English. Now, I look forward to perfecting my English studying in Seoul and benefitting from the company of my countrymen. My desire to become a teacher as my professional calling in life began early on, as I began tutoring Guatemalans many years ago to improve their English. I tutored two Korean children when they moved to Guatemala, and I had the privilege of serving as a substitute teacher at an English speaking school in Guatemala. During my the first two quarters at XXXX University, I studied a variety of subjects and was very involved with sports, in addition to working part time jobs to help pay for my education. My ongoing passion for English literature, however, soon led me to the firm conviction that I wanted to devote my professional life to becoming an exceptionally good English teacher. But I am also a pragmatic person and I want to help contribute towards international economic development. And I want to be an English teacher so as to use the language to help build bridges between countries and peoples through the advancement of business ties. Thus, I began an intensive study of marketing. I came to especially enjoy research in this area and making presentations. Soon, I overcame my fear of speaking in front of strangers and also learned to become an excellent team player by participating in the development of group presentations taking great delight in working as part of a team, building shared commitments and accomplishing objectives together. I began to truly relish the thrill of gaining and sharing business knowledge with my classmates and professors. I do not regret majoring in marketing because I have learned how to do research and to develop analytical strategies. Most of all perhaps, I have become highly proficient in business writing, which will help me enormously as I continue to prepare myself for a distinguished career as a teacher of Business English. During my studies at XXXX University, I want to focus on learning how to make English education interesting and entertaining because I am convinced that this is the best strategy for language learning. While, of course, there are many ways of teaching language and each professor has their own particular method or strategy for teaching, what I have found to be most effective is constant practice combined with making learning English fun, so as to engage the students´ interest in the material. When I tutored a Guatemalan male student during high school, for example, we read together and watched many movies in DVD with English subtitles for the hearing impaired. Although he didn’t understand most of the English at first, soon his accent radically improved along with the range of his vocabulary and the sophistication of his grammar. I was most impressed by the effectiveness of watching movies for improving his English skills and this has caused me to develop a very keen interest in using technological resources for language learning, especially the Computer and the Internet: CALL, Computer Assisted Language Learning. I want to study at XXXX University for many reasons, foremost among which is the wide range of different methods and theories for teaching English, and the laboratory resources of your program to help teachers develop and take full advantage of technological aids for language learning. I am especially pleased that Korea has become such a technologically advanced country with media and internet resources so widely available and young people increasingly skilled at putting these resources to good use. In conclusion, I see media resources as the most effective language learning tools, in addition to books, newspapers, and magazines: television, radio, and especially the internet because of its interactive character. It is through active participation, and dialogue that we most effectively learn language. Yet, learning how to effectively introducing media in the classroom is a great challenge, especially for older teachers who are form a generation that is not as media savvy as the younger generations. I would like to contribute to teacher education in Korea, helping teachers learn how to make the fullest and best use of media materials and resources in the English Language classroom. I hope to begin studying English Education at XXXX University in this upcoming spring semester and I thank you very much for considering my application to your program.

It wasn’t exactly like a lightening bolt, but something drastically changed my outlook on life and my vocational orientation. After four rigorous years of intense training in one of the toughest electrical engineering colleges in India, I underwent a type of vocational conversion experience. Attending the Introductory Microeconomics course at the Summer School of the London School of Economics and Political Science opened my mind to the power of diversity. The course introduced me to microeconomic analysis as a way of understanding the world. I understood that microeconomics entails the study of the allocation of scarce resources--a skill which is urgently needed in the diverse world today. I was able to look at things in a much more inclusive manner after analyzing the supply and demand curves, budget line, types of goods with income and substitution effects, indifference and Engel curves, the functioning of firms, market factors and welfare economics. As an electrical engineering and electronics graduate, I tend to be more objective and analytical in my approach to life. Yet, the course at LSE ignited with me a unique passion and heartfelt enthusiasm for the field of economics. My professor in the Introductory Microeconomics course at LSE Dr._________ had a striking ability to bring principles of economics to life and into the real world. I come from the Nadar caste which has traditionally been called a “Backwards Community.” The original profession of the Nadars was the cultivation and climbing of Palymra palm trees. Traditionally, it has been difficult for a person of a specific caste to break out of the vocational mould assigned to their group. However, my grandfather, the late Dr. H.S.S. Lawrence was an extraordinary man. He never accepted any labels that society might impose. He obtained a first class education and transformed the education system in my home state of Tamilnadu and at UNESCO Afghanistan. I had a very close relationship with him. He was not only my grandfather; he was a close friend and one of my biggest personal fans. His stellar example and encouragement has helped motivate me to do something great with my life. My grandfather’s life was epitomized in the words of Longfellow who wrote, “The height of great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.” Grandad had a grand purpose in life-the reformation of the educational system in our state, and he achieved that purpose. I too, have a grand purpose in my life. I believe studying at Oxford will serve to clarify, refine and embolden my resolve to achieve that purpose. Unfortunately at an old age, my grandfather contracted Parkinson’s disease. I helped him move around, took him to church, other social activities and helped him remain physically active. It was a good experience for me in humanity while it was saddening to see a loved one suffer from such a disease. I felt good that I was able to contribute in a small manner to helping a person I revered and loved. I feel entering XXU would be a grand credit to his memory and to the love and encouragement shown to me by my parents. Although I have been pretty well occupied with my studies, I play cricket on a non professional level. Every weekend, I play cricket and keep myself fit. In school, I captained inter-house teams of croquet and cricket. Cricket in India unites all the people. If opposition parties are striking on a particular day, they would not do so if India is playing a cricket match as all the people will be glued to their television screens. Economics gives a whole new dimension to the meaning of life. The book Freakonomics is a classic example which demonstrates the importance of this field. The authors’ colorful example of how corruption can seep into the competitiveness among Sumo wrestlers is particularly striking. Although one may not agree with all their points of view, they do inject some lively new lines of thought into the field. All activities in life are influenced by economics. Their book reminds me of the classic maxim, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” We can see how unfettered materialism and greed have severe negative ramifications on a nation’s economy. Hyperinflation due to corruption and economic mismanagement of resources creates a tidal wave of oppression and hardship which rolls over the common people. I feel the cutting edge training I would receive at Oxford would give me the tools needed to influence economic policy and make a difference in people’s lives on the corporate and government levels. The MPhil program in Economics will cull from economic theory the concepts, principles and techniques of analysis which have a bearing on my decision making process. I believe that XXU will hone my leadership and technical skills towards a strong career. XXU will lay a solid foundation for me to build on, in facing challenges in the competitive corporate world. As an Economist, I can help organizations in using the increasingly specialized skills and sophisticated techniques which are required for successful decision making and forward planning. I look forward to a strong and meaningful relationship with XXX University.

I wish to enroll in the mechanical engineering program at XXU, because it will provide the most excellent, inclusive and diverse program for me to achieve the highest level of competence as well as training in logic and creative thinking. It is inclusive because it includes the top professors in the field and the latest cutting edge advances in engineering. It is diverse, because the program encompasses so broad a variety of the aspects of this field. I was born and raised in Kathmandu (“Cat” – mandu) Nepal, which is located north of India. The city stands high up at an elevation of approximately 4,600 ft in the bowl-shaped valley in central Nepal surrounded by four major mountains. The famous Mount Everest lies on our border with communist China. Nepal, which is mostly Hindu, is a very poor country, where many people struggle for existence. I grew up in a neighborhood very different from where I now live in Houston. Many times the women still have to draw water from a water pump on the street. Everybody knew every one and looked out for each other. I can still remember the crowing of roosters waking me up at five a.m. and coming home from school to the delightful aroma of my mother’s special vegetarian curry dish. My parents were loving people who always encouraged my brothers and me to do something great with our lives. They were poor by American standards, but middle class by Nepal standards. At an early age, I became fascinated with the technology of computers. Computers were not common in Nepal at that period of time and my family could not afford one because they were so expensive. Thus, whenever I got time, I used to go to the computer library at my school and try to learn how to use them. My teachers helped me a lot with that and I got the chance to take some computer courses. Later on, I used go to a nearby pawn shop and bring home some damaged computer hardware parts and try to fix them and learn how they worked. My father worked with book suppliers, so he used to bring me lots of books regarding technologies and computers. They were really interesting and helped me a lot to understand how things worked. After finishing high school, I planned to study computer science in Nepal. I went to visit many universities and colleges but to my sore disappointment, I could not find a single university or college which offered the type of courses I needed to study or the technologies for it. I had run out of options when my teacher suggested I try to study abroad. I went for vocational counseling at several institutes in Nepal and they suggested that the best place to learn engineering and computer technology would be United States. My dear parents scraped together everything they could and I arrived in the US at the age of 17. I have attended different universities here, but have come to realize that in the mechanical engineering program at XXU, I have found the tremendous educational resources for which I was searching. I know that the course of study in your program is academically very demanding. I am prepared to meet those challenges. I was quite a good student back home. I was the first student in the class and always ahead. The first university I attended here in the United States was Grambling State University in Louisiana where I had a 4.0 G.P.A. Now I am attending San Jacinto College and I have maintained a normal G.P.A of 3.53. I have completed physics (1 and 2), chemistry (1 and 2), calculus (1, 2 and 3), biology 1, computer science fundamentals of programming (1 and 2) Auto CAD, and basic liberal arts courses. I am determined to strive for excellence in the program at XXU. There is a line in popular book which says, "A person should always seek knowledge even if they have to travel more than one million miles to receive it and after the knowledge is acquired it should be used to serve humanity." This is one of the reasons why I decided to remain here in this long journey all the way from Nepal to the USA to learn more about computer science. You see, my dream is to someday return to my native country and use the knowledge I have obtained at Texas A&M to open a center in which to train young people in computer science and aspects of engineering. This will help to raise the standard of living by empowering them with the training necessary to enter and work in this challenging field.

My homeland of Switzerland is a country of many languages with many differing dialects of multiple origins. Growing up, traveling, being educated, working and conducting research in incredibly culturally diverse places, I have been fortunate enough to learn and be conversant, read and write in three languages, including English, German French, and have an intermediate grasp of Polish as well as a basic grasp of Spanish. I truly love languages, communication in all its wonderful forms throughout the world. My travels literally around the world, living in the US, France, Poland and the UK, have shown me the wonderfully rich tapestry of languages and cultures we have on earth, a tapestry I would love to explore further. Translation satisfies my passion for languages and writing. While law and business consulting are still of great interest to me, translation provides me with a flexible career that fits my mother-of-two lifestyle perfectly, a career that can be conducted from anywhere on the globe, and most importantly, around the schedule of my two little girls. In order to bring my career goals, ambitions – my dreams – to fruition, I need to increase my depth of understanding, and build upon my existing foundation in languages and translation skills, ideally honing them to perfection; a goal I feel is highly attainable. Upon earning my Masters in Translation, I envision serving as, initially, a freelance legal translator and working from home. Eventually, I would like to work as an in-house translator at a law firm, governmental agency or international organization. Upon building my exposure in the field, owning my own translation agency would be truly fulfilling. I bring with me to the student body and Translation program not just an aptitude in several languages, but a multicultural, multilingual experience, having worked and studied in German, French, Polish and English-speaking countries. True cultural competency can only come through an understanding of cultures, and customs, a skill that I have found to be indispensable in the translation process. Moreover, my extensive and decorated scholastic path is proof of my love of lifetime learning, as well as my ability to approach, excel and complete a challenging academic program, be the program in English, French German or Polish. Additionally, I have maintained over a decade of specialized experiences, solid evidence of my ability to perform complex professional functions as a legal and business consultant, conducting research, and writing as a part of my work in a number of countries, functions that, at times, included translation. In the most practical terms, working with diverse colleagues and clients developed my interpersonal abilities, work ethic, flexibility as well as my self-confidence, self-efficacy, and ability to work autonomously or as part of a multidisciplinary team. Since 1997, I have been translating legal documents, conducted translation services as a student, while working as a lawyer for a German-American law firm in Miami, and as a trade and legal consultant in Switzerland and Poland. These past two years as a translator, language tutor and market researcher in the UK has been a joy. Translating legal and business documents from English to German, in conjunction with my educational background and professional experiences have convinced me that I am on exactly the right path, as a translator specializing in these exact areas. I would like to take this opportunity to express that while I do not possess an undergraduate degree in Modern Languages or an equivalent, I feel that my fluency in several languages, professional experiences combined with my graduate Law degree be considered as a suitable substitute. It is my intention to specialize in legal translations, am confident that my grasp of Anglo-Saxon common law system and the continental civil law tradition gives me the ability to understand the context of a legal text, and thus am capable to communicate information, in its entirety, with the same degree of competence as the original. While the convenience of the distance-learning program cannot be underscored enough, I am eager to give of myself and my experiences to the student body, enriching their experiences as I learn from their own. The graduate Translation program will not only give me the practical training I need to succeed, but also a refinement of my understanding of the theoretical aspects that underpin Translation. Thank you for your time and consideration.

The spirit and vision that has guided my family for over two hundred years in the US has created educators, innovators, pioneers, entrepreneurs and US patriots, a rich heritage that I am truly proud of and am eager to contribute to through my own unique abilities and aptitudes. Increasing my exposure in business and owning my own business has become my goal, and dream. Indeed, my father’s tireless commitment to his real estate development business, straightforward, honest approach to business has been truly inspirational, and I find I have a similar passion for integrity and values in my own work. Moreover, my mother, an empathetic and sincere educator has shown me that a professional can and should be genuine in their work. These values are incredibly important to me, and I will bring these ideals to my future work, as well as XXXX’s School of Business & Economics. XXXX is a natural choice, a place in which I can conduct intensive study into business management techniques, entrepreneurship, marketing and patents. What is more, I anticipate a program that will fully equip me with a theoretical foundation from which to develop my career, and aid me in determining my career’s path. I envision a career in which the products or services I provide will improve the lives of others, and enable me to endow my family with the security and comfort they deserve. I bring with me to the student body a unique academic foundation in the sciences and a highly refined ability to apply scientific analysis to business situations and methodology. My experiences in animal healthcare have exposed me to the practical concerns of running a non-profit, as well as private business. Additionally, working in team situations, multitasking in a deadline-oriented, and at times high-pressure environment in which attention to detail is critical, has developed my maturity and sense of responsibility. XXXX’s School of Business and Economics is my sole choice for further education and I look forward to my development, immersion and contributing within the graduate business program. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Born and raised in China and coming to the USA at the age of 19 to attend university, I have now been here for 3 years. Throughout the course of my education, I have increasingly fallen in love with the field of Statistics and it is in this area that I hope very much to earn my Master’s Degree at the University of XXXX, where I am currently finishing my undergraduate studies. I feel strongly that I would be able to best excel at UX since I already have an establish support base and network here and I love UX very much. I have chosen to give my professional life to the advancement of Statistics because I see it as ultimately a humanitarian enterprise; since the more we are able to master statistics, harnessing its power for the purposes of technological advancement, the more our world will be able to prosper and develop in peach and harmony. The greatest possible contribution I can make, as I see it, is to use statistics ultimately to help ordinary people. While serving for months as a volunteer teacher in both China and Thailand, I came to a much fuller realization of how so many people are much less fortunate than I am. These teaching experiences left me highly motivated to give my all to the advancement of the cause of education, which I see as the best solution to the problem of inequalities. If given an opportunity to complete your especially distinguished Master’s Degree Program in Statistics at UX, I will be able to realize my central professional goal of the fullest possible engagement with research in the area of big data, putting my skills to use on behalf of the non-profit, humanitarian organizations. I am also especially passionate about statistical applications in the social sciences and with respect to social and humanitarian issues. It is because of these interests that my foremost intellectual role model at the University of Michigan is Professor XXXX, who uses statistical applications to analyze how to motivate more people to donate money to relief efforts for the poor. Most specifically, I hope to study in-depth the statistical applications that are being designed for the advancement of public health in developing countries. I have contributed to several research projects as an undergraduate and currently I am heavily engaged in the study of deep learning mindset, analyzing data using Python. I spent two years studying Management and Economics and this coming May of 2018 I will graduate from UX as a triple major in Economics, Mathematics, and Statistics. During my junior year, I realized the limitation of simple machine learning algorithms and became interested in the concept of deep learning and neural networks, under the guidance of professor Ji Zhu, learning to classify data sets to detect picture patterns. Analyzing the real estate market in the US since the beginning of 2016, I used random forest imputation to deal with huge amounts of missing data and fit generalized linear models to test for association between sale prices and house features. I used deep learning mindset to predict the log error of Zestimate (a widely used estimated market value for an individual home) and the actual sale price. I also spent countless hours immersed in the Chinese stock market crisis of 2015, contributing to an analysis of stock data from ETF 50, and clustering on time series data to pinpoint abnormal company behaviors during the crisis. This study has been submitted to the Journal of Behavioral Finance and I am listed as one of the co-authors. I have experience in R, SQL, Python, MatLab and Stata. In addition, I am familiar with C, C++ and Mathematica. I am also currently learning SAS. My previous research compels me to continue towards my goal of becoming a professional research investigator. Thank you for considering my application to Statistics at the University of XXXX.

I have loved art and calligraphy since as long as I have been able to hold a brush. I have won several prizes in China for art and calligraphy and passed the prestigious Level 7 Painting Certificate of the Shanghai Chinese Calligraphy and Painting Association. I love the creative process and have applied my artistic and marketing skills and experience in producing eye-pleasing and effective designs for both marketing products and web pages. I am greatly attracted to the vast creative potential that the web provides and seek to fuse traditional art forms with the very latest technological innovations. I regard myself as a ‘natural’ in the field who now seeks to acquire the additional skills and knowledge to make a significant contribution especially in the area of ‘new media’ which is opening up thrilling new possibilities for almost every kind of business and organization. My bachelor degree in Graphic Design and Art History provided me with an excellent grounding for a career in this field. The study and practice of ‘bringing ideas to life’ through GD was, in itself, fascinating but the fact that I was surrounded by highly creative people who shared my enthusiasm made the experience truly life-changing. This was supplemented by an appreciation, in the study of Art History, of the fact that there have always been those who seek to present thoughts, information and opinion through appealing and compelling composition and have found many means of doing so over several millennia. My artistic and design education has been supplemented by technical knowledge and skills acquired over several years spent as an intern, employee and contractor in the working world of design/web design. I am aware that ‘artists’ can sometimes struggle in the demanding and profit oriented ‘real world’. However I have a well-developed practical ‘side’ and I have thrived in the ‘rough and tumble’ of the collaborative and team based projects in which I have often been involved. I consider the ‘art’ of effective communication is as vital to a designer as his technical skills and I am by nature as ready to listen as I am to speak though always ready to make my own ‘case’ to others. I have found this characteristic to be very helpful in achieving early agreement with colleagues and clients. The technical knowledge and skills acquired during my bachelor degree studies and broadened them considerably by the application of a number of additional platforms. I have particularly enjoyed working in the exciting environment of the ‘start up’ in which the creative impulse can be allowed maximum rein. In one case, our team designed an animated app mock up prior to the launching of the product to gauge the interest of potential backers. This approach saved much time and expense in judging whether or not to proceed and we were ultimately successful both in raising finance and marketing the product. The use of UI/UX design assisted in attracting traffic and product purchase. The whole exercise was enormously satisfying and taught me much. I am excited to be in a field where change is so rapid and openness to innovation and adaptability are vital to success. I enjoy learning and applying new techniques and platforms and understand that this process of change and improvement will continue at an increasing rate over time. To summarize, I am an accomplished artist with an excellent and relevant academic and professional background that will enable me to excel in the program and in a web design career beyond. I can assure the reader of highly enthusiastic and diligent participation in the program, I look forward to sharing the fruits of my own knowledge and skills for the benefit of my fellow students and receiving the benefit of their own. Thank you for considering my application to one of the finest Graphic Design Master’s Program in the world at XXXX University.