might try here first.

Good OBJECTIVE line for resume

or perhaps here..

help writing OBJECTIVE in resume- MARC-1 grad student

..dont know if it will help....if i remember most thought not do do one....focus what you want to do in the cover letter.

I'm sorry, I didn't clarify, I meant on applications to grad school, it's supposed to be a page long or so

i dont think your going to have anyone offer up there statement to you and i am assuming your not asking.

there are services on the internet that can give you guidance and will review you statement for a fee.

otherwise i looked at some general stuff at

UC Berkley general



and harvard fellowship samples

your not actually thinking you will get in any school this september are you? as the number of somewhat urgent post you just did, which schools, protfolio, statement suggest that. its not going to happen for you at any school this sept.

o, I'm actually just thinking of applying fall 05, I'm just trying to get an understanding of a bunch of things

just an observation... although i can understand your interest in grad school thread, there is alot of information thoughout these threads already, and i have found unless you narrow the topic down, at least indicate what your interest or background is, what you want for your graduate school focus; theory, design, energy, history, etc, urban area, warm climate, what you want to look at, you will not get a great response. and the weekend traffic does slow down a bit. maybe take the time and think it through. you get great detailed responses when you do this narrowing down. even the statement thread, there are lots of differences from school to school on what they ask you for these statement and many have to do with the specifics of the program you are applying for so you might try to narrow the schools, look at the application and be more specific if you want some detailed stuff. if you havent seen it, i would suggest the book 'architecture schools of north america' which goes into every school, degree programs offered, tuition, whose on faculty there, time 2-3 years, scholarships avail and contacts. people here dont tend to give it up if you dont do the most basic of homework that they expect you to do.

Ted- thanks, for the info, I've looked through that book and it is somewhat helpful, but really does not get into what the programs are about, it gives mainly ligistics and stuff but not subjective stuff, and that's sort of what I'm interested in, I find it more useful. Also, even if responses aren't specifically tailored to what I want, i still think if everyone took the time to write a bit about their experience at their school, it would be very helpful to a lot of people
thanks

Write about a specific aspect of architecture that interests you, angers you, confuses you, or causes you to feel half-way passionate. They want to see a spark that lets them know that the person who wrote the essay is interesting. Don't be too general. Don't start "The reason I want to go to grad school is because..." They want someone who's intriguing more than someone who is only smart.

I agree with ag's last post. Be honest and put yourself out there. Don't write a bunch of theory stuff that you don't understand in the attempts to sound intellectual. The admissions board have very finely tuned B.S. detectors.

The bland general truth is...all applicants want to stand out in some way. Perhaps, if you were to colour urself a shade of not-so-special grey you would stand out amongst those other children of the rainbow.
Why be so 'special'?

An acquaintance wrote ' I like the unpredictable, the surprising' somewhere in her CV. I found that quite a tasteless remark to make about oneself.

Maybe I have personal issues with describing myself (and much more so to someone who askes me to )and find the idea fundamentally vulgar..and almost apprehensively self defensive. Marketting oneself is fine and dandy...but this direct link between self and profession is just a major ickiness.

The very idea of 'standing out' is very beauty pageanty.

So...I propose an utterly boring flat factual letter that is constructed in concise paragraphs, sentences and words...time the average internal reading period of every paragraph,sentence and word to come up with a subliminal rhythmic mantra. Perhaps you might base it on a pitch analogy...or rhythm..beat offbeat . Find the most officelike A4, print it out in txt font if u really want to be plain..in Technic if you want more florid. And be sure not to include any self-references (I, me,we..) and certainly nothing overtly hermeneutic ('My approach to architecture' traps). Send it and hope (economically...everything restrained!) that the board will see through the dullness into the colourful intelligent parodic Nabokovian heart of you.

p.s: do not flatter them or tell them how great their education system/concpetual concern/environmental ethics..etc..is. If you do, make sure that it is quoted from their prospectus with full references. Throw it back to them...air their luandry in front of them...

uneDITed - I think you give the reviewers too much credit.

Kai, your post led me to reread my statement of purpose for Fall 04 submission to SCI-Arc, UCLA, and Art Center (in order of preference).

I found the following links helpful:

Understand what a Statement of Purpose is...
StatementofPurpose.com
Accepted.com (SoP)
Infozee.com (SoP)
UTexas.edu (Craig Chase)

Find out a bit more about yourself...
HumanMetrics.com (What I used)
SimilarMinds.com (New!)

The process of writing a statement of purpose helped to narrow my focus; it was a investigational "stepping stone". What did I want to accomplish? What professors looked interesting? What did I want out of grad school? Interestingly, Hernan's first question in the interview at SCI-Arc was point blank... Why are you here? Having taken the time to probe my purpose, I knew the answer to that question. Each person will have a unique answer to such a question. For me, I want a "personal sabbatical" -- a break from office/client politics and a labratory for testing my limits. The verbiage you use should be concise. I even went to the point of selecting the right typeface and layout to reflect my purpose (even brought the PDF into Illustrator and adjusted some typographic flaws). I felt if the reviewer/designer had a keen eye, they might see that my SoP was subtly different -- better (a reflection that I would be "better" than the rest).

Hope my insight helps.

"Each person will have a unique answer to such a question. For me, I want a "personal sabbatical" -- a break from office/client politics and a labratory for testing my limits..."

I think that hardly constitutes a unique answer. :)

Find out a bit more about yourself...
HumanMetrics.com (What I used)
SimilarMinds.com (New!)========> oh how I want to rush there and slip and slide into a human type category...force feed me Jung and I'll vomit Lacan.

"Each person will have a unique answer to such a question. For me, I want a "personal sabbatical" -- a break from office/client politics and a labratory for testing my limits..."

Obviously, this is just a small fraction of my SoP. I wanted them to know how familiar I was with stunted growth in an office and the "labratory for testing limits" was taken from the college catalog.

Vomit all you want. Just do it in your little cubicle. What can YOU constructively suggest for personal development activities?

Word of advice, I wouldn't challenge uneDITed.

Someone said that a statement should be like a manifesto of sorts. Do most people think that this is true? Is a certain amount of arrogance good? How the hell do you fit everything in 600 words or less?

I don't know about the manifesto part. Would a school want you set in your beliefs before you've even begun learning what they have to teach you?

Convey passion, seriousness about your passion, demonstrate what you've done thus far to pursue it, and always maintain an openness.

ag, why?

"I would like to build pretty pretty big houses to mold people into them, an army exposed to my taste will arise, happy I'll be,money'll roll in"

Mind if I use that?

I took the "Global Personality Test" at similarminds.com and apparently I am: " ... strange,... anti-authority, and attracted to the counter culture".

Do you think I can work with that in regards to my "statment of interest" ?

Just write in the hyperlink to your results. This is the 21st century the admissions board will be really impressed with your command of the intarweb.

someone once gave me very good advice and said it is better to talk about 'what makes you special' and why they should want you vs. discussing architecture. keep the archi-talk to a minimum.

anyway, good luck!

Well, if I showed any prospective employers my results to the above tests, I would never be hired...

What got you hired then?

Part of being an INTJ: "many also find it useful to learn to simulate some degree of surface conformism in order to mask their inherent unconventionality" or so they say...