Some applications will ask for an essay outlining a proposed project, including details of the design and plan for carrying it out. Remember that your essay is essentially an exercise in expository writing, but with a twist—it also needs to be persuasive.
As you get ready to write, think about the following questions:
How will you demonstrate the match between yourself and a particular project?
- What inspired or motivated you for this project?
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How are you prepared?
- Language proficiency? Coursework? Contacts? Organizational affiliation? Experience traveling alone?
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Consider the project's intellectual validity.
- Why there? Why now? How is it important or meaningful?
What makes you a strong fit for a particular opportunity?
- Does the project benefit from specific skillsets, values, experiences, or accomplishments?
- How can you concisely share an anecdote(s) from your life that directly demonstrates why you are a good fit for this opportunity?
How will you demonstrate the feasibility of your project?
- Can your project be completed within the timeframe allowed?
- Have you laid the appropriate groundwork (e.g., made connections with local scholars; introduced yourself and your project to the archivist; learned specific software or equipment; getting IRB approval; and more) to convince the committee that you are ready to start (and ideally complete) your project on time?
- Consider your audience. Selection committees typically are comprised of faculty from a broad range of academic disciplines, so write for an intelligent reader, but someone who’s probably not an expert your specific field.
How will you craft your essay to be persuasive in text and tone?
- How will this project/experience impact your future goals/pursuits?
- What will the impact of this project be—on both you as the applicant as well as on the field/community/target audience?
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What is special or unique about doing this project at this moment in time?
- What about your project is timely, so that the committee understands that your project needs to be completed now and could not be similiarly accomplished in a couple years’ time? Are we on the cusp of something important in your field, something pressing within a group of people, or at an important part of history or policy, for example? What is the urgency surrounding your project?
Selection committees want to learn about you. Be sure to connect the opportunity at hand to your past experiences—compelling moments in your personal and/or academic life, interesting anecdotes, something that shaped your outlook or motivated you. Make sure you focus on relevant experiences, though. Your essay should not be a narrative version of your resume nor a cover letter. Tell the committee who you are, what you value, what makes you "tick," what you want to do, how you plan to do it, and why it’s important—and do so in an honest voice.