How To Stand Out From The Pack

So, you’re applying to graduate school. Transcripts ordered? Check. Reference letters requested? Check. Now it’s time for something called a “Statement of Intent”.

Before you take pen-to-paper, fingers-to-keyboard, take a moment to think through and structure this very important piece of your grad school application. In fact, it may be what distinguishes you from the remainder of the applicant pool.

Graduate admissions committees – especially for small, competitive programs like those at Toronto’s OCAD University – see many applications from students with excellent academic records and stellar references. From that pool, they need to select the few candidates they believe will be most successful and make a significant contribution to the scholarly or professional community. Committee members rely heavily on documents like the Statement of Intent to assess this fit.

Here’s a few ways to make sure you stand out:

1. 1. Do your homework: thoroughly research the program you’re applying to. This includes looking at the research interests of the faculty who teach in the program and the Theses or MRPs of current and former students.
2. 2. Align what you intend to learn with the strengths of the program. For example, at OCAD U’s Inclusive Design Masters program, you’ll discover faculty with expertise in wayfinding for people with disabilities. Recent graduate Doaa Khattab applied what she learned to develop an award-winning wayfinding system for visually impaired grocery store shoppers. Your Statement of Intent should demonstrate you understand the program and that it has the resources you’ll need.
3. 3. Polish. Never underestimate how profoundly a bit of bad grammar or long-windedness can affect a reader. Even if your intended program is more practice-based than text-oriented, you will need to be able to articulate yourself with clarity and precision. Your Statement of Intent is the committee’s first glimpse at your ability to do so.