Gilman Statement of Purpose Essay: Understanding your audience and their goals
As is the case for any essay, it is vital that you understand your audience and the goals of the Gilman scholarship before you begin writing.
So…what are the goals of the Gilman scholarship program?
As stated on their website, The Benjamin A. Gilman scholarship is a program which “broadens the student population that studies abroad by supporting undergraduates who might not otherwise participate due to financial constraints.” Further, “The Gilman Scholarship Program aims to support students who have been traditionally under-represented in study abroad, including but not limited to, students with high financial need, community college students, students in under-represented fields such as the sciences and engineering, students with diverse ethnic backgrounds, and students with disabilities. The program seeks to assist students from a diverse range of public and private institutions from all 50 states, Washington, DC and Puerto Rico.”
What this means for you is that you need to keep the notions of diversity, financial constraints, underrepresented populations in mind as you write your statement of purpose.
What this does not mean for you is that you should not apply if you are not a member of a group which is traditionally considered underrepresented. You may just need to be a little creative.
When your readers (we will get to them in a minute) score your statement of purpose essay, they are first and foremost looking for you to tell them WHY you fit the goals of the Gilman program. You can be a good fit in a variety of ways: you may be from a diverse or underrepresented ethnic background, have a disability, attend a community college, or a historically minority-serving institution. You could be from an underrepresented state or traveling to a non-traditional destination. Maybe you are studying a critical needs language or are a student of science, technology, engineering or math. Whatever your qualifying aspects are, just remember that those must be the focus of your statement of purpose.
So…who is my audience?
The panel reading and reviewing your application will be comprised of International Education professionals. This may include professors or faculty, advisors, and administrators. Given this audience, there are a few important things to keep in mind:
- These people know A LOT about study abroad. They are familiar with many programs, destinations, and have more often than not been on study abroad programs themselves.
- So what? : You don’t need to sell your reader on the merits of study abroad in general. Rather, what you need to do is convince your reader that you have chosen the best program to fit your academic and professional goals.
- These people are reading A LOT of essays in a short amount of time!
- So what?: You want to clear, succinct, creative. You want to stand out, but only for your well-organized, and well-articulated essay (not for your quirks and grammatical mistakes!).
- These people are passionate about education, passionate about encouraging underrepresented students to go abroad.
- So what?: They really do want to see that you fit the goals of the Gilman scholarship; they are not secretly hoping that you will divert into a story about your childhood pet or your passion for anime.
Scholarship Sojourn 