Personal Statement

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autumn7

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I have had a lot of social service experience since graduating from college, but when I moved home after 2 years in the big city, I chose to work a temp clerical position while applying for grad school. May not have been the best move, but I knew I had strong qualifications already, and my current life circumstances led me to a clerical position.

With limited space in the personal statement, is it necessary to describe my current position at a state college (vaguely human service related) ? It hasn't contributed to my career goals, so I feel it would be out of place. Thoughts?

Also curious if someone could point me towards some helpful articles/sites related to mental health parity.

Thank you! :)

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As a follow up question- I'm also curious about the guidelines for length. I'm having trouble editing down to 3 pages. I have 3&1/4 pages! I would really like to follow the guidelines, but curious how important this is to my chances?
 
I am also applying to grad school for an MSW..If it (personal statement guidelines) asks for your current job position then you for sure need to include it. I am not sure what all your clerical position entails, but I think that any sort of extended experience of any kind in the working world is only a good thing. With a little creativity, you can even stress the points in your job description that may somehow may relate to your desired masters program or experience gained that may prove beneficial.

As for the length of the P.S...if your schools guidelines do not definitively outline that, then contact a head in the dept. and simply ask them. good luck!
 
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As for the length of the P.S...if your schools guidelines do not definitively outline that, then contact a head in the dept. and simply ask them. good luck!

That sounds like good advice. I definitely wouldn't exceed the page limit without some kind of encouragement from the program though. It's not quite the same thing, but our undergraduate students regularly go over their assignment and exam page limits and the other TAs and teaching associates I know tend to think this conveys an attitude of entitlement (keep in mind it's work for committee members to read applications, and if everyone goes over it entails lots more work for them).
 
I would include it if you feel it would be helpful, if you can make a few points about what you learned there that relates to your going into their program. Most people going for a master's have little to no field experience. If you were applying to a doctorate program, it would definitely matter. Of course, if you can get some kind of clinical and/or research work quickly, that will help. As long as your records and scores are at least decent, and you show that you are serious, you should do fine.
 
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