Graduate Admissions Personal Statement Instructions

Please describe your interest and detail any experience in Jewish Education. Personal statements should be 3-5 pages double spaced.  

Jewish Education Leadership and Innovation (Ed.D.) Applicants:

You may include both essays in one PDF document to upload within your application.

1. In an essay of 2 – 4 pages (double-spaced) please address the following questions:

• How have your previous research, work, and life experiences prepared you for the Azrieli doctoral program? Are there ways that your experiences will benefit other students?
• What are the knowledge, skills, and dispositions you hope to acquire from the Azrieli doctoral program?
• What do you consider to be the most important issue (or issues) in Jewish education today? Is there a particular problem that you would be interested in studying? Why?

2. In an essay of 1 – 2 pages (double-spaced) please describe one experience in your professional life where you made a major contribution. What did you do and why? What helped or hindered you, and what were the outcomes?

The personal statement should describe your life or educational experiences that led you to pursue graduate education in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. It should be a maximum of 500 words.  

The personal statement should describe your academic and professional goals, your interest in our program at Katz, and how you plan to complete the program. 

Social Work (MSW) & YU Pathways BA/MSW Students  

What qualities/skills do you possess that would help you succeed in this program and ultimately as a social worker? Please provide up to 4 qualities/skills with specific examples of each in practice within your lived professional and/or personal experiences. The essay should be 500 words maximum in 12 point, Times New Roman font double-spaced. Please focus on quality over quantity. 

*We do not accept the use of ChatGPT or any other AI in assisting with drafting the statement. 

Social Work (DSW)

Write one personal statement responding to the following questions.

1. What factors have contributed to your decision to pursue a clinical doctoral degree in social work at Wurzweiler School of Social Work.

2. Discuss a contemporary social issue with clinical implications you potentially would want to explore further in your clinical doctoral studies.

3. Describe a challenging case or professional situation that you have encountered, where you were in the role of a social work practitioner, supervisor, or administrator. What factors (theoretical framework, practice philosophy or other) guided your assessment and intervention in the situation?

4. Please state professional goals and how they align with the DSW curriculum. 

Social Work (MSW/PhD) - Current Wurzweiler MSW Students 

At this point in your MSW education, why are you considering a Ph.D. and what are your research interests and professional goals?  

Social Work (PhD) 

Write two personal statements (500-1000 words each): 

1. Describe the academic and professional experiences that have led to your decision to pursue a PhD in Social Welfare.  

2. What are your research interests and professional aspirations, and how will the PhD help you to achieve your goals? 

Your Personal Statement should be 2-3 pages maximum.

Please write about yourself and your experiences that you believe make you a suitable applicant. Additionally, please tell us what draws you to the field, and to our program in particular. (For Doctoral Applicants only: If there are specific faculty whose research area is of interest to you, please indicate.)