Applicant Statements?

[trouble]

I feel like I am blatantly abusing this community.

Help? Again? /o\

I'm doing my PhD Apps to McGill (yay!) and they say this:

Please submit your curriculum vitae and your applicant statement as two (2) separate documents, in addition to the short descriptions requested on the application forms. In your applicant statement, you may inform us of any special circumstances that should be taken into consideration of your application.

Okay, but what does that mean? I mean, the applicant statement part. Do I write about my husband having cancer (and thus my MA taking two years instead of the projected one)? Do I write about my interest in disability history and where that comes from? Do I write about why I want to do disability history? All of the above? Some of the above? None of the above?

*flails* Please help, I am feeling totally overwhelmed and in despair. Again. I hate applications.

Comments

[rhivolution]

Honestly? All of the above. Though I would say you'd have to be careful to not just skim the surface, then, because you do want depth.

[trouble]

Okay, I think I can do that. Thank you.

[rhivolution]

I do have to warn you that I'm coming at it less from a past-PhD applicant, more of an ex-HR way, but I think it similarly applies--if all of those topics have informed your studies and application in a significant way, they should all come up.

Which doesn't help with hating applications (I hate them myself).