Khy Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Hey all, So when, if ever, is it appropriate to make a slight joke in your SOP? I'm applying to social work and I'm discussing sort of a heavy topic in my statement. the statement requires me to identify a social problem and how a practice or policy could change the issue. Anyway, so I'm talking about the problem, and i go on to say "if i had my way blah blah blah blah" [stuff about what how I would address the issue], then it pops up in my head to say "unfortunately, or some would argue fortunately, I am not the ruler of all things"....appropriate?? leave it out?? Leaning more towards scrap it. Thoughts, please!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzylogician Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Leave it out. It's enough that one person doesn't like/get it for this to hurt you. In my opinion, your application should be a serious professional document, and jokes have no place in it. If I were reading it, it would not make a good impression on me. tspier2 and RCtheSS 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookie Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Your SOP is the one place you cant make a fool of yourself... I vote no! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinallyAccepted Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Humor could be good for endearing you to others at an informal event during a campus visit, but probably not so much for the SOP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khy Posted January 16, 2015 Author Share Posted January 16, 2015 Thank you all for your comments. Once I actually gave it some thought I decided to scrap it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aojfifjoaisjaiosdj Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 (edited) I'd say you shouldn't in the SOP. In my second writing sample for certain universities though, which was a paper on syntax, I used a lot of example sentences like "that Gary married his own grandmother pleases him" and "I hope to get accepted to grad school." Personally it makes reading linguistics papers a lot more interesting for me, when the examples are funny too, and my professor said it wouldn't be a problem if I had example sentences like that when I applied. I guess that might be one place in which humor is okay. Edited January 18, 2015 by Chiki Kleene 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techboy Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Why not, I would suggest adding one creatively as admission committee members are also people like us I have seen some jokes which worked well reviewing hundreds of graduate SOPs for masters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeruK Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Why not, I would suggest adding one creatively as admission committee members are also people like us I have seen some jokes which worked well reviewing hundreds of graduate SOPs for masters Sometimes humor can fit in a SOP but I think you would have to be pretty good at humor in order to pull it off. I know I'm not so I don't try it. The example joke in the first post would be something I would leave out! I am not even clever enough to think of a good example of humor right now even. However, I do think it would be appropriate (for SOPs in my field, can't say for sure for others) for an applicant to tell a funny story in their SOP as long as it is a relevant anecdote about why they want to be in grad school / why they are a good fit for University X. tspier2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleMac Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Maybe not that kind of joke, but I think a small bit of humor is a potentially good thing to have. I added humor in mine, but mostly light humor (not really "jokes"). It's not particularly easy to distinguish yourself from the masses with many other techniques in the SoP alone. There are going to be tons of people with so many different, amazing, and impressive accomplishments, but if they're all worded and presented in similar, extremely serious manner, they probably blend together to some extent. The SoP is pretty much the only place where your personality can come out (aside from interviews), and I took advantage of that. Of course, it's a matter of personal preference, and I can understand why most people opt to leave it out. Simply put, I would be misrepresenting myself and my character if I didn't add at least some light humor. Page228 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzylogician Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Lets just say that: # of people who think they are funny >> # of people who are actually funny Think you can pull it off? Good luck. I think it's much easier to piss someone off with a bad attempt at a joke than successfully make a good impression, but if you think you can beat the odds, go for it; but in the name of all that is holy, please have multiple people read it before you send it off. TakeruK, tspier2 and wuglife427 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plissken Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 (edited) Sometimes humor can fit in a SOP but I think you would have to be pretty good at humor in order to pull it off. I know I'm not so I don't try it. # of people who think they are funny >> # of people who are actually funny Seconding both of these. As a general rule of thumb: if you have to ask, don't do it. The type of person who can successfully pull off humor in a piece of formal writing is rare, and the ones that can do it already know they can do it, know how they will be received and how they will come off. They don't have to ask. If you are not one of those people, leave it out. Edited February 9, 2015 by Plissken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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