Statement of Purpose Question

[Flux2]

Hi,

If you were involved in a lot of projects, in your SOP would it be a good idea to mention the ones that are relevant to your interest, most recent projects, or all of them?

Thank!

[Warelin]

What kind of projects were they? How relevant are they to your major? How recent is recent and how old is your oldest project? What do you hope to show the committee about your qualifications in succeeding in a PHD program by doing so?

[Bioenchilada]

I would try to mention anything that you got something out of and/or helped you grow as a scientist or a person. 

Edit: Of course, if you didn't get a LOR from the PI or talk about something you did in high school extensively, it'll raise some eyebrows.

Edited September 3, 2016 by Bioenchilada

[Flux2]

My recent project is my master thesis project whereas what I consider old are projects done while I was an undergraduate.

all my projects are related to mymajor. The problem is that my research interests developed over time and some of those projects became irrelevant to the research topic I want to pursue 

[Bioenchilada]

10 minutes ago, Flux1100 said:

My recent project is my master thesis project whereas what I consider old are projects done while I was an undergraduate.

all my projects are related to mymajor. The problem is that my research interests developed over time and some of those projects became irrelevant to the research topic I want to pursue 

You should definitely mention them since those projects probably shaped you professionally and helped you get to where you are.

[biochemgirl67]

On 9/2/2016 at 11:30 PM, Flux1100 said:

My recent project is my master thesis project whereas what I consider old are projects done while I was an undergraduate.

all my projects are related to mymajor. The problem is that my research interests developed over time and some of those projects became irrelevant to the research topic I want to pursue 

I would mention the ones you didn't get a LOR from only briefly.  Obviously you want as much room as possible to talk about your master's thesis.  Also, in writing there is a "rule of 3" which easily corresponds to the 3 LoRs.  So to be most effective, choose 3 to talk about in detail and gloss over the others in 1-2 sentences.  Otherwise your SoP will be unbearably long or long and without important detail.

[CamberGirl]

On 03.09.2016 at 7:30 AM, Flux1100 said:

My recent project is my master thesis project whereas what I consider old are projects done while I was an undergraduate.

all my projects are related to mymajor. The problem is that my research interests developed over time and some of those projects became irrelevant to the research topic I want to pursue 

I am working on my statement of purpose as well and I had almost the same question running through my head. Also I have read at this sop graduate school website that it is important to write about projects that influenced you the most. I'm thinking about following biochemgirl67's advice because I already have a tendency to write too much of irrelevant information that ends up being very boring. Hope it will go well!

[biotechie]

I did not talk about any specific projects in my SOP. I talked about what makes me want to be a scientist. WHY I want to do research rather than what I've done. This is very very important, and I didn't realize how important it was until I was on the adcom myself. It can spell the difference between interviewing someone or not because this is a way to gauge how serious and committed they are to science independently of their actual research experience.

My schools had separate sections for me to discuss my research, and they'll also get a lot of that from your letters.

[Bioenchilada]

3 hours ago, biotechie said:

I did not talk about any specific projects in my SOP. I talked about what makes me want to be a scientist. WHY I want to do research rather than what I've done. This is very very important, and I didn't realize how important it was until I was on the adcom myself. It can spell the difference between interviewing someone or not because this is a way to gauge how serious and committed they are to science independently of their actual research experience.

My schools had separate sections for me to discuss my research, and they'll also get a lot of that from your letters.

I feel research experiences should always be mentioned in the SOP and put in a bigger picture with respect to the impact it had on the applicant's decision to attend graduate school, especially if there is not a separate research statement. (I think only Penn had a separate research statement in the app) 

Note: I was told to mention my experiences by many professors at my internship sites, some of which were involved in admissions. 

[biotechie]

39 minutes ago, Bioenchilada said:

I feel research experiences should always be mentioned in the SOP and put in a bigger picture with respect to the impact it had on the applicant's decision to attend graduate school, especially if there is not a separate research statement. (I think only Penn had a separate research statement in the app) 

Note: I was told to mention my experiences by many professors at my internship sites, some of which were involved in admissions. 

I did have one school that had a single essay. I still focused on the "why," but I did discuss my research projects.