feministswagger

Thanks for the tips for those who commented. I'm done with the writing sample and the GRE process now so I'm coming back to the SOP to give it one more go. I changed it entirally, cutting out as much personal stuff as I could but leaving enough to follow the advice of my professors to have some type of 'story' of myself in it. Does this look much improved to what I had before? As a first generation non-traditional college student, and mother I am familiar with maintaining my goals and aspirations in any circumstance. Due to being the head of my household I take my college career seriously and part of my motivation stems from a desire to give my family an educated and enriching life. I quickly realized when I first started college that I had a great aptitude for literary analysis and writing. This developed into a strong passion for the field that became another essential part of my motivation. My skills as a writer granted me the opportunity for numerous independent literary research projects that employed the use of feminist criticism and digital humanities that I presented at conferences across Wisconsin. The positive experience of conducting and sharing my research with others in my field was the catalyst for my choice of a career as an English professor. To ensure that my writing remains a flexible asset in case I do not secure employment right away, I have recently challenged myself in the field of writing by breaking out of my comfort zone by writing articles on my community's local food movement for my local newspaper. The past three years I have also been employed as an English composition tutor where I have worked with a variety of students from different backgrounds. Tutoring a subject I feel so strongly about has been a great life experience to give me a preview of the job satisfaction that comes along with academic life and to ensure that my passion for teaching is a valid one. This is just the beginning, after this I go on to talk about my goals in graduate school and so forth.

Yikes, I didn't realize posting asking for SOP advice would turn into a witch hunt on my chosen field of study. I guess this is why you should never turn to people on the internet for aid or assistance. I wasn't asking for criticism on my field of choice- just for general SOP writing advice. But I guess I know not to post questions on here because of the level of judgment that might be received if you're purusing a career in the humanities.

This is the beginning of my SOP- I'm not going into any further personal (as far as being a single parent) details other than this. I go on to talk about my experience, research, tutoring experience, each individual program, my career and graduate goals, etc. So this is a very small chunk and it's the part I'm struggling with the most1 "As a first generation college student, mother, and nontraditional student I have overcome all odds. My driving incentive to pursue graduate school stems from the fact that I have a family to support. The birth of my son gave me the realization that I needed to have a stable career to guarantee my family has an enriching future. I enrolled in college when he was six months old and since that day I have equated my goals of being a successful student with being a successful parent. I decided within my first year of college that I wanted to be an English professor and began preparing myself for graduate school." I hate writing 'about me' things. That second sentence is iffy to me, should I cut it or change it to stay away from the 'financial words'?

I intend on continuing on to a PhD program after I complete my Master's. No matter what degree I have, I will (I would hope haha) make more money than when I was working at Taco Bell when my son was born. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough.. I know the humanities isn't the best place to specialize in if you want a high paying job but it's better than working fast food forever. Every advisor (teacher or otherwise) has told me to 'tell my story' briefly in the beginning and that is my story- having my son motivated me to go to college in the first place- if it weren't for him, I'm not sure it would have happened. I tried crafting a story leaving him out of it and it just looks weak- like I went to college on a whim after being in the workforce for 6 years. Which I think makes me sound flakey. But maybe I'm over thinking it! I've spent two weeks already writing this SOP- so much pressure!

I have literally spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME on my SOP. I am probably making myself crazy but that is okay. I do have one professor that is looking over my SOP for me throughout this process. But I had a few questions I've had varied answers on so I figured I would post it here. I am applying to Master's in English Literature programs. 1. What is the best format for the SOP? Cover letter style? With your name, addres, etc. in the top left corner followed by the graduate school's address, etc. below it? Does anyone have any examples of what is the proper way? OR would it be okay to leave that out entirely to save valuable paper space? And just start with a, "Dear graduate admissions committee" generic heading? I'm having such a hard time condensing my SOP to one page that I need every amount of space I can get. 2. Speaking of the space issue- has anyone played around with margins or even reducing the line spacing to .75 just to squeeeeeze a tad bit more in their SOP? Or would that be a big bad idea if the admissions people noticed it? 3. Name dropping. I've had two totally different opinions on this from English Literature professors. One said that it is vital to include the name of a professor at the graduate school and reference their specific research. Another advised me to stay away from name dropping entirely and just focus on the program's specific coursework. Which is the better route?! I address my interest in the program quite specifically aside from a name drop so if I take it out- my paragraph is still quite substantial. Or perhaps just mentioning a professor but not her specific research (looking it up on the MLA bibliography) would be a good balance? 3. Personal History. I am a 27 year old, single mother and my son is my main reason for why I attended college in the first place. I was advised by both professors to defnitely include that in my SOP. But an academic advisor told me to leave it out (which I found a bit offensive)- anyone out there have any idea if there would be discrimination against me if I mention that I'm a single mom? I don't want to risk my chances but my son is essential to my story as a college student- he's always been my main driving force- to provide a good life for him by assuring my finacial success. Any other opinions you would want to throw my way would be welcome too!